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CHAPTER 8

C alla

I ’m sitting in the dark, listening to the aftershocks of what happened in the distance. It was Tansy’s watch, but she woke the rest of us up as soon as she heard the noises. I wasn’t really asleep—just resting with my eyes closed, hoping that the noises wouldn’t get closer.

“Do you think it’s safe to go back to sleep, Nurse Calla?” Fiona whispers, flashing me a look of concern.

“It didn’t make it to us, so we’re as safe as we’re going to be,” I reply. “We can’t travel in the dark.”

“Let’s hope whatever won that fight doesn’t come looking for us,” Brenna says, clutching a sharp stick to her chest.

She’s right. We’re nothing more than prey out here. I’m surprised we’ve made it as far as we have, but we can’t go back. We left three dead bodies at The Outpost, and we don’t know if they’ll send anyone after us. They may even send Frank. I don’t think any of us will survive if he’s the one hunting our trail.

I sit up until Tansy and Fiona are comfortable. It’s Brenna’s watch, so she moves close to the outskirts of our campsite, readying her sharp stick like she’ll fight anything that comes out of the dark. I rub the vine that has coiled into a braided bracelet on my wrist. It’s still pulsating with the beat of my heart. I still feel an unusual energy coursing inside me. I don’t feel like I need sleep, but I lie down anyway.

It’s silent for a while. My eyes finally flutter closed, but it doesn’t feel like sleep pulls me in. It’s a hazy, dreamlike state, similar to what I felt before I woke up with the key-shaped vine in my hand. Except this time, there are no vines around me. I’m standing on a patch of scorched earth. It’s so hot my tattered clothes stick to my skin. I look up and see red clouds, trembling with the fury they unleash across the sky in jagged balls of lightning. Several erupt and streak, illuminating the ruins of a city in the distance.

I’ve seen this in books. It’s long before my time, the period after the solar flare when the heat storms raged. Not hot enough to kill. Not directly. Just a stifling furnace that slowly melts life away.

“You’re here,” the wind whispers around me.

“What?” I ask, spinning in a panic.

“You’re the one we searched for,” it whispers back. “The one who can give us purpose. The one who can save our pack.”

The wind howls louder, rising to a shriek as the dust lifts in a spiraling column around me. I brace against it, shielding my eyes, but the heat is unbearable. It is thick and searing, like the air itself is pressing down on me. My knees buckle, breath shallow, every instinct screaming to run even though there’s nowhere to go.

Then there is only silence. Not a gradual hush, but a sudden drop, like the world took a deep breath and forgot to exhale. The heat fades. The air clears. And when I lower my arm, my pulse stutters so much the vine on my wrist tremors—or maybe it’s my entire body that is trembling.

A massive black wolf stands in the scorched earth where nothing had been a heartbeat before. The wolf has tense muscles beneath fur that is so dark it seems to swallow the light. It shimmers like onyx. His presence is too solid, too still, like a statue carved from shadow and fire. Golden eyes lock on mine and do not blink. They glow in a way that makes every hair on my body stiffen at the root.

“Y-you were the one speaking to me on the wind?” I ask, even though I know the answer. “Where am I? What is this place?”

“It is called The Aether,” the wolf growls, but I hear his voice in my head, instead of on the wind. “The place where all souls go, once they’re freed from their mortal shell.”

“What?” Panic rises in my throat. “I’m not… I’m not dead, am I?”

“No,” he whispers. “Far from it.”

The wolf begins to shift. His onyx fur radiates with light, glowing from within like embers stirring to life in a freshly stoked fire. It ripples across his body, shedding in waves of smoky brilliance as the beast dissolves into something else. Bones stretch, limbs lengthen, and what rises in his place is a man created in the same shadow and fire as the beast.

He’s tall. Towering. Nearly seven feet of raw power and muscle. His chest is broad and his skin glows faintly in the red, heated light. Midnight black hair spills down his back in loose waves, framing a face that is both beautiful and brutal, with a strong jaw, high cheekbones, and eyes that burn gold and still do not blink.

