And out of pure anger, I hushed it with a hiss and whispered, “At least let me have a day with her before you take over.”
I didn’t think I would get an answer.
Instead, a dark chuckle filled my ears and then a hoarse whisper. “Remember.”
KYRA
I stared at the closed door in frustration. He was hiding something. Then again I had been too, not about anything paranormal or as freaky as he was—but the fact that I knew there had always been something off about my parents, about the looks they gave me, the moments they would hold my hand as if one day my life truly would be cut short and they would be left with ash.
Frustrated, I walked over to the bed and sat. It was more comfortable than mine back at my parents’ old house; at least the brand wasn’t identical.
Why would this room look like mine?
Why would it even matter in the grand scheme of things other than for my own personal comfort in prison?
A demon’s prison.
I shivered.
I didn’t understand my response to him, just like he didn’t seem to understand his response to me; it was almost like instinct. Logically, I wanted to pull away from what I perceived as danger.
But in my soul something stirred when I saw him, like a memory from long ago, like the dreams that always drip into nightmares that feel too real to bear.
Maybe I’d wake up and this would be just that, like Inception, maybe someone was planting an idea.
I pinched my arm. Sharp, stinging pain radiated outward.
Yeah, this was real.
Too real.
I yawned behind my hand and lay back against the pillows, I wasn’t tired, but my eyes felt heavy as I reached for my silver sunshine necklace and twisted it in my fingertips.
The last thing I remember.
Was the smell of cedar and ash…
“The solstice,” I whispered. My nerves were completely frayed. I was wearing a ball gown that reminded me of sunshine—reminded me of my father who was at this very moment in a terse conversation with my mother as they sat on the two horses in front of us.
We were getting closer.
The smell of ash mixed with ambrosia was getting worse.
I was going to be sick.
Maybe not sick, but my stomach was rolling in waves that reminded me of home.
A place I wouldn’t return to for a very long time. Then again, that was what happened when your father was desperate.
A soul for a soul.
A life for a life.
In order for our people to not just survive but thrive, we needed this alliance. The rumors hadn’t been kind.
Then again, I doubted the gods cared.
Sand swirled in front of us, and like a mirage, huge white stone buildings suddenly appeared in front of us. Jewels shone inside the rocks, and flowers fell from some unseen place in the sky.