She couldn’t have my mind.
Couldn’t see what was in there.
Could not be allowed to possess any more power than she already did.
My heart beat frantically within my chest as I neared the balcony, slipped through the crack in the doors, and turned to throw myself over the edge.
A burst of light lit the night sky around me, the balcony doors shattering into a million pieces, jagged bits and edges flying in every direction, slicing across my skin and embedding into my flesh.I cried out at the searing pain, trying to reach the railing, but strands of light whipped around my arms and legs, pulling me back from the edge, pulling me back to the Enchantress’s wild eyes brimming with frustration and anger.
“A sacrificial jump to your death wouldn’t save your friends now,” she snarled.
The strands of light felt like iron clamped around me, suffocating me, stealing the very breath from my lungs.
Valeris and Desmond were pressed against the stones inside the chamber, held halfway up the walls by the power of the Enchantress.I couldn’t move.Couldn’t break her hold on me.
My eyes locked with Valeris’s one more time, tears of horror pricking at their edges.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed.
His face scrunched with pain, but I would never know if he forgave me.
The Enchantress’s hands grasped my head, fingers pressing into my skull.
Power poured through my temples, burning like fire, stinging like ice.Strong as a tidal wave.Heavy as a mountain.It felt like having the life sucked out of me, like floating in the universe with only the wind to keep my lifeless body aloft.I screamed, tears flowing down my cheeks as I clamped my hands over hers, trying to pull them away, but it was like trying to bend stone.
Memories flashed before my mind, as far back as the cradle, staring at the rotating banners above my bed.I sensed her sifting through them, tearing them away like scraps of meat.I tried to remember them, tried to recall them.Didn’t want to forget.Would I be nothing but a lifeless shell when she was finished with me?
The attack on our kingdom came next.My body shook, the horror like a living nightmare, far worse than any relapse I had ever suffered.It felt like disease crawling underneath my skin, eating me alive.
She whipped through my years of training with the Dark Walkers, not caring much for those, and then rushing to the Paravellian Balls, ripping at each memory, searching for anything vital.She hovered over my moments with Valeris, lingering on the moment when he kissed me then making me watch the betrayal in his eyes over and over and over again when he realized who I was.
No one should have this much power.
Be able to inflict this much pain.
She couldn’t be allowed to destroy Valeris like this, destroy Paravellia like this, and take everything for herself.
I squeezed her hands harder, felt the bulge of her ring beneath my touch even though I could see nothing but the memories flashing before my eyes.The leather gauntlet was still attached to my right hand.I slid my fingers down, aligning my wrist with the ring.
I only had one shot.
My breath caught in my throat.I knew the length of the hidden blade, knew it was far longer than the width of her finger.If I aimed right, the knife would sever her finger and remove the ring ...but stab straight into my head.I swallowed.It was the only way.
A memory of my mother’s face flashed before my eyes, her laughter, me trailing behind her through a field of sunflowers.
I love you.
The thought swirled with the mass of memories, engulfing everything it touched.
I activated the hidden blade in the gauntlet, and it sliced straight through her finger and into my skull.
