I followed closely the young woman(?) who had come to my rescue twice in one night, doing my best not to fall into fear and despair and the hysterical panic that threatened me with every passing moment. For the idea I'd lost my mind had long since died, as had the reasoning this was all some kind of dream, induced by my father's rage and subsequent beating.

No, I had to face reality, as messed up and completely unbelievable as that reality was for me in this moment. I had somehow found myself lost on a strange world populated by devils and treated as if I were something I didn't understand. But the burbling power inside me, shifting and growing with each breath, told me this was all very real indeed.

I should have been terrified, and certainly fear played its part, tingling across my exposed skin, tying my stomach into knots so tight I could barely breathe past them. But lingering with that fear was excitement. When I first realized it, I stuttered a step, catching my breath, wondering what was wrong with me. The girl Reena cast a curious look over her shoulder at me, but didn't comment, continuing her fast but easy stride. She seemed so comfortable in her strange skin, though hers seemed to match mine rather than bearing the dusky redness of the others who occupied this world. And her horns, while present, were small and polished, hidden almost completely by the heavy, black dreadlocks that swung over her narrow shoulders and over her muscular back. She was a dichotomy of contradictions, from her thick, black makeup that reminded me of my brief and jarring education into Goth headbangers-one of Father's proofs of devils living among us-and giant black boots to the slick leather pants that hugged her legs and the mass of her hair. All clashing with the casual beauty she couldn't hide behind makeup and clothing, the fullness of her mouth, how her amber eyes seemed to read even the tiniest detail without judgment or question.

Who had I fallen in with? Perhaps the best person I could have as a guide. In short order I was feeling at least comfortable enough with Reena I stopped thinking of her as a devil conjured by my father's fears and as a person who I could, perhaps, trust enough to take me where I needed to go.

Because home wasn't an option, was it? If I even could find my way back, if I went back now, surely Father would kill me and my whole family just to punish us for my escape. No

matter I had no idea how I'd escaped outside the feeling within I could do it again now that I had access to the strange rainbow light inside me. At least, I thought I could. But until I knew what that rainbow light meant, what this strange place held in store and what I could do to ensure when I did return my father couldn't hurt me ever again, I had to be patient and do my best to keep an open mind.

Harder than expected, despite my years fighting my father's beliefs. I still shivered at the occasional sight of a devil walking past, imagining deep in my child's mind it would turn on me at any second and devour my soul, tearing my throat out with its horrible teeth and laughing as I burned in its flames. Instead, the devils of this place simply stared a moment before continuing past as if their lives were of much more import and I honestly wasn't worth the effort.

Comforting and insulting in a red skinned, horned and amber eyed package.

The shining black mountain I'd seen when I first arrived here loomed larger, towering over us as Reena guided me toward it. A vast, wide avenue led to the base, empty but for lines of bleachers of black stone matching the mountain itself. It appeared as if a giant had sheared off the surface with utter precision, leaving behind a mirror like surface all the way to the blunted off peak. I could make out lights, openings in the surface and realized, when Reena spoke at last, it wasn't just a mountain, but some kind of city within this city.

"The Seat," she said. "We'll see if Mabel is around."

I nodded as if that meant something to me, gaping up at the massive cliff. And felt my fear diminish further, despite myself. Something about all of this felt right to me, normal. Like the life I'd left behind the rubbery membrane in heat soaked Texas was the lie and this, all of this, was the truth I'd longed for my entire life. I shook my head as we approached a narrow channel carved into the side of the mountain, a large, silver platform guarded by two bulky devils our obvious destination.

"Just follow my lead," she hissed back at me before coming to a confident halt before the massive guards in their silver and gold embossed armor, their heads and shoulders towering over us. I swallowed past the giant lump in my throat at their threatening bulks, their wide, curved horns and pulsing power, thinking of Father as Reena spoke. "Daeva Reena and Drach Mathias to see Ruler." It should have meant something to me, those words, but they sounded like another language.

