I sell fantasy—not crazy.
“How long can you keep the girl asleep?” I ask Aurelius.
He lifts his shoulders. “For as long as you need.”
I turn toward the girl, her body twisted in a way that makes me think someone just dropped her there. Even in her sleep, she doesn’t look at peace, which is a shame. This was her last chance to find it.
I face forward. “Good… We have a lot of work to do.”
CHAPTER 4
LUNA
PRESENT…
The man who introduced himself as Sawyer snaps his head to the left, his gaze scanning the trees. I listen closely for what he must hear, but the only sound is my breathing and a couple of birds chattering nearby.
Turning toward me, he reaches for my hand. I yank it back, body reacting before my brain can catch up, jolting like he’s holding a knife. I expect a frown, but get infectious fear instead—wide eyes and parted lips that make my heart rate climb. “Come on, we have to hurry.”
Hurry.
As if he’s just remembered the danger. A moment ago, he was all smiles and soft words, calm within a storm.
When he turns and jogs off, something primal yanks me after him. Heavy breaths pump in and out of me all over again. I try to ask myself the right questions, but my head is heavy and fogged.My heart races so fast it’s hard to remember what to think or what to do.
Who are we running from?
What game is this?
I don’t ask in case my voice carries through the trees to the men who were after me (us?). My foot catches on a tree root as I stumble after the blue-eyed stranger, but in a few strides, I’m matching his pace in a run.
He weaves us through the forest like an expert of this path while I trust him blindly. Until I remember it’s stupid to trust him at all.
“Where are we going?” I ask, though it’s where we are that’s the most pressing question. I keep thinking about the newness of the cell, of the shovel just outside of it. The trap set, but by who? Them? Him? Another unknown? “What’s happening?”
“Shhh, don’t worry, Luna,” Sawyer whispers as he slows, his hand planting between my shoulder blades as he looks behind us. I tense but don’t pull away this time. “I’ll explain everything in a minute.”
After he’s satisfied that no one is following, he slides me in front of him and ushers me forward with his hand drifting halfway down my spine—a touch so tender, I shudder. My back goes rigid. “It’s not much farther.”
The stream I jumped over is much wider at this end, water rushing around moss-covered rocks that form a path across—slippery, jagged stepping stones.
Sawyer pulls ahead of me to hop onto the first rock with no hesitation, which makes it even more apparent that he’s traveled this path before.
He turns and holds his hand out for me. “Come on.”
I just stare at him.
“It’s safe. I promise.”
I eye the stream that looks more like a river now. If I had to guess, I’d say I couldn’t touch the bottom.
“Luna, look at me.”
The command pulls my gaze back to Sawyer, a shiver fanning across the back of my neck. He says my name like he’s known me for more than half an hour, and it’s… wrong. Too fast. Too intimate.
“I’ve got you… Trust me.”
Trust me.
