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I whirl as the locks on the door begin to move.Someone’s coming.
Glancing at my father’s motionless body, I shake out my hands, desperate for a plan or an idea to come to me. I have to do something, but there’s nowhere to hide. The best I can do is hope to catch them by surprise when they enter.
My heart races as I try to breathe, darting my eyes around the room until I spot an almost empty beaker. I knock it over in haste, watching the fluorescent liquid within spread rapidly across the cold stone floor. Snatching the largest shard of glass, its sharp edge nips at my skin, and I press my back against the wall next to the door, waiting.
The door slides open and a small man pushes a squeaky cart into the room. The glassware it carries rattles, and for a moment, I ponder bolting out the open door. Only, if I run, the king’s shadows would find me. His assassins are trained to sniff out and kill the king’s targets. And if he doesn’t send them, Asmo might be forced to find me for him. He’ll either die denying the king, or be forced to do the unspeakable.
Running isn’t an option. The only way I’m free is in death, be it mine or the kings. My decision crystallizes as my father’s assistant comes into the room. He’s mere feet away from seeing my father’s body on the opposite side of the altar.
His assistant doesn’t always come in while my father has me here. If he does, it’s usually while I’m asleep, since I’ve only seen his face twice in the last twenty-six years. It was a risk—attackingthe king, knowing he might walk in—but one I was prepared to take.
The man’s sharp, angular features twist as he sniffs the air. His gaze locks with the spilt potion on the far side of the room. His body freezes as I lunge. He turns as I strike out with the glass, his horrified face meeting mine. Before I can fully register his transformation, the man is gone, replaced by a hulking creature. My shard is buried into the creature’s fur, dark as midnight, and it whines as the bristles on its back stand on end. A snarl tears through the air and amber eyes, wild with rage, fixate on me.
The beast snaps at the air and I twist, barely escaping his long, sharp teeth. I can't outpace a wolf—or whatever this thing is—nor can I outmuscle one. My only chance is to drain it the same way I did my father, and I have to be close for that.
Feinting a step towards the door, I pivot as the beast lunges. My shard of glass meets its flank, but the minor wound only seems to enrage it further. It snaps its jaws at me again, and I narrowly dodge, feeling the rush of air from its missed attempt.
My heart thunders. The creature circles me, snarling,waiting for an opening, and I do the same, glass shard ready, skin tingling with latent power. He lunges and I hurl the glass shard at him. It scrapes down its side, scalping off a chunk of thick fur. The damage isn’t fatal, but it’s enough of a distraction for me to latch onto its neck.
We crash into the walls as the creature tries to rub me off of him, sending vials and beakers, and tubes shattering across the floor. My power surges. Black tendrils burst forth from my hands, leeching his strength. It howls, a sound of pure agony, and desperate to shake me off. But I cling on, channeling more and more energy into the drain.
The beast's struggles weaken. His massive form begins to shrink, the fur receding, revealing the man beneath. I pull back,breathing heavily, the use of my magic taking a toll on me as well. I’m not sure if it’s whatever was in the green liquid or just me being out of practice, but it’s hard to catch my breath. Holding the man with one hand, I fumble my hands over the floor, searching for the shard. The moment the sharp edge of the glass is within reach, I drive it deep into the man’s neck.
If the guards are still down here, there’s no doubt they heard the chaos. The king could wake any moment now. I’m running out of time.
Glancing at my father’s body, I breathe a sigh of relief when I find it lifeless, still in the same place I left it. Serves him right. From the things I’ve been told about him by other prisoners that have come and gone over the years, from Asmo and Meg, he deserves it. Hell, he deserves to rot down here.
The open doorway is void of guards. Maybe it’s my lucky day and the assholes went up for air or something. Pushing the dead man off me, I rise to my feet and quietly move toward the doorway to peek down the hall.
There’s no one coming, so that’s gotta be a good sign, right?
Spinning on my heels, I only make it a quarter turn before something jabs into my neck. My eyes flare open wide as I catch a glimpse of a gold ring. My father’s.
“How dare you?” His voice is scratchy, like he’s dying of thirst. “I’ve given you so much. This is how you repay me?” The needle is ripped from my flesh, and I’m pushed forward. Every limb is heavy, and only growing heavier as I struggle to push myself up from the floor. The room begins to rock like I’m floating in the jagged waves I’ve watched for hours through the barred window of my room. I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to be in those waves, I guess now I know.
“You gave me nothing but lies,” I grit, slowly losing control of my tongue as my muscles give away.
“Lies? I gave you life.” His words drip venom as he crouches down, fisting my shirt and wrenching me up into his arms. “I let you live when I could’ve had my answers years ago by simply killing you. You don’t need to be breathing for me to study you, little girl.”
“Then why…” Fighting to keep my eyes open, I’m dropped onto the altar and my father wastes no time strapping me down, arms, legs and all. I try to lift my limbs, desperate to do something—to kick or punch. There’s no point in screaming. No one will hear it from down here. “Why did you?”
He laughs dryly. “Because I had some absurd notion that perhaps if I raised you right, you’d serve me.”
My head rocks as I attempt to tell him no. “You… wanted… immortality.”
“I do, yes, but what good is having you make me young, if I have to worry about you killing me instead? I’d be better off running my tests, whether it kills you or not. Once I understand your power, I'll live forever, and best of all, I won’t need you to facilitate it.”
A chill runs up my spine as the king lowers his head, putting his face near mine. His lips split into a grin that’s far too wide to be natural, and the ivory blades of his teeth are still stained from my blood.
“Now the real fun starts,” he says, patting my arm as he stands back up.
The king might’ve made a plethora of false promises in my lifetime, but this one I fear he plans to keep.
Chapter 3
Calamity
Adull ache courses through my body as I open my eyes. The familiar stone walls of my cell greet me, as I blink into focus, and Asmo's wide eyes come into view.
