2

Pain flayed him.

Simon closed his eyes, tried to focus on Zach. It only intensified the pain.

Since—something—had yanked him away from Alex Finch, he had been trapped in this darkness, unable to move. He always figured he would die violently; hanging out with Claire Wiche was not the path to safe and quiet living.

But he also figured that once he died, that would be it. White light, pearly gates, or just an end—any of them would have been fine with him.

Instead, he had been attached to Zach, popping in and out, with no control over when and where. Because of Alex, he now knew why he was here. According to the mythology, he had been chosen as Zach’s Watcher. What that meant for him was something to deal with at a later date.

Right now, he had to figure out just how the hell he was going to free himself from a prison he couldn’t even see.