For a heartbeat or two Carla stood, afraid to move. Then slowly, she backed away from the creature. She took one step, two—and found the closed elevator doors a hard and unyielding wall against her back. This corridor was a short one, with no other exits—a dead end. There wasn’t even an emergency stairway. She was trapped with a magical creature that might attack her at any moment. And she didn’t have the first idea what to do.