Page 61 of The Road to Hell

Rathiel stepped up beside Calyx and clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder. “If she shows any signs of distress, you stop. Immediately.”

Calyx raised his hands in mock surrender. “Of course, brother. Wouldn’t dream of hurting her.”

Rathiel’s eye twitched like he was seconds from throttling him.

I squared my stance and centered myself. “Just do it already.”

Calyx tsked under his breath. “You should be careful what you wish for.”

I didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. Instead, I just lifted my chin, daring him to get on with it.

Calyx sighed dramatically, then raised his hands again. “All right, darling. Try not to bite off your tongue.”

I barely had a second to brace myself before his fingertips met my temple.

A chill seeped into my skin, unnaturally cold—wrong in a way that wasn’t physical. It slithered deeper, spreading through my skull like ink bleeding through water. The cavern around me swayed as a strange pressure built inside my head.

It wasn’t pain. Not yet. But it wasn’t far off either.

A scraping sensation skittered across my mind, light at first—like fingers brushing against the edges of my consciousness. Testing. Searching.

Then, without warning, Calyx pushed deeper.

I sucked in a breath, my eyes closing as my body locked up. A foreign force—hisforce—slipped through the cracks of my mind. It wasn’t subtle nor gentle. It was like claws sinking into something that wasn’t meant to be touched, peeling back layers I hadn’t even known were there.

The pressure increased, a twisting pull, a forceful unearthing of something buried.

Distantly, I heard Rathiel say, his voice razor-edged, “Calyx.”

“Relax, brother,” he muttered, but his voice was thinner, strained. “She’s—damn it—she’s fighting me.”

I didn’t mean to. Hadn’t intended to put up any kind of resistance. But something inside mewasfighting back, something deeper than instinct. It was so strong that even Calyx, the expert at tearing through minds, seemed unable to pry mine open.

I clenched my jaw, my hands fisting at my sides. My instincts screamed to shove him away, to sever whatever invasive thread he’d just spun between us.

But this was what I’d agreed to.

This was what I needed.

He pushed harder, the tendrils of his power gripping tighter around the unseen barricade in my mind, trying to wedge itself past whatever was keeping those memories locked away.

The resistance held.

Calyx murmured a low, thoughtful sound.

Heat burned along my skull as his presence wrenched against the invisible force in my mind.

“Lily, love,” he murmured, his voice uncharacteristically tight. “Ireallyneed you to stop fighting me.”

I wasn’t. At least, I didn’tthinkI was.

But whatever Rathiel had done—whatever magic had buried those memories—my mind wasn’t letting go without a fight. A ripple of something unseen coiled within my mind, curling around the edges of memories I couldn't quite reach. My breath hitched as the pressure built, creeping deeper, mounting into something almost unbearable.

Calyx let out a strained breath. “I can see them,” he said, voice tight. “The memories. They’re right there. But—shit—it’s like trying to dig through solid rock.”

His hand trembled against my skin.

I wasn’t the only one fighting now.

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