Page 112

The impact sends a wave through the yard. Leaves explode upward. The Halloween decorations hanging from nearby houses shake violently. A plastic skeleton on the neighbor's porch spins in a circle. A ridiculous detail. A terrifying moment. Because it makes everything feel real.

The monster isn't in a story. It's here. Rhett drives the entity backward. But it doesn't retreat.

It changes. Adapts. Learns. And then it turns toward me again.

I realize too late. It wasn't fighting him. It was distracting him.

"Carys!"

Rhett's voice is different. Not controlled. Not calm. Fear.

For me.

The entity surges. I don't have time to move. Rhett does.

One second I'm standing. The next I'm being pulled against his chest as he drags me away.

The force throws us both backward. We hit the grass hard. I can't breathe. Then I realize his arms are around me. Protecting. Holding. The world narrows. His heartbeat.

My breathing. The warmth of him despite the cold surrounding us.

15 years disappear. Just for a second.

Then reality returns. The entity retreats. Not because it lost. Because it chose to.

That scares me more. Rhett helps me up immediately.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

His expression darkens.

"Stop saying that."

"Excuse me?"

"You do it every time."

He steps closer.

"Something happens, and you tell everyone you're fine because admitting you're scared means admitting you need help."

My anger rises.

"Don't psychoanalyze me."

"Someone has to."

"Why?"

"Because you won't."

The accusation burns because it is true.

I step closer.

"So that's what this is?"