Page 109 of Beneath the Starlight and Storms

Hook stumbles into me just as something coils around my leg making me pause. I try to free myself from whatever plant I’ve stepped into as Hook turns to me with a questioning look.

Glancing down, I find a black vine slowly tightening around my ankle.

“What—?” Hook starts to say just as another vine slides around my other leg. He spots it just as it gives a hard yank.

He grunts in pain as he grips onto me, keeping me in place as he focuses on the vines around my ankles. They break off, releasing me from their hold just as more vines slip out from the forest towards us.

A thicker vine whips out from my left, slicing my arm. Another appears cutting my side. I look for a way out, but more and more black vines appear, blocking my view.

I glance down at my arm, the slice thin enough that it should’ve healed by now. But then I notice how bare my wrist is, my bracelet missing. I look around me, but all I see is the black vines.

My stomach drops as my throat tightens.What am I going to do now?

Hook grunts, bringing me back to our problem here and now and I push the bracelet to the back of my thoughts. It’s the least of my worries right now.

Black vines crawl from every direction. From the trees above and the ground below, and everywhere in between. All heading straight for us.

I glance at Hook as his body stiffens. His fists are clenched tight as his eyes light up. Power seeps out around him, building and building until he reaches a hand out and releases it, creating a clear path in front of us.

I grab his arm as he sways and I move as quickly as I can through the path he created. We come out of the vines and take a moment to catch our breath and get our bearing’s. I turn to Hook to see where he thinks we should go.

“We won’t be able to get through that. It’s probably blocking off that entire side of the island,” he says.

I was too focused on Hook to spot the huge thick, black trees that coil in strange circular webs creating a barrier behind him. Something moves in the center of it, and I take a step back, dragging Hook with me.

“There’s something in there,” I whisper to him, and he stiffens.

“Let’s move around it,” he murmurs, tilting his head to the right of us. But I don’t miss the tremor in his voice revealing how much pain he’s in.

“Head that way.” He turns to move around when I notice how pale his face has become. His breathing was growing more and more shallow and there was a rattle coming from his chest that made a sense of dread roll through the pit of my stomach.

I pull him to a stop, without much resistance, proving how exhausted he really is.

“You need to rest. I need to check your wound.”

He nods, attempting to smile but it comes out as a pained grimace.

“There’s a grove of trees… not too far from here,” he rasps.

My heart twists in my chest as we move toward it, but each step seems to take a lot out of him making it feel like we were climbing up a steep mountain instead.

“Just a little further,” I tell him, urging him on as we finally move into the cluster of thick trees. I help him sit down in front of the thickest one to check his wound.

It looks like the arrow went straight through so I should be able to break off the tip and pull it out. It also doesn’t look like it hit anything important, but it looks raw and inflamed, as though it’s already infected. It will need to come out as soon as possible.

“They’re all traps,” he rasps. “The smoke. The vines and whatever those dark webbed trees were. They’ve made sure to move us where they want us.”

“Who?” I ask, slightly distracted as I focus on what to do with his wound.

“The Hunters.”

I freeze, my body tensing with shock. “How were they able to do this? How were they able to get past your barriers?” Not only the barrier. But also, Hook’s guards and his spells and watchful eyes. How would anyone get past all that and go unnoticed?

I quickly glance around wondering if they’re watching us now.

“They were already inside,” Hook winces as I try to rip his bloodied shirt open. It’s thick with blood and was clinging to his skin around the wound making it hard to pull it off without hurting him.

“How?” I ask.

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