Or someone drugged me.
My pulse spikes. I try to straighten up. Try to focus.
Across the room —
The red skull mask is still there. Still watching me. But now the figure looks closer somehow.
Or maybe my vision is just going to hell.
The room spins harder. My legs feel weak. My thoughts scatter before I can catch them.
No no no —
I need to get out of here.
I take one step. Then another.
The floor rushes up toward me before I even realize I’m falling.
The last thing I see before everything goes dark…
Is the red glow of that skull mask moving toward me.
Then —
Nothing.
CHAPTER 3
HARLEY
Pain is the first thing I feel.
A slow, pounding throb behind my eyes like someone’s knocking from the inside of my skull.
Then the cold.
Hard concrete beneath my palms.
A damp chill that crawls through my clothes and settles deep into my bones.
I groan softly and force my eyes open.
The world comes back in pieces.
Dark ceiling. Dim lights running along the walls. A strange metallic smell in the air—clean but sharp, like disinfectant.
It takes a few seconds before my brain catches up.
I’m not in the hotel anymore.
Panic rises fast.
I push myself upright too quickly and immediately regret it when the room tilts violently.
“Easy, man,” someone says beside me.
A hand steadies my shoulder.