20. Vera
Vera
SIX YEARS AGO
Footsteps made their way down the hall, and the shadow at my cell was the only warning before Mortep shook the bars.
“Are you ready for an adventure, little one?” he crooned from the darkness.
He unlocked the door and slid inside, his silhouette hovering above me.
Shadows made his black hair even more pronounced, and his pale skin and near-white eyes glowed like a ghost.
I glared at him, unresponsive, and he brandished a key. My eyes widened as he fit it into the chains binding me to the wall. “You get to leave your cell.”
My heart raced, but not with excitement. I’d been down here for a year, and nobody had ever let me out. He would draw my blood, torture me, run his little tests in the corner of my cell, then whisk away until the next time.
This couldn’t mean anything good.
I glanced at the hole in the stone wall, desperate for a glimpse of those dual-toned eyes. They always calmed me.
Friends. That was what we called ourselves, but the word felt too small, too fragile, for what we endured together.
What word was there for the person whose face I searched for after every nightmare and the last one I carried with me into sleep?
For the one whose presence alone kept all the jagged pieces of me from coming apart?
What word meant “home” when I had nothing left to live for?
Mortep yanked me forward. My legs felt like mush.
These chains only allowed a few feet of movement, so I couldn’t remember the last time I’d walked this far.
I stumbled into Mortep’s side as he led me down the hall, panting with exertion.
The tunnel narrowed with each slap of my bare feet on the floor, and every shadow reached for me with gnarled fingers.
Mortep opened a door and shoved me inside a new room.
The bright torchlight was so blinding, it burned my eyes.
I had to shield my face as I adjusted, then quickly took in my surroundings.
It looked like a laboratory. The gray and cream marbled walls were such a stark contrast from the dark, stained stone I’d been trapped in for a year.
Bookshelves and cabinets lined all the walls, except for the door we just came through and another one across the room.
Books, loose scrolls, glass vials full of liquid, and piles of crushed herbs littered the space.
“Why am I here?” I snapped.
Mortep grinned. “You take after your brother. So very bold. Your power gives you confidence, even in chains.” To prove his point, he rattled the end of my restraints, making me wince when they pulled at my wrists.
“Get them off me, and I’ll give you something to really be impressed by,” I bit out.
He merely chuckled. “Oh, that is exactly what I intend.”
My brow furrowed, my surprise only growing when he placed something on his tongue, muttered a spell, then unshackled my wrists. The chains fell to the floor with a deafening clang.
My phoenix fire instantly sprang from my hands, and a cry of relief tore from me. I hadn’t realized how excruciating it had been to keep my magic bottled up for so long, and how much it craved to be released.
I summoned my light magic from that well of power inside my chest, letting sparks of lightning mix with the flames.
Not to be outdone, shadows rose from my skin in a dark swell and swarmed my arms, my chest, my legs.
With the surge of power came anger. A deep, aching, sharp spike of rage that reared its vicious head.
Without thinking, a beam of light burst from my fingertips and lashed toward Mortep.
It hit a sheer barrier and ricocheted back at me, knocking me off my feet. My back hit the door, and pain bolted down my spine.
Mortep tsked. My vision wavered in and out as his lanky frame floated closer. “Did you think I wouldn’t protect myself?”
“Just hoped you forgot,” I gritted out, slowly rising to my feet.
“You know how special you are.” As he spoke, he retreated behind a table in the center of the room, pulling out trays full of more needles, serums, and daggers.
“Only sixteen years old and already Scarven’s most prized possession.
Even more so than your brother.” He tapped his nose, as if I should be proud of this fact.
“You have done what no other Veridian in existence has accomplished, Vera. Four magics are held within the palm of your hand.”
“It’s not like I asked for this.” Take it, I wanted to scream. It’s yours. If it meant I could have a normal life, that I could see my mother and Nox again, I would give my magic up in a heartbeat.
“Greatness is not always something you ask for. It’s sometimes thrust upon you, if the Fates will it.” He twirled to face me, holding a syringe in front of his face. The liquid inside sloshed when he flicked it. “Or in this case, if I will it.”
“What is that?” I asked, taking a hesitant step back.
