Page 68 of Witch Unbound
I nodded, swallowing a sob and pushing the tears down.
We jogged after Lauris, running from an unknown creature. One moment the forest around us was silent, and the next it was filled with moans and eerie groans that galvanized me to move faster.
The forest was waking.
It was waking, and it was calling to its inhabitants to stop us.
Tree trunks leaned in ahead of us to create a dingy, dark, arched tunnel, and branches whipped down to grab at us.
“Watch out!” Rune snagged me round the waist and tugged me out of the path of a vine with thorny barbs. He grabbed my hand to steer me, and we broke into a run.
Lauris fell into a sprint, his body curved around Bramble’s to protect her from the lash of thorns. They slapped and sliced at him, leaving welts in their wake, because just like in Shady Lane, his skin wasn’t so tough here. He wasn’t even attempting to evade. He was gonna get ripped to shreds and he probably didn’t give a shit.
He was probably numb right now because Bramble was—
No. Don’t think about it.
Wren remained untouched. Small and light on his feet, he was able to leap and dodge the fauna that attacked.
“Faster!” he yelled. “The slenderwhip is coming.”
What the fuck was that?
The hairs on the back of my neck sprang up and my spine tingled in awareness that somethingwasat our backs. A dragging sound rose above the moans to confirm it. Something was sliding along the ground behind us. Moving fast. Chasing us.
“Don’t look!” Wren cried. “Keep running.”
A gust of warm air blasted my back, cutting through the thick material of my jacket like it was nothing but a sliver of cotton. The thing’s breath?
The urge to glance back was a hand squeezing my nape, compelling me to turn. But I wasn’t the dickhead who would go into the basement when they heard a dodgy sound or run upstairs to get trapped when confronted with a pursuer. I was smart.
I’d listen to Wren.
Fuck it, I could jump ahead. Gripping Rune’s hand tighter, I made the jump. An invisible force yanked at my solar plexus, but something stronger jerked me back. Shit. Something was blocking me from jumping.
I kept running, dodging the killer vines and getting closer to the exit to this messed-up place.
The dragging sound grew louder, closer. The heat became intense and sweat beaded on my skin. The phantom hand on my neck squeezed harder, urgently, demanding I obey.
Look.
Look at me.
See me.
Oh, shit. No.
“What is it?” Rune made to turn his head, but I yanked on his arm.
“Don’t.”
My legs ached, thighs screaming for relief. How fucking large was this forest? Up ahead the trees bowed inward, extending the tunnel and keeping us penned. Wren was a furball on legs, moving faster than I’d thought he was capable. Lauris’s back was a bloody mess, but the thorns had stopped attacking now. Instead, the trees closed in, narrowing the tunnel.
“Nearly there!” Wren’s cry sounded far away.
I watched in horror as the world seemed to elongate and stretch. The tunnel pushed out ahead of us, drawing Wren and Lauris with it.
“What the fuck?” Rune cried.
