Inky black chains lay pooled at the foot of the bed, attached to two of the four posts. Chains. Actual chains.
Panic surged through me, and my heartbeat thundered in my ears, suffocating me with each labored breath. The tremors in my arms spread through my entire body. I was trapped. Caged—
A fine shiver raised the hairs along my arms, drawing my gaze to the bare skin. I watched the tiny bumps erupt as I stared. Except for a few freckles scattered about, the skin of my upper arm was smooth, and that didn’t feel right. It shouldn’t be.
The air cooled suddenly and shifted, snapping my head up and forcing my attention to the bars before me. The darkness beyond was no longer empty. Mist had seeped in, rolling across the floor and swirling. Thick tendrils rose like ghostly figures, twisting and swaying. They moved in rhythm as if dancing with one another or guided by an unseen hand.
Chills coursed through me as the figures dipped and swayed, drifting closer to the cage while I remained frozen, unable to look away. Their movements, somehow sensual yet eerie, captivated me. Lured me. I felt myself swaying in tune with them. My eyes started to close—
A prickle of awareness skittered through me just as a faint sound came from deep within the churning mist. I stilled, my heart lurching as I saw how close the specters were. Wisps of their misty forms curled and uncurled, teasing the golden bars. I strained to see between the dancing vapors but couldn’t see anything in the thick, churning mist. Still, I feltit. Watching. Waiting.
I wasn’t alone.
The tendrils of mist crept closer, drifting lazily between the bars, reaching for me. My breaths came in quick, shallow pants as I scooted back and pushed to my feet. It coiled like pale serpents, slipping across the marble tile. I stumbled back as the mist reached me, wrapping around my wrists.
The contact was startling, cold and stinging, sending bolts of static up my arms as thicker strands of mist glided forward, undulating across the floor. Eather stirred within me, pulsing weakly. I tried to summon the essence, but it was too weak.Iwas weak, unable to pull away or even shake it off. I couldn’t move asthe mist slithered up my arms, and the thicker vines of it twisted around my ankles.Move. Move. Move.I couldn’t as the mist spoke, and a hundred—no, thousands—of voices whispered.
My chest rose and fell quickly as the thick ribbons of mist snaked up my legs. A choking wave of horror surged, icy and relentless, clawing up my spine as the tendrils twisted and tightened, wrapping around my hips.
“I’m here.”
My heart stopped, and every part of me recoiled at the sound of a voice that rumbled like distant thunder and echoed in my chest. The coils of mist climbed farther up my arms, stretching to wrap around my neck. They twisted, stinging my skin, tightening until only the thinnest breath could escape my lungs as the mist forced my head forward.
The streaked darkness was changing, the filaments turning from silver to crimson as the center of the mass thickened, taking on the shape of a…man.
My eyes widened as he appeared like a wraith, becoming solid as he drew closer, growing tall, shoulders broadening. The dancing specters glided to the sides, their wispy forms twining with one another like lovers.
The crimson-pierced shadows swirling around the cage movedinsidethe golden-bronze flesh of his chest. I tracked them up his neck and over the proud, hard curve of his jaw, then up the arched bones of his cheeks to curl at the corners of his full lips.
Everything about how he looked was familiar to me, like I’d seen similar features on another, but this man’s hair was golden. And he was…
He was beautiful in an impossible way, as if the Great Creators themselves had crafted him. Like he’d been flawlessly and painstakingly pieced together to lure, coax, and enchant.But there was something off about his ethereal beauty. It was…cold, lackinglife. It was haunting, and I…
I didn’t want to look upon his beauty any longer. It wasn’t real. It was a façade. A mask. A remorseless trap. The tendrils around my neck squeezed, wringing a soft cry from me as I tried to turn my head away. The wisps around my hips pulsed and then pulled, dragging me to my knees.
The whispers ceased.
The dancing wraiths stilled.
And that perfect mouth curled in a tight-lipped smile as silver eyes with flecks of crimson locked onto mine. Shadows spun around him as he stopped just beyond the cage. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
I couldn’t take in enough air to speak as he reached out and curled his fingers around the bars.
“I’ve been waiting so very long for you,” he said, his voice achingly cold, chilling the mist wrapped around me until it brought tears of discomfort to the corners of my eyes. “For this.”
The mist around my hips squirmed its way up my waist and over my breasts.
“You’re so…” Thick lashes lowered as he leaned forward. Golden hair fell against his cheeks as he pressed his forehead to the bars. “You’re so scared, my sweet,” he said, the words ending in a hiss.
I shuddered, my fingers spasming around empty air.
His eyes snapped open, and the flecks of crimson brightened as they swirled through his irises. “I can help you,so’lis.”
I flinched, my stomach turning at the endearment, even though he spoke it softly, gently. So lovingly. I knew that word. I had been comforted by it at one time.
“I know you. I’ve always known you, my pretty flower.” He smiled again, holding my stare. “All you have to do is let me in.”
The mist constricted, forcing what little air I had left in me out.
