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“Sorry,” he mutters.

No, he fucking isn’t.

The scratching stops.

Silence settles over the barn so abruptly that no one seems willing to move. Hundreds of people stand frozen beneath the dim emergency lights, listening.

Waiting.

Then something whispers outside. It’s so faint at first that I almost convince myself I imagined it.

A woman near the doors starts to cry, and someone immediately hisses at her to be quiet.

The whisper comes again… closer this time.

My pulse pounds in my ears as I strain to make out the sound through the wall.

Not a sound—a word.

My stomach drops.

Bride.

Every hair on my body stands on end.

Mariah looks at me. “What did it say?”

I don’t answer but it whispers again.

“Bride.”

This time everyone hears it.

The barn erupts around us. People start shouting over one another, someone insists this is all part of the attraction, and another guy loudly demands a refund.

Honestly, I admire the commitment.

Then the red ribbon cinches around my wrist.

I gasp as pain shoots up my arm. “What the fuck?”

My hand flies to the knot, but the satin only seems to tighten beneath my fingers.

Ezra is in front of me instantly. “What? What’s wrong?”

“The ribbon.”

He grabs my wrist and turns it toward the light. The satin is digging into my skin, pulling tighter by the second.

“Cut it.” he says.

“No.”

Ezra’s head snaps toward Malakai. “I am done listening to you.”

“If you cut it now, you don’t know what will happen.”

“I know what happens if I leave it on her.”