AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I reached for my gun, but I wasn’t fast enough.
The creature slammed into me, knocking me flat on the ground and flinging my pistol from my hands. I scrambled up, gasping for the air that had been forced from my aching lungs, grasping for my weapon. The forest had plunged into darkness and I was discombobulated, stumbling. There was yelling — ragged, pained yelling — and then something seized me from behind.
One hand on the back of my skull. One hand on my jaw. Claws digging into my skin. My head throbbed, as if a speaker had been turned up full-volume against my head and was pounding bass into my skull. The voice that chuckled in my ear, so deep and dark it couldn’t possibly be human, said, “Lights out, girl.”
I was going to die.
It was going to snap my neck.
There was another impact, and this one ripped the creature off me. I was thrown to my stomach, and I couldn’t see my gun in the dark, but I could see Zane locked in combat with the creature. Not just a creature — a demon unlike any I’d ever seen.
It threw Zane off and slammed its foot down on his face with a sickening crunch. Laughter reverberated through the forest, laughter that was utterly cold and cruel. Suddenly the demon was right in front of me, black eyes staring into mine, its teeth too long and sharp to fully shut its mouth.
Leathery black wings extended from its back, cocooning me into total darkness. It smelled like the flowers were burning.
“He was right, you know. Coming here was a very bad idea.”
I was struck hard, and darkness enveloped me.
29
The birds were singing.
I stirred, aware that something soft was beneath my head, but the rest of me was lying on something cool and hard. I wasn’t outside anymore. I couldn’t feel any moss beneath me or any wind on my skin. My backpack was gone. There was a sweet smell, like caramel, berries, and new grass. Another smell too, familiar but distant...tea. It was Earl Gray tea.
A piano was playing. It intertwined with the bird song, creating a symphony unlike anything I’d ever heard. It didn’t arouse my memories, it aroused feelings: the feeling of curling up close to my dad near the fire. Of hugging Marcus. Of my mom reading a bedtime story.
Of Zane. Looking at me. Kissing me. Holding me.
Zane.Where the fuck was Zane?
The piano stopped. There was a soft clinking sound and a little sigh. I wasn’t alone.
I opened my eyes. It took a few blinks for my vision to fully come into focus, but as it did, I realized I was lying on a pale tile floor. A knit sweater had been folded beneath my head like a pillow. Vines dangled above me, and I was surrounded by potted plants and raised garden beds. There were trees, flowers, bushes — everything fragrant and vibrant with life. I was in a large greenhouse, with a domed glass ceiling high above where birds fluttered through the air. I shook my head dizzily, trying to raise it from the ground.
“Be careful. He was rough with you.”
I stiffened. Her voice was so familiar, even after so many years.
“Everly Hadleigh?” She looked almost the same as she had in high school. Her blonde hair was longer now, trailing down her back to her waist. She wore a long black dress, the bodice covered in lace, and her feet were bare.
“Everly Laverne, please,” she said softly. She had a porcelain teacup in front of her, set upon the metal table she was sitting beside. She sipped from the cup slowly, her hand slightly shaking. “My father never wanted me to have his name anyway.”
I sat up slowly, and winced as my head throbbed. When the darkness of those wings had enveloped me, I’d truly thought I was going to die. Especially after seeing the way that thing had thrown around Zane…
“Where’s my demon?” I said sharply. I thought of the creature's foot crashing down on his face, the force with which he’d been thrown — a sick, cold feeling of dread coiled in my stomach. “Where the hell is he?”
“With Callum. He’s alive,” she added quickly. “Callum won’t allow him near me, so…”
“What the fuck is a Callum?” I lurched to my feet, wincing at the ache. I must have been curled up on the floor for a while: every muscle was stiff. Everly looked significantly more nervous now that I was standing up.
“He’s the...he’s…” She frowned slightly, as if she was grasping for the right words. “He’smydemon. He’s the guardian of this place. Of...me. I didn’t mean for him to be so rough with you. With either of you.” Her hands clenched in her lap. “But your demon...Zane...he’s fine. I mean…” She shrugged. “They heal quickly.”
“Don’t you fucking talk about him like it’s not a big deal thatyourdemon bashed his fucking face in,” I hissed. That moment consumed my every thought, fueling my rage. Wherever the hell her demon was, I wanted to fucking kill him for touching Zane like that.
Everly’s face was somber, her mouth pressed into a thin, hard line. “Did you come here to kill me, Juniper Kynes?”
The birdsong stopped. The greenhouse was deathly silent and suddenly cold. She knew who I was — but of course she did. It was a dangerous time to tell the truth, but I’d found the truth was dangerous more often than not.
