Chapter Two
Halley
I bolt upright with a scream.
Air. I need air.
My chest heaves as my heart thumps hard. The sheets are soaked through, plastered to my skin like a second, suffocating layer.
I shove them off and claw at my forehead.
Nothing.
No blood or cuts. Just smooth, intact skin.
I check again. And again.
Because Ifeltit. The blade dragging through flesh, slow and deliberate. Iheardhim. Blaze was laughing, his eyes never blinking, never looking away, just staring right into my soul.
But it was just a dream.
Right?
"Halley?"
Everlyn appears in the doorway. My room is a tiny closet I’ve claimed within the space I share with her and Jason.
"Another nightmare?" she asks, sitting on the edge of my nest, swinging her feet, bracing herself on her hands.
I pick at the fraying blanket across my lap, like tying the ends of the loose threads might stitch something inside me back together. I guess I should stop calling the cot I dragged into this small storage space a nest. It brings neither comfort nor happiness.
"Yeah," I breathe, raking down my sleep-tangled hair before twisting it into a messy bun. Damp strands stick to my neck.
She offers me her canteen and I drink, grateful that the cool water soothes my raw throat.
"You okay?" she asks when I hand back the canteen.
I hum, intending to lie, when she ducks her head to catch my gaze. She raises an eyebrow, daring me to fib. She knows me too well.
I rub my forehead again. "They always feel so real."
Everlyn nods in understanding. I know what she's going to say because she says it every morning. “Theymightbe real. We still don’t fully understand how Pack bonds work. You’re linked to them in a way I can’t explain. At least not scientifically.”
Maybe she’s right.
Or maybe my brain just likes hurting me with memories that feel too sharp to be fake.
It’s been three months since everything fell apart. The only success? Reuniting with Everlyn and Jason. A consolation prize for blowing my life up and failing my mission.
After I hit the turnoff to Blackreach, the truck gave out, of course it did, and I had to hike the rest. Just me, my gear, and a mountain range that looked like it wanted to kill me for sport.
The peaks stretched into the clouds. Jagged cliffs, snow-blind white, one lonely road snaking through like it regretted being built in such a harsh environment to begin with.
I camped at the threshold and waited. For Everlyn, for Jason… for courage, honestly.
I told myself I was being cautious.
But really, I was just scared to go in alone.
