Page 153 of Vasmora

“You are. I can hear it in your voice.”

“I thought you were going to sleep.”

“I’m stalling.”

“I noticed.”

The smile lingered as I glanced toward the sky again. “Do you think Aleysia is okay?”

“I think Aleysia will find a way to survive, no matter the circumstances.”

A snort of laughter slipped out of me. “You’re probably ri–” My words were broken by a hearty yawn. “Right.”

He squeezed my shoulders, drawing me tighter against him. “Get some sleep. I’ll stay right here.”

Nodding, I nuzzled my face in his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump.

Peaceful.

Calm.

Sleep.

I opened my eyes to white mist thick enough that I could hardly see more than a few yards away. The camp stood empty, only that white smoke drifting upward from where the fire had blazed moments ago.

Frost crawled down the back of my neck, and I twisted around to find Zevander wasn’t there.

“Zevander?” I pushed to my feet and tiptoed across the camp, eyes scanning for any sign of our group. “Hello?”

Upon reaching the forest threshold, I paused, staring down at where the tips of my toes met a pile of crushed bones and rocks. Looming over me was a bone archway, like the one back at The Eating Woods.

Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump.

I passed through into the misty forest, following the sound while stepping cautiously through the brush. Insectile critters scampered over the ground, and the sense of someone stalking me prickled the back of my neck. Following the pathless trek took me deeper into the woods, until I spied a vast tree in the distance, its limbs resembling arms and legs.

Roots stuck up from the ground around me, as though they’d been wrenched from the earth, and on passing one, I could just make out a child’s face carved into the bark, her hands reaching out for me.

Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump.

When I turned back to the tree, my breath hitched on seeing what hadn’t been there moments ago—Zevander, pinned against the trunk, his arms and legs shackled by what looked to be skinny roots growing out of the bark.

Beside him, Loyce smiled back at me, her eyes wicked and cruel.

A deep, cramping fear hooked my guts as my gaze flicked between her and Zevander.

I have to save him.

Arms gripped me from behind, and I screamed, wriggling to get free.

“Hold still!” Captain Drefan ordered, squeezing me tighter.

Loyce turned back toward Zevander, and I watched in horror as she shoved her hand into his bare chest, his bones cracking as she pushed past his ribs and tore through wet flesh.

“No!” I screamed, squirming against my captor’s unflinching grasp. “Leave him!”

She yanked her hand free, his still beating heart dripping blood and pulsing in the palm of her hand.