I’ve seen plenty of nudity working at the Academic Medical Center. It’s not the sight of him that stuns me. It’s how I react to it. My breath catches in my throat. Not just from the sheer size of him, though it’s impossible not to notice the way he’s built. Powerful, sculpted, and utterly unashamed. A man as well-endowed as him would have caused more than one nurse to take a peek under the blanket, even if the supplements kept our libido from aching like it did before we found out we would never be Brides.

“Calla,” he whispers, my name like a sigh on his rough lips. “Even seeing you in The Aether, I feel an ache because I didn’t live long enough to claim you.”

“Were you… one of the buyers?” I question, trying to make sense of his words.

“No, but I heard the screams of the souls sent here by the one with the kiss of death,” he rasps. “Their memories now flow in The Aether, interwoven into the very fabric of creation, just like mine. Those that wanted you as a slave would have broken your body and shattered your spirit, but they would have never claimed you. Not like my brothers will.”

My skin pricks again. “No one will ever claim me,” I reply, stiffening my back and taking a step forward. I hold up my arm, showing him my bracelet. “Are you the one who has been doing this? The one who spoke to Frank through me?”

“The Tangle is an extension of The Aether,” he says. “A scar carved by souls too restless to move on. Echoes that never found peace or purpose. This is the first time we’ve spoken, Calla, but many voices scream from The Tangle. Most are never heard.”

“But I can hear them?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. “Why?”

“So many questions,” he murmurs, his gold eyes flickering. “So little time.”

The haze dissolves around me like smoke caught in the wind, and I’m no longer standing on the scorched earth. I’m lying in The Tangle, dawn bleeding through the canopy above. We survived the night alone in The Tangle. Somehow. My dream—vision—whatever it was, it’s left me shaken. Almost breathless.

I rub the vine coiled into a braided bracelet on my wrist. I should be exhausted, but I’m not. I should be terrified—but that’s harder to admit, especially when the others are looking at me like I’m the one who’s going to get us through this. Like I’m the leader. I’m not. I don’t even know what is going on in my head.

“Nurse Calla.” Fiona’s voice trembles. “Um, something is happening with Nara. I can’t wake her up. There are red vines all around her, and they weren’t here last night.”

“What?” I snap out of my daze and rush to Nara’s side.

She’s still sleeping, curled in on herself, but now she’s surrounded by crimson vines. Thick and pulsing, vibrant and alive. I drop to my knees beside her and reach out, intending to tear them away, but the second my fingers touch them, tendrils spiral out from my bracelet. One reaches toward the crimson vine and gently brushes it. Another snakes to Nara’s ribs. A third wraps around the sharp curve of her cheekbone, like it’s tracing the damage.

“What in the world is happening?” Fiona squeaks, barely audible.

“I don’t know,” I whisper.

I remember the dream. The man with the gold eyes and midnight hair. Many voices scream from The Tangle, but most are never heard. Is this one of them? Is The Tangle trying to help me again?

Clarity crashes into me like the lightning in the scorched sky I was underneath before I woke up.

“It’s medicine!” I breathe. “Tansy—go to the road. I saw some smooth rocks over there. Gather as many as you can carry.”

Tansy doesn’t question me. She just wipes her eyes and bolts toward the road.

As soon as I speak the words, the tendrils slip back into my bracelet, curling against my skin like they’re no longer needed.

“Do you recognize the red vines from the hospital?” Fiona asks timidly. “Or… or did your bracelet tell you?”

The truth would probably scare her, so I answer cautiously. No need to tell her The Tangle can talk. “The vine formed a key when we needed one. Now we need something to help Nara.”

Tansy returns with several smooth rocks. I sift through them quickly and choose two that are smooth, flat, and perfect for what I need. I break off a length of the crimson vine and press it between the stones, grinding it into a thick, blood-colored paste.

It pulses faintly when I touch it. No heat or sting. Just… life.

I test a drop on Nara’s skin and watch carefully as it glows faintly red and sinks beneath her flesh, staining it slightly. I wait. One minute. Then two. No reaction, just a steady glow and a soft twitch in Nara’s fingers.

I feel a tremor of hope. I swallow hard and smile, then spread the paste across her ribs, her cheek, and along each scrape I can see. If there’s anything else that needs treating, I can’t do it with this. I can’t rub paste on her concussion.

