I gasp, withdrawing my hand as the headless horseman steps out into the light, his ax raised above his head.
35
Kat
The moon shines on the blade of the horseman’s ax as it hangs above me and a scream escapes my lips.
But instead of bringing it down on me, his hand shoots forward and he grabs me by the throat, lifting me up in the air.I’ve never seen him this close before, never felt his hands on me, the immense power, the horrible stink of evil that rolls off him in dark waves.
I try to breathe, to speak, but I can’t.My fingers go to his gloved hand in vain, trying to pry him off, but he holds me there, my feet dangling above the ground, and I feel him watching me despite not having eyes.
Why is he staring at me like this?
“Are you just going to stand there like an idiot?”Leona’s clipped voice says, and the horseman swings around toward her.Leona is standing by a wilting dahlia bush near the back of the cathedral, Ana on one side of her, Margaret on the other.No Sophie.
She motions to the horseman with her bony hand and theHessian starts marching toward her, dragging me along.The sisters go through a back door into the cathedral, and the thing with no head follows.
Before I know what’s happening, the horseman is placing me on a table, no, an altar, and Ana and Margaret go to my arms, holding them down above my head.The horseman keeps a firm grip around my throat, preventing me from screaming, just allowing me enough oxygen to breathe, while Leona goes to my legs, parting them wide and strapping them down to the table before I can kick free.
Then Leona does the same to my hands before she grabs a bottle of laudanum from underneath the altar.The horseman forces my mouth open with his foul-smelling gloves and Leona pours the poison down my throat.
It stings and burns and as the fear and panic take hold of me, threatening to obliterate me, I can only hope and pray that what was in the charcoal neutralizer is enough to work through this because they just gave me enough to knock out a horse.
Then the Hessian releases me and I open my mouth to scream but I stop myself.Leona, Ana, and Margaret are staring down at me, their faces now monstrous, like I saw in Ms.Peek’s bathroom, and they’re all looking at me expectantly.
They’re waiting for the drug to work.
This is the only defense I have.
I have to pretend.
I close my mouth and blink at them slowly, as if I can’t keep my eyes open any longer, and let my limbs go limp under the restraints, let my head loll to the side.With half-closed eyes I try to survey the scene inside of the rest of the cathedral.
And my heart drops.
I see Brom standing in the middle of the aisle, inside a pentangle lit by clumps of melting black candles.He’s completely nude, his cock stiff, and he’s staring straight at me with his dark and intense eyes.
This is the Brom that the horseman is controlling, I think to myself.This is really going to happen to me, isn’t it?They’re going to force him on me.
But where is Crane in all of this?I don’t see him in the room anywhere.Is he being held elsewhere, perhaps with Sophie?Or did they already kill him?Is he being sorted and sifted and siphoned right now, somewhere in the depths beneath the cathedral?
My heart feels stuck in my chest, the pain immense, and I can’t bear to think those thoughts without giving myself away, can’t bear to think about losing Crane.
But I still have to think.
I have to do something, don’t I?
I think about my power, my magic, and if only my hands weren’t restrained, then I could at least try to light the sisters on fire.The bigger problem is the fact that Iwouldn’tlight Brom on fire, and he’s currently the biggest threat.
“She’s ready for you, Abraham,” Leona calls out to him.“Don’t be afraid, dear boy.Come and take what is rightfully yours.Come and sire your heir.”
Brom nods stiffly and starts walking down the aisle toward me, the weapon bobbing between his legs.I keep my eyes half-open, feigning drowsiness, hoping I can still reach through tohim somehow.Isn’t there some small part of him that recognizes what’s happening?
But his black eyes show me nothing.They are cold and damned and there is no love for me in them anymore.I’m just a vessel.
The sisters step away from the altar, the physical horseman doing the same, as Brom approaches.He stops right beside me, his empty gaze coasting over my body, and it takes all my strength not to react, to pretend to be drugged and helpless.I must fool him, I must fool everyone.
“Part her legs, shove up that nightgown,” Leona barks.“Get on top of that table and penetrate her.”
