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 with

men look at each

on — another week and

"I’m sorry, child."

priest professes gravely, closing the

not do this if there

unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, takes over

me to run, to get

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

isn’t anywhere

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 his hand over my mouth before the sound can

his palm, but he doesn’t even

away from the

my legs, and I’m

violently against their hold, my screams muffled and garbled as the

my mouth, the metallic tang fanning the flames

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

or how to fight them — I’m powerless in their strong grips, and they seem completely unaffected by my

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

pierces the air, sounding

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

tinged with concern, joins the

"It’s too much."

"Just a little more."

voice, floating

"We're so close."

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

nothing more than a pawn in their game — tiny and helpless

thrust onto the floor and

the other sits on my kicking

shimmering silk cloth, it’s pearlescent sheen glimmering like moonlight,

it around

in the fabric, winding it round and round like

are locked against my sides

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

the priest finally removes

second of my scream escapes before the moonlight closes over my gaping lips,

breathe, though I don’t understand

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

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

the clink of glass? The jostling of beads? novelebook A bottle uncorking? For all the fabric’s strength, it does not stop

a moment before drops of moisture

or crystals placed in deliberate

fight the cocoon, that foreign electricity in my veins warning me that I

I know I’m running out of time, but

then, speaking a

room, carrying arcane power older than the