Chapter 27

• AUBREY
• The wooden platform creaks above me as I huddle in the shadows beneath, my thirteen-year-old body trembling with terror. The sweet scent of crushed wildflowers mingles with the metallic tang of blood, creating a nauseating combination that will haunt me forever.
• Screams pierce the air—voices I recognize, people I love. My brother James's voice rises above the chaos, defiant even as death closes in. Then it cuts off abruptly, and something inside my chest shatters.