Chapter 23
The world exploded in a wrenching, deafening crash. An eerie, smoky silence ensued, interrupted only by a strange whirring sound.
Dazed, Celina lay on her back, her mind spinning, vaguely aware. The smell of dirt and grass filled her nostrils. Somehow, her feet seemed higher than her head. How is that possible?
She felt herself slipping into a sweet void.
Celina, wake up! A disembodied voice boomed in the dark.
Tony?
With great effort, she tried her eyes. Open.
Before her, blurry pinpricks of hillside light wavered. She blinked. Stars spun overhead like pinwheels, then slowed and sharpened into focus.
Where am I?
She lay splayed on a hillside, tossed like a Raggedy Ann doll onto a thorny cushion of shrubs and brush. Struggling to turn herself, she rolled to one side. Wr
