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“Oh.” I took a deep breath. “So do we just…walk through it?”

Elias glanced around. “I’m not sure there’s any other way.” He took my hand, energy igniting. “Stay close to me, Aura. The spells are going to try everything to keep you out.”

“Right.” I nodded. And with that, I followed Elias through the invisible wards, hand in his.

Within the first hour of stepping through the wards, I was noticing strange little occurrences. I would see the same tree with odd markings more than once, or pass a boulder I swore I had stepped over already. After another hour, I felt like something was wrong with my mind.

We would be walking and I would suddenly forget where we were going. If it hadn’t been for Elias’s hand in mine, I would have forgotten who the hell I even was. But I didn’t forget him. I could never forgethim.

Random spurts of intense anxiety began rolling through me. Like something was telling me to turn around and go home, or I would die.

“Focus, Aura,” Elias said to me, centering me back to the present. “The magic is messing with your mind. Fight it.”

I tried. But after more time went on and we kept walking, I felt myself going deeper into madness. We had been walking for hours. Or days? Had we just been walking in circles? Why could I not pinpoint where the sun was? What time was it? How long had we been there? Wh…where were we even going?

Anger and confusion had a complete chokehold on me.

“Aura,” Elias’s voice was muffled, like I was about to pass out. He kissed my forehead, the lingering energy from his lips on my skin forcing me to focus for a moment. “The magic is playing tricks on you. On us. It is changing our direction, moving the trees, confusing us. We need to stay focused.”

“I’m focused, Elias,” I barked at him. My tone was harsh and bitter, and I didn’t even know why.

But Iwasn’tfocused. My mind was swirling with fear and anxiety. I just wanted him to let go of me so I could turn around and run home. But he wouldn’t let go of my fucking hand. “Let go! I need to leave!” I found myself shouting at him.

“No.” He squeezed tighter as I tried to pull away. I imagined pulling out my silver knife and slicing his hand off—

Gods, what the hell was wrong with me?!

“I’m sorry, Aura,” Elias said soothingly, breaking through my madness. “I thought that because I’m an immortal, I could get through the wards easily. Looks like the witches are keepingeveryoneout, not just humans.”

How did he sound so fucking calm? I was readyto gut him for no reason. But when I looked up, his face was drained of its color, his eyes sunken. He was struggling too, I was just so focused on my own anxiety that I hadn’t noticed his.

“We…we need to get through.” Temporary sanity flowed in and I tried my best to hang onto it. These witches really put some crazy magic into these wards. No wonder it was called the Forest of Torment.

“We can do this.” Elias’s voice was hopeful. My amazing, strong mate. He would get us through this. “We must be focused and persistent. Don’t trust your senses until you’ve made it past the wards. What you see, hear, feel – it could be a trick. Trust your instinct and your instinct only.”

This only intensified my panic. What if the person in front of me wasn’t actually Elias? What if he left me here to die?

No. No. He wouldn’t.

But the madness drove in, forcing me to believe anything but the truth.

People have said they thought the Forest of Torment was filled with bandits, criminals, and vile people. But they were wrong. It was filled with nothing but pure madness.And silence. Gods, the silence was deafening. Not a single bird, animal, or bug made a sound. No rustling of the wind. No noise other than my erratic breathing and the crunching under my feet. Maybe it was the silence that was driving me mad, not the magic.

Then…something abruptly broke through that silence. The unmistakable sound of my mother’s voice, calling to me.

“Aurelia,” she beckoned in a sing-song voice.

My eyes immediately filled with tears. “Mama?” I said quietly.

Elias stared at me and tightened his grip even more. “Aura, no. Don’t listen to it.”

“Let go of me.” My voice was hostile as I spoke through grittedteeth.

“I will not,” he answered. “You have to fight this, Aura. It’s not her, it’s a trick.”

“Aurelia, my baby. Come to me.”

I tried to yank my hand away from Elias but he held tight. “Don’t you hear her?! I have to go to her!”