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“Oh yes, dear,” she says, much too sweetly. “I knew you didn’t steal any magic, but I had to see what was inside you. When I saw it, saw you lighting the room as you shook in pain beneath those rocks, I knew I had to get rid of Mallace. I broke his neck—and four of my nails while disposing of his body.” She looks at her fingernails, flicking them. “That was more satisfying than just taking his memory. But I couldn’t let anyone else find out, and the only reasonable way to explain stopping the sessions was to have you go missing. So I asked Eli to take you away.”

Stop talking. Stop stop stop.

“But I should have listened to my instincts not to trust him. He didn’t bring you back to me when he was supposed to. Nobody could know what I’d asked of him, of course, so you can imagine how unhappy I was to see him showing up for his shift each day, that smug look on his gorgeous face, and not be ableto do a thing about it. I had to send every Vaile in Sonnet out in search of you.”

My jaw clamps shut at the thought of her enjoying his face. I can’t feel my legs. Only my locked knees keep me upright.

He would never hand me over to her.

She nears me, her tall body making me tremble, and runs a gentle hand over my knotted hair. “But you’re here with me now. I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”

My mouth opens. And closes. And opens, searching for a response that could possibly begin to express my ire. “What? You—”

“Hush now.” She places her hand on my cheek, tightening her grip when I try to escape. “Nothing but lies come out of that man’s mouth.”

And truths and secrets and pains.

“He should have obeyed me.” She slips her fingers under my chin, tilting my head far back to look at her. “I even offered him the most coveted reward in Sonnet for a job well done—let him kill a Hollow. He was plenty motivated to get his hands on him.”

Kelter.

That can’t be true. Eli was looking for where she was keeping Kelter so he could rescue him, not kill him…but he’s hated Kelter all along. Would he hurt him to keep him away from me? I don’t want to believe that.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be punished.” She pushes up on my slack jaw and steps back, allowing me to see her face better. “And I’m going to get what I want from you. If pain is what it takes, that’s what you’ll get. We’ll see if you’re ready to cooperate tomorrow after a visit from my guards.”

“What do you want from me?”

The tiniest hint of a smile pushes at the Centress’ lifeless lips. “Your essence, love.”

“What essence?” The same kind the fake gods have? She’s crazy.

“That’s what’s inside you, a special kind of magic. You hold it in your memories—what makes you who you are. It had to be woken up before I could access it. I heard what you did at the lake. Thanks to Eli, your essence is ready for me, but you resisted my gift when I tried to take your memories. That mind of yours is too resilient.”

An essence? That can’t be right. It’s not even real.

“Now I have to weaken you, make it impossible for you to resist me.” She wipes away my fresh tears. “You brought this on yourself, Everielle.”

I slide down the wall as she exits, her black dress dragging behind her, hair swishing. Moonlight slips through the grate at the bottom of the door, the only light to keep me company through the cold night. The lock clicks, and I fold my arms around my knees and tuck my head.

The visions come throughout the sleepless night—of Jace holding my throat until I watch myself slump down, dead and alone. Of guards ripping away my limbs, a slow stretch popping the joints and tearing the skin. Visions of Kelter beaten to a lifeless pile of blood-soaked skin and broken bones.

Each time, the surge of life returns sharper, more intense. My senses heightened. The silvery shine of metal chains, the rusty smell of old blood, the dampness of my boots. The cries of women and babies ring out, crisp and piercing, as if they were coming from me.

My eyelids are drooping when the gray morning light sends the night shadows into hiding. A canteen is shoved through the grate, falling to the marble floor as dark fingers pull away. More elixir-tainted water. It may not dullmyfree will and force me to do what they want, but that’s exactly what it’s doing to Kelt…and all of Caldera. I crawl to the door as the footsteps fade, then unscrew the cap and glug down the liquid.

With a full belly of water, I sit against the wall and pull the notes from my pocket, all the ones Eli left for me during the week I spent locked in his room.

Never,

My whole room smells like you.

Eli

I press it to my chest.

Never,

Did you know you snore?