I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was the man from the memories, but even more handsome, with a rugged stubble covering his fine features. This was the man who’d slit that Larkin girl’s throat right in front of Katia, but there was no cruelty in his face now, only sorrow.
“Marie,” he whispered, his dark brown eyes welling up with tears. He was reaching his hand through the corn as if to touch my face, when his flesh disintegrated from his fingers, dripping down to the ground like melted wax, exposing the bones of his hand. He jerked it back, cradling his decimated hand against his chest.
The end of the black silk ribbon slithered over my shoulder as if it were trying to reach him. Part of me was drawn to him, and another part repulsed.
“I shouldn’t have brought you here,” Dane said with a desperate edge to his voice as he pulled me back.
“Dane,” Coronado’s voice boomed. “You are of my blood. Give her to me, or there will be a price.”
“She doesn’t belong to you. No one has to die.” Dane tightened his grip, turning all his attention back to me. “Ashlyn, what did you say to me the night of the wreathing ceremony . . . when you spoke Caddo?”
I couldn’t understand why he was asking me this. Why now? As my gaze gravitated back to Coronado, Dane held my chin, forcing me to look him in the eyes.
“He needs to hear this, too. What did you say to me?”
“I . . . I don’t know. It just came out.”
“I’m warning you,” Coronado seethed.
“Please,” Dane said in the softest tone, his lips hovering just a few inches away from mine. “Tell me.”
I felt so vulnerable, so out of control, especially with Coronado so close to me, but I wanted to tell Dane what I’d said at the wreathing ceremony. I wanted so badly for it to mean something.
“It was something my mother said to me before she disappeared,” I whispered, taking in his breath as if it were my own. “When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in—blood and salt.”
“Do you believe in a love like that?” His words brushed against my lips.
“Yes,” I gasped.
“So do I.” A surprised smile seemed to pass over his face. “And that’s why I’m letting go.”
Dane dropped his hands and took a deliberate step away from me.
Instantly, the energy shifted. A low growl echoed through the corn. The growl quickly turned into a screaming wail; and I knew something was coming for me.
29
RUN
A POWERFUL ENERGY reached through the stalks, grabbing hold of my heart. The tremendous force sent me hurtling back through the corn toward Quivira, the leaves whipping against my skin. I tried to fight it, find my way back to Dane, when something even more powerful rose up in my bloodstream, sinking into my limbs, adding extra weight to every movement.
As the conduit feelings took over, the pulling sensation subsided, until I was standing on my own two feet again—deep within the corn—the sacred circle in my sight. But as soon as I stepped toward it, I felt the past needling its way inside of me, taking over. Muscles clenched, back arched, I tried to hang on to the present, but it felt as though someone were peeling my fingers back from a narrow ledge.
? ? ?
“Run,” I whisper.
The boy staggers from the sacred circle into the field, his hands clasped tight over his ears, his cheeks damp with tears.
As he runs, the corn shifts in front of him, opening like a maze. The dark force is toying with him. It waits until he’s almost reached the edge of the outer perimeter before seizing him and sending him back into the depths of the field. The boy tries to get up, but something’s wrong. The flesh has been stripped from his right leg, exposing bone and torn muscle.
He lets out a gut-wrenching cry as he grabs the stalks and begins to drag himself through the field. The dark energy rolls through the corn again, and he goes flying. He lands with a gaping gash in his side, as though the corn has taken a bite out of him. The dark energy gathers strength until it forms into a single unstoppable wave. The wave rips through him, leaving nothing behind but blood and bits of tissue splattered across the dark green leaves.
? ? ?
“Ashlyn,” someone yelled, pulling me back from my nightmare.
I came to, slung over Dane’s shoulder as he ran through the corn, the churning field gnashing at his heels.
Dane shoved me through the barrier, back into Quivira, then came diving after me. He landed with a dense blow, clutching his shoulder. I could taste his blood in the air, metallic and sharp on my tongue.
“Are you okay?” I crawled toward him, a dark red stain spreading over his linen shirt.
“It’s nothing,” he said. “Are you okay?”
“Why did you let me go?” I asked, unable to hold back the tears.