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She yanked me into a vision. My mom and sister sat together in one of the bedrooms at the castle, talking. Guards marched in and grabbed them. Agatha screamed. Mom tried to fight back. The dark magic was so powerful, neither of them could do anything, not even with their Luminescence.
“That’s not real,” I gasped, trying to convince myself as I watched in horror. “You’re messing with my mind!”
“Oh, it’s real,” Cyrene said.
The guards dragged my family kicking and screaming to the dungeons below the castle. I knew what it was like in there. I knew what life waited for them.
“I-I’ll just release them when I get back!”
Cyrene shook her head. “You won’t see them ever again. I warned you about trying to get away from me. I told you I would kill them, and now, I will.”
My head spun, and bile pushed up my throat. My mind worked overtime, and something occurred to me.
“If you wanted to kill them, you would have done it right away. You’re keeping them for something.”
Cyrene smiled. “You’ve always been smart—the cunning mind of a warrior. You’re right, I’m keeping them for leverage.”
“What kind of leverage?” I demanded.
“The kind that will get me what I want. You’re going to give in to me and do as I tell you. It’s the only way you’ll ever see them again.”
I shook my head. “I’ll find another way.”
“Oh, no. You won’t. This is the end of the line for you where your power and your free will is concerned. You pledged your allegiance to me, and it’s time to pay up.”
“I won’t destroy my people’s lands! I won’t hurt them!”
Cyrene laughed as if I’d missed something obvious.
“I’m not asking you to ruin the kingdom. Ruining the land hasn’t done us much good over the past couple of centuries. Falx was narrowminded. No…you’ll do something else.”
I stared at Cyrene. No matter what she did to me, I wouldn’t do her bidding. I couldn’t.
“You’ll kill Hazel,” she said.
My blood ran cold, and my ears rang. “What?”
“You heard me. It’s her, or your family. You think you can fight me? You’re about to learn the hard way that it’s better to do what I tell you to do and leave it at that. If you fight me, I’ll hit you where it hurts most.”
“I won’t do it,” I swore. There was no way I would kill Hazel. I’d pushed her away, but I loved her. She was everything. No matter what Cyrene did to me, I wouldn’t hurt her.
“You don’t have a choice,” Cyrene said. “Do it, or I’ll make you do it.”
“You can’t!” I cried out.
“Are you sure about that?”
She disappeared, and it was as if she’d never been. The countryside was beautiful, and the black fog was gone.
I turned toward the men, who straightened up and looked around as if they weren’t sure what had happened. Did they remember seeing her at all?
My stomach turned and twisted with dread. What had I done? Trying to get away from Cyrene, fighting her…
I’d been arrogant enough to think that it would change something. I’d been a fool to think that I could get away from her.
She’d threatened my family, but after centuries, I’d become reckless, thinking that I was home free.
It turned out I was wrong—very, very wrong.
