Page 39 of Her Magic Light

My skin nearly left my body and crawled away. Revulsion for this man filled me. Only Paulson might have been worse.

“Yes.” He did the hand clap thing again. “I believe the baseline tests can wait until you’re a little more… trusting.” He smiled, that same open disarming grin he’d aimed in my direction when I first came into the room.

“Meira.” He hesitated. “Miss White. Won’t you follow me?” Again with that grin, and again my skin wanted to crawl off my body. Dr. Anderson all but held out his hand, and I averted my gaze.

Instinct pushed me to seek reassurance from Coop, and I nearly grabbed him, but I clasped one of my hands tightly over the other to prevent myself from touching him at all. It was a stupid, reckless impulse. My grasping for something—anything—to make me feel safe.

I certainly didn’t need to turn to a prison guard to find my courage. He wasn’t holding it for me, and he’d not helped me get away. Instead, he helped them keep me in the dark. I had my own courage, screwed up into a hard ball in the pit of my stomach. It was heavy, and at times it felt nearly useless in this situation, but it was still there. So I lifted my chin and squared my shoulders.

Neither did I want sympathy from Coop. I was above needing any sort of reassurance from my captors. The connection between us, whatever it was, had been manufactured by being captured. I had no doubt. I steeled myself and fell into step behind Dr. Anderson, hyper aware now of Coop behind me.

Dr. Anderson walked to a door in the wall adjacent to were we’d entered his office. He opened it with a flourish, but only exposed a room more dimly lit than this one.

“Great,” I muttered. “More dark.” I hadn’t meant him to hear me, but he chuckled.

“Yes.” His tone remained agreeable. “It must seem that way.”

I couldn’t see as well in here once we stepped inside, and Dr. Anderson closed the door behind us. I wrinkled my nose as I screwed up my eyes and tried to focus on something, anything, in here. The more I knew, the more power I had to escape. Knowledge would make it easier to get away.

Though, escape seemed unlikely, given I was locked inside an actual fortress of some kind, but I had to believe I could somehow accumulate knowledge here. They thought I was some sort of powerful being. Maybe I could bluff my way out. If I could figure out the routine, the other prisoners, I could find a way out. Then I would take as many blue light and fang guys with me as possible.

Out of habit, I lifted my hand to remove my glasses.

“Keep them on.” Dr. Anderson’s words were little more than a snarl, and I retracted my hand immediately, curling my fingers into fists at my side.

Coop edged closer behind me, and as much as I didn’t want it to, his quiet presence lent me strength. Though, I reminded myself it had been caused by the situation, but I still drew from it.

The longer I stood, trying to grow accustomed to the gloom, the more of the room came into focus. A large desk took up most of the floor space in the middle of the room. A desk or a table—I couldn’t quite tell. Dr. Anderson walked straight to it, and the noises of flipping switches filled the room.

“This part is pretty spectacular, Agent Cooper,” he called over his shoulder. “Watch and learn.”

Coop moved to stand between us, but then he bent his head to see what Dr. Anderson was doing. He removed his sunglasses and held them in his hand.

A whining sound started, and I glanced around, trying to locate the source. Very slowly, some huge shutters on the opposite wall began to fold on themselves, parting so a thin shaft of light fell into the room.

Actual light. Taking a breath, I appreciated the beauty of the single shaft.

I narrowly prevented myself racing to stand in it, and the urge only grew stronger as the gap between the shutters widened, allowing more and more light into the room. No one was watching me, and I lifted my glasses from my face.

Energy zipped through me as I watched the sun reveal itself. The entire wall was opening, and I could only stand and wait to be bathed in light. Anticipation hummed through each of my nerves, and I closed my eyes, sensing the light grow brighter as it kissed against my skin. Warmth spread through me, and I basked.

“You like this?”

I ignored Dr. Anderson at first, unsure who he was talking to.

“Meira?” It was the sharpest he’d spoken my name, and I flinched. “What are you doing?”

“Just standing,” I murmured.

“Perhaps you should look, instead?” He still spoke sharply, but now his voice held amusement as well.

Slowly, I opened my eyes, and I faced the giant, open wall. I stifled a gasp and took a step forward. What…?

I looked out over a yard where the ground appeared to be made of a flat, glass sheet. I had no idea where in the building I was or which angle I was looking out over, but the ground there was smooth and reflective, and it had an almost pearlescent sheen. Light bounced from it, refracting in all directions, and it called to me.

Like a sunlight bath.

There was a balcony just outside the room we were in, and it called to me, too. I wanted to be closer to the rainbow area made of pure light. I wanted to absorb the joy inherent. I wanted to paint it, to be it.

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