Page 71 of The Stolen Bride

I gripped my temples and tried to breathe. I couldn’t breathe.Come on, come on.My lungs burned. My thoughts raced, but went nowhere. My body moved without permission, but I wasn’t sure what it was doing. I couldn’t…I didn’t…

The whispers quieted, the fog vanished, and I blinked open my eyes, suddenly able to draw air into my nose. Noticing my surroundings, I frowned and spun. I occupied a seven-by-seven cell with three barred walls and a rocky back one. Inside was a cot draped with a ratty blanket, and two pairs of shackles. There was also a stained toilet. Hooks and shackles splattered with crimson hung from the ceiling. The floor bore dark, ominous stains, too. The oppressive air smelled of mold and hopelessness.

Small, grated windows allowed slivers of light into the cell block. Other cages stretched out beside mine. This must be Deco’s dungeon. Scratches marred the cold stone back wall. No, not scratches–tick marks. They tracked the number of days of confinement. Outsidethe cells, in an open area probably reserved for guards, two wooden chairs bracketed a vertical rack. Like, an actual rack. A medieval torture device.

Nearby it, a small wooden desk occupied a corner, a bank of screens above it displaying the interior of each cell, including mine. A jarring blend of state-of-the-art tech and ancient brutality. No sign of the primordials.

I made an obscene gesture at the camera. I must have walked in here on my own, and oh, the knowledge burned. Valkara won this round.

She emerged from the shadows and smiled at me from beyond the bars. My pulse raced with both fear and frustration. To lose control of my own body…

And this was what Viktor dealt with on the daily? No wonder he’d become feral! He’d been in a fight for his free will and deep down, he must have known it.

“Do not worry,” she said, withdrawing a dagger from a sheath at her waist, that smug smile still lighting her face. “Viktor will join us shortly. Be a good girl and convince him to kill you.”

Ha! “You’re the one who’s dreaming if you think that’s gonna happen.”

“If you don’t, your sister will die. Among others.”

A twist of the invisible blade in my gut. Mother Dearest had done exactly as I’d feared. I gripped and shook the bars. Now it was my turn to play the game. “You expect me to accept death on behalf of a woman I’ve known, what? Less than two minutes?”

“I do, and you will. For the greater good. That, my dear, is real. Allow me to show you the future awaiting us if Viktor fails to kill you.” She closed her eyes. Once again, a fog crept into my mind. This time, a scene opened up. A vision. In it, I stood in a forest, sobbing. Viktor, who lookedas if he’d just witnessed the end of the world, held an unconscious, or dead, Juniper in his arms, both of them splattered with crimson.

In the present, I pressed a hand over my churning stomach. No. No, no, no. What had happened? Had he…was she…?

Vision Clover screamed in anguish. Then she–

No,Ibegan to change. I grew a beak and wings. Sprouted feathers. I developed the hindquarters of a lion, complete with a tail. The largest talons extended from my nail beds, a grotesque monster-griffin taking my place.

The vision opened further, revealing the encampment beyond our little clearing. In it I saw Bodi and others I didn’t recognize, all going about their days.

The moment my transformation completed, I spread my wings, squawked–and Viktor transformed as well. He dropped Juniper and the two of us turned on each other. Fighting, raging. In the end, I won only because he hesitated to deliver a death blow. I ripped out his heart. When I finished with him, I flew into the campground, utterly wild now that I’d killed my firebrand. Though a multitude of berserkers erupted, attempting to fight me off, I killed everyone in my path. Down went Bodi, minus his head. Every single creature in my vicinity died. Men, women and children. Animals, too. And I wasn’t done. I stalked off, hunting for my next victims.

The vision faded, and I doubled over with nausea. This was the world’s fate if I didn’t convince Viktor to kill me? “That–that’s a lie,” I sputtered. It must be.

“I cannot weave lies, only truth. That’s the destiny awaiting each of you if you live today,” Valkara confirmed. “You are linked to Viktor and when you shift–and you will–you’ll become as strong as he is. Stronger, since you areflesh of my flesh. None of his berserkers will be able to stop you. You’ll rampage, leaving only destruction in your wake. But one simple sacrifice can stop such a catastrophe from occurring. Of course, Viktor will refuse to end you. We all know he’d rather die than harm his firebrand. But I can take care of that. Confuse him in the fog so that he lashes out without thought. All you must do is accept your fate without a fight.”

No. No! “If you can weave only truth, the vision you showed me throughout my life is the future, not what you’ve shown me today. I haven’t lived that moment yet.”

“What I showed youwasthe future, yes. If Juniper had ended up with Viktor. But the two of you traveled a different road, taking us to a new destination.”

No! “Then today’s vision proves we’ll all escape,” I croaked.

“Exactly. Unless you choose another path.” She tossed the dagger she held through the bars. It landed on the cot and bounced. “Let him kill you with this, rather than his claws. It’ll hurt less.”

So doomed if I did and doomed if I didn’t. “How do I know you’re telling the truth about showing only the truth?”

“You don’t,” she said, all but bubbling over with giddiness, sensing how close she was to victory. “You’ll have to take my word on it.” A pause. Then, “As soon as you’re dead, I’ll release Juniper. I vow it.”

No. No! She couldn’t be trusted. Look at how she’d tricked Viktor all these centuries. How she’d used Malachi. “When you have all the primordials in your control, what’s your plan?”

“Have no fear, my sweet Clover. We won’t be staying on this forsaken planet.” Intensity flashed in hereyes, hinting at sinister intentions. “No, I have other places to be. The only reason I’m still here is because patience is needed when dealing with primordials. Rush them, and pay the price.”

For the first time, I actually believed the words that came out of her mouth.

I sagged against the bars. This was bad. Very, very bad. What should I do, what should I do? I don’t think I had the emotional fortitude to unleash a berserker rage-out right now. Too much sadness welled, snuffing out the flames.

Satisfied that I’d finally accepted my fate, she sauntered off and eased onto a chair near the rack, obviously waiting for something. Or someone.

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