One foot in front of the other.
Down the stairs.
Across the foyer.
You are mine, Poppy Hallowind.
I am sooo not.I know I’m not, yet my hand still wraps around the door handle. It's so cold it stings my palm as if it’s burning it.
The sting doesn’t stop me from pulling it open.
Fight this! He doesn’t control me.
I try to scream for Asher, but no sound escapes my throat. I’m silent as I step onto the back porch. Not even the puppies hear me.
It’s a living nightmare, even worse this time because I’m aware of what’s happening and can’t figure out how to stop it.
The forest is an eerie companion tonight, the trees twisting at unnatural angles. Branches claw at me, pulling at my pajama pants and the sweatshirt I wore to bed.
You only have to be caught sleepwalking in the November cold once before you make sure your parts are covered in case it ever happens again.
The moon hangs low, casting long, distorted shadows across my path.
You’ve been a duplicitous little witch. You’re lucky I value betrayal and see the potential in you.
The ebony wolf prowls out of the darkness, its head low, its hackles raised, its gaze locked on me.
Shapes flicker at the edge of my vision—hunched and distorted, with too many limbs and not enough form.
Tharuzel’s demon minions, half-formed and hungry.
But no matter how much I want to go back into the house and climb back into bed, my intentions don’t seem to mean much.
The ground is frosty and hard beneath my feet, and my breath puffs out in white clouds of condensation in front of me.
I felt your interference this afternoon, breaking my connections to the humans. Not that it’ll stop me. My freedom is almost at hand.
The idea terrifies me. He’s causing enough damage while he’s trapped and unable to take form on the physical plane. What will he do if he’s free and corporeal?
The idea makes my insides twist.
I move deeper into the trees, and the forest closes around me, swallowing me into its darkness.
All the while, the eyes of the ebony wolf track me, burning through the darkness like glowing embers.
Haunting me… hunting me.
When it steps out of the shadow, my panic spikes. It's massive—twice the size it was before—its fur matted with something that might be blood.
Its lips peel back, baring its teeth. Gone is the dark seduction of its master. Now it growls, and the sound that rumbles from its chest vibrates through my bones.
And still, my feet take me closer.
Oh, forget this. My body may have drunk the Kool-Aid, but my mind hasn’t.
Ancestors, hear me.I project my intention with all my might, reaching for the magic woven into the Hallowind land.Help me?—
The connection sparks.
