Page 34 of Avelina

Though he sweated and his hands shook, Aaron didn’t open the door because he knew what Seleca would find in there. A moment of weakness and he’d undoubtedly end up as her next Absorption victim.

She let out a disappointed whine. “Oh. I guess I’ll just have to huff and puff and blow the door down.” He felt a sharp pinprick at the corners of his mind. He thought to himself, How bad could it be? Just let her in. It will be fine. She likes me. The image of Seleca pushing him down on his back and mounting him right there in his room flooded his mind. He imagined her pulling up his tunic and pressing her red lips into his stomach while he ran his fingers through her silky black hair, gently pressing her to go lower. He didn’t know if the fantasy was his or hers, but his resolve wavered.

Then she was inside him, digging aggressively into his mind. He lost his balance and fell to the ground. Seleca’s invasive manner always sucked the vitality out of people she connected with, Protection or none, and her Projection trance kept him from fighting back. She knelt over him, smiling, her hand now wrapped around his neck.

She spent several minutes looking at his life, searching for his secrets, and then she found it: his Evocation reservoir. He felt her shock for the briefest moment, and the interruption in the flow of Projection was enough to allow him to slam the door closed. She strained against his wall, but it took a tremendous amount of energy to push past someone’s defenses, and she couldn’t get back in using the same trick.

She squeezed his neck so hard that he thought his windpipe would be crushed. Then she whispered in his ear, “You have something I want, boy. How lucky for you that you will get to please me so thoroughly when you give it to me. I have been looking for that reservoir for a very long time.”

She released him, and he coughed harshly.

“Ward, come,” Seleca said, standing up. The boy looked up at her, likely surprised that she knew his name. He popped up from the ground, scooted toward her, knelt back down, and bowed his head. “What a good boy,” she said. “You may go, Ellis.”

Ellis hesitated, looking at his brother with wide eyes, then rose and left the room.

“Now, Aaron, I want you to sit up.” Aaron was groggy but did as he was told. He had already defied Seleca by not letting her back in. He had seen her strangle a girl nearly to death who had done almost the same thing. The girl was twelve. He shook just thinking about it, and, to his amazement, imagined escaping. He had seen people cry and beg for forgiveness, but they never tried to escape. That would be wrong. The goddess would never forgive that.

“Put your hand on Ward’s face,” she said. The boy looked up in alarm. Aaron didn’t move. Seleca, growing impatient, grabbed Ward roughly by the scruff of his neck. His eyes widened, then they rolled back in his head and closed, his body going limp. Seleca held him up like a rag doll, his face turned toward Aaron.

“Put your hand on his face,” she hissed, “or I’m going to crush his tiny little skull.”

Aaron did it, but a dark and disillusioned loathing blossomed in his mind, and his fantasy turned from sexual to violent. The Holy Daughter, flawless and beyond reproach, had a body that would burn brighter than his father’s barn if he wished it.

No. That would be wrong. I’m wrong. I should just run. He couldn’t believe his own thoughts. What was wrong with him? He shook his head, trying to clear it.

Seleca laid her hand on top of Aaron’s, smiling, and said, “Now, let’s see what you can do.”

The only thing Aaron remembered beyond that was the sound of Ward’s screams.

I looked into Aaron’s eyes, seeing the exposed pain and hatred he had for this monster. She made you burn him, I thought. It wasn’t your fault.

The knives he held glowed so brightly I feared they were in danger of melting. He looked at me, incensed but pleading.

I gave up on trying to hide from Seleca. “Aaron,” I said, “whatever happens, I will heal. I will not leave you. We’ll face her together. That’s how we win. It’s the only way we win.”

He squeezed his eyes closed, and I heard the handle of one of his knives crack. He opened his eyes again, took a deep breath, and stood up. I stood beside him.

Somewhere beyond the bushes, I heard that creepy ghost voice. “Avelina,” Psycho Snow White said. “I can feel you in there. I see you’ve learned how to use your reservoir. That’s good. There’s no need to be frightened. You did what you were supposed to do. You drew the dragon out of his lair. Now it’s time to come with me. You have been chosen for a greater purpose. Come with me now.”

Aaron looked at me, his eyes wide. I could see the wheels turning. I shook my head fiercely. “I’m with you, Aaron,” I whispered. “With you.” He relaxed a little, but I could feel the distrust radiating from him again.

Shit. This is not the time for that, I thought. I could hear Seleca getting closer and it would be worse to be attacked while backed into a corner. I touched Aaron’s arm. You can trust me, Aaron. If you trust in your mother’s predictions, then trust me. Can you do that? He hesitated, then nodded. Good, then we should just step out to face her. It’s still two against one.

No, he thought. There’s a dragon out there too. I can feel him.

I gazed at him, letting him make the decision. We stood motionless for a moment, and then Aaron nodded his head. I released Connection, and we set our packs down behind the trees and walked out to face her.

“There you are,” said Seleca. She smiled her crooked little smile but shifted her weight back and forth restlessly between her bare feet.

Bare feet. She was reaching out to feel us through the ground.

Behind her, silently perched on another fallen log, was a dragon, this one nearly twice as big as the last. Its glowing orange eyes fixed on Aaron, perhaps sensing him the way Aaron could.

“How lovely to see you again, Aaron. You know, my previous offer is still open to you. We don’t have to be enemies. My bed comes from Earth. It feels like sleeping on a cloud. Come to me, and all will be forgiven. I didn’t even like that man you murdered on your way out. You showed me that you could be one of us, Aaron. Come with me.” Seleca held out her hand to Aaron, beckoning him as if she spoke to a treasured lover.

Aaron growled low in his chest like an animal, then the handle of his knife creaked again. I wondered where Rogue was. Hiding under a tree? I hoped so.

Lina, she doesn’t know about your Protection reservoir. Listen to me, you have to start forming a shield.

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