The lights flicker. Thunder rattles overhead and lightning tears a purple rip in the sky.
Find me.
The voice is so close to my ear, I could swear I feel breath on my cheek. I lurch back, pain lancing through my hip as I smash it into the countertop.
I grip the edge of the counter.
“Finn?” I say softly, fear making the word wobble.
Two quick beats of my heart later, Finn is at my side. “Hey,” he says.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “Margot’s sleepwalking, and I was going to take her back to bed when I heard this…” I turn to point to my sister, and dread slithers up my legs like a snake, coiling around my torso and squeezing.
She’s not there.
I turn and clock the open kitchen door. Outside, rain falls in sheets and thunder booms.
Finn materializes in front of me. He reaches out to take my shoulders, then drops his hands, remembering.“How long has she been gone?”
“Thirty seconds? A minute? I should have been paying attention—”
A dozen possibilities run through my mind, each morehorrifying than the last. Jutting roots and sharp rocks and deep, cold water.
I bolt for the door, jamming my bare feet into a pair of boots near the back door. They’re a size too big, probably Paige’s, but they’ll keep me from impaling my feet on a rock or twig, so they’re good enough.
“I’m going ahead,” Finn says.“When I see her, I’ll come right back.”
I nod, but he’s already gone, materializing briefly halfway across the yard, a dark silhouette in the rain.
Boots hastily laced, I race out the back door. The rain is coming down harder than it was a few minutes ago. It’s sharp against my skin. The shoes might protect my feet, but there’s nothing for my bare legs and arms in shorts and a T-shirt.
Thunder shakes the ground, vibrating up through my calves. The lightning lingers in my eyes like an echo, making it even more difficult to see through the rain. I stumble through the overgrown backyard.
“This way.”Finn appears at my side as I dip into the woods.
I follow him into the night and almost trip at least six times. All I can think about is Margot, unconscious and stumbling through these trees. About her tripping over some root, and me finding her broken and twisted on the forest floor.
Moonlight from the clearing ahead pokes through the darkness. Sight is a relief, but not much. We’re nearing the creek, and no Margot.
As if sensing my rising terror, Finn says, “We’re going to get her, Jo,” but I don’t even think he believes himself.
I tear into the clearing, slamming to a stop and scanning the dark water.
There. Ahead, near the shore. A pale hand, slipping beneath the waves.
I race for the water, splashing through the muck. And I dive.
I’d always heard that hitting water from a great height feels like smacking cement, and though I’m not falling, the cold makes it feel the same. Every inch of me stings.
I squint, but it’s pitch-black, and I fumble blindly with my hands outstretched, kicking hard. The heavy boots get taken by the current within seconds. I fight against its pull.
My fingers hit the grimy bottom, slicing across jagged rock, but no Margot.
Please don’t take her from me.
I’m not sure who I’m sending the request out to. I’ve never been religious. But right now, I’m begging anyone who will listen.
Lungs screaming, I push back up to the surface, gasping for air. I think Finn calls my name from the shore, but I dive again. I push toward the bottom.
