Chapter Nineteen — The Man in the Garden

Keya:

I come to with grass under my cheek and blood pounding in my ears.

Everything hurts.

My arms. My ribs. My head—like it’s been split open by a storm.

I try to move. I can’t. Someone’s gripping me—tight around my waist, their fingers like shackles. My stomach lurches with panic as I twist and manage a shallow breath.

A voice slithers near my ear.

“Stop fighting, Keya.”

My blood turns to ice.

I know that voice.

Not from dreams. Not from memories.

From that night. The night I was banished. The forest. The clearing.

The man who tried to take me....