How was he here?
How was it possible?
“This is where you’ll find answers,” said a blonde behind David. “May I go now?”
“Sure,” David said, frozen behind a blank expression. “Looks like I found what I was looking for.”
As Kywyn stepped forward, David entered the suite and closed the door. Anxiety coiled in Sean’s gut, ready to spring.
David shrugged and threw on his mask-like smile. “Guess I’m late to the party.”
CHAPTER 10
DAVID
Sean’s aunt was the first to move. She practically tripped through a doorway, eyes wide, stopping beside the man who—oddly—looked like Sean’s brother.
Cole spilled into the room behind her, grabbing her wrist. “Mom, don’t! He’s dangerous.”
David hid his shock behind a blank expression, but of all the people he could’ve imagined to find in this fantastical place, Sean’s aunt and sidekick weren’t among them. Sean, on the other hand, was no surprise. Call it intuition, but David had suspected his entire life that Sean would haunt him until the end.
“You really shouldn’t be here,” the aunt said. What was her name again? Bree? “How are you here? Does Xandra know you left?”
Louder than her words were her swirling emotions—dread mixed with joy, hysteria, and regret. A potent mixture. It brushed against his skin like debris in a harsh wind.
Most importantly, he sensed no ill will, and that in itself liberated a smidge of relief. On the trip up this unholy huge tree, watching strangers cower and go pale, he’d half imagined he was walking toward his doom.
Perhaps he wasn’t ready to die after all.
Memories of the torturous, invisible rope that pulled him through the mist sprang forth. After that agony, it took effort to inject boredom into his voice. “I didn’t get much of a choice.”
Her brow creased, and she shook off her son’s hand. “What does that mean?”
Five people stood at different points in the room, all zeroed in on him with defensive postures and strained faces. But none were armed. None possessed even a shred of threat hiding in their transparent emotions. Not even Sean.
Panic, yes. Distaste, even. But no weapons.
More relief percolated through David’s bloodstream, chased by a sense of deliverance.
Was he…free? Was this place beyond the mist the key to his liberty?
He refused to hope. Wouldn’t allow it purchase on his mind.
A redhead, inexplicably grinning and oozing incandescent happiness, stumbled a few steps in his direction. David took a cautionary step back and leaned against the door.
“He was forced,” she said, staring deep into his eyes.
“By who?” demanded the man who looked like Sean.
Her head cocked. “He doesn’t remember.”
David narrowed his eyes.
Get the fuck out of my head, he thought.
Her mouth spread into a wide smile.
Okay. So this was an unpleasant development. Could this girl read minds?
