I’m sitting on the bench at the back of the house, sipping from a mug of herbal tea on a warm summer night. It’s so peaceful that I’m about to put my mug on the floor and lay on my side to see if I can’t sleep out here.
But just before I do, I have a sudden awareness that I’m no longer alone.
Someone is watching me.
I scan the dense dark forest in front of me, my heart pounding with rising fear. I tell myself not to be silly since it can’t be Abel, because Dayne killed him. I’m on my own, and at worst, it’s nothing more than a wild animal.
Even knowing this, it doesn’t stop me from rising and abandoning my mug to head back inside.
At no point do I take my eyes from the forest because I know—I’m absolutely certain—that the second I do, someone is going to rush at me.
I fumble for the