The guards grunted in unison, the one on the right speaking in a graveled voice so harsh I wondered if he had a condition. And almost laughed at my ability to make light of the situation. It wasn't like me, not at all. Then again, I'd never been in a situation like this one before. Maybe this was the real me.

"Credentials." He didn't even look at Reena.

She held out one hand and showed the guard something I couldn't see, but it seemed to do the job. He nodded once and stepped aside, though when I passed I felt his eyes on me.

"You're cleared to level ten," he said before the ground beneath my feet vibrated and I barked a horrified and uncontrolled yell of surprise as the world fell away and I found myself hurtling upward to the sky.

Reena grinned at me, amber eyes sparking with fire as her hands grasped my arms and she shook me. It saved me from my terror, gave me something to focus on while the air whipped past the edges of the silver disk we stood on, the shining wall of the mountain flowing past as if alive.

"Elevator," she said. "It's all good."

I would have told her it wasn't, in fact, all good if I could have found the spit to lubricate my tongue and unlock it from the roof of my mouth. Before I could muster enough moisture to fill her in on just exactly how not good all of this was, the disk came to a sudden halt, smoothly enough but still terrifying considering how high we'd come and how quickly. I staggered as she released me, her beautiful face tight in a frown as she spun and marched for the opening in the glass-like mountain.

I followed on shaking knees, not because she asked but for the simple relief of escaping the faint vibration of that elevator. "You could have warned me." I didn't mean to speak. I startled myself when I did. She grinned at me over her shoulder and kept going.

"You planned to climb the Seat?" She seemed to have a firmer grasp on her sense of humor than I did, and her sarcasm wasn't lost on me. Not that I liked it, mind you. But it made her feel more human so I let it pass.

"Where are we?" I looked around, forcing my shoulders down, my breathing to steady. I'd had enough training in controlling how I felt dealing with Father. It was coming in handy, this ability I'd created to hold myself together and focus in the face of things others perhaps would find crushing or overwhelming. Not that I'd ever be grateful to him for anything, but at least something good had come from years of abuse. I guess.

"Not where I wanted to be." She didn't sound worried, however, ignoring the devils we strode past. These stared openly, some whispering, while she sauntered with great self- confidence through the halls before us. I stared back, stunned by their elaborate clothing, the spikes and piles of odd colored fabrics and the way their hair seemed to spiral upward in tornadoes of frothing blackness. And then they were past and we continued on, more polished black stone, a heavy carpet beneath my sneakers of the deepest ebony, and elaborate wall sconces throwing light through their golden weave over the interior. Enough light to see by, though muted and perhaps meant to be less than welcoming.

It felt like what I always imagined a haunted castle would.

Reena paused before entering a doorway, her narrow hips swaying as she spun and gestured for me to follow quickly. I tucked into the room while she softly closed the heavy black portal behind us, pausing to listen at the seam before she winked one of her huge, amber eyes at me, long lashes brushing the round of her cheek before she spun and quick marched across the room toward another door. I gaped at the space, lavishly decorated with lush furs on the floor and a massive window overlooking the city below, finding myself passing behind her into what appeared to be a closet.

At least, I guessed as much from the apparel hanging within, though the clothing seemed rather odd to me, involving a great number of silver chains and giant boots with thick soles so big I imagined breaking an ankle just trying one on.

"This way." Reena didn't stop, heading to the back of the space and to the far wall which she touched briefly before the two wooden panels parted. I caught the scent of outside air, a faint wash of a breeze, and shook my head in wonder at the passage revealed on the other side.

"Up," she said. And took her own order to heart, marching up the steps revealed.

The panel behind me snicked softly closed without my assistance and for a brief moment panic gripped my heart. What if we were trapped? But Reena's confidence hadn't wavered and as she continued upward I grasped my fear firmly in my control and wrestled it down. I had no choice right now, no options but to move forward. Even if Reena proved an enemy in the end, I had the odd rainbow power within to back me up. At least, I told myself as much as I drew a breath and began to climb.

