A Court of Graves and Flowers

CHAPTER SEVEN

The woods were dark.

Sunlight couldn't seem to break through the canopy above. Callisto felt thorns scratching at her skin as she ran through the trees, desperate to get away.

She couldn't breathe. Her lungs felt like they were going to explode inside of her as she pushed them beyond their capacity.

Ahead of her, there was only more darkness. The light was so muted that she could barely navigate through the trees, her body barely fitting through the gaps in the oppressive forest. It was as though the trees themselves were reaching out their gnarled branches to slow her—stop her—so that the creature prowling behind her could catch up.

She felt those eyes on her, like tiny shards of ice pricking her skin. It left goosebumps in its wake.

Callisto's wings twitched behind her, desperate to be free. Desperate to fly out and above the darkness.

Her legs trembled, her feet tripping over each other. And then a figure was knocking her to the ground.

Callisto looked up, seeing the beast that had been chasing after her.

Its face was set in a snarl, the sharp, pointed canines exposed. Huge antlers curved beautifully on its head, and golden-brown fur covered every inch of its powerful body. A scream built in Callisto's throat, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out.

She felt some sort of liquid dripping down onto her chest, so she touched it. Red stained her hands as she pulled them away. She screamed and screamed and screamed, but still, no sound came out.

The beast above her moved, snapping its large jaws toward her face.

Callisto was thrashing, fighting against that beast. Against that invisible force that haunted her.

She pushed and shoved, her hands coming into contact with something solid.

Something was holding her down. Something was wrapping around her legs. She needed to get free. She needed to escape. Rhysand, where are you? Where are you? Her mind was screaming.

And then, sound seemed to return. She could hear someone screaming out loud—long, drawn-out shrieks of pure, unadulterated terror.

"Callisto, stop. It was just a nightmare. Please. You're alright. You're safe, I promise."

The words swam into focus, and the screaming stopped. She realized it had been coming from her.

Looking up, she met green eyes blazing in the darkness. Frantically, she scanned her surroundings. She was not in the forest. Not pinned to the ground. She was back in her room in the Spring Court, the soft mattress of the bed underneath her. Her blankets were tangled around her legs.

She then looked back to the man in front of her. His hands were wrapped around her thin arms, surprisingly gentle.

Callisto shoved him away.

The worry that had been etched onto Tamlin's face was replaced by shock. He watched as Callisto quickly scrambled off the bed, falling to the floor in her haste to get away—to get away from him. Her wide, purple eyes contained only one thing: fear.

Callisto crawled to the corner, her back pressed against the wall. She drew her knees up to her chest, hugging herself. Her eyes scanned the room again.

"Where is Azriel?" she croaked, her voice hoarse from all of the screaming.

It had woken Tamlin up in the middle of the night, and he'd stumbled to her room to see her struggling against invisible monsters as she lay in bed. Monsters that were in her head. But as those purple eyes looked at him from behind a curtain of dark hair, he realized he was the monster in her nightmares.