I closed my eyes again and pictured the red stain on the carpet in the family room. My mom had lost so much blood when Liam had come early. My tears started falling faster. I wasn’t supposed to see the blood. Ellen had been scrubbing it nonstop. She was the best housekeeper in the world and even she couldn’t get the stain out. Eventually they had to pull out the carpet and get another.

I’d thought Liam was going to die.

I’d thought my mom was going to die.

I tried to shake away the memories. I used to have nightmares about them. But it had been a while. Seeing the blood on Jacob’s face though… Why would anyone purposely fight till knockout when something so terrible could happen?

I took a deep breath to try to make my heart stop racing. It was fine. Jacob was going to stop the fight. I wasn’t sure I could even hear the Hunter and Semenov chanting anymore. It was going to be okay.

I almost believed it too.

But then I heard a hiss.

I jumped. What the…

I heard a louder hiss and something clanged against the side of a cage I couldn’t see in the dark. There was another really drawn out hissssss and I swear I actually heard a slither.

Snakes.

Of all things…

Why had I gone into a room with snakes? I always had a bad habit of opening doors I wasn’t supposed to open. I turned and tried to find the knob in the dark.

There was another hissing noise, and this one sounded closer.

I finally made contact with the doorknob and threw it open. The hall was dimly lit but the faint light was still blinding compared to the darkness of the room. I lifted my hand to shield the light.

But someone from behind me grabbed my hand before it reached my eyes. Maybe they thought I was reaching out to them? But I didn’t even know who it was…

He laughed. Probably because I accidentally just squealed.

I turned to see, but he had disappeared into the room filled with snakes I’d just escaped from. And he was pulling me along with him.

Wait…no… But the fear from the snakes had somehow made my voice fail.

He pulled me back into the snake infested room. The door closed behind us with a click.

I tried to warn him and scream but nothing came out.

I heard the hissing sound again. Seriously was that getting closer? But all the fear dissipated when the stranger’s lips pressed against mine.

I put my hand on his chest to shove him back. But my fingers collided with a bare six-pack.

Wait.

Oh.