Memory returned with a brutal slap when she saw dirt, ledge stone and uprooted trees all piled in a disarray, tilted at a seemingly impossible angle. She was still up on the mountain. But where was her attacker? Where were Seth, Cassie and the others? Moving her eyes first, then her head, she craned to see. When her neck twinged, suggesting that she’d pulled muscles in the struggle, she winced and moved her body instead. Or rather, she tried to move her body. It didn’t budge, because she was tied fast. Panic slapped through the mist of unreality, warning her that the situation was very, very real. Her heartbeat accelerated and her blood fired in her veins, telling her to run far and fast. Or stand and fight. Slow down, she told herself when her mind started to race in terror. Think it through. For some reason, she heard the last three words in Fax’s voice. Instead of making her mad or sad, as it probably should have, the sound steadied her.
