Fly! Fly! Fly! Briar flapped her wings wildly, but she was still falling through the air, spiraling toward the ground at breakneck speed.

“I’m going to die!” she howled in panic. “Alec, help me!”

“You can’t die,” he told her calmly, falling at her side. His face was scaly and green, an array of silver teeth gleaming as he spoke. He wasn’t Alec, but a dragon.

“Please!” she cried. “Catch me!”

“You need to fly,” he coached her. “You’re a dragon. Now fly!”

Her lids flew open, and she gasped for breath.

It was just a dream. A weird dream to accompany this insane day. Her eyes tried to focus, but the cabin was very dark, even though one light remained on in the small bathroom off to the side of the bedroom.

“Alec?” Briar called out, her voice barely audible. “Are you here?” Instantly, she clamped her mouth closed, remembering that he had left. Being alone suddenly filled her with the same dread which had haunted her for days.

He’ll be back soon. He just went for supplies. He’s got to act like everything’s normal so that Raven doesn’t get suspicious.

Briar had little faith in that playing out as they intended, but she had to trust Alec. He was all she had. Before he had left her to rest in the remote cabin, far out of the way of civilization, he warned her to stay inside and lay very low.

“The fact that your body hasn’t been found is going to alert Raven that something’s wrong. She’ll come back looking for you, I’m sure,” he told her. Ice ran through her veins at the idea.

“She won’t stop until I’m dead, Alec.”

“We’ll find a way to make her stop,” he promised. “You need to have faith in me.”

Her eyes had narrowed. “How do you know someone like her?” Briar wanted to know. Alec looked away.

“It’s a really long story.”

That’s just code for “mind your own business.” But she didn’t have much choice in the matter.

“What about my brother? What if she finds Colton?”

“As far as we know, Colton isn’t on their radar,” Alec assured her, but there was a note of uncertainty in his voice.

“As far as we know? That’s not a very confident response.”

“Briar,” Alec said patiently. “We know for a fact that Raven wants you dead. You are my concern right now.”

“And my brother is mine!” He had sighed heavily and stared into her face, using his fingertips to push a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.

“I’ll check in on your brother,” Alec promised. “I’ll put him somewhere safe just in case.”

Why does he sound so worried if there’s nothing to worry about? Briar didn’t ask the pressing question and instead watched as he left her alone in the desolate cabin.

The two-roomed cottage, which could only have served him as a hunting ground, was a strange contrast to the mansion.

It’s hard to imagine Alec in camo and a hunting vest, wielding a rifle, she mused. If she had not been so stressed by the entire affair, she might have been entertained by the idea of a real estate developer getting in touch with nature, living off the land. Unless there’s another purpose for this cabin.

She wished she could stop her imagination from taking off with her, but the more she considered her situation, the more Briar realized how much trouble she was in. Slowly, she pulled herself off the surprisingly comfortable double bed and made her way toward the main room, her ears trained for signs of life inside. There was nothing. Alec clearly wasn’t back yet.

Inside the kitchen, she found a variety of loose tea bags and decided to make herself something to calm her nerves, if only a little bit. She kept a careful eye on the kettle, lest it whistle and shatter any semblance of peace she was struggling to maintain in her bones. The water seemed to take forever to boil, but Briar knew that was the old “watched pot” adage. She was hovering over the antique stove, counting seconds by way of passing the time, and when she finally felt like she was going to scream, she snatched the kettle off the stove and poured it into an oversized mug holding a chamomile tea bag.

I shouldn’t have let him go, she thought. Supplies be damned. I’m going to lose my mind here if I have to stare at these walls.

She felt like they were closing in on her, and even though Briar had never before been claustrophobic, she knew that was exactly what she was experiencing in those moments. It was shocking to her that she had managed to sleep in Alec’s absence, but the exhaustion had taken its toll, it seemed.

The alternative, of course, was that she could be running blindly through the woods, and who knew what she might encounter then. The memory of Raven’s gleaming eyes was forever etched into her mind.

“Come on, Alec,” she muttered aloud, drumming her fingers against the counter. There were so many questions she had for him, the line between reality and illusion confusing her greatly. She worried that she was losing grip on her sanity.

He obviously didn’t fly you to the hospital on his back. That’s impossible, she scolded herself, but he had not provided any other explanation about how they had gone so far without a car, nor how she had managed to come back from the dead, relatively unscathed.

Her hand slipped down her chest to feel the now-healed spot where the bullet had entered her flesh, and she shivered. The scar tissue remained, but even then, Briar could tell it was improving with each passing hour. Just like she had after the car accident.

She set the mug down, realizing her hands were shaking almost violently.

What if Alec is freaked out by me? What if he’s not coming back? The thoughts plagued her, and she sank back as though the wind had been knocked out of her entirely. Reason had gone out the window a long time earlier, and Briar wondered if it was ever coming back.

Don’t be insane. Alec wouldn’t have saved you if he intended to abandon you. That doesn’t make any sense. You can’t lose it now. But it was much easier said than done. She could feel herself unraveling piece by piece. I’m a freak, a weirdo who heals like magic and gets shot at by murderous villains. I’m a goddamn comic strip character.

For a fleeting moment, she considered that she was in a dream and had been since the minute she’d gotten into the car accident. The thought was both comforting and inane. She could still feel Alec on her skin, the scent of his subtle cologne in her nostrils.

I didn’t imagine any of that. Alec is real. This is real… somehow.

Briar knew she could spend the next hours driving herself back and forth from the brink, or she could try to shut off her brain and let Alec do as he had promised. If he even came back.

She was getting annoyed with herself. Stop it! Even if he doesn’t come back, you’re still safer here than you are anywhere else. Unless Alec had told Raven where to find her.

Briar groaned aloud at the futile circles she was dragging herself through. In her mind’s eye, she could see Alec’s emerald gaze boring into hers, the confidence and warmth exuding from him. There was no malice in him, she was sure. She had no reason to doubt him. She just wished he would hurry back before she lost it entirely.

Sighing, she shuffled out of the kitchenette area and moved toward the plush sofa, flopping onto the cushions to look around. The cabin was well decorated enough to indicate that Alec spent time there. It had electricity and a backup generator, according to her host.

Maybe he brings all the girls here, she thought with some bitterness. Again, she wanted to smack her own face. Jealousy was the last thing which should have been on her mind at such a time. Your life is in danger and you’re worried about Alec’s exes. You have gone off the deep end. If I had a car right now, I’d have myself committed.

A small whisper teased her ears. You could try to fly.

The dream flooded back to her, and Briar shook her head almost violently, as though she was trying to push the unbidden thoughts from overtaking her mind.

Her eyes rested on an ancient television, and hope lurched into her gut.

“Now there’s the distraction I need,” she told herself, hurrying toward the panel. She hoped it worked, even though her faith wasn’t overwhelming. The model seemed circa 1962, with the bunny ear antenna to match. Still, even if she caught a static-ridden episode of All in the Family, Briar would be happy.

It would be fitting, actually. I’m caught in some time warp or in an alternate reality, aren’t I?

The screen was shockingly clear, and a news station played distinctly. Not that Briar wanted to hear about the atrocities occurring in the city, but she figured it was something to keep her mind off her own woes. She fell back and reached for her tea again, pressing the mug to her lips.

And for the next half hour, she allowed the fear to slip away as she pretended she wasn’t Briar Baker, mutant, but some girl in a cabin, waiting for her lover to return.