Una’s eyes go fearfully wide, and I look over my shoulder, following her gaze. Long, satiny strands drenched in liquid gold with veins of black move around me, their lengths twisting and lifting.
I can feel them.
Stemmed from my spine and tugging at my skin in a comforting familiarity that makes tears spring to my eyes as they move. There’s a moment where I pause and wonder what they are, but then one word pours from the ledge of my tongue at the cusp of a memory.
Ribbons.
They’re my ribbons.
My elation is even brighter than the glow that surrounds them. I look down at the gold that drips from their lengths onto the floor. Like the flexing of fingers and extending of arms, I’m able to control the drenched strands at my back with ease, and I sigh in relief at the feel of it. At the heady strength that emanates from every strand.
In her shock, Una stands frozen, back plastered against the wall, shaking all over. “Whatareyou?” she asks.
My gaze stabs into her. “Really fucking pissed.”
She parts her lips to cry out, but my ribbons are faster. They come around and snatch her up, tying around her like a puppet sewed to strings. Each one wraps around her limbs and winds around her neck before gagging her gaping mouth.
Una fights and screams around them, expression pleading and terrified, but we’re well past that now. Caught in my tangle, she has nowhere to go. The creature inside of me roars with the demand for retribution.
My ribbons go sharp, tightening and tensing…
And then the veined strands snap her like a twig.
Una’s body goes slack, and the ribbons let go, making her drop to the floor in a heap. Breathing hard, I wait for several seconds, wondering…hoping…
But none of my other memories come rushing back.
Dammit.
Part of me expected her death to kill off her magic, but it didn’t. Apparently, her magic doesn’t end with her. Frustration boils through me and I stare at her lifeless body with hate.
Fine.
I roll my shoulders back and flex my ribbons. I’ll just have to rot the memory worms myself. I’ll destroy them one by one until I rid the infestation and get back everything she tried to take away.
I can do it. Iwilldo it. No matter how long it takes.
Glancing over my shoulder, I study the rippling, winding ribbons, and the sight of them makes my anger dissipate. The strands curl around my outstretched hands, ready to grab hold.
I can’t stop the smile tipping my lips as I slide my fingers through their silky lengths and over the dribbling gold that smears down their edges. I tug at them, counting every one, reveling in the feel of them.
They’re another part of me that I’ve gotten back on my own. First, the flashes of memories with the rot, and now this.
My truths are growing, and I repeat them now, from last to first, letting them cloister within this cell and stick to my skull.
Ribbons.
Emonie, Wick, Ludogar.
Vulmin.
Lyäri.
Rot power.
Gold power.
A light in the dark.
