Time to head back up to her room. She needed a good night's sleep if she was to begin her journey again in the morning. A twinge of sadness and anger twisted inside her. If only Cora had been willing to help her, she could be returning in triumph instead of defeat. Traveling with the woman would have been tiresome, though, so perhaps it wasn't entirely a shame. She smiled to herself and turned back toward the door.
The dark figure of a man blocked her way.
Victoria cried out and stumbled backward. The figure's hand shot out like a striking snake, grabbing her wrist. It jerked her back to her feet and pulled her against the man's chest. Blue eyes burned like molten sapphires in a face obscured by shadow. Victoria could see a feral hunger in their depths. Her mind dissolved, evaporating in an explosion of primal terror. She struck at those eyes with clawed fingers, raking cold flesh above and below them, but they never blinked. Their icy glow remained fixed on her as she beat against the figure's head and chest. She could feel the flesh and bone beneath the man's clothing, but her blows did not so much as knock him off-balance.
The grip on her wrist tightened as cold fingers twisted. She cried out again, contorting in pain and falling to her knees. Her assailant's strength was incredible. Pinning her arm behind her, he forced her downward with a knee planted between her shoulder blades. Splinters scraped against her cheeks, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Tears seeped around her eyelids. She could feel the man above her, his weight holding her to the ground, and she prepared herself for the filthy, probing touch of his fingers on her legs.
It never came.
She forced one eye open, rolling it this way and that, trying to see the figure. He loomed beyond her sight, the bogeyman from her childhood fears made flesh. Her eye looked up and down the street, hoping to see something, another person she might cry out to for help. Instead, her gaze fell on a small lupine shape in the street. The fox watched her with the same intelligent curiosity, its head cocked slightly to the side. Its grey coat seemed to swell and grow as she looked at it, filling her vision until she was drowning in a silvery sea. Then it faded to black.
FOUR
Victoria wrinkled her nose. The scent of animals, of hay and dung and leather, surrounded her. Opening her eyes, she searched for the source of the offensive odors. Wooden walls rose around her on three sides, vanishing into the darkness above. Where a fourth wall might have stood was only shadows. Something scratchy poked her in the cheek as she turned her head. Her hand explored the ground beneath her. Straw and, beneath it, wood.
Victoria pushed herself into a sitting position. Her wrist protested, sending sharp pains shooting up her arm. All at once, she remembered the dark figure and the events that must have led her here. Instinct pulled her legs up to her chest. Eyes probing every shadow for a sign of her attacker, she began trying to piece together where she might be. Three walls around her and straw beneath her. A stall. Yes, she had to be in a livestock stall in a barn. It would explain the overpowering smell of animals. The darkness suggested that it was still night outside. If she could just find the entrance to this barn, she might be able to figure out where she was.
A rustling.
She froze. Her pulse pounded in her ears. Every nerve, every muscle tense, ready for God alone knew what. Time passed, marked only by her shallow breaths. The darkness seemed to swim around her in streaks of blue and purple and brown. She tried to blink them away, but they remained, flitting in and out of sight like fey spirits.
After what seemed like hours, Victoria let her muscles relax slightly. Whatever made that noise hadn't moved again. Perhaps it had only been a rabbit or mouse outside the barn. Slowly, she pulled her legs under her. The straw seemed to screech as she moved, and she paused every few inches to listen for any response. Silence. She stood. Her feet were cold and stiff, and she allowed herself a brief moment of self-reproach for leaving the hotel room without her shoes.
Moonlight fell in long, blue shafts through gaps in the walls. It gave her enough