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“You can do it.” Gabe squeezed my shoulder for only a second before pulling his hand away. “Just get it over with.”
Without a second thought, I threw back my head and downed the slimy green liquid in one swallow. It tasted worse than it smelled, causing me to gag on the last bit. A deep cold feeling followed it all the way down my throat, landing hard in the pit of my stomach. All was quiet in the kitchen as I tried hard not to throw up. Everyone watched me with intent faces, expecting to see something.
A few minutes passed in awkward silence. I was about to shrug and tell Esther her test didn’t work when the first wave of pain hit me. The shot glass fell from my fingers and shattered on the floor while my body jerked in the chair. The harder I tried to sit still, the worse my body twitched. Every muscle tensed until it was like a million different muscle cramps all at once, some nearly snapping my bones in two.
My vision became blurry, but I could feel strong hands lift me to the floor and pin my arms to my sides. The whole room shook and spun in time with the waves of pain crashing over my body. I tried to scream, but my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth and my throat wouldn’t cooperate. Instead, I held it all inside.
Adam was right. This thing was going to kill me. I was going to die on this kitchen floor knowing that everyone I thought had loved me was actually a monster, and I was totally alone in this world.
The seizures came to a crescendo and then suddenly cut off, clearing my vision. I stared up at the smooth ceiling of the kitchen, struck by the quiet nothingness inside my head. The test hadn’t killed me. I was still here.
“Did it work? What color are her eyes?”
Adam’s voice broke my peaceful silence and I felt a rush of hate for him fill my heart. He’d made me think I was going to die. For that, I’d never forgive him.
“Blue,” Esther replied, bending over me. “They’re blue. If she were possessed, they would’ve turned black right away.”
I blinked up at her face, relief blossoming inside me. It felt like I’d been sprinting for a hundred years and every bone in my body wanted to relax. I’d probably sleep for a week if they’d let me.
Gabe leaned
over me from the other side and looked down at me, relief mirrored in his own eyes. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up, setting me on my feet.
“I knew you weren’t possessed,” he said with a grim smile. “I told them.”
“Get her settled in the spare bed in my niece's room in the west barracks,” Luke said. He stood leaning against one of the counters, his face pale but smiling.
Gabe nodded and pulled me toward the kitchen door, not dropping my hand. Before he could lead me outside, Luke called out again.
“Welcome to Westward Manor, Lizzy Redding,” he said with a wave. “Not many humans get to see our home. I hope you enjoy it.”
Chapter Twelve
The sun was beginning to rise in the east, illuminating the tops of the trees surrounding the clearing. A few small homes like the one we’d just exited speckled the lawn. But they didn’t capture my attention for long. Standing in the middle of the giant clearing was a huge mansion made from red stone. Three stories high and spanning the size of a football field, the sight of it made me take a step back.
"That's the manor?" I asked Gabe. "You've got to be kidding me."
He gave me a crooked look and dropped my hand. Instantly, I felt the loss of the warmth of his flesh on mine and wished I could have it back.
"It's something, isn't it?"
He began walking toward it and I hurried to keep up.
"It was built almost two hundred years ago by some of the first settlers out this way. There's also a training quarter and horse stables on the northern side."
My heart quickened at the news of the stables. I wondered what kind of horses they would keep at a place this grand.
The manor was just short of a castle. It looked like something that belonged in the English countryside, not in the Black Hills. How I could have grown up just miles from this place and never known it existed? But like Luke said, I was one of the few humans to come here and I doubted any prisoners left this place alive.
That's what I had to be - a prisoner. What else would they want to keep me around for? They didn't want me to divulge their secrets to the other demon clan, so they had to keep me locked up for the rest of my life.
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that." Gabe's voice broke through my worries. He was watching me out of the corner of his eye. "But Luke had to be sure you weren't demon possessed. We can't let one into the manor."
I nodded. It made some sort of sense. Apparently, the black eyed demons could also possess humans. It was a good thing I'd never run into one face to face in the woods before.
"I'll take you to the west wing to meet Raquel. She's Esther's daughter and close to your age. She can show you around."
"Can't I stay with you?"
