Page 23 of Alchemised
Ferron’s eyes gleamed, as if he could feel her struggling. His index finger barely touched her temple, and then she truly felt his resonance, vivid as a live wire.
Sharp and finely honed, it sank through her skull. The room and Ferron all vanished as her memories sprang up before her eyes like a zoetrope.
The drive to Spirefell. Penny. Stroud’s interrogations. The lich in the Tower wearing Crowther’s body. The discussions of how best to extract the memories from Helena’s mind. Shiseo emerging from the darkness with his little case and awl. As Ferron went further back, the memories dimmed, flashing by as though her mind were a book he was flipping through to see if there was anything of interest inside.
He went all the way back to the stasis and the nothing that went on and on and on, then even further to the Tower and blood and the years in the hospital.
She hadn’t realised how small and repetitive her life was until she experienced it being skimmed through like that.
When it stopped, Helena’s mind was reeling. Ferron’s touch remained a moment longer, and she could feel his resonance through her brain, turning her vision red.
Finally, his hand dropped away and he stood there, staring at her.
“Well,” he said at last.
“Extraordinary, isn’t it?” Stroud said from somewhere behind him.
“Quite,” he said, his gaze splinter-sharp. He raised an eyebrow, still looking at Helena. “The war is over. What is it you think you’re protecting in that brain of yours?”
She met his stare without flinching.
Luc. She was protecting Luc.
“Holdfast is dead,” he said sharply, as if he’d seen the answer in her eyes. “The Eternal Flame extinguished. There’s no one left for you to save.”
He turned away, his expression venomous.
“Anything else?” he asked Stroud.
She shook her head.
The paralysis on Helena vanished. She’d been fighting it, and it happened so suddenly her knees gave out. She dropped, trying to catch herself, and the weight of her body slammed into her hands. Tearing pain exploded through her wrists, white-hot fire searing all the way to her shoulders.
She hit the floor.
Aurelia stifled a laugh.
“You met with Shiseo and went over everything several times before he left, I believe,” she heard Stroud saying. “After the first session, I’ll send someone for appraisal, so we can establish a timeline for results.”
“Yes, this plan has all been laid out for me in excruciating detail,” Ferron said tonelessly. “I’ll get it done. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
He stepped over Helena’s body and walked out of the room without a backwards glance.
Helena tried to sit up. Without use of her hands, she had to roll carefully onto her side and use her elbows, cradling her wrists protectively near her chest.
When she finally looked up, Stroud had gone, and Aurelia was standing impatiently a few feet away. The short staff was clasped in her hands.
“Get off the floor,” she said. “I’m to show you your room.”
Helena stood and followed Aurelia warily back into the foyer. Her wrists were throbbing. The necrothrall from Central was still there and shadowed them as Aurelia led the way down a hallway, up a flight of stairs, through a series of rooms, and into another hallway.
It was darker there. A different wing based on the angle of the light. Most of the windows were heavily draped, the furniture shrouded with dustcloths.
“To be clear, just because we have to keep you doesn’t mean I want to see you,” Aurelia said, walking quickly.
Helena already felt short of breath from the stairs and could barely keep up.
“I understand those bracelets keep you from using alchemy. Although that hardly matters here. The Ferrons built this house with pure iron, and there’s a reason I was chosen as Kaine Ferron’s wife.”
