Rise by Freya Finch

Author:Freya Finch [Finch, Freya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Published: 2024-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

A CLOUD OF RED SMOKE fills my lungs. My ears ring. I can’t see a thing. I’m coughing, blinded, as people scream around me. Tears swim in my vision. I can barely open my eyes.

As the ringing in my ears fades, it takes me a second to realize what happened.

It was just a smoke bomb.

I cough, waving my hand in my face, but it only makes things worse.

People around us gasp and gag, bumping into one another as they try to get away, but no one seems to be hurt.

“Wya—?” I choke on more smoke as I throw my hands out, searching. “Wyatt?”

He doesn’t answer, but he’s coughing heavily nearby. I can just barely make out his shadow through the smoke.

“Wyatt?” I blink a few times to see him standing but curled in on himself, one arm stretched out toward me, another folded across his chest. “Are you okay?” I ask.

Wyatt coughs and shakes his head. He doesn’t answer me.

I try to get closer, but he waves his hand for me to get back. Drool rolls out of his mouth as he gasps for air, and he squeezes his eyes shut.

“Wyatt?” I say again.

Heavily, he drops to his hands and knees, then his eyes snap open, glowing a bright amber.

“Shit.”

Wyatt disappears in a white cloud and a bear rises out of the mist.

People close to us scream.

I can’t move. I can’t think.

As the haze dissipates, Wyatt stands up on his back legs, towering over us.

People run for the doors.

Thick foam rolls from Wyatt’s mouth, and there’s a wild look in his eye. This is different from the first time I saw him change.

People scramble for cover, but those outside the smoke cloud don’t understand. The ones who do crash over the buffet table, trip in the water fountain, and knock one another to the ground in their attempts to get away. It’s chaos.

“Bryn!” Juniper appears at my side, coughing and covering her mouth and nose with her hand. “What happened?”

Wyatt barks, his head swinging back and forth, like he’s looking for something to attack. It’s terrifying.

“I don’t know! It all happened so fast! There was a smoke bomb—”

Wyatt lands back on all fours with a massive crash that rocks the floor like an earthquake. Mostly everyone is gone, except for us.

I have to help him.

“Wyatt!” I scream, but he doesn’t seem to hear me.

He huffs, flaring his snout, and shakes his head like he’s trying to snap out of it.

Juniper bends down and grabs the small silver cylinder. “This?”

Wyatt roars, clawing his eyes and mouth. It’s as if he’s desperately trying to get something out of his eyes. Blindly, he charges in our direction. I dive into Juniper and knock her aside as Wyatt misses us and crashes headfirst into the buffet table, sending roast meat flying.

“The smoke did this to him!” I say, helping Juniper to her feet.

“Security!” Mr. Beaumont screams from the stairs, waving his arms and panicking.

Wyatt, drawn by the noise and movement, rushes him, but Mr. Beaumont flees up the spiral staircase, screaming.

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