It seemed distracted. Could Madeleine make a run for it? Could anyone outrun a horse the size of a delivery van, whether it was a ghost or not? Especially when the path was strewn with slippery rocks?

She’d damned well better try, considering the alternative.

Madeleine lurched toward the right, eyeing the seawall stairs, which seemed to be a thousand miles away. Everything remained fuzzy from the whisky she’d guzzled. Her legs wouldn’t move as fast as she told them to. Even if they would, they wouldn’t be faster than the horse. It darted in front of her, baring its sharp teeth once more.

Madeleine staggered backward again. Her feet slid into the wet sand and water. “Stop!”

The horse didn’t seem inclined to comply. It just kept walking while staring Madeleine down with that unnerving glare of intelligence.

She looked around wildly. The dock was just a few feet away, much like when she’d woken up on the rocky shore beneath…beneath…

Madeleine’s breath caught. This was the spot. This was the same spot her angel must have dragged her ashore. She looked back at the horse.

“You should leave me alone,” she said, her voice ringing like a bell. “Something here protected me last time. It will again. I know it.”

The horse took a sudden step back, as if startled. So it did understand her. That much was obvious. Somehow, this monster understood English.

Then it looked over her shoulder at the sea and flicked its tail again.

What was it looking at, or for? Before she could think better of it—must have been the alcohol—Madeleine turned as well.

Bad idea. The sudden shift in perspective disoriented her. She was drunk, the ground was slippery, and for the third time, Madeleine Laurent fell down on Jorsay at the worst possible moment.

Her feet went out from under her. Her phone flew out of her hand. She landed on her bottom with a cry, right in the sand. She put a hand back to steady herself and the icy water rushed over it. Was the tide rising? She couldn’t tell, didn’t know, and it didn’t matter because in the space of a breath, the gigantic horse was looming over her, blocking out any source of light.

Her angel was nowhere in sight. Madeleine was all alone.

No small stones lay within reach. Neither did her phone. She had nothing to throw at the beast or blind it with. She had nothing but her hands, soft and useless. Helplessly, Madeleine stared up at the terrifying creature that was about to kill her.

The horse lowered its massive head. Madeleine closed her eyes, unable to breathe as that muzzle descended toward her. Its breath blew hot against her forehead, stirring the loose hairs there. Here they came, the razor teeth, ready to tear her to shreds.