Take Me

25JAIDE

It wasn'tthe screaming that woke me, even though it threatened to burst my eardrums once I was awake and aware of it. But that wasn't what pulled me from a deep, dreamless sleep.

It was the hands grabbing me, pulling and yanking me out of bed before I had the chance to know I wasn't asleep anymore.

“What are you doing?” I mumbled, not even sure who was dragging me from my sleep.

I could barely hear myself over the screams all around me.

That was when the screams registered as reality, not the result of me being half-asleep.

And once I got a look at what was going on beyond the open flap of my tent, I understood where the screams came from. And why.

Fire, everywhere. Blazing tents consumed by flame. Synians roamed the camp, torching everything in sight. A horse ran screaming past my tent, and it was engulfed in flames. A pair of Witches twitched and gurgled on the ground, skin and flesh melting away from their bones.

I had to stop this. I had the power to stop it. But how? How, when I was too busy panicking?

“Jaide!” I barely made out the sound of my name over the chaos of bodies moving in all directions.

There were others I didn't recognize, not Synian but not human, either. They were like nothing I had ever seen, people whose skin was more like shiny, flashing scales. They shone like iridescent rainbows in the light from so many fires now burning out of control.

Somebody inside my tent called for me, but I could barely see anymore thanks to the smoke drifting in. Then. I saw him: Parris, tied up on the ground.

They must have grabbed him before waking me up!

Oh, no. If it wasn’t Parris who’d woken me up and was now holding me in place—

I moved before thinking, lunging for him, but the creature who held my arms only tightened their grip. I looked down and found hands that looked more like scaled claws.

“Easy, easy,” she hissed in my ear like a snake. “Not so fast. Not unless you want us to kill you before you can see your brother.”

My brother.

I went still, my mouth hanging open while my mind tried like hell to catch up. Jett was here. My eyes met Parris’. What was he thinking? Where were the others?

“Where is my brother?” I asked.

That wasthe question ringing out loudest in my head even as the camp burned all around us. The stench of burning flesh was enough to twist my stomach in knots and make bile rise in my throat, but I couldn't give in to that. Not when I knew he was somewhere nearby.

“You wish to see him?”

“Very much.”

“Release me!” Parris shouted. “Take your hands off her, you Siren bitch!”

The siren only laughed, which sounded a lot more like gurgling. Like she was underwater, even though she wasn't. “Who are you to give such commands? By the foam, you have no power over me.”

“Don't hurt him,” I begged. “Please, you don't have to hurt anyone. I will see my brother. It doesn't have to be this way.”

“Don’t do this, Jaide.” Parris struggled against whatever the Siren had used to bind his wrists and ankles.

Something enchanted? Whatever it was, it had to be strong.

“Shut your mouth, Synian filth,” she hissed.

“Enough!” I shouted. They both went silent. “I told you, take me to my brother. But please, leave everyone else alone. They haven't done anything to hurt you.”

“It's a bit too late for that, isn't it?” The siren smiled, which was maybe the most terrifying thing I had seen so far.