Page 318
Ezra catches my arm.
“Sage.”
“No.”
His hand loosens.
The crowned figure tilts its head.
I take another step.
“What the fuck do you want from me?”
The corn rustles.
Not from wind.
From thousands of stalks whispering together.
GROW.
“Absolutely not.”
The field trembles.
“I am done growing things tonight.”
GROW.
“No.”
The word leaves my mouth differently this time.
It doesn’t disappear into the night.
It moves through the ground.
The enormous veins freeze.
The blood inside them stops flowing.
Every stalk of corn becomes perfectly still.
Behind me, Rhett sucks in a breath.
Malakai goes silent.
Ezra’s hand slips from my arm.
Even the crowned figure stops moving.
I stare at the field.
It listened.
Malakai slowly rises behind me.
“Sage…”
