There were several monitors on the desk and walls showing various locations on the property. Someone had been in the room, and it likely hadn’t been Noah since he’d left with the Army of Light.

One of the screens showed the now empty bedroom where I’d waken not long ago. Had anyone seen that I’d been gone? Feeling as though I was being watched, I knew I had to work quickly.

I ducked down behind the desk and opened the drawers one by one. The medallion pulsed against my wrist as I moved past the large bottom drawer.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I mumbled as I grabbed the handle and pulled back.

It didn’t budge.

“Shit,” I said, jiggling it harder as if it might miraculously pop open.

Knowing Noah, he probably had the key with him. The Army of Light would eventually demand it, or maybe they already knew where it was, and I couldn’t let them get to it.

Desperation gripped me. I wrapped my fingers around the handle and leaned back, hoping my weight would be enough to pop it open.

Nothing.

I glanced up at the monitors and noticed one of the guards coming down the stairs. He moved fast as he appeared to be looking for something… or someone.

Me.

He was looking for me.

He pivoted sharply at the bottom of the stairs, turning toward the hallway. Panic clawed at my throat as the guard took the first step into the hallway toward the office.

The seconds were slipping away like grains of sand in an hourglass. I was out of time.

Chapter

Fifteen

My heart raced, its relentless tempo pounding with each passing second and every step the guard took. Each breath was a strangled gasp, clinging to the sides of my throat, threatening to choke the life from me.

Then it happened.

The medallion felt like a white-hot coal against my wrist as it blazed a fierce, radiant orange. My eyes darted to the monitor. The guard who’d confronted me at the bottom of the stairs motioned to the guard walking toward the office.

I clenched my teeth, grinding them together as I pressed the searing hot medallion against the lock. My eyes squeezed shut as I fought the urge to scream out in pain.

“Come on, come on!” I whispered, watching the monitor as the one guard shook his hands frantically as he spoke.

They both turned their head toward the hallway and then back toward the staircase. It felt as though my hand was going to melt off before the drawer would open.

The medallion’s temperature plummeted with a sudden ferocity. I shook my hand frantically.

“No, no, no,” I mumbled.

As beads of sweat trickled down my neck, I violently wrenched the drawer open. It surrendered effortlessly, unveiling a wooden box with a mesmerizing labyrinth of carvings on the top. I seized the box and tucked it into my waistband.

It was glaringly obvious that I was concealing something. Which wasn’t good, considering there was a significant chance I was going to get caught by one of the guards the minute I stepped foot outside of the office. Hell, they probably knew exactly where I was.

I needed to get out of the office… out of the house, and find somewhere I could fall asleep. Once I was out, Nightmare could come to me.

But was I making the right decision? Should I trust Nightmare to bring me back to Darkness with the artifact?

Everyone wanted it, and for all I knew, Nightmare and maybe even Darkness wanted it for nefarious purposes too. They could have easily fooled me, but I’d have to worry about that if I got out of the room.

My gaze was drawn to the surveillance cameras, one by one, I scanned them. The camera fixed on the backyard caught my attention with an electrifying sight. The once peaceful garden was now filled with glowing eyes hidden in the surrounding shrubs and foliage.

Wrapping my fingers around the medallion, I visualized the imps hopping out of the greenery and into view. Seconds later, the piercing wail of alarms shattered the silence, and the guards burst into action, sprinting toward the back of the house.

“Holy shit,” I said, chuckling.

I moved with ghostly silence toward the door, my heart jumping against my chest with each step. Even though the hall had been empty on the camera, I cautiously stuck my head out and looked in both directions before bolting toward the front door.

The walls seemed to close in on me as I moved through the house. I couldn’t stay at Noah’s house. It wasn’t an option since taking the artifact. The second they noticed it was gone, they’d suspect me, considering I was the only one staying in the house.

I couldn’t go to Aunt Joyce’s because that potentially put her in danger. Really, all that mattered was getting away with the artifact.

My breaths hammered like a war drum, a furious barrage as I sprinted past the staircase and slid into the front door. The commotion at the back of the house served as the perfect distraction.

Sucking in a breath, I slowly pulled open the grand front door. My pulse quickened as I peeked out and scanned the porch for guards.

At each of the far sides, a guard stood peering into the darkness toward the rear of the house. I surged across the front porch, dashing across the moonlit yard.

“Hey!” a guard’s voice bellowed.

“That’s Miss Remy,” another hollered in realization.

With a fearful glance over my shoulder, I spotted one of the guards chasing after me. My feet felt heavy with dread as I forced them to move.

The moon dangled low and bright, casting an eerie glow upon my path. If only Storm were with me to conjure up a cataclysmic downpour to shroud me and my tracks.

I sprinted through the forest, each breath stoking the raging fire trapped inside my lungs. The thumps of the guard’s boots reverberated in the distance as he continued his pursuit.

“Wait!” he shouted desperately through the darkness. “It’s not safe out there!”

It wasn’t safe in there either.

I plunged headlong into the heart of the woods just as a cloud veiled the moon. Beads of sweat skimmed down my neck, causing strands of hair to annoyingly stick to my clammy skin.

Copious thorny vines and brambles savagely lashed my arms as I pressed deeper into the wilderness. Panic powered my every step as I pushed my already tired body beyond its limits.

I moved with frenzied urgency, my pulse racing so fast that the world around me blurred and I lost all sense of direction. With the moon hidden behind the dark cloud, it felt as though I was trapped in a maddening whirlpool of blackness.

The crushing weight of vulnerability descended upon me like a leaden coat. The inky abysses enveloped me, yet I feared that at any moment, a demon could hop out of the shadows to capture me, the medallion, and the artifact still tucked into my pants. I couldn’t see much of anything beyond the silhouettes of gnarled branches and the sound of rustling leaves. I was disoriented, and with each step, I felt as though I was getting closer to being captured.

The distant, mournful hoot of an owl was like an eerie call to me, reminding me I wasn’t alone. My mounting anxiety propelled me onward in the direction I could only hope was correct.