her spine. Shadows danced across the walls, warped by the flickering light of the single candle Joe

ding his wounds and keeping watch. His silence only heightened Elora's unease. She wrapp

oken record-there's something about you. She tried to make se

came too much. She sat up, her hear

but his head tilted slightly, le

rlier?" she asked. "Ab

hand through his messy

nywhere," she sai

ense. "Have you ever felt like there's more to you than w

he had felt out of place. The town, her school, even her own home-they all felt like backdrops to a

admitted, her

side you, Elora. Something that ties you to this world-the wor

at are you saying? That I

s...different. I can feel it, but I don't k

rising. "Because I'm pretty sure there's no

re's an elder-someone who's been around long enough to know the history

d forward. "

here. Getting to him won't be easy. T

hard. "Do we have

mply. "Not if you w

. Everything Joel had said sounded impossible, yet the memory of the rogue

rs. At first, she thought it was the wind, but then she

hispered, her

espite his injuries. His sharp eyes scanned the darkness

snap of twigs, each sound amplifying the tension in the room. Elora pressed

ugh the room. Joel reached for the small dagger st

on't run," he said wi

er this time. Elora could feel

ords were cut off as the door b

unnatural yellow. Its ragged breaths echoed in the confine

himself between her and the intruder. "You're not we

ht. Elora's heart pounded as she pressed herself further into the corner,

for surviv