2
Ness
Candles sputtered,casting flickering empty-faced shades across the walls in this empty room. The peeling paint seemed to writhe like my skin. Arcana filled the air and tried to delve its way into me. I whimpered and pushed at it, but I didn’t have much energy left. My own arcana failed me over and over, crumbling like a sand wall under a wave.
Alvin, my former pack Alpha, held up a piece of mundane paper, but the words that left his lips were anything but mundane. His low, monotone chant gave the eerie arcana in the air more power. The arcana hammered at me. I gritted my teeth and tried to hold it off, but it was a losing fight.
Alvin had said that he wanted to tame me. Though I would rather die than face a fate like that, I’d learned that death was not permanent for me. When Alvin told me that he’d killed me once already, I knew what day he was talking about.
I’d always thought that I’d left with a concussion. I’d spoken up, for the first time. No one else had been present. I should have known better than to talk back to Alvin without the pack to back me up. Alvin hadn’t liked it. He’d struck me.
How old had I been? Fifteen? Sixteen?
I couldn’t remember. What I did remember was the impact of his fist against the side of my head and how the room had melted. The world had gone black before I’d even hit the floor. When I woke, the room had been cold. I’d had bruises on my neck, but they’d healed by the time I left Alvin’s house. The stiffness in my neck stayed, though.
I’d died. Alvin hadn’t just choked me; he’d snapped my neck.
And I hadn’t remembered a thing. I didn’t remember dying or coming back. It was all a dark chasm in my memory. Would it happen again? I was afraid to find out. Now I knew why I’d survived so many horrible encounters with Alvin.
Every time he’d hit me, he’d known that there was a chance I would come back. He’d threatened to kill me—but held back—in an attempt to instill fear in me. That way he could control me. How else do you keep what you can’t kill under your thumb?
The power in the room doubled. It pressed down on me, forcing me to the floor. The sensation prickled my skin like a million needles trying to pierce me all at once. I whimpered without thinking.
Ryder? Where are you?
My thoughts raced as the pressure bore down. Frantic, I tried to get ahold of myself. Every attempt was a weak fumble. My chest heaved, and my heart thundered inside my chest. I thought it might break my ribs from the inside.
If Ryder didn’t show up, then I would have to save myself from this ritual. I didn’t want to find out what it would do to me. Alvin mentioned wanting to tame me once and for all. That word terrified me. Even more now that I couldn’t even escape him by dying.
That didn’t seem like the right option right now. Instead, I had to look around. If I could find a way to escape the ritual, then it wouldn’t be able to claim me. At least, that was the idea. Some of the arcana summoned by the ritual had already burrowed its way beneath my skin. I couldn’t let it get any further.
I wriggled around for a better view. Alvin seemed consumed by the chant. Maybe it required his full attention. If I was lucky, he would be trapped in a trance.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten lucky, though. I needed to be quick. Surveying my surroundings, I noticed the bag that the witch had left. There, in the bottom, was a glimmer of something metallic.
Inching closer, I could see a pair of wire cutters. There was no way of knowing if the witch had left them on purpose. If anything, I suspected it was a lucky accident. Either way, I wanted to let out a sigh of relief. Maybe I could survive this after all.
The ritual stabbed at the back of my legs. What had felt like needles earlier now felt like knives pressing into my flesh. I hissed and pushed forward. My back foot hit a candle and sent it tumbling.
Alvin cursed. The candle rolled away, the flame flickering even though it didn’t go out. While he chased the candle, I lunged for the wire cutters. The ritual’s arcana delved deeper. Tears made my eyes burn. I’d experienced worse pain at Alvin’s hands, but my rising fear threatened to overwhelm me.
What if I was too late?
There was nothing I could do to change it. I grabbed the wire cutters and positioned them, so I could snip the silver bindings. It took several attempts while my hands trembled, but the bindings soon fell away.
My beast rushed back to the surface like she’d been drowning. Her presence did little to mitigate the arcana now snaking beneath my skin. She recoiled from it as the arcana lashed out at her. I could do nothing to help. Instead, I got to my feet and tore at the gag in my mouth.
I reached the door when Alvin called out.
“Ness! Stop.”
My whole body jerked. This wasn’t like an Alpha’s command. The ritual’s arcana stopped moving and held me with it. Though I pressed on, the arcana trapped within me refused to budge. It sliced through me, sending sharp pain radiating in every direction when I fought it.
So, it was too late.
The ritual had taken hold.
Anger roiled inside me. It wasn’t hot. My blood didn’t boil. Instead, a wall of ice rose and surrounded my heart. I let out a breath as the world stilled and all my rage focused on Alvin. I wished I had more of my own arcana. If I could have brought the power to my words and told him to undo this, then I would have.