Jared's POV
The ground trembled beneath me, splitting apart as jagged cracks spread like lightning across the dirt. The well pulsed, beating like a living heart, and black smoke poured out of it — twisting and curling into the shape of limbs. They were wrong. Too long. Too sharp. A low, guttural hum echoed through the forest, vibrating through my bones like a death knell.
Above us, the blood moon flickered, its crimson light dimming, as if something monstrous had turned its attention toward the earth.
I dropped the axe. My chest heaved, and my legs shook so badly I barely stayed upright. Every instinct screamed at me to run, to get as far away as possible from whatever was crawling out of that well, but I couldn't.
Because Zina was on the ground. And she wasn't moving.
