Chapter 6 #2
There weren’t any mirrors. Sometimes I’d catch my reflection in the pointed glass ceilings in one of the main rooms, but even then, it was blurry at best. I had no idea how much my face had changed since coming here seven years ago.
I knew I was older. I knew my cheeks had hollowed out and my hair was longer.
But it felt like forever since I actually saw myself.
It had been even longer since I felt like myself.
The truth was, I wasn’t myself anymore, not even the shell of who I used to be.
I was just another ghost, forever trapped inside his castle, unable to move on.
I slowly walked into the bathroom, praying I would hear the door close behind me and it meant he left my room, but as I turned, I found Dahes still standing in the empty frame.
Why the hell did I mention that I bathed before I got dressed? I should have just put the gown on, despite the fact that I was covered in sweat from my nightmare.
“Undress, Magnolia.” My thoughts dissipated at those two words, and my gaze snapped to Dahes as his compulsion ran through me. “And don’t call on your Token,” he added.
I inhaled, my breathing hitched. I could.
I wasn’t sure if it was just my Token or if all Tokens could, but it was the only thing that Dahes couldn’t control.
Maybe it was part of the necessity, building and crafting into exactly what I needed, into exactly what he couldn’t take.
Because deal or not, Dahes couldn’t order me to suppress my Token.
My Token was gifted by Nessium, one year into my slavery, out of necessity, and I hated the reminder.
I pulled a thin strap off my shoulder, before slowly moving to the next one.
I wanted to bring my Token forward, every instinct in me screaming for me to activate it, but I didn’t want to aggravate him—any time my Token manifested when he told me not to, he’d make sure my next hunt was a living nightmare—and if he was only watching…
The translucent gown fell to the floor at my feet, leaving me exposed. I was never given anything to wear underneath my clothes, and I didn’t bother asking.
Breathe. One. Two. Three. Four. Exhale.
I moved to fill the bath, then added the jasmine soap into the water. It was the only luxury Dahes gave me. I stepped into the tub, making sure to face him so I’d know the second he moved.
Not that it mattered. No amount of distance made me safe from him.
The water was painfully cold. If Dahes had access to heat, he didn’t use it. I wasn’t sure if he loved the cold or if warmth resembled Viven so he hated it out of spite. Either way I was used to the freezing water by now.
Dahes didn’t move from the archway. He watched me intently, his eyes assessing me in a way that reminded me of the night my Token first manifested.
Stop thinking, Magnolia.
I blew out a breath, washing everything slowly, five seconds on each section of my body before moving onto the next.
When I finished, I slowly stepped out of the bath, trying not to slip on the water already pooling onto the cold floor. He never gave me a towel, and I usually waited five minutes before dressing so I wouldn’t soak my clothes.
Now, I cursed myself for not thinking of it—I left my dress on the bed.
I moved to walk back into the room, having every intention of throwing it on, wet or not, but Dahes grabbed my arm.
I flinched right before my Token manifested.
It flickered for a second before it stopped, and I was tangible again.
It was the only thing I could do—become transparent so Dahes couldn’t touch me—except, half the time it didn’t work.
I had no control. I had no idea how to use it.
He grabbed onto my arm the second I was tangible again, his cold fingers wrapping around my bicep, forcing a shiver to rack through me.
“Relax, Magnolia,” he murmured, and I had to fight the tears burning in my eyes. I could feel him watching me, heard his heavy exhale, felt the way he slowly soaked me in.
In all the years I’d been here, in everything Dahes made me do, or forced me to watch, the night my Token manifested was the worst.
A sensation worked through my body. I stiffened as realization dawned on me that Dahes was doing something to me. He was… healing me.
Dahes never healed me before. Not even after the night a dagger stabbed through my abdomen during one of my hunts. I had a thick scar on the right side of my stomach to prove it.
My body wasn’t throbbing anymore, my back no longer had a searing agony slash through my spine every time I moved. Ever since I started hunting, my body constantly ached from overuse, but now it felt light.
“You need your strength today,” he said before he let go of my arm and the sensation stopped.
My breathing turned ragged again, my pulse hammering against every artery in my body, threatening to combust.
“What…” I paused, swallowed, then forced myself to start again. “What am I doing?”
“You’re going to Viven,” he smiled slowly like the answer should have been obvious.
“You said the drop off was tomorrow.”
His eyes trailed down my body and I tensed, becoming utterly aware that I was still naked and wet.
“Don’t die early on me, little ghost,” was all he said before he walked out of my room.
I stayed there, in the archway, dripping wet and naked, until every drop of water dried from my body. In truth, I probably stayed a lot longer than that.
He healed everything.
It should have given me comfort. I wasn’t as stiff. I could move freely. Whatever part he had planned for me playing a damsel, I’d be ready for, but instead it did the opposite.
Trepidation sank into me.
I couldn’t stop thinking about what the hell I’d be doing.