My eyes flutter open and blinding pain erupts from the right side of my body and face. Warm, sticky liquid pools in my eye, and I wipe at it, trying to see. When I pull my hand back, it’s covered in crimson.
“Dammit, I’m so sorry, Dru. I should have…” Wade’s voice trails off as the color drains from his face. His face is a smattering of cuts and blood. He ducks another round of branches, dropping his head to my chest.
Momentarily, relief floods through me, and I let my eyes rest.
Yes, this is comfortable. I could stay like this…
Unfortunately, the longer my eyes stay closed, it creates a dizzying effect, as the world is spinning and swirling beneath me. When I open my eyes again, I’m no longer on the ground. Instead, I’m in Wade’s arms, my body draped and dangling from his outstretched grip.
His eyes are locked on the water beyond the creature. I can vaguely remember something significant about it, but I’m not certain what. Oddly enough, behind him, the vortex of tree limbs and shrubbery abruptly stop. Everything drops to the ground, as if simply let go.
“She hurts. She can’t escape it. She bleeds the thread,” the creature screams, its voice echoing across multiple layers of time and space. “The thread leaks from her veins. It is nearly unraveled.”
The creature’s words don’t sound gleeful; instead, they sound just as terrifying as the energy it exudes.
“Time is running out. Time is running out,” it says, flashing in and out of being. “She must understand. But he must get out.”
Suddenly, Wade gurgles, and stumbles on the ground. As he drops to his knees, I tumble to the ground, rolling across the debris and uprooted grass. He gropes for his throat, just as he had inside the house, as the creature flickers into existence before us, one arm outstretched and fist closed.
“He must go. He must get out. He draws attention,” the creature says, its black eyes and ashen face locked on Wade with an expression of pure loathing.
“Let him go,” I scream, abruptly coming to my senses. As if this one act was the button that releases my fear, I rise to my feet and rush at it with my arms outstretched.
It will not hurt him. I won’t let this happen again.
I don’t know what I was expecting would happen, but as I go to tackle it, my body falls straight through it and I land hard on all fours on the other side. Bending over, I heave, unable to shake the way its energy was a potent mixture of terror, fury…and desperation.
It wants something so desperately, and it’s willing to do anything and everything to make it happen. In that instant, I almost feel sorry for it. Almost.
The creature screams, clutching at its chest. It drops Wade and flickers momentarily out of existence. A second later, he’s a yard or so away.
On the other side of the creature, the vortex of pain and terror lift from my being like a blanket being ripped away. Instantly, my head clears and I remember why I’m here. I remember what it was we were trying to do. The stone in my pocket practically burns against my hip and I shake any last sense of dread.
Almost afraid to look back at Wade, I scramble from my hands and knees and climb to my feet. The tendrils of the creature’s energy reach out behind me, trying to pull me back into its cage, but its strength has been diminished in all of the force it’s already expelled.
I ignore it, locking my eyes on the water’s edge.
I can make it.
Rushing forward, I run as fast as I can to the pond. My lungs feel like they’re about to explode, but when I get there, an intense desire to ensure the ward extends as far as it can succumbs me. I race out further, running onto the dock. I come to a halt on the last plank, and pull the smooth stone from my jeans.
For the briefest of moments, I stare at the stone in the palm of my hand, praying Wade’s right. That this is the one thing we need to expel the creature.
“By the element of water, I ward thee. Guard this space from all ill will and any unwelcome energies that may wish to bring us harm,” I cry out as loudly as I can muster.
Without any further hesitation, I skip the stone out across the pond as far as I can. It glows brightly as it skips along the surface of the water and quietly slips into its depths.
As it submerges, I hold my breath, waiting for something—anything—to happen.
At first, all is quiet. Even the creature behind me seems mesmerized, wondering what will happen next. Just when I think I’m royally screwed, or that we’ve gone past our time, a shockwave of energy bursts from the center of the house outward. It practically knocks me off my feet and into the pond, but I manage to stay upright by sheer will. All around us, a crystalline dome arcs overhead, beginning along the lines connecting each of the four stones. As quickly as it arose, the imagery of it begins to fade, even though the ward is beginning to take hold.
Twisting around, the malevolent creature rushes at me, but its energy dissipates like a balloon being deflated.
“The Inflexible One will not be held at bay,” it screeches, its voice magnified and distorted. “They’re coming for you. They’re all coming for you.”
Then, as if the creature’s energy gives up completely, it explodes in a plume of vapor, dissolving before my eyes.
Chapter 16
His Time Has Come
I barely remember Wade’s arrival on the dock, or how we somehow managed to find our way back inside the manor. Everything is a blur of colors, movements, and sound.
All I can focus on
