"Natalia," I whispered, the name surfacing from the depths of my memory like a corpse in a lake.
"Who?" Kaelen asked, rubbing my back as I gagged.
"High Keeper Natalia," I gasped, wiping my mouth. "She was... she was the one who oversaw the procedures. The one who held me down when I screamed."
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to conjure her face. Severe features. Cold hands. Eyes that looked at me like a specimen in a jar.
"Or... no. There was someone else." I murmured, my memory straining to see something that I had forgotten or blocked out. "Keeper Marissa was the healer. The Matron of the Line."
My memory blurred. The drugs they had given me during those months made everything hazy. But I remembered Marissa's voice.The vessel must be prepared. The divine spark requires a divine vessel.
"I haven't seen her in years," I said, a new, creeping horror settling over me. "Not since the procedures stopped. I assumed she died or retired to the lower cloisters, or was even punished for my failure to conceive."
I looked up at Elias.
"What happened to Marissa?" I asked. "Where is she? And do we know if Natalia is actually dead, or did you just take her magic?" I turned to face Kaelen for the last part.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elias frown, and his gaze drifted back to the fire. "I see a shadow. A woman in white, standing in a room full of glass jars. She is smiling."
I wished I knew for sure which one he was talking about, but they had looked like sisters to begin with, so even having him describe who he was seeing wouldn't be helpful. The sickness inmy stomach shifted into a sharp, icy dread. "If she isn't dead... and she was obsessed with the bloodline..."
I looked at Kaelen, at the fierce, protective line of his jaw.
"If the Council thinks I'm lost," I whispered, "if they think I'm corrupted... they will need a replacement."
"But you are the last," Kaelen said.
"Unless they make another one," Elias said softly. "Using what they took from you."
The fire popped, sending a shower of sparks into the dark air.
"They kept samples," I breathed, the realization hitting me with the force of a physical blow. "Blood. Tissue. Eggs. Failures. Everything they could salvage from the procedures."
Elias nodded slowly. "And now... the Gate is open. Divine essence is flooding the world. The one ingredient they were missing to make the alchemy work. If magic comes to this realm in full force, then they will figure out a way to use it to recreate the Pandoros line."
Thane spoke from the shadows, "Or they will focus on capturing you when we reemerge, and they will bring death on us all."
I buried my face in my hands, wishing the darkness would swallow me whole. Somewhere in the dark heart of the Citadel, Keeper Marissa was waiting for the perfect moment to create a monster.
ELEVEN
Aria
Kaelen’s arm tightened around me, his grip so fierce it bordered on pain, but I leaned into it. I needed the pain. It was a tether to reality, a sharp reminder that I was here, breathing, alive, and not back on that cold metal table in the Citadel’s sanitarium. The silence seemed to stretch between us and I didn't know what to say to make it feel lighter, less like the very air around us was trying to crush us.
"They will not touch you again," Kaelen swore, the vow vibrating through his chest and into my spine. His voice was low, a rumble of subterranean fury that made the stagnant air in the cavern shiver. "If they try to create this... this abomination... I will turn the Citadel into a crater so deep they will find magma before they find the foundation stones."
"We will help you," Thane added, his voice heavy as a boulder rolling downhill. He had gone back to sharpening his piece of obsidian, but his movements had become jerky, violent.Scrape. Scrape. Snap.The stone broke in his massive hand, shards tinkling to the floor. "The Bear does not forget a grudge. And stealing life... that is a grudge I will carry to the end of time."
Elias was pacing again, his movements fluid and agitated, like a caged bird throwing itself against the bars. "The vision is darkening," he muttered, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. "The woman in white... Marissa. She is moving. She has a box. It glows with preservation magic. If she reaches the Gate site... if she uses the residual energy bleeding from the rift..."
"She won't," Kaelen snarled.
"She might," Elias countered, dropping his hands. His turquoise eyes were wild, swimming with panic. "Magic seeks a vessel, Kaelen. You know this. The world is flooded with it now. If they have biological material, Aria’s material, and they introduce it to that chaotic energy..."
"Stop," I whispered. The nausea was back, rolling through my stomach like a tide of oil. "Please. Just... stop."
I couldn't think about it. I couldn't think about parts of myself, stolen and put into some kind of stasis, before being twisted into something else. Something that wasn't human, wasn't a keeper, wasn't me.
