Accidental Surrogate

#Chapter 179 — Bound Trigger warning — Assault (non-sexual)

Ella

"It’s all right, Ella."

The first priest says, approaching me as one might a skittish horse — with slow, measured movements and hands exposed to show he holds no weapon.

"We only want to protect you."

"Protect me from what?" I question shakily, my back flush against the locked door.

"You have a very powerful magic inside you, and if it's allowed to come out you’ll be exposed.We can’t let that happen." He explains, using a tone much too gentle to be trustworthy.

It’s as though he’s trying to trick me, to convince me he’s kind when he truly intends malice.

"I don’t have any magic." I insist, wishing that I did.

Maybe if I was magic I might be able to put a stop to the things happening here — to protect the others without bringing harm to myself.I was so preoccupied with this statement that I almost missed the second piece of information.

"Exposed to what?"

"You do, it just hasn't shown itself yet."

The second priest sighs, keeping his distance but watching me with sharp eyes.

"At least not in ways you understand.Tell me, have you never noticed how much stronger you are than your peers? That you can hear and smell things from much greater distances? That you can run faster, jump higher, suffer greater injuries with less pain?"

He inquires, his hawkish gaze searing into me, "do they not follow you? Gravitate to your side and obey you as a leader?"

My head spins, making me dizzy with the possibilities.He guesses correctly, but that can’t be because I have some sort of special power.It's just the way things are...isn’t it? "And exposed to a world you cannot yet join."

The first man adds.

"It must happen when the time is right - but that time is a very long way off."

"I don’t understand."

I squeak, a sense of pure dread settling in the pit of my stomach.

"We know, Ella."

The second man proclaims, "And I’m sorry that this must happen, it will not be pleasant, but it is necessary for the future of our people."I shake my head, fighting back tears.

Their words are triggering every alarm bell in my young mind.I know what men do to little girls under the guise of necessity, the pretense of helping or protecting.

And I know exactly how unpleasant things can get.

My blood runs cold, and my pulse races, triggering a strange new energy deep in my bones.

It pulses through me like a bolt of electricity, a wild thing writhes just beneath my skin, feral and rabid — begging to be free.

away!" I hiss, my body shuddering with these

men look at each other with grim

another

"I’m sorry, child."

gravely, closing

this if

unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before,

are screaming at me to run, to get away at

far worse than anything the doctor or dormitory matron have ever inflicted

there isn’t

back and two attackers far larger and stronger than I am bearing down on me.I try to scream, but the second priest clamps his hand over my mouth before

into his palm, but

from the door, propelling

grabs my legs, and I’m lifted off

against their hold, my screams muffled and garbled as the priest continues

tang fanning the flames in my already sour

and I’m gagging, fighting for air and

— I’m powerless in their strong grips, and they seem completely

be a feather swaying in the wind

pierces the air, sounding

cries are deeper than my own, thick with grief and pain more complex than the sheer fright in my

tinged with concern, joins

"It’s too much."

"Just a little more."

voice, floating above

"We're so close."

from, and the priests don’t seem to

with single-minded focus, and i’m nothing more than a pawn in their game — tiny and helpless to stop

thrust onto the floor and pinned

the other sits on my kicking legs, pulling his tool bag to his

it’s pearlescent sheen

wrapping it around my body, it

fabric, winding it round

my sides and my legs

soon they’re wrapping my head, as if they intend to mummify

before the silk falls over my mouth, the priest finally removes his hand

over my gaping

to breathe, though I

my nightmares come to life - my mind is awake but I’m trapped in my own body, unable to move

my nerve endings and muscles to move, to do something - anything! But nothing happens because this isn’t a dream from which I can wake, this is real, and it’s

my silken prison, and I strain to identify the sounds: the clink of glass? The jostling of beads? novelebook A bottle uncorking? For all the fabric’s strength, it does not stop me from feeling

nose is filled with some pungent, herbaceous fragrance a moment before drops of moisture seep through the silk

body, stones or crystals placed in deliberate patterns

my veins warning me that

running out of time, but I refuse to give

begin to chant then, speaking

around the small room, carrying arcane power older