Megan POV

I wake up with a scream on my lips only to find myself restrained by Aldon and Idril, their eyes wide with anger and shock.

“Balin?” They look towards their leader, staring at me, an unidentifiable emotion in his eyes.

“Step back,” he says calmly.

And it’s when they release me that I feel the searing burn in my arm, the same place where the serpent had broken my skin.

Balin’s hand goes to my arm, and my back arches in pain at the white-hot heat I feel flowing through my arm into my whole body.

He restrains me, and Aldon holds a piece of cloth to my...