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.

my

look at each other with

timing was spot on — another week and we’d

"I’m sorry, child."

gravely, closing the

not do this if there was

unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, takes

screaming at me to run, to get away at any

these men intend will be far worse than anything the

isn’t anywhere to

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

my teeth into his palm, but he doesn’t

wrenches me away from the door, propelling me

legs, and I’m lifted off the

muffled

mouth, the metallic tang

and I’m gagging, fighting for air

fight them — I’m powerless in their strong grips, and

might as well be a feather swaying in the wind for

keening pierces the air, sounding very

than my own, thick with grief and pain more complex than the sheer

with concern, joins the terrible

"It’s too much."

"Just a little more."

floating above

"We're so close."

idea where these sounds are coming from,

i’m nothing more than a pawn in their game

the floor and pinned

priest restrains my wrists while the other sits on my kicking legs,

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

they begin wrapping it around my body, it tightens around me with the unyielding force

fabric, winding it round and round like a glittering

my arms are locked against my sides and my legs

in the fabric’s punishing grip, and soon

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

half second of my scream escapes before the moonlight closes over my gaping lips, locking my face into the contours of a silent

able to breathe, though I don’t

mind is awake but I’m trapped in my

my brain screaming at my nerve endings and muscles to move, to do something - anything! But nothing happens because this isn’t

the clink of glass? The jostling of beads? novelebook A bottle

herbaceous fragrance a moment before drops of moisture seep through the silk and onto

are laid over my body, stones or crystals placed in deliberate patterns on

still desperately trying to fight the cocoon, that foreign electricity in my veins warning me that

know I’m running out of time, but I refuse

to chant then, speaking

swirl around the small room, carrying arcane power older than