Flashback ( PDFDrive )

way she kept glancing over her shoulder to check some creak or
crackle from the overgrown forest behind them.
The tangled trees were blanketed in thick green moss, and the
squashy ground was dotted with mushrooms, like something out of a
movie—but the kind of movie where the characters were being hunted
by something lurking in the misty shadows.
Fitz must’ve been feeling the same way, because he scooted closer
to Sophie, holding tight to her gloved hand as he called out, “Luzia—
it’s Fitz Vacker. Please let us in.”
The call bounced off the trees but triggered no response, and
Sophie was starting to wonder how hard it would be to scale the fence
—or what would happen if they tried to levitate over it—when a soft
click had them stumbling back as the gates swung slowly outward, and
a silhouetted figure stalked toward them.
“What is the meaning of this?” Luzia demanded, her annoyed tone
twisting Sophie’s stomach into knots.
They didn’t have time to win Luzia over.
They needed her to cooperate immediately.
Which meant Sophie had to get right to the point.
“The alicorn went into early labor,” she told Luzia, not bothering to
mask the fear in her voice. “She’s having twins, and we’re told the
babies aren’t going to survive unless we move them somewhere they
can finish developing.”
Luzia paused midstep, her form still a shadowed shape against the
blinding light. “And why are you coming to me?”
“Because they know about the hive,” Tarina said boldly. “I offered
to let them use two of our transport pods so they can implant the