The flames now sparked so high around me, I thought I would soon be burned to death.
Just before a scream could split from my lips, it happened – the world fell sideways.
I lost hold of the book. No, that wasn’t quite right – the book wrenched itself from my grip. It spun around, shot behind me, and opened.
And me? I was sucked into the pages. Let me tell you, it was one of the strangest experiences of my life. The sensation of falling backward into an open book and having your constituent molecules squished until you fell between the twisted, cursive writing on the parchment? Yeah, I don’t recommend it on a full stomach.
Magic continued to rush around me, overpowering every sensation until I felt like I was nothing more than sparking electricity.
The sensation quickly ended. And, with a thwack, I landed on some thankfully soft grass.
I was now in the past, and it was time to end this.
Chapter 7
There it was – my sunshine, my pastureland.
I was back in the visions that had taunted me ever since I’d met Max.
I heard a thump behind me and turned to see the book fall onto the grass. The pages were fluttering, still sparking with magic.
Sarah had told me that when I wanted to leave the vision – when I finally had the information I required – all I would have to do was use more of my blood to write the word close on the front cover of the book.
So it was imperative that I didn’t lose it.
Pressure. Yeah, I wasn’t one of those kinds of people who ate pressure for breakfast.
With a shake to dislodge the last of those crazy sensations from the time spell, I pushed forward.
It was such an odd experience to feel the sunshine on my face and the soft grass beneath my feet.
I indulged in tipping my head back and letting the rays warm my flesh. The wind tugged through my hair, played along my face and the bare skin of my hands.
I let it fill me up.
Then?
I pressed on.
Sarah’s orders had been kind of imprecise. Just go into the past, she’d said, and find out how to use the contract against McCain. Yeah, it wouldn’t be that easy. I knew from experience that McCain was seriously powerful, and if pushed, could figure out I wasn’t Mary.
I began walking forward.
I heard the thump of footfall from over the hill. I stiffened. My wildly beating heart told me it had to be McCain. I could remember in one vision when he’d come charging over this very hill and he’d pulled me onto his horse.
It wasn’t him.
The footfall was too light.
I spun my head around in time to see a woman.
It took me awhile to realize who she was. I had to squint my eyes as she came into view. Then I recognized her. With a frigging bang. My whole body suddenly zipped with the knowledge that not only did I know this woman, but I’d also been her.
Mary.
I had time to wonder if she’d be able to see me.
It didn’t take long to get my answer.
As she threw herself forward, she suddenly stopped, her simple boots skidding on the grass and leaving two long tracks of mud. Her eyes pulsed wide with fear. It didn’t last. “Chi?” She sprang toward me, her hand opening in a snap.
I blanched and backed away. “Wait, what? You can see me? You know who I am?”
“Chi, it’s me – Mary McLane. And yes, I can see you, child. For you’re right there in front of my very eyes. Now come, we don’t have much time.”
Maybe I should have ground my feet into the grass and not moved until she told me what was going on. I didn’t. You didn’t need to be an emotional genius to see her fear, nor the sweat slicking her brow, nor how disheveled her clothes were.
Mary McLane was running from something, and I knew who.
I whirled on my foot just as she leaned in and caught my wrist in her soft hand. “Come on. We don’t have any time left. No time.” Her voice lilted in her thick Scottish accent. It would have been pleasant if it weren’t for the strident fear shaking her words.
I ran with Mary, desperate to ask her what was happening but unable to spare the breath.
It didn’t take much longer until I started to hear the hoofbeats. They drummed behind me, shaking the very earth until it sounded like a giant was after us.
“God, he’s catching up,” I screamed.
“I’ll get us out of here, child. Don’t you worry.” Mary twisted her head over her shoulder, her long, crinkly red hair flying around her like a fan. As it did, it brought attention to her face. Specifically, to the mark in the center of her forehead.
A mark my gut remembered. With a flood of nerves, my body took me back to the horrible moment when McCain had slammed his magical palm against my forehead and sealed his curse.
I shook, eyes springing wide as I stared at the mark.
Somehow, she realized what I was looking at. “Chi, it’ll be fine. You’ll remove it.”
“I will?”
“Aye. I’ll show you how.”
What ensued was categorically the most awful experience of my life. Even being captured by Fagan hadn’t been as bad. Because this was a chase, and it just dragged on and on, my body becoming progressively weaker until every second I questioned whether I could take another step.
Mary was made of strong stuff, because she never flagged. And when I dropped behind, she just dragged me harder.
I had no idea where she was taking me. Because, hello, I had no idea where I was.
