Page 175 of Savior

The crowd shifted around us.

The stairs were a few feet away. At their base, set low into the concrete wall, was a rectangular drainage opening covered by a thick metal grate.

Nothing unusual. Probably hundreds of people had walked past it tonight without looking twice.

I looked twice. Then I kept looking.

“Hazel?” Sadie asked.

The voice came again.

Lower.

Listen.

My head tilted.

I could hear the band. The crowd. Shoes striking concrete. A vendor shouting somewhere behind us.

Under all of it—

Something else.

A voice. Coming from below.

I stared at the drain.

The space behind the metal was black. Too black.

The opening went back farther than I could see.

Something bitter touched the back of my throat. Acrid. My stomach rolled. I knew that taste.

No.

But why?

Snap.

Static. Reality came loose.

Trees. Not the trees outside the stadium. Close trees, dark trunks, branches cutting the sky into pieces. Feet sinking into dirt.

I stumbled. My feet caught me on concrete. I looked down.

“Hazel.” Declan.

I looked up.

Declan was still there. On the field. Helmet beneath one arm.

Watching me.

His expression had changed.

I knew that look. I hated that look.

“Hazel.” Sadie caught my wrist. “Hey.”