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.

hiss, my body

at each

on — another week and we’d be

"I’m sorry, child."

priest professes gravely,

this

I’ve ever

to

worse

there isn’t

bearing down on me.I try to scream, but the

sink my teeth into his

wrenches me away from the door, propelling me further into the

grabs my legs, and I’m lifted

violently against their hold, my screams muffled

blood seeps into my mouth, the metallic tang fanning the flames in my already sour

I’m gagging, fighting for air and struggling to

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

well be a feather swaying in the wind for all the effort they expend to contain

keening pierces the

with grief and pain more complex than the sheer fright in

deep voice, tinged with concern,

"It’s too much."

"Just a little more."

second voice, floating above

"We're so close."

coming from, and the priests don’t seem to

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

onto the floor

my wrists while the other sits on my kicking legs,

a shimmering silk cloth, it’s pearlescent sheen glimmering like moonlight, glowing in the

airy, but when they begin wrapping it around my body, it tightens around me with the

winding it round and round

my sides

fabric’s punishing grip, and soon they’re wrapping my head, as

over my mouth, the priest finally removes his hand from

closes over my gaping

to breathe, though I

nightmares come to life - my mind is awake but I’m trapped in

my nerve endings and muscles to move, to do something - anything! But

strain to identify the sounds: the clink of glass? The jostling of beads? novelebook A bottle uncorking?

is filled with some pungent, herbaceous fragrance a moment before

are laid over my body, stones or crystals placed

the cocoon, that foreign electricity in my

I’m running out of time, but I refuse to give

then, speaking a language

words swirl around the small room, carrying arcane power older than the