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.

away!" I hiss, my body shuddering with

men look at each other with grim

timing was spot on — another

"I’m sorry, child."

professes gravely, closing the

not do this if there was

unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before,

at me to run, to get away at any

far worse than anything the doctor

there isn’t anywhere to

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

his palm, but he

me away from the door,

first man grabs my legs, and

their hold, my screams muffled and garbled

seeps into my mouth, the metallic tang fanning the flames

rises, and I’m gagging, fighting for air

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

swaying in the wind for all the effort

distant keening pierces the air, sounding very

pain more complex than the sheer fright in my

voice, 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

single-minded focus, and i’m nothing more than a pawn in

the floor and

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

it’s pearlescent sheen glimmering like moonlight, glowing

around my body, it tightens around me with the unyielding force

enclose me in the fabric, winding it round and round like a

locked against my sides

a muscle in the fabric’s punishing grip, and soon they’re wrapping my head,

mouth, the priest finally removes his hand

before the moonlight closes over my gaping lips, locking my face

to breathe, though I don’t understand

my mind is awake but I’m trapped

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 a dream from which I can wake, this is

the clink of glass? The

is filled with some pungent, herbaceous fragrance a moment before drops of moisture seep through the silk and

over my body, stones or crystals placed in

to fight the cocoon, that foreign electricity in my veins

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

to chant then, speaking a language I

small room, carrying arcane power older