Page 54 of A Touch of Madness

For Sylvie.

The air in the passageway is thick with the scent of dried herbs and the faintest trace of smoke. It clings to my skin, heavy and warm, curling around me like an invisible force. My bare feet make no sound against the cold stone floor as I drift forward, the hem of my nightgown whispering with each step as I walk around the Guild.

The halls stretch endlessly before me, bathed in the golden glow of candlelight and sconces lining the walls. Shadows move strangely along the walls, flickering in ways that don’t quite match the rhythm of the flames, as though something unseen lingers just beyond my periphery. It isn’t scary though, and it feels much different than the ominous halls of Blackthorne. It feels as though it’s breathing beneath my fingertips, shifting beneath my weight, but giving life to the place that it needs.

Despite not knowing where I’m going, I continue moving. My feet pattering down the hall, guiding me as if they know the way. There’s a pull deep in my chest, a thread wrapping itself around my ribs, drawing me forward with an urgency I don’t understand. The sensation is strange—not painful, but insistent, like a forgotten memory straining to be recalled.

And then I hear it.

Running water.

A quiet ripple, a delicate, lapping sound, as though something disturbs a perfectly still surface.

I round a corner, and suddenly the hall is gone, replaced by a vast courtyard bathed in moonlight. The reflecting pool stretches out before me, the water dark and endless, mirroring the sky above. The air is crisp, cool against my skin, yet I feel no chill. I’m as warm as when I sit in front of the grand fireplace at Lucian’s home.

I glance about the space, and to my complete surprise, at the edge of the pool, standing still as black death, is Lara.

My breath stillsin my chest as I look at my sister. The girl who protected me for as long back as I can remember. The one who pulled me out of anxiety attacks and helped me get through the death of our parents.

That girl feels so lost to me now.

She’s barefoot, her toes hovering just over the water’s edge. A long dress clings to her frame—deep burgundy, almost black beneath the subtle light of the moon, the fabric rippling gently in an unseen—and unfelt—breeze. Her dark hair spills over her shoulders in loose waves, strands lifting slightly as though gravity holds less sway over her.

She doesn’t move.

She only stares, unblinking.

Her gaze is locked onto her own reflection, motionless, as though she’s frozen in time. The surface of the water remains unnaturally still, reflecting her face with eerie clarity.

The quiet stillness is broken when she speaks.

“I know you,” she murmurs, tilting her head slightly to the left, as if she’s inspecting the reflection. The words are barely more than a whisper, but they cut through the silence like a knife.

Lara lifts a hand, her fingers trembling as she traces the curve of her jaw, then her collarbone, as though mapping the shape of her own face. She leans closer, breath fogging against the water’s surface.

“IthinkI know you.”

The words scrape at something deep in my chest, a cold and hollow ache.

Her fingers curl at her sides, and I see it—the way her body tenses, the way her brows furrow, the smallest flicker of confusion in her glassy eyes.

She doesn’t recognize herself.

She’s now at the point where she doesn’t know who she is. There’s no way she knows who I am at this point. I understood Solstice erased her humanity—but how would she forget her own self?

A slow, shuddering breath escapes her lips, and I feel it as though it’s my own.

I take a step closer, my pulse thudding in my ears.

She doesn’t see me.

She only stares harder, her breath coming faster now, panic curling at the edges of her expression.

“Who are you?” she whispers, her eyes still on her reflection.

She’s speaking to herself.

My heart clenches, aches in a way I’ve never hurt before, despite everything that’s come before. A tear slips down my cheek as I try to figure out what to say to her, how to pull her from her thoughts, how to make her remember herself.

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