I felt the energy, led it guide me, followed the current as it raced from my heart to my fingers, like blood rushing through my veins. It didn’t feel like magic, but maybe it was…
My fingers tingled, and sparks arose from my fingertips.
Power. I had power.
Without giving myself time to second-guess myself, I put my hands on both sides of the ghoul’s face and pushed my fingers into her skin with all the strength I had. Blue sparks flew from my fingers into her face, burning her wherever I touched her.
The ghoul screamed and dropped me.
I gasped for air. My throat burned as if it was on fire, and my lungs cried out in agony. But I was free; I could breathe.
The queen of maggots swayed back and forth, holding on to her face. Burn marks appeared where I had touched her, and she clawed at her face, at the burnt skin, until entire chunks of flesh came loose. She seemed like a wurm escaping its cocoon, but the cocoon was her own skin.
I resisted the urge to throw up, and stumbled out of the room, leaving the monstrosity behind me. Her screams echoed after me, chasing me.
The power was gone. I no longer felt it coursing through my veins. But it had been real, even if it had only lasted for a fleeting second.
I had wielded that power to defeat her. For now, at least.
Slamming the door of the room closed behind me, I panted as I leaned against it, trying to catch my breath.
The hallway stretched on to my right, but for the first time since entering the Testing House, I could make out the door at the end.
The doorknob behind my back shook violently. The queen of the dead was trying to get out.
I held on to the wall for support, pulling myself forward inch by inch, nearly resting my entire wright against the wall. Why was I so exhausted? My legs barely wanted to cooperate. Each step seemed to take more energy than I had left; rather than walking through a hallway, I felt as if I was climbing Mount Everest in the worst weather conditions possible.
Why did I feel so drained? Was it because of the power I had used?
The door at the end of the hallway was like a beacon in the darkness.
Come on, Devina, it seemed to say. Come on, you can do it.
The door rattled in its hinges behind me, and then a violent thud followed. The door flew open with a sickening squeak.
I didn’t dare to turn around and face the maggot queen.
My body felt like it weighed a thousand kilograms, like in those nightmares where you are being chased by a monster, but you’re moving impossibly slow, each step seemingly taking forever and making it easy for the monster to catch up with you.
From the corner of my eye, I saw her moving, the woman from my nightmares. She crawled up the walls on all fours, like a spider. She was moving fast.
Too fast.
I gritted my teeth, refusing to give up.
The door was within reach…
I felt her hot breath on my back, the smell of rot and death escaping from her mouth. Her claws grabbed hold of my clothes, ripping the fabric.
My fingers clutched around the doorknob and I pulled it with all my strength.
Her teeth grazed against the skin in my neck…
And then the door flew open, and I was free.
Chapter Eleven
I was back in the front room. The others still stood where they had been standing before I entered the hallway from hell. How much time had passed? Seconds? Hours? Days? My internal compass was messed up.
I collapsed onto the floor. My stomach heaved, and it took all my inner strength not to throw up on the carpet. My legs feld like lead, and I felt like Sleeping Beauty, ready to sleep for a century or two.
“Dev!” Cassie raced toward me and fell on her knees next to me. “Are you okay?”
I coughed a few times. My neck, the spot where the nightmare woman’s teeth had grazed me, felt as if it was on fire.
“You could’ve…” I coughed again. “Told me…” Another cough, nearly spitting out my lungs. “It would be this bad.”
Alec knelt in front of me, a hand on my shoulder. “What happened? You look as if you fought a monster or something.”
“I did.” I took a deep breath, even though the fresh air burned my lungs. I looked at Cassie. “The woman from my nightmare. She was there.”
“You mean the woman from the red room?” Cassie’s eyes grew wide and she started pacing around. “But how?”
“What do you mean?” Christian offered a hand to help me up, and I gladly took it. “A woman from your nightmare?”
I gestured at Cassie, hoping she could reply for me, since I still struggled to catch my breath. She caught on to the hint and explained. “Dev has been having the same nightmare for years, about a woman sitting on a throne of flesh and bone in a red room and talking to her.”
“And you saw this woman in there?” Tristan pointed at the symbol-engraved door.
“Not just saw her.” I was still leaning on Christian for support. It felt good to lean on him. He felt so strong, so protective. As if he could single-handedly stop any shadow slash nightmare woman out to get me. “She chased me from one room to the next.”
Damian’s gaze darkened, and he crossed his arms. “That’s not normal.”
“It’s not?” I asked.
Alec shook his head. “The first room always shows glimpses of your future, in the form of paintings. The second room introduces you to your worst memory, as a
