“There. All done,” Bran said, drawing my attention back to him.
I nodded, my vision not focusing on anything in particular.
Should I sneak into MonClem tonight?
A nagging part of my brain was telling me it was a stupid idea. I just watched Hael get tortured in front of everyone. Elion ordered a man to flay his back open over nothing, and here I was wanting to risk it again? If we were caught, I was signing him up for the same thing. I was signing myself up for it too.
Spikes crunching bone rang in my ears, and I shuddered.
But if Hael was too injured and wasn’t going to be at the ball, it was pointless for me to go. I wasn’t here to join their society. I had to push my thoughts aside and focus on what really mattered—on my hunt, on finding Hael’s weaknesses. I had to drop my feelings, had to take risks.
I had to become a ghost again.
Dahes could collect me after tonight… and his wrath would be worse than any punishment Elion could throw my way because Dahes could go back on my deal.
I didn’t have a choice.
Suns, please don’t let me get caught.I didn’t want to find out if I’d lose myself and scream as the spikes tore open my spine. If I’d beg for mercy like I envisioned I would while I watched Hael take it in silence…
“See, I told you I’m amazing.”
“What?” My vision refocused as Bran’s voice came back to me. I blinked and realized he walked me in front of a mirror.
I gasped, taking a step back and nearly knocking him over as I saw my reflection for the first time in seven years.
“On the Suns, Nollie,” Bran cursed as he caught himself before righting my shoulders.
I didn’t know what to say.
The girl staring back at me was familiar. I thought I wouldn’t recognize her. I thought being Dahes’ slave had changed me so thoroughly that I wouldn’t know my own reflection. Ifeltdifferent. Internally, I wasn’t the same girl as I was seven years ago. That girl was dead, forced to do terrible things until I disassociated.
But I was wrong, it was still me. I was still the Nollieheused to call me before everything happened…
I was taller than I was before. My clavicles more prominent, my breasts only a fraction fuller from when I was fifteen. My cheeks caved in slightly and my eyebrows were thicker than I remembered.
The only real difference was my face was more gaunt, and my eyes… It was the one thing that changed the most. The single part of me that wasn’t…me.
They used to be light gray, but now the outside of my irises were more blue. The transition blending seamlessly into my natural coloring that it just looked like they were a mix of the two colors, but I knew better. I knew the blue glowing rings around them were because of Dahes. It was the same rings that circled his white eyes. The samerings that changed his coloring, making him look slightly more human.
It was my slavery ring. The moment I signed my soul over to him, I watched his eyes shift as I felt a burning in my own. I knew my eyes were different from looking at Dahes, but I hadn’t seen what it did to my own face until now. It made them brighter, more unnatural, while it did the opposite to Dahes.
“Well, what do you think?”
My gaze flicked from myself to Bran in the mirror as realization dawned on me.
His hands were on his hips, his lips pouting, waiting for my answer. “Do you like the dress?”
I hadn’t even noticed what I was wearing. I was too busy staring at my face. The gown was blue. Diamonds lined the bodice in varying sizes making it look like an ombre of jewels. It also meant I’d have to change before going into MonClem. I wasn’t about to sneak into dragon territory looking like their favorite meal.
Thin straps came up my neck and disappeared over my shoulders. I shifted, turning my body so I could see more. The straps spiraled down my back in a criss-cross of patterns before it clasped off above my hips. I had a mole on my shoulder blade I’d never known about. It was the size of my fingernail with a smaller one, only a speck in comparison, below it.
I faced the mirror full on again. The material bunched at my feet, flowing out in a cascading pattern after the corset cinched my waist.
“The answer would be yes, Bran, you’re so talented…” he mocked in my voice.
I whirled on him. A smile stretching across my face because I saw my appearance for the first time in seven years and it didn’t scare me. I still lookedmostlylike myself.
“Thank you, Bran,” I smiled, cutting off whatever else he was going to say.
