Page 100 of The Tracker's Revenge

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SILENCE AND DARKNESSwere all I had left around me, and yet my mind roared with desperation, constantly screaming for help that wouldn’t come.

I dug my claws into my scalp, trying to feel something, relishing even the pain over the emptiness that had swallowed me.

Suddenly, I felt something wet on my fingertips. It was the first thing I’d been able to perceive, something other than the void. I pulled my hands away, tried to peer at the wetness.

Was it blood?

It had to be.

Desperate for something, anything, I dug my claws into my palms. I clenched my teeth and moaned in pain.

A tiny whisper registered in my mind. I sat bolt upright, my head swiveling on my neck, and my eyes roving in their sockets.

Darkness.

Only darkness.

The whisper grew louder. I strained to understand, to catch the meaning of the sound. Where was it coming from? Was it a voice?

Yes! Yes!Itwasa voice.

I pushed my fists against my eyes, throwing my entire focus onto that small breath of sound.

“Toni.”

“Toni.”

“TONI!”

My name. Someone was calling me.

Jake!It was Jake.I’m right here. Please, help me. Please!

“Toni?”

Yes, yes, yes!

“Oh, thank the witchlights! Open your eyes.”

I can’t. I can’t.

“You have to. You have to wake up. We have to get out of here. Now!”He was desperate, urgent.

What was happening? I didn’t know, but I tried again, with all my might, I tried to break out of the trance, but I couldn’t. I was stuck. Maybe even for good.

“C’mon, Toni. You can do it.”

I shook my head.I can’t. It’s not working. Nothing is working.

Jake’s voice changed, becoming a fierce alpha command. “Do it now!”

Red bristled at this. Her first instinct was to refuse, to fight back. No one told her what to do. No one. Except, she couldn’t be any more wrong. Today, she had to submit.

Do as he commands, I pleaded, hoping she would see reason.

She didn’t. Instead, she hunkered down like an idiot.