So far as Desa could tell, she was in the same place where she had gone to sleep. But her friends were gone. Quickly, she ran through a list of scenarios in her head. Even in her most cynical moments, she wasn’t capable of believing that they would just sneak off and leave her behind. That only left one possibility: Something had taken them. But why had it left Desa behind?
She stood up with some effort.
Blinking slowly, Desa turned her head to examine her surroundings. “Hello?” she called out to anyone who might be listening. “Kalia? Tommy? Marcus?”
A skittering sound behind her made her jump.
She spun around and found…nothing but dead trees. That noise must have been the scampering of a small animal, but there were none nearby. Sweet Mercy, it was cold! Not quite freezing, but defini
