I raise an eyebrow. “Who I am?”
There is a pause, and another woman steps forward as the room fills with a slithering hiss.
“Will you help us?” Dahlia asks again.
“Why not just assist me in my escape and leave my memories intact?” I ask.
Dahlia pauses. “The contract was written in magic. We cannot forego that part without inciting a punishment.”
I purse my lips, wondering how someone could punish these shrouded women.
My plan plays through my mind. If I go with them, then I will once again be far from Mikal; it will also take me furtherfrom my people. Perhaps I once would’ve been a person who struck such a deal. But the under mountain changed me.
“I see things with my magic. We need a queen, and your people need liberation,”Liana had said a month ago. The seed was planted, and it’s already starting to grow.
“I cannot,” I start. “But?—”
“She has sufficiently refused,” another interrupts with a deeper, more ominous voice. “We will begin.”
Sweat breaks out on my palms. One heavy heartbeat passes, and another woman steps forward as the room fills with a slithering hiss.
“Wait.”
“We have waited long enough.”
Fear races through my veins as I watch them gather around the cage. The torchlight dances off the silver threads of their cloaks, giving them an otherworldly glow. I can feel their eyes on me, studying my every move, every breath.
I grab onto the windows of my mind and hold tight, bracing myself as they reach into the folds of their cloaks and retrieve small, slithering snakes, with eyes that glint in the dim light. My heart pounds in my chest as they circle my cage, their movements synchronized and eerie.
Invisible hands grasp at my legs and feet, hoisting me up into the air. The pressure on my back gives me the sensation of being laid on a table. My feet are inclined above my head, and that unsettles me as I thrash against the unseen bonds. The more I move, the more my movements are restricted with invisible bindings that cut into my flesh.
Fear gives way to a surge of determination. I refuse to let them invade my mind again, to strip away my memories and leave me hollow, without the time I shared with Teo.
As the snakes slide toward me with their forked tongues darting in and out, I take a deep breath, summoning the powerof the stone. The Fuegorra at the base of my throat pulses with ethereal light, but they are far from deterred.
The snakes move faster, somehow crossing the distance in the air, circling my legs seconds before latching on. Dizziness starts to take over as I watch them curl around my ankle.
Then, also summoned from some far away place, water pours over my head. The frozen bite hardly registers when the water goes up my mouth and nose. I sputter and gag as more water pours.
Pain burns across my lower body while I lay there, desperate and sputtering, as one of the serpents bites down. Hard. Instead of saving me, the light dims, and I fall to the ground. The pain is immediate and searing, coursing through my body like wildfire. My vision blurs as the venom takes hold and my muscles convulse in agony. The women surrounding me hold up their hands, revealing pale-gray skin.
Then, they plunge into my thoughts.
I fight against them, desperately trying to hold onto the doors of my mind, and by extension, my memories. We return to the royal pools. To the glowing images of my mating mark still healing on my neck. Of declarations of love. Images of Teo's laughter, his touch, and the moments we shared flicker like fragile candle flames in the midst of a hurricane. I cling to them with the strength of a drowning soul clinging to a buoy.
My grip was never strong enough.
Their hold is iron-clad, their intrusion relentless. They shred through the tapestry of my mind with an eerie efficiency, unraveling the fabric of my past like ribbons torn apart by the wind. That intimate connection I had with Teo is ripped asunder, leaving behind only fragments of what once was.
As they delve deeper into my mind, they penetrate the recesses of my memory, ripping away the tender sweetness of our linked fingers and passionatekisses.
My soul mourns the loss. But amidst the anguish, a flicker of resistance ignites within me. I refuse to let them completely erase our love, our connection. I muster every ounce of strength I have left and push back against the invading force.
With a surge of power, I summon the remnants of my memories, weaving them together into a barrier against their onslaught.
It is a mistake. The barrier I create flickers and weakens, unable to withstand the assault. A pain so exquisitely sharp rams straight into my skull, and I fall to the ground once more.
I gently prod at the memory as another bucket of water is dropped across my face. The details are blurry, but my body’s reaction is clear. I convulse against the thought of Teo touching my skin.
