Water water water water…
Wake up. Wake up now! Gray! GRAY!
I gasped at the sound of Sophie’s voice, yanking me out of my haze. My eyes snapped open, and I dropped through the water like a stone, sputtering as it filled my mouth.
It tasted like rot.
I swam to the shore and dragged myself out, shivering. Behind me, the lake turned menacing, the water suddenly black and murky as mist rolled over the surface. It’d come out of nowhere, filling the entire forest.
I was completely disoriented, scared to move for fear of ending up back in the lake.
“What now?”
I was hoping Sophie would answer. Instead, the magic inside me warmed, and I felt a gentle tug, like someone was pulling on a string connected to my bellybutton.
Trusting it, I followed in the direction of the pull.
After only a minute or two of walking, the mist parted. Several yards ahead, I spotted the edge of a new forest, barren and eerie, with black, leafless trees draped with black-and-silver threads.
My heart leaped. I’d know those trees anywhere—they were part of the black forest that now surrounded my magical realm. Part of my realm, according to Liam. Part of the source of my power.
My magic stirred again, tugging me forward as if it were being called home. Hope surged inside me. Maybe I wasn’t trapped. If I could get back to my own magic realm, I could find Liam. I could find a way back to the material plane. Back to my rebels.
The trees seemed to be welcoming me as I approached, stretching out their black branches, their silver tinsel fingers fluttering in the breeze.
Mesmerized, I reached out to touch them, eager to get back to my realm. My palms glowed indigo as the silver threads wrapped around my fingers in a gentle caress, urging me forward.
Urging me home.
I took my first step into the black forest.
I was home. So, so close I could taste it, the lilac and lavender scent of my sacred place filling me so completely, it almost felt as if I’d never left. Not even after Calla died.
It’d been a long time since I’d felt so happy. So relieved.
And then I froze.
A heavy hand fell on my shoulder from behind, its grip tightening painfully.
“Leaving the shadows already, Sunshine?” His voice slithered down my spine, so close I could feel his damp breath on the back of my neck.
I turned to face him. My captor. My tormentor. The man I’d loved more than a decade ago. The man who led his family to my house to butcher the only mother I’d ever known.
The one I’d sentenced to an eternity in this place, just as I’d sentenced myself.
“Haven’t you had enough of this, Jonathan?” I jerked away from his touch, but he grabbed me again, his fingers digging into my flesh. He had no fingernails left.
“Let me go,” I said. “Or I’ll—”
“Or you’ll what? Rip out my soul and banish me to the Shadowlands?” He grinned, most of his teeth missing now, the dead-animal stench of his breath turning my stomach. “I’m afraid that plan didn’t work out so well. So now we’re gonna do things according tomyplan. And Sunshine? You’re not going to like it one bit.”
Five
Emilio
My gun and badge were missing.
I opened my eyes and sat bolt upright, and was swiftly rewarded with a lancing pain through my skull, so bright and sharp I nearly puked.
