Page 98 of Hallowed Bones

Dream? Is this all a dream? Have I been sleeping this whole time?

When Ezra lifts his head and speaks, it’s in a low, guttural tone. “Run,” he orders. “Run back to the manor. I will take care of it.”

Dazed by the kiss and full of confusion, when Ezra moves to release me, I latch on. “What is it?” I demand, shoving strength that I don’t feel into my voice. “Why is it here? Why is it following me?”

Ezra pauses, but power swirls around us, the rain sliding off my forehead, down my temples and cheeks as the wind picks up speed. His eyes glow with an unholy light—like a candle’s flame amid a storm.

“Go back to the house and you can get out of the dream.”

“How are you here?” The question whispers from my lips before I can pull it back, and Ezra’s face twists as if he’s in pain.

Instead of answering, though, he shakes his head. “That’s an answer for another time, Haven.” He bends, pressing his forehead to mine. “For now, I need you to trust me.” His request isn’t a command but a plea. My heart halts. My lips part, but my words are swallowed by the creature’s own screams as it dives forward.

Ezra thrusts me away from him and turns back to face it, hands raised as lights dance around him, appearing as fast-spinning balls of fire. “Run!” he yells.

This time, I do.

I run, and I don’t look back. I can’t. If I do, I’ll turn to stone. Or worse—I’ll believe it.

Behind me, the forest shakes. And Ezra stands alone.

CHAPTER 34HAVEN

Fear holds me in its unforgiving grip. Added to it is a sense of wrongness. I don’t want to leave Ezra alone to battle against a monster that is chasing me. Even despite that knowledge, my legs move forward as if controlled by another’s orders. Ezra’s.

Run! The echo of his angry shout resounds in my head as my eyes seek out the haven that is Bishop Manor ahead of me. Soft, warm light spills over gnarled roots and ground and stone steps. That, too, doesn’t seem right. The driveway is gone, replaced by the encroaching forest.

It’s as if the trees themselves are alive.

My heart stutters as an unnatural scream rends the air and the black clouds overhead shudder in response. My feet slap the ground harder. The muscles in my legs shove me forward even when my mind urges me to turn back, to go to Ezra’s side. Tears blur my vision.

I try to slow my steps, stop my movements to no avail. What had Ezra done to me? Had he used magic to compel my limbs? I didn’t even know that was possible.

Oh, who the fuck am I kidding? I don’t know a damn thing about this world they’re from. Magic might reside in my blood, in my genetics, but it doesn’t make much sense to someone who’s never known or even believed its existence.

Feet numb from the cold nearly trip up the stone steps and send me careening into the door. My cold fingers fumble with the knob, grasping with clumsy movements and turning until I fall into the interior. Lights wash over me as I go to my knees in the foyer, slamming down so harshly that the action has my teeth clicking together.

Gasping and soaked down to my very bones, I collapse, curling up onto my side as shivers take over every part of me. A hot, curling flame flares to life inside my chest. Burning with something volcanic and inhuman, it spreads to each arm and leg. Moving down the limbs until it reaches my fingers and toes and then back. The heat slips into my veins faster than blood itself.

Little pinpricks of awareness stab at my flesh, making me wince as I finally release my body and sit up. Tingles race down my body, up my spine, and the heat fills my head. An insistent ringing echoes somewhere in the distance, growing louder and louder with each passing second. I sway where I sit under the onslaught of so much sensation. It’s overwhelming.

Haven!

Clamping my hands over my ears, I shut out the sound of my name. That thing—the creature—is calling me.

Haven, open your eyes.

No. No, I can’t. Please don’t make me.

Sweetie. Don’t be scared.

Burning tears cascade down my face at the second voice that penetrates my head. Softly feminine, just like my mom’s.

I sob, unable to stop the sound. My throat is clogged with smoke and fire. The fear is a living, breathing thing inside of me. The monster under my bed, in my closet, is a real thing, and it’s here. It’s found me again. I’ll never be free.

Every time I think I’ve escaped it—it finds its way back to me. It takes everything. My home. My parents. My family. My friends. My safety. Everything I love, everything I care about—it steals them all.

Haven, Gods, please, open your eyes.