“What the hell?” I tapped the flashlight against the palm of my hand and clicked the button a few more times. Nothing. It was completely dead.
I turned around, but it had become so dark I could hardly see two feet in front of me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and my breathing seemed to echo back at me across the eerily quiet grove of trees. Though I could hear their voices, farther away than I thought, I couldn’t see Maggie or Ty from where I was standing.
Too far, Styles. A little too far. I shook my head and turned back the way I’d come. I’m going to get back to Maggie and we’re going to get the hell out of here. We’re going to—
The breath caught in my throat, and I stared at the ground—my eyes refusing to accept the sight: a long, thick vine was creeping toward me, slithering like a snake across the grass.
You’re seeing things, the ever-faithful voice of reason whispered, but I shook my head. No, this was real.
The realization barely registered when the vine jerked toward me, snapping and twisting as it wrapped around my ankle and yanked me forward. I landed hard on my backside, all the wind knocked out of me. Another thick vine wrapped around my arm and encircled my hand and wrist. I shrieked and kicked at the vine, but it was too fast and too strong.
Using the flashlight in my free hand as a weapon, I tried to bludgeon the vine holding my wrist. The tree above me swayed, its limbs moving like a puppet master working his marionette. I screamed as one of the branches dipped down and wrapped around my waist, yanking me to my feet. It pulled me toward the thick trunk of the tree, the vines tightening around my arms and legs.
“Lainey!” a voice called, but it sounded a million miles away.
“Help!” I wailed, struggling against the tree. Hot tears burned my eyes, and I blinked rapidly, trying to clear them. The trunk of the tree was vibrating, and the rough bark against my back was hot, like the surface of an oven. Wind whipped through my hair, and I swore I heard laughter in the leaves as they enveloped me.
“Please,” I choked out. “Please let me go.”
The tree responded by squeezing me tighter. I cried out, and the movement created a painful pressure in my chest.
I’m going to die.
I tried to move, to scream, but every cell in my body was wailing in pain. The tree held me so tightly I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to. The branches continued to loop over my body, the leaves coarse against my skin. It was getting harder to breathe.
The vines rippled across me. My brain hurled the image of a boa constrictor in front of my eyes, and it was then that I knew: I’m already dying.
Uncontrollable tears gushed down my cheeks as I waited for the inevitable. The branches got tighter.
The tree isn’t going to suffocate you. Like a boa, it’s going to kill you from lack of blood circulation to your vital organs. The voice in my head spoke like a teacher giving a lecture. No emotion. Just the cold, hard facts.
Your circulatory system is malfunctioning. Your arterial pressure is dropping, and your venous pressure is skyrocketing. Your blood cells are beginning to close.
“Lainey!” The voice was closer this time, but I knew by the time they reached me it would be too late.
Your heart is going to give out. It won’t be long now.
“No!” My voice was strained, and the cry was barely audible. No! I don’t want to die tonight! I fought against the calm, scientific voice, NO!
Warmth bloomed in the pit of my stomach and began to spread throughout my body.
I will not die tonight!
Every part of me screamed in agony as both pain and heat surged through my veins. I. Will. Not. Die. Tonight.
I opened my mouth and with the last breath in my lungs, screamed into the darkness. “NO!”
A brilliant flash of green light exploded in front of my eyes, responding to my call. It lit up the dark space like a firework, and with a blast of cold air I slammed into the grass. The tree had released me.
My chest was on fire, and I gasped, nearly crying out as blood returned to my deadened limbs. A wave of nausea rolled in my stomach, and I turned my head, vomiting in the grass. I wanted to lie there until the pounding in my head eased, but I forced myself to move, crawling as best I could. My arms and legs were tingling, the same feeling as when you knock your funny bone or you sleep on your arm the wrong way. Every inch sent a spasm of pain through me. I clenched my teeth and kept crawling.
A shadow crossed over me, and something strong reached down and gripped my wrists, pulling me to my feet. I thrashed wildly and tried to pull away, but the hold was firm and unyielding. Warm hands, my brain quietly supplied. Not vines. But my mind was a separate entity from the rest of me; all I could focus on was the panic coursing through me.
“Lainey, it’s just me! Open your eyes!”
The voice screaming at me was gruff, and my heart fluttered as if it recognized the sound. But it wasn’t enough.
“Please, not again,” I whimpered, waiting for the tree to claim me once more.
The hands around my arms tightened. “Dammit, Lainey! Open your eyes!”
My body obeyed, and my eyes shot open. A pair of wide, concerned eyes were peering back at me. My heart thumped, but the tremors that shook my body were more powerful, and the panic that held me captive was only gaining strength. Tears burned my eyes as I stared uncomprehending into those blue eyes.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
You’re safe.
The tiny voice in my head whispered those words in my ear, but before I had time to process them, the hands that held me pulled me forward and wrapped around me.
I resisted, pushing and twisting against my captor, my fingernails raking against the solid wall of flesh.
Ty tightened his grip. “It’s okay, Lainey. I’ve got you.”
“Ty?” The echo in my ears made my heart begin to pound. I smelled spearmint.
Ty! my mind whispered, louder this time; it was starting to reconnect with the rest of my body. I stopped struggling.
My senses were returning to me, and when I realized I was cocooned in the safety of Ty’s arms instead of waiting for imminent death, I nearly collapsed, my hands twisted in the front of his shirt.
Lainey.
The sound of my name echoed in the breeze that blew through my hair.
Lainey.
“Please,” I whispered against the fabric of Ty’s shirt, my eyes squeezed shut. “I just want to understand.”
I could tell from the vibrations in his chest that Ty was speaking, but I couldn’t make out the words.
“Please,” I whispered again.
Icy, but hesitant fingers gripped my shoulders, the hold unsure. I wasn’t afraid. “I just want to understand,” I whispered again. The acquiescence and permission in my voice was clear.
The fingers tightened, and I was yanked out of Ty’s arms and into oblivion.
CHAPTER TWELVE
JOSEPHINE
The rain had slowed. Lines of pale moonlight streamed through the clouds, bathing the room in pools of silver light. Dawn was not far away.