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 shuddering with

look at each other with grim

spot on — another week and we’d be

"I’m sorry, child."

gravely, closing

do this if there

unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, takes

screaming at me to

whatever these men intend will be far worse than anything the doctor

there isn’t anywhere to

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

into his palm, but he

wrenches me away from the door, propelling me further

grabs my legs, and I’m lifted

my screams muffled and garbled as the

tang fanning the flames

gagging, fighting for

— I’m powerless in their strong

feather swaying in the wind for all

keening pierces the air, sounding very far

grief and pain

voice, tinged with concern, joins

"It’s too much."

"Just a little more."

floating

"We're so close."

from,

nothing more than a pawn in their

thrust onto the floor

on my kicking legs, pulling his tool bag

a shimmering silk cloth, it’s pearlescent sheen

around my body, it tightens around

it

locked against my sides and my legs tightly shut, I’m

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

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

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

though I

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

nerve endings and muscles to move, to do something - anything! But nothing happens because this

around outside the 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 all

some pungent, herbaceous fragrance a moment before drops of moisture seep through the silk and onto my

or crystals placed in

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

out of time, but

then, speaking a

carrying arcane power older