Chapter 104

Lake POV

My head was pounding when I came to, a deep, throbbing ache that radiated from the back of my skull through my entire body. Everything felt wrong—the surface beneath me was moving, vibrating, the air smelled stale and metallic, and there were hands on me. Hands that shouldn’t be there.

I tried to open my eyes, but the light hurt too much at first. I could hear voices though, low and conversational, like we were having a normal discussion instead of—

Instead of what? What had happened?

Memory came back in fragments, pieces of a nightmare that I desperately wanted to be just a dream. The gardens. Walking with Troy. Julian and Ollie holding hands. And then—

The van. Samuel. Frank Morrison with a knife. Troy falling, blood spreading across his shirt. Ollie going limp in Samuel’s arms. Something hitting the back of my head.

Oh God. Oh God, this was real.

“—finally waking up. Took him long enough. You hit him pretty hard, Frank.”