Charlie tried crawling in my direction, but a guard put a boot on his back and forced him to the floor.
“Let her go!” my mother screamed. I heard her and Daddy fighting against the guards that were keeping them on the floor, but neither of them broke free.
They were as powerless as the rest of us were. And now, with these terrible crystals attached to our bodies, we couldn’t fight back even if we wanted to.
“Inferichite is highly effective at weakening demigods. It absorbs their power quite gradually,” Jaymin said with glee. “Unfortunately, its side effects can be fatal, if the exposure period is too long. But you’ll keep your life, if we manage to succeed.”
One of the fae guards conjured a metal table. They forced me onto it, then fastened my ankles and wrists to leather binds that were attached to it.
A guard placed two inferichite crystals on either side of my head. Once they were laid upon the table, Jaymin began chanting a spell. “Dii tenebrae, hanc potestatem sumite, ut ea uti possimus nostro. Dii tenebrae, hanc victimam haurite, ut nos delecti fiamus.”
I wasn’t proficient in Latin, but I knew enough to translate what she was saying.Dark gods, take this power, so we may use it for our own. Dark gods, drain this victim, so we may become elite.
At Jaymin’s chant, a thin stream of magic connected from the crystals to both sides of my temple. The moment the magic from the inferichite latched onto my mind, I began to scream.
They were trying to funnel my powers into the inferichite. I couldn’t let them take my magic. I fought against the inferichite with everything I had, but ancestors, it was painful. The inferichite had latched on to my organs and was attempting to forcibly rip the magic out. I screamed and wrenched against the binds holding me in place, twisting on the table as my body was forced to endure the worst pain I’d ever experienced. I thought I might pass out, but the inferichite forced me to remain conscious as it stripped me of every thought and sense of being about who I was. My Fire magic was eating me alive from the inside out, while my Water magic filled my lungs and made it hard to breathe. The only thing that remained hidden was my Anichi magic, which stubbornly remained out of my reach even as I begged it to heal me.
This is what the Hawkei Elders had tried to do to my aunt long ago. They’d tried to take her powers of prophecy by using the inferichite, and now, they were doing the same to me. Ancestors, I wanted it all to end, if this is what I had to endure. I would’ve gladly died there at that moment, just to be rid of the pain. I wanted to curl up and find a place to hide as the crystals began tearing me up inside, skin to bone until it felt like my entire form was in pieces, yet I was still whole.
Despite the ritual taking place, I didn’t feel any magic leave me, just dissipate for a moment before returning. I realized that my powers weren’t fueling the crystals. All the inferichite was doing was making my magic go in a loop, through the magic tendrils and into the crystals before they funneled back into my own body. Despite Jaymin’s incantation, the inferichite couldn’t hold on to my powers.
These dumb fucks.They had no idea how to use these crystals. Even in my inebriated state, I could figure that out.
But they weren’t as smart as me. And their incompetence on how to use inferichite against a demigod properly was probably going to take my life.
“Stop it!” I heard Kallie plead. I think she was crying. I could barely make out the rest of the room as tears streamed out of my eyes and screams ripped out of my throat.
Charlie knew exactly what I was going through. His expression was overtaken by a visage of utter horror and disgust as he felt my magic being turned against me through our bond. He shook against the ground and tried to get up, although the guards held him down. Oberi moved his paws against the stone, trying to find the strength to fight back.
“Leave her alone! Stop torturing her like this!” Mama’s voice was frantic as she pleaded with Jaymin to stop, but I knew it was a hopeless attempt at bargaining. Jaymin would do what she wanted with me, no matter what anyone said.
“I’ll deal with the two of you later,” Jaymin seethed. She grabbed my mother by the hair and threw her at Marcus’ feet before a couple of guards did the same with Daddy. “For now, stay out of my way.”
My throat went raw, and eventually, I stopped screaming. There was just no use in fighting against this kind of pain. Letting it happen would be easier. My body slackened against the table and began to convulse. Maybe I was finally nearing the end. I longed for it. I knew someday I’d make it out of here, though maybe not in the way I hoped… and I accepted that I probably wouldn’t be walking out of the Underground. Ever. What Jaymin was doing to me wasn’t reversible. It was permanent, and going back to who I was before was a lost cause now.
“Jaymin, she’s dying,” a guard said from far-off.
“Then we’ll start on one of the others,” Jaymin replied, but her voice was hesitant. She was worried about losing me.
“The Warden won’t be pleased if we let this one die,” the guard growled back. He sounded ready to intercede himself.
“We stick to the plan,” Jaymin barked. “Go for the one with the broken leg.”
Charlie couldn’t go through this. It’d kill him, as it would surely kill me. But there wasn’t much I could do as I heard them haul Charlie up and slam him onto another table. I heard the clinking of crystals as they were placed by his head, and Jaymin began her wicked chant again.
Charlie started wailing at the top of his lungs. I’d never heard him scream like not— not even when the Warden had drained his life energy in Forevermore. Ancestors, is that how I sounded? I could feel his pain through our bond, making my own torture seem twice as intense. Oberi whimpered from several feet away, giving soft noises that told me he’d die if they kept this up.
Somehow, the sound of Charlie’s screams overpowered my own pain. It made me go mad with hatred for Jaymin, the Warden, and anyone who was involved with them. With each cry he let out, I felt my anger grow stronger. Uncontrollable rage began to fester in my chest until my whole body shook. They could do what they wanted with me, but my husband and my Familiar wereoff limits. The fury was intense, stronger than the magic of the crystals suppressing me, making me see nothing but red.
I’m going to make them suffer.
At my rage, I felt a huge well of energy rise up in me and burst outward through the tendrils that connected me to the stones. Both of the crystals shattered, sending fragments scattering and breaking the leather cuffs that held me in place.
The pain instantly died, and my body relaxed as it felt blissful freedom from the inferichite’s hold. I heard Charlie gave a gasp, and there was another shattering noise— his crystals had broken, too. He collapsed off the table and rolled on the ground, curled up in pain.
I was no longer bound, so I could get off the table. But I didn’t feel like I could. I had so little strength. My wrist shook. The cuff I wore still held my magic back. The outburst of energy had failed to break the oversized piece of inferichite within the cuff itself, although it had shattered the smaller pieces used to torture Charlie and me.
Jaymin let out an enraged noise. She slammed her hands against the table, and it quaked at her touch. She’d been expecting something grand to happen and was sorely disappointed. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to work! The inferichite is supposed to anchor her powers, sowecan take them forourselves!” she screeched.
