Page 1 of Gift from the Stone

One

Willow

He’s going to kill me.

I take a step back, back, back until a body behind me stops my retreat. The heavy touch of their hand on my hip doesn’t stop the reality that’s crashing through me, knocking me off my feet.

I’m falling.

Falling to my knees on the training field and into the darkness of my mind.

“Your father told me how he put you in a grave when you were a child, and for months afterward, you behaved. Let’s see how staying out here for a while works now.” Donald laughs. Then spits on me from where he’s standing on the edge of the grave.

His hot, acidic saliva drips down my cheek, hitting my bare thigh, and slides down the inside, mixing with the bloody mess he left of me. Unlike when I was a child, this hole is deeper, I’m naked, my hands and ankles are bound, and tape covers my mouth. My tears cause the adhesion to become a slimy mess across my lips, and the taste of acrylic and melted rubber sears to my taste buds.

He left me in that hole for three days…

I swear my neck’s going to snap from the force of his attempt to shove me to my knees. Pushing him as hard as I can, I dart for the door. The five-foot distance from me to the knob seems boundless. I never reach it…

His punishing grip latches around my wrist and the force he puts behind it grinds my bones together.

My palm lands across his cheek faster than I have time to think about my reaction. The sting in my hand barely registers in my mind once I realize what I’ve done.

The voice in my head screams for me to run, escape the consequences to come, but it’s too late. The power behind his fist sends me flying to the floor and black spots color my vision as soon as my head bounces off the hardwood.

As I try to lift myself, he raises his leg and crushes my hand under his heel, trapping me beneath him. It all happens in a blur of motion.

One second, he’s lifting his other leg above my head. The next, the sound of my arm breaking is louder than the screams leaving my lips. Hot, agonizing pain tears through every nerve in my body.

“If you ever hit me again, I’ll cut this arm off and beat you to death with it, Willow. Do you understand me?” His eyes are wild, nearly pitch-back, but his tone is calm, soft, as if breaking my arm cools the anger that’s brewing inside of him. Bending down, he gently moves the hair out of my face so he can see my answer shining through the pain in my eyes. Nodding in understanding, I let my tears fall freely for him to see.

Dunk. Sink. Hair pull. Repeat.

Dunk. Sink. Hair pull. Repeat.

It’s all I can think, all I can repeat in my mind over and over. Every time I thought he’d kill me, every time he truly came close.

It’s impossible. There’s no way he can be in Elementra or even have any idea about this realm. But that’s not true. I saw Jarod’s chest, saw the proof of his existence here. It stared me in the face.

He’s going to kill me.

He’s going to kill me.

He’s going to kill me.

Mahogany and sandalwood engulf my senses, and I’m suddenly lifted off the ground, cradled bridal style against a massive chest. The murmurs and shouts are just disorienting noise; nothing truly filters through. I’m trapped in my mind, my never-ending nightmare, that’s now broken into my new life, my new world, my new home.

This is my new reality.

He’s going to find me.

“I said give her to me. You aren’t going to be able to get through to her.”

That dark, icy voice, the demand behind it, penetrates the fear that has my mind locked down. My body becomes weightless and for a moment, I feel like I’m free-falling into nothingness.

Gasping, my eyes fly open, panic surging through me.

“I’ve got you. Look around.” Caspian’s voice is soothing as he whispers in my ear and my erratic heart instantly calms.

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