A memory snaps into place as if I’ve been looking for it.
I see my mother’s face inside his head, and the tears start flowing, but this time, they’re all mine.
She’s lying on the ground. The woman I never touched, never held, because he took her from me.
I’m back in the same memory, but this time I’m not watching. I’m standing over her.
I’m… Tiberius.
My stomach turns, and just before I can pull away from the memory, my arms shoot out to grab the little girl, ripping her away from her mother as she screams and thrashes.
The agony I felt in the memory before is completely missing, replaced by something worse. Hunger.
A greed so vile it floods every part of me, the same hands clutching the child, aching to reach back for the lifeless woman on the ground.
This isn’t just his memory. It’s his desire.
My fingers tighten around Tiberius’ head, bone cracking under my grip, but I don’t look away. I can’t. A warrior drags my mother’s body into a warm room, and I follow.
He drops her on the carpet without a care and barely hesitates before walking away. His head bows as he passes me.
The doors slam shut behind him, and I step closer to the body, nudging it with my foot.
She’s covered in blood, but he checks anyway.
Hope sparks in my chest, fragile and desperate.
Is she alive? Is my mother still alive?
But my blood turns to ice when hands jostle her on the floor. He rolls her on her stomach and starts tearing the clothes off her cold body.
My head jerks back, and I snap out of the memory with a scream that shakes the ground. It tears through me, burning my throat raw.
Tiberius slumps forward, writhing in pain, but I don’t let him crawl away.
“Stay.” The word slips out, a chill running down my spine when he obeys.
Tiberius doesn’t move. I don’t think he can.
There’s a dagger in my hand, but I don’t remember grabbing for it. But I drive it into Tiberius anyway.
I wait for relief, but it never comes. The pain doesn’t ease.
So I keep stabbing. Again and again.
“You monster!”
Tears blur my vision as I stab him over and over, my voice shredding with every scream, but nothing helps.
“You killed her!”
He doesn’t die. Why isn’t he dying? He keeps crying out in pain, but he’s still breathing, so I don’t stop. I can’t stop.
“She was dead… she was d-dead… dead!”
Tiberius goes still, but I don’t. Why can’t I stop?
“You… you didn’t stop. You r-raped her!”
