Clark POV
Mom was yelling at me to wake up or I'd miss the flight.
God, I wanted to.
Last night I'd prayed not to open my eyes again, because waking up meant going back—to that place. Back to Zeeprey, back to the land that pretended to has the best university but was really a den of monsters. I'd have taken a fever, an earthquake, divine lightning—anything—if it meant I could stay in my bed, in this house, in a world where the worst thing that could happen was burning the toast.
But fate, apparently, had a cruel sense of humor.
I rolled out of bed, dragging every movement the way a man drags his chains. If I could just slow down—just a few minutes—maybe I'd miss the flight. Maybe the plane would leave without me and I could tell them, Oops, sorry, missed it. I'd email, say I'd book another. I'd get one more day. One more night of safety.
