We have?—
I gasp, brain jolting awake as the ball of tension at my side vanishes. Every muscle in my body tenses as I spin just as Luna’s white hair disappears behind a black-cloaked Keeper.
No.
“Luna!” I jump around Aurelius and shoving through the crowd. People turn their heads, but no one moves to stop the escaping captive.
By the time I make it through the crowd, Luna is twenty yards away. In a dead sprint. Heading toward the main building.
“Luna!” I scream as I chase after her.
She’s wearing nothing but my socks, yet shefliesahead of me. Fast. Really fucking fast—an olympic medalist in the hundred yard dash. I stretch my legs, pump my arms, push until my heart feels like it may burst, but I close none of the distance between us.
Fuck.
Fuck.
“Fuck!”
I scan the treeline, expecting a Keeper to pop out at any moment. Bracing for feet at my back. Ears perked for a yell behind me.
Nothing. Just me and Luna in a race with no winner.
What happens next?
What does this mean for us?
Aurelius’s instructions:
Do not cause a scene.
Do not let her scream.
Do not disturb the peace of the Shadow Sanctum.
Luna breaks from the main path into the trees while I trail behind, panic building with every second. Panic that moves my legs faster than I can remember, coats my tongue with an acidic taste that spreads to my nose.
Shadows cast overhead—the tree canopy making everything harder to see. But I see it anyway. See everything—pinecones, deer tracks, chipmunk frozen with fright. Hear everything—leaves rustling, bird chirping, shoes crunching brush.
Everything except for Luna.Where is Luna?
“Luna!” I call. My voice is so pathetically desperate it cracks. My gaze whips at a flash of white—the girl veering to the left, disappearing behind a thick, oak trunk.
“Stop!” I yell, sprinting after her. “Luna,please!”
I weave between two trees. Hop over a fallen limb. Stumble on a snake hole.
Somehow, someway—I pick up my pace, legs leaping instead of running, arms pistoning at my sides. A minute passes before I panic that she’s changed course again. I don’t see her. She could have stopped.
Sheprobablystopped. She’s smart; smart enough to outmatch my stupid,stupidpanic. But I keep going anyway because I can’t chance a moment to think.
Another minute passes.
I jerk my head left and right.
She’s nowhere. She’s gone.
“Luna!”
