Chapter 6
This time I did hit my head on the desk I’d bent down to hunt beneath, but that wasn’t the source of the sudden, overwhelming pain. Instead, my entire body spasmed as if someone had grabbed both ends of my pelt and twisted, trying to wring it dry.
For one millisecond, I let the agony consume me. Then I pushed the weakness away.
That scream meant someone was in danger. Tears obstructed my vision as I ran flat out toward the circular staircase that led down to the party below.
Because that’s where the scream had originated from. It had been full of horror or fear or pain or maybe all of the above. Something that broke through the ordinary human impulse to stick to inside voices.
The shriek cut off as abruptly as it started. Still, I kept running. She—whoever she was—needed hel
