He frowned. “Burn has magic in it?”
I nodded, trying not to hyperventilate.
“It’s okay, Gin,” Owen said, gently cradling me in his arms. “Calm down. Just breathe. You’re safe now.”
I turned my head so that my face was buried in his neck and did as he said, drawing his rich, metallic scent deep down into my lungs, trying to clear the lemony stench of the lab from my mouth and throat, if not my mind and heart.
“Safe,” I replied, although my voice was so soft I doubted he heard me.
Then my eyes closed, and I let the blackness take me.
•
Coral’s laughter echoed in my ears as I followed her into the Southtown apartment building. The door banged shut behind me, making me jump and yelp.
Coral laughed again, her voice sly with amusement. “Relax. It’s just a door. It won’t bite you. This way, kid.”
Her heels clattered on the floor ahead of me, and I hurried to follow the noise. The inside of the building was almost pitch black, and I ran my hand along the wall so I wouldn’t bump into anything. The smell of burnt popcorn, scorched coffee, and Chinese food filled my nose, while my shoes scuffed through old newspapers, empty cans, and wet, squishy blobs on the floor—some of which squeaked and skittered away at my touch. Most likely trash, vomit, and rats, all of which I was better off not seeing. I shuddered and walked on.
Coral pushed through a door at the end of the hallway, and we stepped outside into a large square courtyard surrounded by buildings on all sides. I blinked against the bright, sudden glare. The buildings were all four stories tall, each with a set of stairs climbing from one level to the next. Doors lined all of the levels, from the ground floor to the top story. No one stood on the balconies or perched on the stairs, but music drifted out from behind some of the doors, while TVs blared behind others.
“This courtyard connects all of these buildings,” Coral said. “Here, I’ll show you.”
My stomach grumbled again, wondering when we were going to get to the food she’d promised me, but I kept quiet as she strolled around the square, opening some of the doors on the other buildings, leading me down hallways and back out again.
Several minutes later, we ended up back where we’d started in the center of the courtyard.
“Um, why are you showing me all of this?”
“Because it’s always good to have an escape route,” Coral said in a wise, knowing voice. “Trust me on that.”
I sighed, and my stomach gurgled, the grinding noise rising to a plaintive wail.
She laughed again, then gave me a dazzling smile. “But enough with the grand tour. C’mon. Let’s go to my place.”
She looped her arm through mine and led me over to a set of stairs in the first building we’d walked through. We climbed all the way up to the fourth floor and went over to a door in the corner.
“Home, sweet home,” Coral said, opening the door and stepping inside.
I followed her, and she closed the door behind us, throwing a series of locks.
Click. Click. Click.
The sounds seemed even louder than the banging door downstairs earlier, and I had to curl my hands into fists to keep from jumping in surprise again. To take my mind off the fact that I was locked in an apartment with a complete stranger, I focused on the scene before me.
The apartment was tiny, with the main area only about twenty-five feet square. A door to the right led to a small bedroom, with an even smaller bathroom attached to it. A stove splattered with grease stains stood along one wall, next to an old pea-green refrigerator with rusty dents in the sides. An orange plastic table with two mismatched lawn chairs was squeezed in between the fridge and a blue plaid couch covered with threadbare blankets and flat pancake pillows.
“So what do you think?” Coral asked.
“It’s nice.”
She snorted. “It’s a dump is what it is. But it’s mostly mine, and that’s all that matters, right?”
“Why just mostly?”
She waved her hand. “I have a . . . landlord who drops by sometimes. But I can handle him.”
I knew that she really meant her pimp, but I didn’t say anything.
Coral bumped her skinny leg into the rickety coffee table, rattling several open, empty pill bottles sitting there and causing a bit of white powder to puff up from the wooden surface. She saw me staring at the bottles, and she stepped toward me, her eyes narrowing, her lips twisting into an angry snarl, her hands clenching into fists. It almost seemed like she thought I was going to try to steal something off the table, even though it was just junk.
“What’s with all the bottles?” I asked, trying not to shrink away in fear. “Have you been sick?”
“Yeah. Something like that.” She stepped back, her face smoothed out, and her fists loosened. “But enough about me. Let’s talk about you.”
Coral circled around me. I tried not to fidget as her hazel eyes swept over my body from head to toe.
“You’re in pretty good shape, all things considered.” She wrinkled her nose. “Well, except for how you smell. So what do you want first, kid? Food or a hot shower?”
The choice was easy. “Food.”
“Smart girl.”
She went over to the fridge, pulled open the door, and drew out a white paper bag. The top of the bag had been rolled down, but a pink figure was printed on the side. I squinted. Was that a . . . pig?
“You like barbecue?” Coral asked. “It’s day-old leftovers, but they warm up good.”
My stomach rumbled again, answering her.
Coral unwrapped half of a barbecued beef sandwich, slapped it on a paper plate, and shoved the whole thing into a microwave that perched precariously on top of the fridge. A minute later, she set the sandwich in front of me at the table.
“Enjoy.”
She didn’t have to tell me twice. I picked up the sandwich and started taking big bites out of it, chewing and swallowing as fast as I could, just in case she changed her mind and tried to take it away from me. The sandwich was hot, too hot to eat, really, but the sweet-and-spicy sauce and the smoky flavor of the meat were so good that I didn’t care that it burned my tongue. I ate that sandwich, then used my fingers to scoop up the stray bits of meat and sauce that had soaked into the paper plate and sucked them up too.
When I was done, I looked at Coral, a silent question in my eyes.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ve got another sandwich you can eat—later. First, let’s get you cleaned up.”