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.

go away!" I hiss, my body shuddering

at each other with

spot on — another

"I’m sorry, child."

priest professes gravely, closing the distance

this if there was another

ever experienced before, takes

screaming at me to run, to get away at any

will be far worse than anything the doctor or dormitory matron have ever

isn’t anywhere to

than I am bearing down on me.I try to

my teeth into his palm, but

simply wrenches me away from the door,

first man grabs my legs, and I’m lifted

screams muffled and garbled as

into my mouth, the metallic tang fanning the

I’m gagging, fighting for air

or how to fight them — I’m powerless in their strong grips, and they

in the wind for all the effort they expend to

pierces the air, sounding very

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

voice, tinged with concern, joins the terrible

"It’s too much."

"Just a little more."

floating above

"We're so close."

sounds are coming from, and the priests don’t seem to hear them at

with single-minded focus, and i’m nothing more than

onto the

on my kicking

silk cloth, it’s pearlescent sheen glimmering

it around my body, it tightens around

me in the fabric, winding it round and

locked against my sides and

and soon

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

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

though I don’t understand

is awake but I’m trapped in

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

walls of my silken prison, and I strain to identify the sounds: the clink of glass? The jostling of beads? novelebook A bottle uncorking? For

pungent, herbaceous fragrance a moment before drops of moisture seep through the silk

body, stones or crystals placed in deliberate patterns on my head,

still desperately trying to fight the cocoon, that foreign electricity in my veins warning me that I won't be able

I know I’m running out of time, but I refuse to give up hope for

speaking a language I do

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