Free Beasthood (The Hidden Blood Series) by A.Z. Green

Spa’ came into view.
    They pulled off the road, passing by the wooden sign standing high on two legs, and turned into a dirt road surrounded by forest on both sides. The road was long and bumpy but ran pretty straight. She looked ahead, praying that she’d somehow make it to a place she could puke in peace. She couldn’t see the building from the road. It must have been on the downhill slope. The road went up steadily but it was enough to conceal whatever was beyond.
                  She stared out the window as the blurred, luminous green trees flew by. The driver had slowed down to thirty MPH but her stomach acid was racing at a rapid speed. She had to get out. She needed to get out, right now . “Stop the car,” she pleaded quietly.
    “ Darling, we’re nearly there just hold on,” Erica began.
    “ I’m gonna puke, pull over.”
    “ Just wait-”
                  Jaz became desperate and angry. “Pull over! Now !”
                  The driver slammed on the brakes and she thrust herself against the door as she pulled the handle. The door stayed put. Locked. She was about to snap at the driver but the sound of the lock clicking open stopped her. She jumped out and got as close to the forest as she could, facing away from the car before she puked her guts out.
    The burning acid was disgusting and painful as it went up her throat and out her mouth. Her chest heaved, her stomach ached. She puked until there was nothing left but stomach acid. On the last few smaller explosions of sick, she collapsed onto her hands and knees and coughed the last of it up. Her breathing was ragged. The air was suffocating as the afternoon heat mixed with the hot stench of sick. If she’d had anything left in her she’d have puked again. Instead, she gagged and gradually controlled herself with heavy, slow breaths until she felt empty and weightless.
                  Her aunt was not far behind her. The driver had gotten out and was leaning awkwardly against the car, having been unsure of what level of comfort would seem normal to provide. Instead, he’d decided being out of the car would show he had mild concern, somewhere safe between indifference and his true feelings of disgust, anger and agony for her suffering.
                  Her uncle stood on the other side of the car, with his elbows rested on the roof. He watched with an inquisitive expression.
                  Jaz sensed her aunt’s presence and appreciated her silence and distance.
    When she felt like all the sickness had gone -being replaced with weakness and exhaustion- she carefully raised her head. Staying on her knees she gazed weakly at the thick layer of trees in front of her. She couldn’t see their end and she found them strangely soothing.
    She’d gotten used to their stillness that it was very easy for her to spot the sudden movement fifty feet away in the dull light, from behind a trunk. It wasn’t an animal; that she knew straight away. It hadn’t moved between trees, disappearing from one tree trunk to the other. This figure had glanced behind one and then moved back. He knew he’d been seen. She stared fixedly at the tree she’d seen him peer behind.
                  She also sensed her aunt had moved away and for some reason it made the hairs on the back of Jaz's neck tingle. She didn’t know why it made her feel so uneasy, but she just knew something was wrong.
                  She slowly eased herself up onto her feet. Even at that speed, she still felt dizzy and wobbled on her heels before regaining her balance. She noticed that there was a strange heaviness in her ankles. It moved down to her toes filling them with a shooting pressure, as if all the blood in her legs had gathered there, pumping vigorously. It wasn’t painful, just unpleasant, like pins and needles. She ignored it, on edge from the man she’d seen in the forest.
    She looked back at the