After a few minutes, the glow begins to spread. It radiates across her whole body like a flash, and she exhales. Her eyes open, she looks at us—then she settles into the dirt and immediately goes back to sleep. Her wounds haven’t healed, but they still have a light red shimmer. This isn’t science, or anything I’ve encountered in nursing. This is something much different.

“I-is she okay?” Fiona whispers.

“I think she will be,” I answer, daring to let out a breath of relief. “We’ll let her sleep just a while longer, then see if she’s able to walk. Then we’ll go as far as we can until it gets dark again.”

“I hate to bring this up,” Brenna sighs. “But I’m really hungry and if I don’t get some water soon, I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep walking.”

“We need food and water,” I admit, looking around. “We’ll try to find higher ground. Look for a stream—anything. We’ll prioritize water, but keep an eye out for berries too.”

“Wish I had been more interested in rations and a canteen than the gun,” Brenna mutters, and I feel like the failure falls on my shoulders. I should have thought of it.

“We’ll find something,” I sigh.

I reach down and rub the bracelet on my wrist.

Hopefully it won’t let me eat something that will send me straight to The Aether.

An hour later, we’re moving through The Tangle. Nara isn’t fully recovered, but she seems to be healing. Everyone is taking turns letting her lean on us for support when needed. Even Fiona. She’s stronger than her size would indicate.

“Oh, no, what was that?” Fiona squeals, spinning around when a loud crash echoes to our right. “That’s the direction we’re going!”

“Not anymore,” I mutter, cutting toward the left, and motioning for the others to follow me.

I’ve got an uneasy feeling, and it isn’t because we’ve made it this far into The Tangle unharmed. It’s because we shouldn’t have.

Frank was on edge the entire time we were moving through the underbrush, trying to follow the old, broken road. We lost the road yesterday, and we haven’t seen anything remotely dangerous except plants, and they seem to be leaving us alone. Out of the corner of my eye, I’ve seen some get close—like they’re watching, but scared to approach.

I’m trying to keep us moving in the general direction of Haven North, based on the stars I saw last night. That’s difficult when we have to steer around everything that sounds dangerous. Unfortunately, out here, everything sounds dangerous.

“Up that hill,” I say, motioning ahead. “We need to get a look at our surroundings and that’s the highest peak we’ve seen in a while.”

“The highest peak we’ve been able to get to,” Brenna mutters.

“Nara, are you okay?” I ask, glancing over at her.

“Getting better,” she gasps, leaning on Tansy for support. “Let’s keep moving.”

We climb the embankment, which proves difficult for Nara, but she manages. When we get to the top, our eyes widen like saucers. There’s a pond below us with water so clear I can see some kind of large fish swimming around in it. Near the pond are several trees with fruits I recognize from Haven North—apples, oranges, and even pears, which are only sold in the Upper District.

“Am I dreaming?” Fiona whispers.

“No, you’re not dreaming!” I say excitedly. “Let’s go down there, but carefully. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves if anything is around.”

For a brief moment, I wonder if The Tangle somehow provided this, but I’m too hungry and thirsty to dwell on it. We make our way down to the pond where we find a soft patch of grass for Nara to rest on.

“Let me try it first,” I say, kneeling by the water. “It looks clean, but you can never be too sure.”

I lean forward, gather some water in my hand, and let it drizzle to my bracelet. The bracelet hums for a second and the water vanishes into the vine. I guess we’re both thirsty. I cautiously sip the water, a sweetness flooding my mouth.

“This is better than the water in Haven North,” I say. “It should be safe, but drink it slowly. You’ll throw up if you drink it too fast because of how dehydrated we are.”

After a few sips of water, I make my way over to the fruit. My bracelet doesn’t give me any warning signs, so I test the apple first. The taste is more vibrant than anything I’ve ever eaten before. I quickly gather some for the others, not even bothering to check the other fruit.

“You have to try these,” I say, kneeling by Nara and dumping the apples on the soft grass.

We each take an apple and for the first time since we were taken from Haven North, every single one of us is smiling. The oasis is providing a brief respite, along with the sustenance we need to continue our journey.

The horrors around us are forgotten, if only for a moment.