He took a step forward then was suddenly right in front of me. He took my face in his hands then kissed me. It was tender and sweet, full of words left unspoken by both of us. He kissed me until the world was spinning and my lungs were screaming and lights flashed through my closed eyelids.

Then he pulled back but did not drop his hands. His thumbs brushed over my cheeks. “I love you.”

I gasped. My eyes widened as my heart did little flips in my chest.

He dropped his hands and took a step back. “Saber’s real name is Auryn.”

I opened my mouth to speak when he flicked his wrist and sent my body flying backwards. Darkness swept over me for a second then was replaced by a soft glowing green tunnel. My back crashed into the tunnel wall. My gaze locked on Everest through the opening, but it was already closing up. His eyes locked on mine.

I LOVE YOU.

I LOVE YOU.

I LOVE YOU.

I screamed with my mind, but my mouth wasn’t moving. Sounds weren’t coming out. Being in the tunnel ignited a fire in my nerves that had my body in a chokehold of panic. My bones instantly rattled within my body. My teeth chattered. This was it. Time travel was happening. I gasped for air, but it felt like breathing through a straw.

“Everest—”

The floor opened up beneath my feet and I dropped.

My breath caught in my throat. my stomach lodged in my sternum. I was in a free fall. Wind swept up from my feet as I fell, forcing all of my hair into my face. I was too busy holding my dress down to un-strangle myself from my own hair. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Everest did this. Everest wouldn’t hurt you.

My feet hit the ground but instead of pain it felt like jumping into one of those foam pits at the trampoline park back home. Sand exploded like a bomb all around me, splashing halfway up the skirt of my dress. My knees buckled from the pressure, yet I managed to stay upright. I threw my arms out to steady myself but the movement tripped gravity and sent me flying face-first toward the ground. My knees hit the sand a split second before my hands. Wet, sticky texture wrapped around my fingers. I spit my hair out of my mouth and lifted my hands — my heart stopped.

Blood.

It was blood drenched sand.