Silas shifted back. “No. Don’t touch her!” Silas tackled Tanner to the ground while I stood frozen in shock at what had transpired before my eyes. A strong wind blew through the trees, forcing me out of my trance. I stumbled backward. The root of a tree caught the back of my ankle, and down on my a*s I went.

“Oof!” I huffed.

Tanner lay on his stomach, facing me, only a few feet from me, with Silas on top of him, trying to restrain him. Tanner grabbed a fist full of ...