Blinding pain shoots through my skull, and I drop to my knees, clenching my head to stop my brains from leaking out.
Images appear in my mind, each one more painful than the last.
Baz, his flirtatious grin driving me wild, his mischievous gaze promising me pleasures we’ve only just begun to explore together.
Kirin, his glasses sliding down his nose as he glances up at me from a book and smiles.
Doc, folding his arms across his chest, glaring at me with that stern but sexy look that drives me more wild by the day.
And Ani, his caramel eyes lighting up as he makes me laugh with some crazy new prank, some impossible karaoke song only he could pull off.
One by one, their smiles fall. One by one, the light fades from their eyes.
One by one, I watch them burn, and all the while, Judgment laughs.
I can’t open my eyes, can’t shake myself free from this mental prison. Just like with Luke, my Arcana brothers burn and reform, burn and reform. Soon, my parents appear, watching it all happen with sad, disappointed eyes.
You never listen, Starla. None of this would be happening if only you’d listened…
“But thisisn’thappening!” I scream, forcing myself to hold on to some semblance of reasoning. My parents died long ago. Luke has been dead for months. My brothers are alive and well and safe—bond or not, I’d know it in my heart and soul if that were not the case.
“Oh, but it is happening,” Judgment says. “Perhaps not on your timeline, or in your realm, but that matters not.”
“Stop… stop manipulating me,” I grind out, but my resolve is weakening. I still can’t open my eyes, and my head feels like it’s full of wasps.
I’m losing this battle; my logical protests are nothing in the face of such madness. It shouldn’t surprise me. Torture is Judgment’s art, and he’s had thousands of years to hone his craft.
“A shame, really.” He crouches in front of me and leans in close, his foul breath making my stomach lurch. “Your four Arcana mages had such potential. Alas, their devotion to their Star has blinded them. So many talents wasted, so many lives ruined.”
“This… isn’t… real!” Panting, I shove my hands through my hair and yank hard, as if I can split open my own skull and empty out the toxic sludge he’s put inside. “Get out of my fucking head! Getout!”
He doesn’t get out though. Doesn’t even move, though I can pretty much guarantee there’s a damn smile twisting his lips. I can practically hear it stretching across his smug face.
My vision darkens, the heartbreaking images of death and destruction flickering out like an old film reel.
Then, just before it goes black, my Princesses come into view.
Four strong, magickal sisters, their eyes blazing with power. They stand side by side and link arms, forming a barricade in my mind, a literal force field that eradicates the terrifying images of my mages and replaces them with fierce, white light.
My headache vanishes.
I can breathe again.
I can see.
I open my eyes. Judgment’s smile slips from his face.
Drawing courage from my elemental sisters, I get to my feet, their magick coursing through me, lighting me up inside and out until I’m surrounded in a bright, protective bubble.
“What is this witchcraft?” he hisses, scrambling to his feet.
“Where I come from, we call it girl power.” I lift my hands, feeling the magick crackle on my palms. “So why don’t you take that sad little stick and shove it right up your—”
“Unworthy!” he bellows. “All unworthy shall burn!”
His voice reverberates inside my skull, splitting it with a pain that forces me back onto my knees. In my mind, the Princesses stand firm, pushing me onward, but every time I try to get to my feet, the pain knocks me right back down.
Judgment’s face twists into another smile, a bright ruby-red flame igniting the tip of his staff.
