Jessica tried to reply I don’t know but she was back in the forest again, in the noise, the shouting, the smell of singed vegetation.
Panting, Jessica swayed on her feet. What the hell did she just see?
Then she realised something else: her captors had let go of her hands.
She sensed them standing at close distance, hesitant. Their fear rippled over her in the same way Angus’ feelings did, like a wave of cold.
Jessica ran. She stumbled because she couldn’t see though the purple blotches that danced in her vision. Branches cracked and leaves rustled, slapping in her face. Jessica blundered through the forest, into trees and rocks, tripping, falling.
After a while, when no one followed her, she stopped and listened.
Wings buzzed. Animals croaked, shrilled and wailed in the night. The s
