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similar to the ones Monster had provided for her—grey pants and a shirt—and then began to pick up her apartment. If the police wanted to come back with her, perhaps to check her story, or something else she hadn’t thought of, she didn’t want to have to explain the mess. That she’d done this herself embarrassed her now. She wasn’t some teenage boy unable to control their anger. Since when had she been the type of person to smash up their own belongings?
    Lily looked around at all the broken glass, broken crockery, and splintered picture frames, and her heart sank.
    She couldn’t believe she’d been responsible for such destruction. What the hell had she been thinking? At least she didn’t have to worry about Monster watching her through any hidden cameras now. There was no way any would have survived her anger.
    With everything as tidy as she could make it, though the place now looked empty and impersonal with most of the pictures and trinkets broken and in the trash, she grabbed her jacket. She’d lost her purse, together with her keys and phone, when she’d been snatched, but she had a spare front door key in a drawer in the kitchen. Remembering some cash she’d kept in an empty tin in the cupboard, she opened the cabinet door and pulled down all the cans of beans and tomatoes, until she reached the right one. Thankfully, the bills were all still folded inside. At least she’d be able to grab a cab downtown to the station.
    Keeping her head down, Lily let herself out of her apartment. She felt horribly self-conscious, not wanting to bump into anyone who might recognize her, though, by the way her neighbor was talking, half the city would know who she was. She’d always been someone to keep a low profile, and the idea of people spotting her and talking about her behind the backs of their hands filled her with a sickening dread. She liked being invisible, and right now she felt like she had a spotlight above her head.
    She stepped out of her building, and a wave of vertigo hit her, the ground seeming to shift beneath her feet, so she put out her hands to steady herself. It was mid-morning, and the streets of Los Angeles were busy and loud. Workmen across the street yelled instructions to one another. A pneumatic drill hammered, pummeling her eardrums. The tall buildings on both sides of the street rose fathomlessly into the sky, and just their height caused dizziness to wash over her again. Vehicles drove, bumper to bumper, in both directions, and someone blasted on their horn, making her jump and clutch a hand to her chest. Even the air smelled wrong, filled with chemicals and pollution.
    Someone bumped into her as they walked past, though she had no recollection of stepping onto the sidewalk. “Hey, watch it, miss,” the man snapped.
    She stood, panting and frozen, trying to resist the urge to turn and bolt back into her apartment and lock the door behind her. Would that be her fate now? She’d been forced out of one prison, only to lock herself up in another of her own making?
    An ache of longing for Monster filled her chest. She wished he was with her. If he’d been by her side, she’d be stronger. She didn’t want to go through life on her own, not anymore.
    Lily took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. Her desire to run and hide didn’t leave her, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to live that way. After everything she’d been through, she was stronger than that, better than that. She could do this.
    The light of a yellow taxicab shone from down the street. She lifted a hand and managed to flag the cab down.
    The vehicle pulled over and she climbed in the back. “Nearest police station, please.”
    The driver—a young man—lifted his gaze to the rear view mirror and made contact with hers. His eyes narrowed. “Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?”
    She shook her head, allowing her dark hair to fall over her face, and turned to the window. “I’ve just got one of those