Page 104 of The Rose in the Shadows

She barked something at the others, but I was too delirious with pain to recognize the words. They gathered behind her, shaping themselves into a circle and pointing their faces to the black night sky.

“The history books will paint me as the hero of this story,” she promised.

Running was futile; somewhere deep down, I knew that. But I had three options. I could run, I could fight, or I could just let her kill me. Fighting was out of the question without magic, and I wouldn’t willingly make the trip to the Underworld. So when she turned her back to me to join hands with the rest of the circle, I was on my feet and running before I had even registered what I was doing.

I felt the sting of every cut on my body as I sprinted through the woods, but I ignored it. I ignored the blinding pain in my throbbing head and the overwhelming nausea in my stomach. My feet slammed down, one after the other, until I was panting and my lungs were ready to burst. I needed to find my way out of these woods, but my brain was too scattered, too broken from the loss of my magic. I slumped against a tree, gasping for air and clutching the cramp in my side.

They could still find me. I needed to get up. Surely, someone had noticed my escape. They had to be chasing me by now.

Clutching onto the tree’s bark, I pulled myself to my feet, determined to keep going, but I had only just managed to stand when I heard her laughter surrounding me. I spun, desperate to find her, but only saw trees and shadows. Until that darkness took shape.

“Going somewhere?” the shadows whispered to me, their voice thick and inhuman.

I screamed as they latched onto my ankles, ripping me through the sky and carrying me through the forest. As they dropped me back in the clearing, my head bounced against the ground, and stars danced in my vision.

“Keep her there,” Camilla commanded, and the shadows locked around me, pressing down on my body and jamming themselves down my throat until I was nearly suffocating on the bitter taste of them. Then, when I was all but ready to give up fighting, they would retreat, allow me to catch my breath, and begin the entire process again.

I was being tortured and Camilla’s laughter echoed through all of it.

Unsatisfied with simply stealing my breath, the shadows nipped at my ankles, slicing the flesh and tasting me. The pain was all-consuming. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe.

Was this what dying felt like?

My last thought before I lost myself to it was of Clay, of his comforting scent, of the firmness of his touch when he touched my cheek or buried his hand in my hair. Gods, I so terribly regretted pushing him away when he had kissed me.

If I was back in the caverns again, I must have eventually passed out. Still, the pain followed me here. There was no reprieve from it as I doubled over, coughing up blood. Was it possible that mortals felt more pain than Descendants? I’dbeen hit before, nearly blown up a time or two, and nothing compared to the slicing pain of those vicious shadow teeth.

“Drink,” he commanded.

A glass slid itself down the long table before me. I hobbled over to it, pleasantly surprised to find water and not wine. He always drank wine. I doubted I would ever trust a glass of the stuff again.

“You should tell me your name,” I told him, flopping into a seat.

He turned his head from me, but I still noticed the way he dramatically rolled his eyes. I irritated him. That was odd. Usually, he was playful and taunting; I’d never seen him annoyed. What did he have to be angry about? It’s not like his best friends abandoned or betrayed him. I doubted he had gone through a power stripping today.

“And why is that?” He sighed.

“If I’m to die tonight, shouldn’t I know the name of the man who haunts my dreams?”

“Theadora, you know my name!” He huffed, standing quickly from his throne. That was odd, too. He always sat at the table, never the throne. “I do not know why you insist on this feigned ignorance.”

I cringed, though I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was because he’d always been kind to me. Even in these dark caverns resembling the scenery of a terrible nightmare, he’d only ever offered me friendship and mentorship. Perhaps I needed that friendship now, and his harshness only added insult to my injuries.

“You’re not going to die tonight.” He scoffed. “And you know that too.”

“She took my powers,” I reminded him petulantly. What good was I without my magic?

“Did she? Are you powerless or just accepting the rules of a society you never belonged to?”

“She passed out again,” a man criticized in disgust.

“Good, her screams were insufferable.” Camilla sighed.

I opened my eyes briefly to see her flipping through a grimoire with irritation.

“Why can’t we just kill her already?” A woman beside her demanded.

Camilla’s shadows wrapped around the woman’s throat, squeezing.

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