7
Splotches of light appeared to Hunter. He groaned and tried to roll over, but bundles of strand on his sides blocked him. When he opened his mouth to speak, his throat was too dry to do more than rasp.
“Hunter?” a voice said.
Everything hurt, his back especially. He was lying on a hard wooden slab. He could barely remember them placing him on top of it when he arrived. Where was Evie? He tried to call her name, and a croaking sound came out.
“Hunter, it’s all right. Stay calm.”
It took him a while to place the voice—the woman who had met them at Bordertown’s gate—and even longer to remember her name, Trina. Someone else spoke, a man he didn’t recognize. Trina hushed the second voice away.
“Hunter, I’m going to tell the strand to put you to sleep.”
He nodded.
“Shh. Just let go.”
