Chapter 22 Chapter 22
The beast roared.
The sound was loud and furious, shaking through the room as he jerked back from me, his hand pulling away completely. I barely had time to think, my body is still struggling to recover, my breath uneven and harsh as I clutched at my throat.
I had hurt him, and now…I didn’t know what he was going to do to me next.
I didn’t wait to see what he would do next.
The moment his grip left me, I pushed myself off the bed, my legs shaky but moving anyway as I stumbled toward the door. My chest still burned from the lack of air, my throat was raw with every breath I breathed in, but none of that mattered right now.
I reached the door and grabbed it, my fingers tightening around the handle as I pulled.
It opened.
For a second, I just stood there, staring at it in disbelief, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst through my chest. It had never been open before, they never left it unlocked, and now… now it was.
I glanced back over my shoulder.
The beast was still on the bed, one hand pressed over his eyes, his body tense, a low, furious sound rumbling from him as he tried to recover. The sight of it had me wrapped in fear, a reminder of exactly what I had just done.
This was it, my only chance to escape.
My mind raced, the choice hitting me all at once. I could stay here, in this room, with him, after everything that had just happened, or I could run out there into a castle filled with other things, things that might be just as dangerous as him, if not worse.
Either way… I was probably dead.
In that moment, I chose the unknown, so ran.
The moment I stepped out into the corridor, the air felt colder, heavier, and the space stretched wider than I had imagined it would. I didn’t stop to look around, didn’t give myself time to think. I just ran, my bare feet hitting the cold stone floor as I moved as fast as my body would allow.
I found the stairs almost immediately, spiralling downward into darkness, and I took them without hesitation. The only light came from the moon, slipping through narrow openings in the stone walls. It managed to cast faint silver lines across the steps that barely lit the way, but it was enough.
I grabbed the fabric of my dress, pulling it up to my knees so I wouldn’t trip over it as I ran down, my breath coming fast and uneven as I forced my body to keep moving.
The stairs seemed endless, circling down and down. each step felt one too many, like I was trapped in a loop that wouldn’t end.
My legs burned, my chest tightened, but I didn’t stop.I couldn’t, not now.
Not when I had finally made it this far.
The air grew colder the lower I went, the silence deeper, broken only by the sound of my own footsteps echoing against the stone. The castle felt different down here, scarier, like something was waiting just around every corner I could see.
Finally, the stairs opened up.
I stumbled into a clearing, my feet hitting flat ground as I slowed slightly, as I tried to take in where I had ended up.
And for the first time since I had run, I stopped.
A low growl echoed through the stone behind me.
It froze me for half a second, and then fear crashed over me so hard it made my chest tighten, and then I ran again. I didn’t look back this time. I didn’t dare. I could feel him behind me without seeing him, the sound of him enough to tell me he was coming fast.
I pushed myself harder, my feet slipping slightly on the cold stone as I ran through the corridors without thinking, without taking in anything around me. The palace blurred into nothing more than walls and shadows as I turned corner after corner, my breath loud in my ears, my body moving on pure instinct.
I didn’t care where I was going.
I just needed to get away from him.
Another growl echoed behind me, closer now, and panic surged through me, sharp and desperate. I turned another corner and nearly stumbled when I saw them ahead of me... large doors.
My heart jumped as I ran straight toward them, hopeing that luck was on my side, even as doubt followed close behind. They would be locked. Of course they would be locked. Nothing in this place had been left open for me.
But I didn’t stop.
I reached them and grabbed the handles, pulling with everything I had left.
They opened, to my shock. This was now the second time I was lucky tonight.
Cold air rushed in instantly, a harsh, biting wind that slammed into me and stole the breath from my lungs. It cut through the thin fabric of my dress, through my skin, straight to my bones, freezing me where I stood for a second.
Outside, I had made it outside.
stood there in disbelief, my body shaking as the cold wrapped around me, and my mind raced again. I could stay inside, turn back, face him and whatever came with that… or I could run into the freezing dark where I had no idea what waited for me.
Neither options felt like survival, both felt like death.
Still…I chose the cold, even with my barefoot.
I ran, instantly regretting it.
The wind hit me harder the moment I stepped fully outside, my breath coming out in sharp gasps as I rushed down another set of stone stairs. The ground opened up into a wide courtyard, the surface covered in a thick layer of ice that stretched out like a frozen lake beneath the pale moonlight.
My feet slipped slightly as I reached it, but I didn’t slow down
.
Behind me, I heard him getting closer.
I didn’t look back.
I ran across the ice, my legs pushing as fast as they could go, the cold biting into me with every step. It pierced through everything, through the dress, through my skin, settling deep into my bones until it hurt to even move.
My fingers were already going numb, not to mention my feet. I wanted to cry.
My breath burned in my chest.
But I kept running.
For a brief moment, a strange thought crossed my mind, and I almost laughed if I hadn’t been so focused on staying upright. I was suddenly grateful I had kept my pants on beneath the dress, the extra layer doing little, but still more than nothing against the freezing air.
The ice stretched on ahead of me, endless under the moonlight.
And he was still behind me.
I risked a glance over my shoulder, my breath catching as I saw him not far behind me. His massive form moved fast across the ice, low to the ground, on all fours, more animal than anything else. The sight of him like that sent a fresh wave of fear through me, sharp and overwhelming, pushing me to run faster even though my body was already reaching its limit.
Then... A sharp crack split through the night.
The sound stopped me instantly.
My foot froze mid-step as I looked down, my heart dropping into my stomach. The ice beneath me was no longer smooth and solid. Thin lines spread out from where I stood, splitting and branching into dozens more little cracks racing across the surface, faster than I could react.