I had to get out of here, away from these people. If anyone at the party
saw this, they’d crucify me. But where could I go? I had no one to turn to.
Casey would never understand, and if Laurel found out, she’d kick me out or
worse.
Run.
I could hide in the shadows. I just had to slip into the park without being
noticed, then I could disappear into the woods and wait for this to pass. It
would pass, right?
Of course it would. I’d seen my eyes turn this color before.
Having a plan gave me courage. Gut throbbing, I staggered over to the
door and listened, but I could barely make sense of what I heard. My ears
were drowning in noise. The light above buzzed incessantly, and the music
sounded like someone had parked a loudspeaker right outside.
Even with all that, I could still hear the conversations of people by the
bonfire.
The bathroom door beside mine opened and slammed with a
reverberating thud as someone left. I could hear the soft padding of footsteps
crossing the grass, though it was like the walker was stomping thro
ugh hay
right next to my head.
I shouldn’t be able to hear that.
Gripping the handle, I unlocked the door and slipped outside and around
the building. Casey was talking to some people, his back turned to me.
Hopefully, he’d assume I’d left and wouldn’t come looking.
I tried pulling the darkness around me, but my magic didn’t flow. Too
much noise. Too much pain. I gasped and shuddered as a piercing ache shot
through my shoulder blades.
It was now or never. This wasn’t going to stop.
I scrambled frantically for the deep shadows of the park, fear biting at my
heels. My feet thundered over the ground, but when I looked back, no one