Chapter 6 · Marked at the Wrist

I don't remember getting back to the cabin.

One second Cain's dragging me through the creek, ice water burning my lungs every time I slip. The next I'm on a wood floor and everything hurts in a way that makes my teeth rattle.

He's saying something. I can't hear it over the noise in my skull.

"Layla." His hand clamps over my mouth. "Quiet."

I bite down. Hard.

He doesn't even flinch. Just keeps his palm there until I stop thrashing. When he finally pulls back there's blood on his fingers.

"You with me?"

I try to nod. My neck doesn't want to work right.

"They're close." He moves to the window, stays low. "Fourth whistle means they split up. One's circling back."

"How do you know?"

"Because that's what I'd do."

He's still in his coat but it's soaked through. Water drips off his hair onto the floor. I'm shaking so hard I can hear my bones knocking together.

"Get up." He doesn't look at me. "Clothes in the chest. You stay human, you stay quiet."

I manage to crawl to the chest. My hands don't want to close around anything. Everything smells wrong. Too sharp.