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I jolt into a sprint toward the farmhouse, terror woven into every cell of my being. Movement catches my eye in my periphery. Shadows flicker strangely, almost like—
The shadow of the tree to my right peels from the ash-covered forest floor and lifts, changing shape as it does. Transforming into a—a—
The creature is so grotesque that I reel back in horror, almost falling on my butt. Spider-like legs stab the ground as the thing scrambles past me. A humanoid head with sunken, eyeless sockets and a withered lipless mouth turns to look at me. Two huge arachnoid fangs flash.
The forest fills with chittering as more spider-like monsters rise from the ash. I’m frozen with terror. Afraid if I move, they’ll notice me. That if I can just be so very still, all of this will go away.
But it’s like I’m not here. Like they’re moving past me, more interested in—
Oh, God.
I start to run, but I’m too late. Hundreds of monsters scurry across the forest toward the farmhouse.
No, please no. Horror curdles in my gut. I’m gagging on warm bile, struggling to drag air into my lungs enough to scream, to warn them.
This can’t be happening.
As I clear the tree line and the white two-story house comes into view, my world shrinks to the scene in front of me. Everyone is outside. Zinnia, Jane, and Tanner hanging up the laundry on the clothesline, Aunt Vi sipping a glass of iced tea on the porch. The twins are riding their bikes in circles around the well.
They don’t even have a chance to scream before the monsters descend. They swarm over my family, decimating the people I love most in this world before I can utter a gasp.
I collapse to my knees as the gurgle of blood, the sharp puncturing sound of fangs sinking through flesh, fills my mind.
Blood—so much blood. It’s everywhere. Sprayed in arcs over the white bed sheets swaying in the light breeze. And the smell—it’s choking me. Coating my throat and my mouth and oh God, I can’t take this—
Thrashing forward, I vomit. Heaving over and over until I can’t breathe.
This can’t be real. But I see the creatures feasting on my family. Snapping their bones. Drinking their blood. Doing things so terrible my brain can’t process it.
Something inside me splits open, a wail spilling from my chest . . .
19
I come to seemingly floating in the air. There’s no more sky. No more farmhouse or clothes stained red or pieces of my family strewn over the ground. Instead of the metallic scent of blood, the familiar scent of pine and juniper fills my nose.
Arms—there are arms beneath me. I’m pressed into someone’s chest, held like a child, the feeling so comforting and protective that I nearly sigh with relief. By the way my body presses into the cool flesh, I know without looking that it’s Valerian.
“My family,” I croak, trying to shift to look at his face, but agony follows the simple movement.
“Fine.” Valerian’s voice soothes the jagged wound inside my chest. “Whatever you saw, it wasn’t real.”
Wasn’t real. Wasn’t real. Wasn’t real.
I repeat the phrase over and over, each cleansing breath I take clearing more of the horrifying images from my mind until I can finally, finally convince myself what I experienced truly didn’t happen.
He lays me down on a bed—his bed—and that’s when I remember what I was doing before I fell into that living nightmare.
“The test!” I lift up, the sudden movement sending tiny nails driving into my skull. “Ow.” Groaning, I shut my eyes and clutch my head, gouging my knuckles into my temples. “Is there, by chance, a tiny man hammering into my head?”
His cool breath brushes my cheek as he leans down, easing me onto the bed. “You’re going to feel like death for a few minutes until the tormentor spell you walked into clears your system.”
Of course it’s called a tormentor spell. I sigh, some of the tension bleeding from my shoulders and neck. “So all of that was . . . a hallucination?”
“Yes. That particular spell takes your worst fears and brings them to life in macabre ways.”
Wonderful. “Please don’t tell me I vomited in front of everyone.”
Damning silence. Crap. I open my eyes only to slap a hand over them as the light sears into my brain.
