Chapter 11. They Wanted Me

S:

My nails snap.

Bleed.

Hurt.

I dig deeper.

Panting like a fucking athlete chasing something just out of reach.

My fingers claw faster.

Deeper.

Harder.

Until another nail rips straight off.

Pain shoots through the bone — a savage, twisting thing — but I don't stop.

Can't stop.

Not now.

I push harder, shoving fists of dirt aside, knuckles scraping rock, until—

Fuck.

A splinter.

Thick and sharp, shooting up under my fingernail like a spear.

I bite back a grunt, shaking out my hand, blood bubbling up beneath the nail bed.

My palm slams into something solid.

Wood.

Old.

Rotting.

A coffin.

I throw my head back and laugh.

Loud.

Broken.

Sharp enough to slice the night open.

Kieran jumps, the tablet slipping from his fingers and crashing into the dirt.

He curses, kneeling to pick it up, mumbling under his bre