It wasn't long before my thighs began to burn and my chest to heave, unused as I was to such activity. I did my best to stay fit on the compound but aside from running the perimeter and

pushing my own regime of body weight exercises, I had little assistance in staying in shape. The compound's maintenance was carried out by those Father trusted. Forget allowing me access to tools of any kind, or granting me skills or education I could use on the outside if I succeeded in escape. Only the drive to make sure I was as strong as I could be to stand against my father's beatings drove me to work out at all. But despite the heat and my efforts, nothing could prepare me for the long, arduous climb after Reena.

Who, of course, strode like a machine ever higher, showing no sign the effort troubled her or put her under stress. I almost asked for reprieve, to slow somewhat, but grimly refused to show weakness. Out of a need to maintain what slim show of personal power I held or to protect my pride I wasn't sure, but neither did I have the courage to really dig deep and find out.

There was a brief moment of fear so powerful I staggered one last time. Almost as frightening as the horrid elevator, as I turned a corner I realized the staircase I climbed had somehow lost the outer wall. I now strode upward with my right side exposed to the night and the long, seemingly endless drop to the ground below. Fortunately the break was only a few steps high and I passed into the protection of the mountain again before I could let panic drive me to do something stupid. Still, I was well and truly shaken when, only a moment later, Reena came to an abrupt halt before me.

I couldn't help the soft meep of concern that escaped and, fortunately, she didn't make an issue of my moment of weakness, instead gesturing before her. The blank stone shifted with a soft grinding sound, light spilling out over us as the staircase ended at a room beyond the final door.

She exited and stepped aside and I breathed a deep sigh of relief to join her. Some kind of lab, it seemed, with long, low tables burdened with jars and bubbling pots, the smell gag worthy as chemicals mixed in an unpleasant cacophony of scents potent enough to make me sneeze twice in rapid succession.

This time Reena did react, snorting a laugh behind one hand. But I didn't take offense, just shrugged and wiped at my nose with the back of my hand, in awe of this place and certain now I'd somehow found myself in a fantasy so elaborate I'd never find my way home even if I wanted to.

"Theridialis must be out." She clucked softly to herself, tossed her dreads, the ends pattering against the thick leather of her corset. "No matter, we'll track down his daughter, Avenesequoia. She'll know how to find Mabel."

Again, gibberish, but at least Reena still seemed to know what she was doing. Though, I sensed some hesitation in her as her head cocked to one side and she waited in silence. For what, I had no idea. Instead, I stood next to her, hands clenching and unclenching, waiting for her to do something.

And, finally, found my temper. "Well?" I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, feeling ineffectual and even more lost than ever. When I was moving, doing something, I was able to fool myself into believing this wasn't some giant freak show that I had no control over. That my life hadn't turned into a bad movie even my story starved brain snorted at. I couldn't help my need for information, for action. And I took it out on Reena.

She glanced at me with a flicker of annoyance, like I was bothering her. "She's coming.

Sheesh. Hold your horses."

I spluttered at her. Impossible to know how to take her, what to say, how to deal with this situation. I simply had no experience whatsoever with anything outside the compound and this, well. This was nothing like the compound. Like anything I could ever imagine.

When Reena sighed and relaxed slightly, her face turning toward the door at the far side of the lab, I found myself tensing further. Not that her reaction should have instilled anything but confidence, perhaps. But I was still in the middle of denial and incomprehension and no amount of fighting for calm could actually make sense of any of this.

The door opened, a slim devil in a slick black cat suit entering. But it wasn't her long, shining hair or her large amber eyes that caught my attention. I barely had a moment to look her over, to be honest, to realize she was only the beginning before I found myself gaping at the towering, gray woman who entered behind her, diamond eyes fixed firmly on me.

I trembled and felt my knees buckling as the giant woman smiled down at me, massive hands folded before her against her gray robe, long, black hair swinging to her bare feet while her rainbow power washed over me.

"Welcome, brother," she said in a voice that sounded like the music I carried in my heart. "I'm very happy you're here."

***