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What the hell?

Bryn ran down the backstairs to outside, falling to her knees once she hit the bottom, holding her head as a stabbing sensation, like a knife being driven into her brain, had her begging for death.

Visions flashed through her mind:A gorgeous woman made of light. Mist. Mountains. Screams. Death. Chaos. Shadows. Wolves. Crows.

A scream tore through her chest before escaping her throat as her body fell to the frost-covered ground.

Rolling to her hands and knees, she dry heaved as the visions lessened and disappeared from her mind entirely.

Fear and adrenaline pushed her to her feet, her equilibrium off as she stumbled around the building to Saints’ Road.

Bracing herself on the brick wall next to her, Justin ran past her line of sight, dressed in his warm sheriff’s clothing as if he’d already been awake for a while, yet it had to be night by the fact that no farmers or merchants were moving about the streets. The sconces flickered, running out of oil, verifying her guess.

“Shut down the city!” Justin yelled from the street, his orders heeded by city guards who moved into action as he ran to the gate. “No one in or out without my say-so!”

Time sped up, and creatures she had never seen before tore through her town. They moved like predators, tearing down anyone who stood in their way with swords, the bullets shot from the law enforcement surrounding the city doing nothing to the horrible things.

They continued to smile with their split mouths, hooded cloaks keeping it so she was unable to see their eyes as they killed innocent people—a visual that would haunt her dreams.

“Wraiths. They are not human, so you need to be careful. Make sure to separate their heads from their bodies.”Kian was suddenly next to her, looking around at the carnage. The caw of a crow was a balm to her soul in all the chaos and pain as Cyerra landed on her shoulder. Her feathers ruffled in agitation, and Bryn had a feeling Cyerra was waiting on her to make a move.

“Wraiths? I had thought those were the king’s veryhumanassassins for so long... but these are the stuff of nightmares,” she whispered as she worked to steady herself and make a game plan.

“Not human, pure demon, andthey are very hungry,”he whispered, his eyes staring off as if he could see through the wall that Bryn was currently hiding behind.“I cannot remember much about them... but I’ve fought them before. They have something on their forehead that you have to hit, or it will not be easy to take their heads.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Turning to shadow and reappearing between her and the onslaught happening just around the corner, he looked at her. His eyes raged, and she wondered if the anger was for her alone.

“Perhaps it’s best if you stay here. I can get Danu and Callum—”

“Like hell, shadow boy. Move.” Bryn was walking into the street as cries rang out into the night. A plea for a god not listening. A god who created these monsters that razed this town whose only crime was worshipping him.

Turning to take in the scene as she pulled the knife free from her coat pocket, the wraiths ignoring her, she halted as her eyes caught on Travis as he fell to the dirt, Caden falling to his knees next to him, his hands coming away with blood.

“Travis!” she yelled, already in motion, running to her friend. Hoping Jace would make it to him first, though she had yet to see her cousin. A fact that was worrying her to the core.

With her dagger in her hand, she stabbed out at the wraith closest to her as she kept on toward Travis, all the while hearing the screams of the people she had known since she was little.

“You cannot save him without sacrificing yourself!” Kian yelled as he took form in front of her again, sagging in relief as she halted her footsteps. The crow was going wild in the air, diving around her as if to get her attention.

As a wraith came near her, she swung out at them.

Since her dagger did nothing to the wraith she’d attacked, she knew then this was a vision since nothing was happening to her. The wraiths moved as if she did not exist. Not until one ran through her did it confirm her thoughts.

“Perhapsyoushould stay here,” she replied with a voice full of anger that was dissipating as she grew numb, watching the carnage around her before her mind began to disassociate.

Bryn moved to step around Kian, though she could have walked right through him, but that seemed rude, she supposed. Why that had popped into her head now, she wasn’t sure.

While most of the townspeople meeting their deaths wouldn’t bother with her should she be the one in peril, she wasn’t cold enough to ignore their cries and screams.

A hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her, and she turned to fight whoever had dared to stop her from reaching her friend.

Once she turned, she saw the cemetery from her vision laid out before her instead of Saints’ Road.

The silver wolf was there, along with Senan and the crow. This time the black wolf that killed Arioch in her other vision joined the fold as it walked toward her, the silver wolf sniffing the air before turning to her and lying down on its belly. A soft whine leaving its maw.

“I don’t understand. . .,” she whispered, unsure of how she was having a vision in the middle of a vision.