“I know you’re afraid,” I said quietly, pushing back into her mind with more force now. “Afraid Amabel is the better twin. Afraid Arabesque loves her more. Afraid you’ll always be second best.”
I reached deeper, broadcasting her own memories back at her. Arabesque praising Amabel for her control while scolding Eluned for her impulsivity. Amabel mastering a spell while Eluned struggled. Theconstant, gnawing feeling that she wasn’t good enough, wouldneverbe good enough.
As I ravaged her mind, I felt a flicker of pity. Seri was right: Eluned was Arabesque’s creation, her tool, her soldier, but she had never been anyone’s daughter. Not really. And Seri had seen that, despite everything Eluned had done to her.
Our girl’s capacity for compassion never ceased to amaze me.
But compassion wouldn’t stop Arabesque.
And it for damn sure wouldn’t save Eluned for what was coming for her now.
“You were never wanted.” I layered each word with swan song. “You were never special. You were a mistake.”
Panic bloomed across her face as the emotion hit her, not just the concept of being unwanted, but the actualfeelingof it. Raw, unfiltered despair. Pain might excite her, but true existential terror? She’d never felt it before, and the swan cant was forcing her to experience what she’d inflicted on others, on Seri, without the ability to twist it into pleasure.
“Stop it,” she gasped, eyes wide. “Whatever you’re doing, stop it!”
I hummed then, just a single, haunting note that went on and on and on.
She scoffed at first, thinking I’d retreated to something as simple as humming. Then her breath hitched. The note wasn’t just audible; it seeped into her, into all the little fractures that made up Eluned Harrow, and widened them further and further.
I tilted my head, watching her with a lazy smirk as I spoke directly into her brain:You like pain, don’t you, Luney? The thrill of it. The control. But what about fear? What about despair? How’s that feel, you bitch ass bitch?
She shook and tried to fight it in vain. When she broke into gasps, clawing at her scalp as if she could rip me out of her mind, I moved to crouch right beside her, my cheek nearly brushing her ear.
She’s going to be fine, you know. Seri. Three rich husbands. Handsome bastards, at that. An elegant estate. A wolf who’d rip out the Devil’s own throat for her. A long, beautiful life ahead.
Silencing the hum, I pulled back to look her in the eyes, letting her see the cold truth in mine.
“And you?Youwill be nothing. No one will remember your name. You’ll be just the first stain on our basement floor.” I smiled, all fangs and no mercy. “Not even the rats will care to gnaw your bones. That is, if Koa leaves anything more than powder.”
Eluned stared at me, tears streaming down her face, her mind stuck on the mosaic of fears that I’d arranged just for her.
I stood up, dusting off the ass of my pants.
“Gotta go, Luney. Someone else wants a turn with you.”
Without another glance, I turned and walked away.
#
The concrete stairs felt colder on the way up, like my body had finally remembered we were freezing down here now that I wasn’t laser-focused on mentally eviscerating a witch. My knees felt like they were made of jelly, my head buzzed like a dial-up modem from before I was born, and my whole body was trying to figure out if it wanted to pass out, puke, or both.
Behind me, the spy eye buzzed like an overexcited wasp, and Eluned’s broken sobs echoed off the cinder block walls.
Some people might’ve called what I did cruel. I called it karma with interest.
The spy eye landed on my shoulder as I reached the top of the stairs, its weight unnoticeable. Its tiny crimson eyes glowed, recording everything for my brothers’ viewing pleasure. Without looking, I gave it a lazy flick with my finger.
“Show’s over, folks,” I muttered. “Tune in next for Koko Cimmerian’s ‘How to Dismantle a Witch.’ Spoiler alert: Significantly more bone-breaking, significantly less mind-fucking.”
My laugh came out a little too high-pitched. That wasn’t great. But whatever. I was alive, she was broken, and my brothers were about to get some Grade-A nightmare fuel from my feed. Win-win.
The hallway connecting the basement to the main house felt twice as long and ten times colder. My hands were still trembling faintly from the psychic blowback. I’d definitely overclocked myself diving that deep into Eluned’s psyche, but I shoved it aside. Nothing a nap and a shot of whiskey wouldn’t fix.
Still. That bitch’s mind?Woof. Like taking a tour through a haunted house designed by someone who thought Saw was a feel-good romantic comedy. Pure scrambled, rotten, horror show.
I wasn’t gonna lose sleep over it or anything, but I definitely wasn’t gonna touch food for a bit.
