Something whooshed overhead, and she spiraled in a desperate search for what had flown over her. The shriek sounded again. It had been the same screaming sound she’d heard last night when she’d tried to enter the archive.
She gulped, her heart beating hard in her chest. What was it? Had she accidentally freed some creature when she’d opened the door?
Another shriek echoed throughout the massive room followed by a snarling growl.
Paige’s breathing turned ragged, and she swallowed hard. After the laundry list of threats Ronnie had given her, she worried about surviving her first day on the job.
She forced her mind to push the terrifying thoughts aside and reason a logical next step. Perhaps if she climbed to the platform above, she could spot the flying, screeching creature. Or at least escape if possible.
She ducked around the corner into the corridor she’d just come from and raced along it toward the next turn she’d need to make to reach the stairs. She reached out to grasp the corner of the shelving unit as she slid around the corner, her feet fighting to find purchase on the smooth concrete floor.
As she rounded the edge, she stopped in her tracks, her eyes bulging and her jaw hanging open. She fought back the urge to tremble while she stared down the source of the shrieking.
Hovering in front of her was a massive dragon. Teal in color with purple-striped wings, it snarled at her. Its sharp teeth gleamed in the light. Horns poked from each side of its head, and spikes ran from its nose to its neck and protracted from its wings.
Sharp claws extended from each of its four paws. The dragon flexed its front paws, spreading the claws out as it floated in front of her, eyeing her. A fat, barbed tail swished behind it angrily.
Paige flicked her gaze to the stairs behind the creature. She was trapped. She’d never make it around the dragon to safety.
She might not make it past her first day on the job.
