Jenli exhaled from behind her, and then came the cool kiss of steelagainst Esmyra’s skin. The blade barely broke the surface when it hit her. Agony. Not pain—absolute fuckingagony.
It ripped through her in a tidal wave so fierce that a scream erupted from her lips like a wounded animal. The sound startled even her. It was raw and guttural, echoing through the chamber like a death knell.
Jenli froze instantly, the blade halting mid-slice.
Draevyn jolted beside her.
Jak shouted several curses from across the space.
The room fell into stunned silence, or perhaps she had just gone deaf.
Esmyra trembled violently, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. She felt like she was being torn from the inside out, like her nerves were being flayed as her bones were set ablaze.
“Holy Villaem,” Jenli whispered. “It’s fighting back.”
Draevyn slowly rose to his feet, his movements hesitant as if afraid of what he might see. His hand hovered over her bare back, and for a moment, he just stared.
Esmyra turned her face up to him, struggling to focus. “What is it?”
His jaw clenched, his eyes wide with concern. “They’re…” he swallowed hard, “the markings. They’re moving. They’re…writhing.”
“Writhing?!”
He gave a shallow nod, his eyes going distant. “Like they’re alive. They look like snakes trying to burrow deeper.”
Esmyra shivered despite the heat radiating off her skin. “I-I feel it.”
Her voice broke as another wave of pain rushed through her, and she bit down hard on the pillow to muffle the sob that followed.
Draevyn’s hands were on her face in an instant, brushing damp hair away from her temple.
Jenli stepped back, her brows drawn together as she stared at them. “If the pain is already this unbearable from a single cut,” she muttered, “I don’t know how removal is even possible. The curse has embedded itself too deep.”
Draevyn turned to her, his voice full of desperation. “There has to be something. Something to take the pain away. Or at least…lessenit.”
“Jenli, there must be something you know of,” Jak said from the door, and Esmyra hated that she could tell he was breaking down. “If there’s some weird fucking herb we can find in the woods just say the word. There must besomethingyou know of!”
Jenli didn’t answer immediately. Her gaze drifted toward the shelves of vials and tinctures lining the far wall before moving back to Esmyra. “Pain like this cannot be removed,” she said finally. “Only placed elsewhere.”
“What do you mean placed elsewhere?” Draevyn’s brows pulled in confusion, but the witch was already moving toward the shelves, her fingers skimming glass and labels.
“There’s a potion,” she continued, pulling down a small, curved bottle with dark liquid inside. “This has rarely been used, and it can be extremely dangerous in its own way. When taken by two people… it links them. Binds them together until it’s flushed from the system. Any pain one feels, the other absorbs it instead. It works both ways. Emotional and physical.”
Esmyra’s eyes flicked to Draevyn, and her stomach twisted.
Fuck no.
Jenli turned, holding out the vial. “If you drink this, you’ll carry her pain as if it were your own.”
“No,” Esmyra rasped, shaking her head weakly against the pillow. “No. Absolutely not. I fucking refuse.”
But Draevyn was already stepping forward, reaching for the bottle without a second thought.
“Please don’t do this!” she cried out. “I can take it.”
“I know you can,” he said, eyes burning into hers. “But I won’t let you.”
Draevyn took the vial from Jenli’s outstretched hand. The liquid inside was thick, an odd red color almost resembling blood with gold flecks that caught in the candlelight. He didn’t even flinch as he uncorked it, tilted his head back, and threw half of it down his throat.
