Iris’s POVI came back to consciousness in pieces, none of them pleasant.The first piece was the cold, a damp and creeping thing that had worked its way into my joints while I lay motionless on the floor. The second piece was the smell, mildew and rust and something faintly metallic that I didn't want to identify. The third piece was the pain, a throbbing ache at the base of my skull that pulsed in time with my heartbeat and made my stomach lurch every time I tried to lift my head.I kept my eyes closed and my body still, the way an animal plays dead when a predator is near. Somewhere above me, footsteps crossed a floor and a door opened and closed. A man's voice filtered down through the darkness, muffled by distance but unmistakable in its cold authority. He was talking to someone, giving orders, his tone flat and emotionless in a way that made my skin prickle.I remembered the hand over my mouth, the chemical smell and the voice in my ear and the way the world had tilted sideways
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