Haunted by Hazel Hunter Read Free Book Online Page A

only a memory, but it was clear that she still loved, still hated, and above all, she still needed .
    “Can’t you help us?” Gillian asked. “Can’t you do that? We need to get out of here.”
    Mina looked at her, as if Gillian hadn’t spoken at all.
    “Will you love me?” Mina asked. “Will you stay with me for all our born days, until the skies fall down and the sea rises to meet us?”
    The words struck a deep chord in Gillian. In some way she couldn’t fathom, she longed to say ‘yes.’ But that would be a lie.
    “I can’t,” she said, her voice strained. “I wish I could, but I can’t.”
    Mina’s laugh was a little wild. “Now I can see that my Galia is dead and gone,” she said. “Now I can see that there is nothing left for me but the city.”
    For a terrible moment, Gillian thought that Mina might pull out her sword and kill her or, worse, kill herself. Instead, Mina gracefully got up and walked away.
    “What are we supposed to do?” Gillian asked, her voice tinged with the desperation that welled in her chest. “We can’t stay here.”
    From the doorway, Mina shook her head. “I have no idea how to help you. As the city awakens, you may find that there are those who do.” Her laugh turned dark. “But be careful, lover who is not my lover. Be very careful.” She closed the door behind her.
    Gillian slumped at the desk. Bleak despair filled her, not just at being trapped, but also how easy it seemed for Mina to leave her. For the first time it occurred to her that she and Shayne might actually die here.
    There were voices in the hallway.
    “…need to see her, Mina.”
    “It’s not her. You should go back to sleep. I should as well. There is nothing for us here, and whatever we decide to do, she has no answers for us.”
    “I don’t care. I woke up. Get out of my way, Mina.”
    “By all the kingdoms, you are willful. No. Stop this. You’ll only do yourself ill being here.”
    There was the sound of a scuffle. Gillian raced to the door and threw it open.
    But Mina lurched forward, pushing her back. With a cry, Gillian fell to the floor, as the door slammed shut. Though she scrambled up and lunged at it, the knob was locked. She shook it with all her might, but it wouldn’t come undone. All around her, the room flared brighter. She stumbled back from the door and looked up. The skylight revealed a sky of purple, shot through with beams of light. But as she watched, it turned a hellish orange and then red. People in the distance were shrieking. They sounded terrified.
    Good, Gillian thought.

CHAPTER SEVEN

    THE INSTANT THAT Gillian awoke, she realized she was alone.
    “Shayne?” she said, getting up. He wouldn’t just leave her alone. “ Shayne? ” she called out.
    Where was he?
    Though she ran from the library and into the corridor, she forced herself to slow down. She hunted carefully, looking in every room she passed. Meticulous at first, panic slowly got the better of her. She had always been good at controlling her anxiety, but this was different. Every moment that went by made her more and more afraid. Minutes ticked by, and then hours. She sprinted through the halls, and bounded up the stairs, all the while calling his name. The only sound that came back to her was a mocking echo of her own words, making her want to scream. But as she climbed yet another set of stairs and charged onto another landing, she skid to a stop.
    It was a tower of sorts, maybe one of the turrets they’d seen from outside.
    “Gods, what is this place?” she muttered.
    Inside the small rooms that branched from the narrow corridor, the walls were lined with manacles. A metal table with winches occupied one room. Pokers leaned against a cold hearth in another. Empty cages had whips resting on them.
    She put a gloved hand to her mouth. Before she could stop herself, she turned, doubled over, and dry-heaved. There was nothing in her stomach. Still coughing and gasping, she backed up. Then she turned