The glow that had been faint before in my room now blinded me. I closed my hurting eyes, ready to weep with relief. It worked. It actually worked.
When I opened my eyes again, I squinted at the light, which was insanely bright compared to the utter darkness of a minute ago. It took me a few seconds of my eyes adjusting, but then I made out the hallway behind the archway.
Yes!
I rushed out before that doorway decided to trap me again.
Licking over the gash once more and then rebandaging the wound with the towel, I glanced around. Freedom. The possibilities made me dizzy.
Or maybe that was the blood loss.
Right. So, which way to go, which way to go…? I had to be careful not to run into any of the small demons, or else my little excursion would be cut short. I should have brought a handheld mirror to peek around corners or something like that.
Mental note: Plan your next sneak escape better.
I’d just been so excited to finally have a way out that I hadn’t taken the time to prepare well. Live and learn.
I decided to go left. Interestingly, I couldn’t see the door to my room to my right, even though it should be there, given the layout of the room and the place where I’d summoned the passageway.
Then again, the tunnel had been a lot longer than the depth of the stone wall. When the door to my room had been open, I’d seen how deep the wall was...an arm’s length, at most. The passageway had stretched on for several yards—I’d walked for at least two minutes.
Weird magic.
Shaking my head, I snuck down the hallway then stopped. I should mark this spot. If I didn’t get caught, I needed to be able to come back here and summon the passageway again to get back to my rooms. If the hellcat’s rambling held any kind of truth, the exact place where I summoned that door might play an important role. As well as intention, maybe?
This was worse than trying to assemble Swedish furniture with a picture-only manual that didn’t make sense and a kit that was missing key parts.
In fact, it was a good idea to mark my progress through the hallways in general, like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to lead me back to this spot. From what I had seen in my first escape attempt, the hallway didn’t change much in appearance, and if I didn’t leave any hints, I’d get lost.
I remembered how long Azazel had walked when he’d carried me to my rooms...this house was huge, with intricate turns and a maze-like structure to the hallways. And worse than the idea of getting caught—with my luck, I’d run smack dab into Azazel himself—was the possibility of having to actually seek out either him or his demon underlings to lead me back if I couldn’t find my own way. Which was terrifyingly likely if I didn’t mark the places I passed.
Only problem was—I didn’t have a tool to mark the wall or floor in any way. If I had a knife or something similar, I could scratch the stone in a certain pattern. But of course, my demon douche of a husband hadn’t supplied me with a weapon. To be fair, I would have contemplated using it against him.
I stared at the wall and uttered a sound of frustration. There was only one thing in my arsenal to use as a way marker, and I hurt just thinking about it.
Nothing for it...there really was no other choice.
With a sigh, I unwrapped the towel from my arm again and pinched the wound. It was still unscabbed anyway.
I dabbed my finger in the blood and then touched the wall. A little should do. Drawing a sign wasn’t necessary, I just needed something to recognize if I came by here again. To be sure I’d remember that this was the spot to summon the passageway, I gave the wall two dots. Any future hallways to mark would get only one.
And thus I began my journey through Azazel’s medieval mansion.
The hallways truly never changed much. Rough-hewn stone, lit by torches, the space large enough for two male demons with their wings out passing each other without touching, and a ceiling so high that it was lost in murky darkness.
Here and there I came by doors, but they were closed and I didn’t dare try to open them. What if someone was on the other side, and by peeking inside