Chapter 1

My destined mate had been sleeping with another woman. She was the one who poisoned me with wolfsbane. When I opened my eyes again, I was somewhere else entirely.

Before I could figure out where, a voice spoke inside my head.

[Welcome to Blackspire Keep.]

[Stay alive in the castle for seven days, and you win.]

[Players entered: 30. Players alive: 30.]

[Enjoy your stay.]

The voice faded, leaving thirty strangers standing in a grand hall. Someone started crying.

"This place is horrible. Somebody get me out of here."

I looked around. Horrible?

I was born with my brain wired wrong. Doctors had a long name for it. The pack just called me broken. The more gruesome something looked to everyone else, the prettier it looked to me. Whatever the others were seeing in this hall, I saw warm candlelight and a place I wouldn't mind staying.

A man in a knight's armor was swinging his sword at the shadows. "Come out and face me, coward!"

Two people stepped out of the crowd, wands in hand, looking far too calm for the situation. They introduced themselves as Selene and Dorian, mages who'd been through this game before.

According to them, every one of us had already died back home. This castle was a game built to scare us to death all over again. It had thirty floors, and every floor had at least one monster living on it. The higher you went, the worse they got.

Clear all thirty floors and score 9,999 points, and you got your life back. There was a cash prize too. Big enough that you'd never have to work another day.

Now that got my attention.

"How do we score points?" I asked.

"Your fear meter," Dorian said. "It runs from zero to a hundred. Every time you clear a challenge, whatever's left under a hundred goes into your score. Hit a hundred, and you're dead."

The meter showed how scared you were. Experienced players knew how to keep theirs down. New players usually needed a few days before they could look at a monster without falling apart.

I did the math in my head. "So if I stay at zero, I get a hundred points every single time?" I grinned. "That's easy money."

The whole hall went quiet. Every head turned my way.

What I didn't know was that the whole game was being livestreamed. I couldn't see the live chat, but the viewers had plenty to say.

Live Chat:

GraveDigger_99: Every round has one newbie who talks like this. She'll be the first to scream.

NightOwl77: This is a nightmare-tier dungeon. Even veteran witches don't make it out of Blackspire Keep.

hexqueen: Okay, little wolf. Let's see that zero hold.

That evening, we had to choose where to stay.

"Every floor has an apartment," Selene explained. "At night, the monsters move in and play the part of your family. You'll live with them, eat with them and sleep under the same roof."

Judging by the faces around me, that was the worst news yet.

Selene and Dorian took the first and second floors before anyone could argue. Everyone else stampeded for the lowest floors left. By the time they'd finished shoving past me, there was only one floor nobody wanted.

"Hey, Miss Zero," someone called. "You're not scared of anything, right? Then the thirtieth floor's all yours. Go prove it."

They walked off laughing.

Fine by me. The thirtieth floor it was.

Live Chat:

RIPinPeace: They just sent her straight to the final boss. She's not seeing morning.

Upstairs, I took a look around. Warm colors, soft lamps, furniture nicer than anything I'd ever owned. If the hall downstairs was pretty, this place was a dream home.

Back home, I'd slept under bridges and on sidewalks, with my dog curled against me for warmth. On the worst winter nights, we'd just hold on and wait for the sun. A room of my own was more than I'd ever let myself want.

And now someone was going to live here with me.

I marched up to the bedroom door and pounded on it.

"Hello? I'm starving out here! Can somebody feed me before I pass out?"

Live Chat:

Lurker_Lou: Who bangs on the BOSS'S door and asks for snacks??

DeadEyeDan: She's faking. Three seconds after that door opens, she's screaming.

GraveDigger_99: Eyes on her fear meter, people.