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“Yes.” Luther softens a little. “Sam’s mother.”

There’s a long pause while I stare down into my drink. “What do we do now?” I ask when I look up.

“Now?” Luther slides up next to me and hesitantly wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Now,” he says, “I think we have to prepare ourselves, Little Star. Because I have a horrible feeling that was just the beginning.”

5

SAM

As Nico speaks, the air around us starts to shake. A figure appears in the distance, silhouetted against the dark haze of the forest. Watching my eyes widen, Nico says, “Sam? What is it?”

I look from him to the figure. “You don’t see that?” I ask. “Someone is out there.”

Nico’s eyes flutter open, then closed; he’s struggling to stay awake. “I don’t… see…”

Panic grips my chest. Nico is dying. I need to get him out of here. I need to get us both out of here. Back to Nova, and the cabin, and the others. Back home.

I look up at the sky, praying for a sign—any sign—that Nova’s world is up there somewhere, but there is nothing. Just thick gray cloud and an eerie white moon. I turn back to the figure. It’s walking toward us. As it approaches, I realize it’s a man. Under six-feet tall but thick-set with large bulky shoulders and clenched fists.

Something about his frame is familiar. A shudder runs down my spine. The scars on my torso feel suddenly hot and tight. “Frank?” His name stings like acid on my tongue. “It can’t be. He can’t be here.”

Fear strikes my chest, grips it tight, squeezes my ribs until they feel like they might snap from the pressure. I crouch down and grab Nico’s shoulders. “We have to get out of here.” I try to move him, but he is too heavy and groans as I pull him. “Nico, help me, we have to go, we have to hide.”

My voice is different; quieter and younger. I remember when I used to sound this way—when I was a child, then a teenager. When I was scared. Always scared.

Frank is drawing closer. His feet stomp the ground and make it shake. He seems taller now, like a giant against the landscape of The Hollow. I’m starting to shake. I heave Nico hard and this time I manage to start dragging him through the dark gray mist toward the fountain. I pull him behind it and hold my breath. Then suddenly, we’re not outside The Hollow anymore and we’re not hiding behind the fountain.

We’re in a dark, dank basement hiding beneath the stairs. Frank’s shadow falls over us. I stare up at him. He steps into the light that’s shining down in a narrow beam from the door at the top of the steps. I take in every inch of his snarling face. It is just the way I remember it; full and slightly swollen with red cheeks and a scar that makes his top lip curl.

He flexes his fingers at his sides. I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. I scoot backward but my back hits the wall. Next to me, Nico isn’t moving. I curl my body over his as Frank’s heavy boots take a step closer.

“You’ve disappointed me again, Sam.” Frank puts his hands on his hips. His stomach is large. It flops over his waistband and strains against the buttons of his plaid shirt. Slowly, he rolls up his sleeves then he moves his hands to his belt.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “Please don’t hurt us. I’ll do better next time. I swear.”

“There will be no next time.” Frank whips his belt free and curls it around his hand. Then he comes for me. The blows rain down on my head, my neck, my shoulders, my back. He is indiscriminate. Usually, he tries to keep the marks hidden but tonight he doesn’t care, and this fills me with dread. He’s going to kill me. I know it in every fiber of my being; tonight is the night he will finally kill me.

When he stops, my entire body vibrates with pain. Beneath me, Nico hasn’t moved. He is still breathing, but he’s not awake and I’m glad he can’t see me.

Blood drips down my face. I think my ear is bleeding. I raise a hand to it and flinch. Everything hurts.

Casually, like he’s getting dressed after a long hot shower, Frank puts his belt back on then smacks his palms together and lets out a long heavy sigh. “This is the last time you’ll see me, Sam,” he says. “In two hours, a man will come for you. He’ll take you away, and you’ll never darken my door again.”

“Take me where?” Although I hate it here, terror grips my stomach. “What will he do to me?”

“That’s his concern, not mine.” Frank sniffs loudly and straightens his sleeves. “Goodbye, Sam.”

He turns and walks into the darkness of the basement. I watch his back until it disappears. I look at my arms, but the deep red marks that decorated them a few moments ago have gone. My ear is no longer bleeding. My head is no longer throbbing.

I’m about to stand up when Frank’s shadow falls over me. He flexes his fingers at his sides. I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. I scoot backward but I hit the wall. Next to me, Nico isn’t moving. I curl my body over his as Frank’s heavy boots take a step closer.

“You’ve disappointed me again, Sam.” Frank puts his hands on his hips. And then it starts all over again.

6

MACK

“Sam’s gone. Ragnor brought Elena back from the dead. Kayla’s on the run, and Eve’s—” I stop speaking when I hear footsteps on the stairs. Kole and I reinforced the shield and have spent the last ten minutes talking about what the fuck we’re supposed to do next. I expected him to have answers, but it seems his insight has been used up.