"Damn it," I mutter as I make an effort to get up. Pain erupts in my joints, and I grit my teeth against the sudden weakness in my knees.

Turning, I look right and left in an attempt to figure out where I am and what the hell happened. I don't let panic overtake me, doing my best to keep calm despite the fact that I'm in a dark room, outside of the protective barrier, where the demon could very well come for me.

"Damn your curiosity, Luce," I chastise myself, mumbling a few curses for good measure. Of course I had to investigate the sound of that noise, only to find myself trapped in a hidden room within the wall—and above ground!

Bringing my hand against my chest, I bang it over my heart.

"You foolish girl," I mumble, shaking my head at myself. So lost I was to the possibility that my Nikki would be around that I'd lost sight of all the other potential dangers—and the fact that someone could have made those noises on purpose.

A frisson of awareness goes down my back, and a sliver of fear spears through me.

Someone or something made that noise. It wanted to draw me here. And like the lovesick fool I am, I fell right into its trap.

Gulping down against the anxiety rising in my chest, I realize I need to act fast and find a way out of here. Given my dim vision, the only recourse I have is to feel my way around and hope for the best—clearly not a very optimistic course of action, yet the only one I have at the moment. I stretch my arms out as I walk a few steps forward, and my fingers graze a piece of metal. Frowning, I wrap my hands around the metal bars, realizing it's a staircase—an old, rusty, industrial-type of staircase.

Realization dawns on me. It's a secret room. God, but had I fallen just a little to the right, I would have hurt myself a great deal more than I already did.

"Thank God there's a staircase," I whisper, already raising one leg so I can climb up. Yet I don't make it more than one step up the ladder when a cold gust of wind blows against my neck, my hair flying forward.

My eyes widen just as my heart starts hammering in my chest. Without looking back, I keep climbing, hoping I'm fast enough to evade whatever's behind me.

Another gust of air hits me, yet this time it has a certain warmth to it. A light scent wafts forward, one that speaks of comfort, lightness, of...home.

I freeze.

My self-preservation be damned as my heart pounds in a mixture of anticipation and relief. And following the cues of my body, I slowly turn.