“She's yelling in my head to do it, Eli. She's screaming in my head, demanding it. You're in the way of greatness for this kingdom. You're smiting the fire in our daughter that needs to thrive.”
I slam my body against the door again. I couldn't lose my father! I wouldn't survive without him! “Please!”
Vasilisa releases a quivering breath. “I’ll make it quick. I promise.”
That's the last sentence she said before I heard father’s final blood curdling screech.
I flash my eyes open, thrusting my head off the ground. My heart thumps so hard it could burst through my flesh. My shaking is uncontrollable. Father…
No. Hold it in. No weakness. Hold your breath. Don't cry.
Concrete.
I absorb the environment around me. Concrete floor. Tiny irritating rocks under my hands.
Light. There's light. The ray of Estrella's star shining down on me between two brick buildings. A dumpster a few feet away from me. People walking by, too busy to even notice me.
I'm not in Somnia. I'm in Amara City.
I escaped that horrific place.
Pain. I suck air through my teeth and groan... These fucking wounds are a nightmare. I keep stretching them, making them bleed more.
I sit up, putting my back against the wall of bricks beside me. I let my breathing slow, biting my tongue as if it would help.
I squeeze my eyes shut again, my flow of thoughts going back to the memory.
Father…he's gone. He's dead. Eight years ago, and it still comes back up in my dreams. I remember every detail.
So not only did Godusa want me dead, but she wants the memories to marinate in my brain and prolong my suffering.
Why does she hate me so much?
The panic passes and I take a moment to examine my scrappy shirt and scratched-up stomach. The wounds are glistening with blood. Definitely reopened.
Fuck!
I look to the end of the alleyway. Amias was right about something. These wounds need to be stitched or else an infection is bound to kill me.
I need a needle and thread before I set off to Caelestia.
Which is only going to take three weeks…or four if I keep stopping.
Fuck…
Better get started on it now rather than later, or else I'll be in this constant death trap forever. That's if I'm not killed by it first.
Chapter 9
Ignatia
I had to do a double take.
This is…a shopping mall?
It's a huge building, with an incredible sparkling dome, the cracks of glass that have silver lining between, and a giant silver heart spins right in the center. There's four sections, two in the front and two in the back, which stand out like towers of a castle, the glass doors accented with white carvings.
Presented in front is a gray statue of a woman adorned in a flowy ball gown covered in flowers, her wavy hair whisking behind her as if the wind blew in front. She has her hands cupped together over the pond below her, water spilling out of them.
