Free Forgotten Love: An Action-Packed Adventure Romance (The Forgotten Chronicles) by Kameron Scott Page A

need to keep their voices down now. Not after they'd been discovered.
    Theo risked a look over his shoulder. The vines or roots or whatever they were had filled the remaining area of the floor behind them, and they were still coming. How long were these things?
    One flicked at his heel and he picked up his pace. Long enough, obviously.
    Gillian's feet went out from under her. She unbalanced Theo, her hand still firmly in his, and he almost went down with her. "Up, up, up!" he urged, pulling on her arm.
    She slipped and fell to her knees again. The tunnel was slick and wet. And warmer.
    Theo could hear a hiss coming from the direction in which they were running. They must have somehow circled round and come to the air vents again.
    Pain ripped through his right ankle and the world smacked him in the face.
    He was disoriented and wondering why the chamber was moving. Gillian grabbed for his arms. Her fingers slipped through his.
    Damn. The plant had him. It had wrapped around his ankle while he was getting Gillian up, and now it had him. It was dragging him back toward the stone ships. Back toward the hole and God alone knew what.
    He did not want to find out what.
    The tendril that gripped his ankle was tight but slow. Gillian tried to get close to him but other questing tendrils of thick plant-life were after her, too, and she was fighting to save her own life. He had to get it off by himself.
    Flopping to his back, he unlaced and then kicked off both boots, and then undid the button and zipper of his pants and hiked them down to his knees, off his free leg, and then as the thing continued to drag him backward on his ass, he pulled his other leg free by sliding his pants off. The plant arm tightened its grip around the cuff of his pants and pulled them away from him. He was fine with that. He'd rather be freezing then dead.
    Avoiding the other tendrils that still searched around him, he made it back to Gillian.
    "This is the second time you've taken your pants off in front of me. Are you trying to tell me something?" she joked. They were both too scared and freaked out to find it funny.
    "Come on!" The chamber with the air vents had holes in the roof where the steam escaped. They might be able to climb through... It was a long shot, but considering the plants were about to grab them, they had to chance it.
    Now there's a phrase he never expected to hear himself say.
    "Come on, we need to keep moving," he said to her.
    She answered with, "Eeeeek!"
    He turned in time to see Gillian being dragged back down the corridor, dozens of tendrils wrapping around and cocooning her.
    Without a weapon or a clue as to how he could help, Theo ran after her, only dimly aware that he was being followed.
    He was able to catch up with her quickly because tendrils also enveloped him and dragged him along, hastening their reunion. Considering the speed at which they were traveling, Theo was amazed that they weren't being battered bloody against the walls of the tunnel, but the tendrils wrapped around them served as a cushion. Tight enough that he couldn't move his arms or legs, but loose enough that he could breathe comfortably. The plant must like to digest its meat alive...
    The movement slowed as soon as they were out of the corridor and back into the village. The plant moved them closer together, keeping them upright and facing each other, making Theo think of a pair of action figures in the hands of a small child.
    Gillian's eyes were closed, her face was pale, but she seemed to be breathing.
    "Gillian... are you ok?" he asked.
    She didn't speak, but her eyes opened and they told him everything. That was the stupidest fucking question anyone had ever asked her.
    The hissing sound grew louder, reminding Theo of the sense of being followed. He turned his head and looked back toward the tunnel.
    From it, a massive grey and black snake was slithering into the village.
    Gillian screamed and the plant clutched them closer together.
    The snake was so