Page 57 of By the Flames of Her Fury

And I fell.

And I fell.

I hit the ground of my subconscious with a jolt. I was in a long, gray, endless stretch of land, with half-formed walls on the sides and a shifting, navy sky overhead. Lightning flashed in the distance. Stone tiles appeared at my feet as I stepped forward, forging a new corridor right before my eyes. Doors materialized on either side of me. Some were strong, tall oak doors, with gleaming brass handles. Some were cracked and cut off at the top, their jagged edges sharp enough to slice. Others still were made of iron and crisscrossed with steel chains.

I swallowed hard and cleared my mind. The half-formed walls surrounding me built higher and higher, as if invisible hands were laying more bricks until it towered above me.

“What do you see, Vera?” Mortep’s disembodied voice echoed around me. “What door are you drawn to?”

This was always how it went. He used his magic to control me in these dream states. Even now, his words pulled my muscles, tugging me forward. As I stumbled several steps, a door to my left creaked open unbidden. I saw glimpses of a lanky teenage boy with dirty-blond hair swinging a little girl by the arms. My brother’s smile made my heart ache. I hadn’t seen him in a year and a half, and I couldn’t remember the sound of his laugh.

Another door, this one on the other side of the hall, swung ajar when I glanced at it. Mother and I sat by a fountain on Scarven’s property, and she read me a fairytale from a leatherbound book. My mind relaxed at the sound of her voice, the memories tightening around my chest like a blanket.

But then they got darker.

One of the thick, cracked doors flew open as I approached, revealing the image of me from a year and a half ago, thrashing in a chair. One of Scarven’s lion-masked guards held a needle to my skin. My screams collided with the lightning, and the guard suddenly backed away from the chair with a look of horror.

It was the reason they captured me: the first time I conjured an illusion.

“Ah, now we’re getting somewhere,” Mortep crooned. I whirled around, but he was nowhere to be found. A chuckle floated around my ears. “Keep going, little bird. Your magic is in here.”

An invisible force pulled my feet, but I resisted. I shoved the walls higher, thicker, imagining the clouds above becoming steel. I envisioned chains and locks, every part of myself closing down.

Mortep’s voice flared again, frustrated this time. “I grow tired of this, Vera. You can’t fight me forever.”

“Watch me,” I grunted.

Anger washed over me, but it wasn’t mine. Something pushed the backs of my knees, making me trip. The corridor buckled as the dark blue sky turned black. Lightning blazed against the inky darkness, and when it did, Mortep’s silhouette emerged in the sky.

I staggered back. The floor shifted under me like the stones were breaking apart and crumbling.

“Magic responds when you’re frightened,” he boomed. “When your defenses rise, so does the power I want. If you would simply let go, it will come.”

I shook my head frantically. “I won’t let you have it.”

“Oh, you will,” he said. “One way or another.”

Cracks spiderwebbed up the brick walls. The corridor flickered as all the doors groaned, begging to be opened. I tried to run, but the floor kept sliding. Darkness encompassed me on all sides, and fear coated my tongue as I scrambled for something to grab on the cracked wall. A door knob appeared right beneath my hand. I grasped it, relief flooding me, and twisted.

Everything stopped.

My eyes slammed open. I glanced around in confusion, realizing I was back in my cell. The normal sounds and smells of reality clogged my senses. The familiar stone on my palm felt just as it always did, rough and cold. My heartbeats slowed. Had that all been a dream?

A different voice, one that instantly made my muscles relax, wafted over me. “You okay, Songbird?”

I put my hand to the wall. “I—I think so.”

“You were sleeping hard. I think you were having a nightmare. I tried to wake you up several times.”

I let out a breath. Just a dream. “I’m fine, Swift, I promise.”

“Good. I missed you.” I could hear the smile in his voice, and I smiled back.

“I missed you, too.”

But suddenly, the cell wavered.

“Hmm. Interesting.”