"I heard about your little flight. I am surprised you were able to use them so deftly after getting them months ago. What was it—the Winter Solstice when they first appeared? The Summer Solstice edges closer. Strange, what time can do." He got closer. "The masquerade. Such a clever way to hide them in plain sight. Tell me—who was it that came up with that idea? Was it you?"
Luella just stared at him. She felt disconnected from her body.
This wasn’t real. This was a dream, and she didn’t need to speak in dreams. Her voice wouldn’t work anyway.
When she didn’t reply, and the sound of the females shifting filled the room, Caliban tapped a long, pale finger against the stone table, so close to Luella’s thigh that she flinched from the spark of chill that radiated from him.
He turned his attention to the two females. One still held Luella upright.
"I will come to collect her in a few hours," said Caliban. "She must be lucid then. Or it is both of your heads, and your blood in the throne room pool. Do not disappoint me. I can find other healers. Your usefulness ends when she does."
64
CHAOS INCARNATE (COLLARED)
LUELLA
She was given something that made her heart race.
After Caliban left, Luella had been laid back down on the stone table. She lay there, staring unseeingly at the marbled ceiling.
She tried to remind herself that this wasn’t real. It was the only way she could keep herself from falling into the abyss. Because if itwasreal…
She should have died.
Colors swirled above her. A haze of soft smoke from mixed tinctures and low voices. The two females—the healers—they were scared of Caliban. Her sluggish mind tried to understand. Were they not Umbra, then?
Luella had seen their pointed ears. She knew they were both fae. If they were not Umbra, then perhaps that was a good thing. Could they be on her side? What if she couldspeakto them? But that would mean she would have to string together a coherent sentence, and right now, she could do nothing of the sort.
One of the healers swam into focus above her. She spoke lowly. "Lift your head." Her hand slid beneath Luella’s skull, lifting it. She tried to force her neck to hold her head up, butcould only manage to move slightly on her own. "Drink. This will help rouse you from your current state."
Luella wanted to ask what it was. She tried to pinch her lips together, but the healer fit the lip of the vial against her mouth, forcing her mouth to open. The glass pressed into her teeth. The healer tipped it back, and Luella was forced to swallow, lest she choke. It had a faint taste, more salty than anything.
But it swept through her body like a storm. She felt it as it was poured down her throat, then entered her stomach, from there going out to her limbs and wrapping around her heart tightly. Squeezing.
She gasped as her heart kicked up into a furious beat. She began to sweat, overheated.
The healer pulled her hand away as Luella rose upright, her good hand clutching feebly against the sheet. She tried to claw at her chest as if to rip her heart out. It was beating too fast. Surely this was the beginning of her death. No one could survive feeling like this?—
She was gasping, scratching at her chest, and leaving raised welts.
The healer grabbed Luella’s hand and forced it away. "No, no. Do not do that. Just breathe. It will even out. Take a deep breath."
Luella tried to mimic the healer’s breathing patterns, but her heart wouldn’t stop trying to beat its way out of her body. Sweat dripped down her spine.
Eventually, the erratic nature of her heart slowed. It didn’t go back to its normal rhythm, but was tempered enough that she didn’t feel like she was on the verge of death.
The thin sheet clung to her body from her slowly drying sweat. She shivered from a sudden chill.
When the healer was certain Luella was at no risk to herself, she pulled away, giving Luella her back as she fiddled with thetable of vials and metal instruments. "A stimulant designed to bring a body back from unconsciousness. It was designed at the request of my master—for torture."
Luella’s mind was no longer sluggish. She realized with sudden clarity what the healer meant—why a stimulant to revive someone would be beneficial in torture. To bring them back so they could be hurt again.
She stared down at her right hand. Her wrist was purple and red, swollen.
The healer turned back to her. "Can you speak?"
Luella opened her mouth, then closed it and locked her jaw. She would not obey just because she was asked.
