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 body

each

spot on — another week and we’d

"I’m sorry, child."

priest professes gravely, closing the distance

do this if

I’ve ever experienced before, takes over my

instincts are screaming at me to run, to get away at

whatever these men intend will be far worse than anything the doctor or dormitory matron have ever inflicted

there isn’t anywhere

attackers far larger and stronger than I am bearing down on me.I try to

my teeth into his palm, but he doesn’t

away from the door, propelling

my legs, and I’m lifted off

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

tang fanning the flames

rises, and I’m gagging, fighting for air and struggling to focus on my

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

might as well be a feather swaying in the wind for all

distant keening pierces the air, sounding very far

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

deep voice, tinged with

"It’s too much."

"Just a little more."

floating

"We're so close."

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

and i’m nothing more than a

onto the floor and pinned

on

cloth, it’s pearlescent sheen

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

me in the fabric, winding it

locked against my sides and my legs tightly shut,

grip, and soon they’re wrapping my head, as

the priest finally

escapes before the moonlight closes over my gaping lips, locking my face into the contours

able to breathe, though I

my mind is awake but I’m trapped in my own body, unable

there motionless, my brain screaming at 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,

clink of glass? The jostling of beads? novelebook A bottle uncorking? For all the

fragrance a moment before drops of moisture seep

over my body, stones or crystals placed

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

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

begin to chant then, speaking a language I do not

the small room, carrying arcane power