Kole frowned and leaned forward. The energy in his aura grew.
“It’s almost like they want me to know that they’re back,” I said, and a terrifying chill spread through me.
A low growl came from Kole, and his nostrils flared. “That’s the same conclusion the Council reached. Otherwise, that information likely would have also been concealed by the block.”
“So they want to scare me.” Lips pursing, I concentrated again on the wall in Verin’s brain and was determined to find a way around it.
But the block felt thick and heavy. Impenetrable.
With my magic ratcheting higher, I imagined that my power began to drill through the block, like a hot needle piercing skin. Very slowly, my magic burrowed a tiny indent into the wall, barely scratching it, but I’d penetrated it slightly.
Taking heart in that, I burrowed more.
An ear-piercing scream abruptly tore from Verin. Out of nowhere, she began convulsing in the chair.
Gasping, I withdrew my forbidden magic entirely, sucking it back inside me so fast I felt lightheaded.
“Verin?” I staggered to my feet.
The servant’s eyes rolled back in her head, the whites showing. Foam began to spill from her mouth, and I raced around the table to help her.
“Stop, Prim.” Kole was in front of me before I could touch her. “This could all be an act.”
“It’s not an act, Kole!”
The door banged open behind us, and two guards raced inside. They were at Verin’s chair, pushing us out of the way, before I could blink.
Wild-eyed, all I could do was watch. One of the guards flicked a potion into Verin’s foaming mouth. Nothing happened.
“She’s breaking,” the guard said to the other. “The block is fragmenting her mind. You must have been about to breach it,” he said to me. To the other, he snapped, “We need a healer. These reviving potions aren’t touching it.”
The second guard tapped something on her wrist, and a flurry of sparks emitted from the device. “Prisoner 9,982 is suffering from a lethal mind fissure. Revival potions aren’t helping. Send a healer. Now.” Her device clicked off.
“Oh Gods, what have I done?” I gasped and stumbled backward. I would have fallen if Kole hadn’t been right behind me. His hands gripped my upper arms, steadying me, but allI could do was watch in horror as Verin emitted a single ear-piercing scream. Just as fast, her neck made a horrificcrack, then bent at an unnatural angle.
Silence filled the room.
Verin collapsed in her seat, her limbs still, her cries silent.
My hands flew to my mouth, my eyes widening in disbelief.
Because the servant who’d lived in my aunt and uncle’s home for months, who I’d once believed had only endeavored to do good in the realm, was dead.
CHAPTER SIX
Verin’s dead. Verin’s dead. I killed her.
The horrific realization of what I’d just done pummeled me over and over. Kole kept trying to reassure me, kept telling me it wasn’t me who’d killed her, but the block. That the block placed in her mind had ultimately shattered her brain, then broken her neck.
But I’d pushed too much. Unknowingly, I’d triggered the block to kill her.
Kole replaced the cuff on my wrist, and then he and I were taken out of the cell. Questioned. Assessed. Interrogated.
I sat through it all and tried to answer each question the prison staff had for me as best as I could, but the entire time, only one thought kept pounding into my brain.
I’d killed Verin.
Because if I hadn’t questioned her, if I hadn’t kept pushing, she wouldn’t have died.