“A little something I’ve been working on over the last year. Lord Scarven has made it his quest to master all magic, and that begins with understanding how it works at its core.”
My nose wrinkled in disgust. He made it sound so analytical, like he was discussing how crops grow or why rainbows form in the sky. Not the heartless way they rip innocent people from their homes to satisfy their curiosity.
“The next step, of course, is taking what we’ve discovered and applying it. What if we combine certain potions with each magic type? What happens when we inject it straight into the blood? Can we mold magic to our will, or create new strands entirely?”
He rounded the table toward me. “You, dear Vera, help make this process infinitely more efficient. You see, we must usually test our theories on someone of each magical type. Six different subjects. But now, we can see the results of four in a single subject.” He drew closer, and I pressed my back as far into the door as I could.
When he lifted the syringe, I summoned my phoenix fire and erected a barrier of scorching flames in front of me.
All I could see was the orange, yellow, and red blaze, until his mane of black hair pierced through.
His grin made my heart sink. “I don’t know how many times I must tell you that your magic doesn’t affect me. But if it makes you feel better, by all means, keep trying.”
I growled and released a swarm of shadows to distract him. Ducking beneath him, I sprinted to the opposite side and threw myself at the other door. “Help! Somebody help me!” I screamed, pounding on it with both fists.
“Nobody can hear you, Vera. Nobody cares.” Mortep’s footsteps neared.
I spun and punched him square in the jaw, then doubled over as pain shot up my arm.
Even with my Shifter half, my muscles were weak, and the impact of the punch sent me reeling.
Fingers clamped down on my wrist right before he plunged the needle into my arm.
I gasped. I felt the serum in my arms first. A cold shock that quickly turned to an icy numbness, encasing every bone and muscle. My shoulders dropped and my arms fell to my sides like rocks. When I tried to move them, they wouldn’t budge.
My breaths quickened. “I can’t—I can’t feel…” The words caught in my throat as the serum clawed its way up, locking my neck, then my head as my chin rolled to my chest.
My legs were next. My knees gave out and I toppled to the ground, unable to brace myself. The side of my face slammed into the floor, sending a bright, sharp pang through my skull.
“That was the immobilizing serum,” Mortep said. “What you’re feeling is the henbane oil, blackthorn ash, and mint attaching to your bloodstream and slowing your mobility functions.”
He rolled me over until I was facing the ceiling. My eyes were glued open, unable to blink. I barely had enough freedom to breathe. Air swept in and out of my lungs, but I couldn’t feel my chest rising and falling.
I saw his hands grab my body, but I felt nothing.
I heard him call in guards to lift me from the ground and throw me onto the work table, but I felt nothing.
I saw a needle tip glinting as he held it above my body, but I felt nothing.
But when he stabbed it straight into my chest, I exploded.
White light popped in my vision. It felt like someone had taken a bolt of lightning and injected it into my veins. Blazing, scorching, searing heat ripped my chest apart and spread through every inch of me.
I tried to scream, but my lips wouldn’t move. I couldn’t get air in through my nose fast enough. My lungs shrieked, fire racing down my spine until I thought I was going to burst into flames.
In my peripheral, I spotted little pops of light coming from the bottom half of my body. Mortep’s head appeared above me, a notepad and pencil in hand. He was scribbling away as slowly, slowly, the pain began to ebb.
“Good, good,” he murmured, looking down at me. He set the notepad aside and moved farther down, out of my line of sight. I couldn’t see him. I didn’t know where he was, if he was touching me or getting more needles or breaking my bones—
My breaths were ragged as I struggled to draw air through panicked lungs. Dark spots appeared in my vision. My head became lighter and cloudy at the same time, darkness dragging me under until—
Mortep muttered a spell, and suddenly, my lungs expanded. I sucked in air through my nose as my vision cleared.
Mortep tutted. “I can’t have you passing out. You need to be alert to exhibit proper reactions.”
He disappeared from view again, his footsteps tapping against the floor. Something rattled on the table. And then he was back, another syringe in hand—this one with a darker red liquid inside.
No, I wanted to beg. Please, no more. But my lips wouldn’t move.
He smiled down at me. “We checked the light. Now, for the shadows.” The needle drove into my chest once more, and the agony began anew.