Page 41 of Dark Night of the Soul

He stepped aside from the door. A guard stood there, waiting for instructions.

“You will or we’ll do it for you.”

Air stalled in my lungs for one sharp second. The thought of some strange man’s hands on me turned my stomach. Still, though, I could not bring myself to accept.

My gaze flicked from the doctor to the guard.

“Perhaps you need some motivation,” the doctor said.

He made a motion to the guard who stepped inside the room. He was tall. Intimidating. With muscles straining against the material of his shirt. His fingers were thick. The kind that could wrap around someone’s throat and choke them without a thought.

I didn’t move. I didn’t agree. I didn’t say anything.

The doctor sighed—soft, disappointed.

“Proceed,” he said.

There was a rush of motion. A shadow crossing my vision.

Pain detonated across my face. White. Blinding.

The floor slammed into my side as my knees gave out, breath tearing from my lungs. I tasted blood. The room tilted violently, lights streaking overhead.

Hands hauled me up. My vision blurred as I looked at the doctor.

“Again.” His voice was cold.

I landed on the floor a second time, pain blooming under my ribs. My hands flat against the cold tile as I tried to drag breath into my lungs.

Rough hands grabbed me by the upper arms and again I was hauled to my feet.

“Last chance,” he said.

I spit blood at his feet.

The third blow came fast. Same place as the first. I crashed to the floor again, unable to keep my feet.

I’d been hit before. Never like this. Nothing with as much force. Darkness edged my vision, but I was determined to stay conscious.

I didn’t want his hands on me again, so I managed to get my feet under me and stand. I swayed, catching myself on the exam table making the paper crinkle.

“We understand each other now,” Vormund said. “Put on the gown.”

He stepped out of the room with the guard and shut the door, sealing me in silence. My hands shook as I braced myself against the exam table, my stomach roiling with what was to come next.

I didn’t want it.

But I didn’t have a choice.

I felt pressure behind my eyes, then. Different. Not the pain lodged in my cheek. It was familiar. A tentative touch. A brush of… what? I knew it. But my foggy mind couldn’t make sense of it.

Then—

Anna—don’t—

Kincade’s voice. And then he was gone.

For a heartbeat, he was there in my mind trying to reach me. Trying to warn me. But whatever he was trying to say fractured before it could land.