Page 73 of The Throne's Undoing

The god within sneered, snapping its jaws.

Ophelia nodded. "I suppose you're right. Is it not risky, though?" she pondered.

"What are you talking about?" Graeson snapped, his gaze flitting uneasily between the two women.

Medenia shrugged. "It can be, but it is still worth trying. I believe they're almost done preparing."

Graeson's gaze bore into Medenia's. "Try what?"

Dani stepped into his view. "You have two choices, Graeson. Option number one: you let us do what needs to be done. Option number two: you stay within this cell for the foreseeable future."

Red tipped the edge of his vision as concern and anger rose in his throat.

"What are you planning to do to her?" Graeson asked.

"We already told you," Medenia said. "We are doing what must be done."

"Which is?" he pressed, his entire body trembling with the raw fury that scorched his skin.

The god clawed at the walls, saying something, but Graeson was too focused on the words pouring from Dani's mouth.

"Breaking Kalisandre's mind apart, of course," Dani said with a sinister smile.

The bars snapped in Graeson's hands.

Chapter 22

MYRA

Myra presseda light hand upon the patient's head, just as she had for the past week. Tears rimmed her eyes as she grabbed onto the threads of pain and agony coming from him. Tugging them taut, she reached deep into the pit of her stomach and pulled.

She poured every ounce of tranquility down the thread--as much of it as she could, as much as she had to offer him before the guilt and nausea rose in her stomach. Before the hate and doubt settled in her bones.

The invisible black and red threads turned golden, transforming in seconds.

The deep wrinkles that previously creased the man's forehead softened, and the screams ceased. The tension in his jaw lessened as the new emotions took over. And for a moment, the man could pretend like he was anywhere else.

Myra could at least grant him a moment of bliss. As short as it might have been.

Dr. Thorne stepped forward, flicking the syringe with his fingers.

The bitter taste of ash coated Myra's mouth. Guilt and trepidation flooded her system. Tears burned at the back of her eyes, but she held them back. She didn't deserve to cry. She didn't deserve to feel anything.

Yet, while Myra might have been able to alter everyone else's emotions, she had never been able to change her own.

And despite how much she wished to close her eyes, despite how much she wanted to look away, Myra kept her eyes on the needle as Dr. Thorne poked a vein protruding from the man's neck and deposited the murky liquid into his bloodstream.

Chapter 23

KALLIE

The warmthof the candles licked Kallie's skin, yet her fingers grew cold despite the heat surrounding her. She tried to remain calm. She tried to breathe, but the air in the room was stifling, suffocating, and all-consuming.

Mistake, a voice in the back of her mind screamed.

Mistake.

Mistake.

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