Golden Hour by Kat Jackson

Author:Kat Jackson [Jackson, Kat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2022-07-14T14:58:49+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

A low rumble cuts through the idyllic scenery. Lina shifts her glance to the right, scanning the horizon. Nothing. The ocean pushes and pulls its blank surface, the motion rocking in contrast to the stiff, unmoving air. It’s hot, but hot isn’t the word that Lina’s searching for. This air, this environment, it’s so much more than hot.

The rumble sounds again, echoed by a louder sizzle. It’s a sound Lina’s memory will never permit her to forget. The sizzle increases, rises, amplifies to an eardrum-blasting screech. Lina bends at the waist, pushing her palms against her ears. She has to make the sound stop.

No. She rights herself, and her posture goes rigid. She can’t make the sound stop. She has to get to the sound.

She stares straight ahead and the ocean is gone. No, it’s not gone—it’s just not water anymore. Lina blinks rapidly, thinking the sand has blurred her vision, and if she can clear her eyes without touching them because her hands are full—wait, why are my hands full?—then she’ll be able to see the water again and everything will be okay.

A cautious step forward brings the screeching sound closer, and the new tar ocean comes into sight. Thick, unctuous black waves are capped over the street—where the fuck did the street come from?—and they hang with threat, with determination. They’re going to fall.

As Lina takes a second step forward, she feels the unmistakable sensation of a claw gripping her forearm. Spiny fingers dig through her uniform, sinking into her flesh. She wiggles her arm. She knows it’s pointless, but she has to at least try. She has to get across the street, under those waves. She has to get there first.

With a forceful yank, Lina frees her arm, and she stops in her tracks, staring at the spot where she’d been gripped so tightly. The hiss of searing flesh makes its way to her cotton ball-stuffed ears, and she watches in awe as a silky plume of smoke rises from beneath her uniform. This is wrong. She’s not supposed to free herself from that grip. She’s not supposed to be on fire.

Not now. Right. She has to get across the street, and now she can. Lina drops the bulky weight from her left arm and breaks into a run. She’s faster than Olympic sprinters now. She cuts through the oppressive air like a blade. She runs. Sprints. Flies. She’s moving so fast that she can’t think. Every move is automatic. Her legs sync with her arms and her lungs seem to have expanded. She’s faster than the speed of light, and yet she is going nowhere.

Midstride, Lina looks down at her feet and can’t see them. She stops pumping her arms and stares at the ground. She lifts her leg and nothing happens. Panic begins webbing through her body. She was just moving, and so fast. Where did all this honey come from? And why is it so thick that she can’t even see her feet?

A frantic glance behind her confirms her suspicions.

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