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Everyone’s face is hidden in shadows except for Leo, who stays in the background. My heart beats wildly, and I remember what he and Alaric told me once. The hardest Trial is about fear. Well, they hit that nail on the head, didn’t they?
As the drugs wear off, the coldness seeps in. The chill in the air permeates this flimsy dress, freezing my bones. My body cramps, and I flex my fingers in and out, trying to get movement back into them.
“Bring him out,” a man orders.
My body starts shaking uncontrollably. They’re going to hurt me. They’re going to kill me, just like Dee. Dad said he couldn’t help me. He knows. He knows, and he’s not going to do anything about it.
“Leo,” I croak out.
If he ever thought of me as anything more than just the Pledge he was helping to get through the Trials, he’ll put a stop to this, or go down fighting.
Alarm builds and builds until my chest constricts. Tears blind me as the panic attack hits. My breaths are shallow, coming rapidly, and the feeling of impending doom stampedes through me. I’m about to die. They’re going to drop me in the water, and because I’ve been hanging upside down for God knows how long in this freezing weather, I won’t be able to swim. My muscles will cramp. I won’t be able to take another breath. I’ll get pulled away by the current, the water so black I’ll never see the topside again.
A whimper escapes me, my hands coming up to settle over my chest.
The chaos inside me is almost too much.
A gravelly, disgusted voice asks, “What’s wrong with her?”
It’s Leo who answers. “Panic attack.”
The sound of revulsion I hear next makes my fingers clench. It must be him—Leo’s grandfather. “Good thing you were following her. We’d have missed this.”
I can’t even react before another familiar voice hits. “Let go of me, you wanker.”
“Oliver?”
“Edie? Edie, is that you?” In the next instant, there’s a big commotion. “What the fuck?” A roar escapes Ollie’s mouth. “Let her go.”
“Ollie?” I ask again, voice breaking.
A scuffle ensues. My head whips around, trying to find Oliver, but the rope is swinging wildly now, swaying and spinning—
Suddenly, I free fall.
I suck in my last breath, a scream escaping my throat that makes my toes curl.
I jolt to a stop, whiplash ricocheting through me. A sharp pain shoots up my ankle. The dress I’m wearing slips further down, its skirt impeding my view. I can only see the water and the aged dock now, spinning in front of me. I’m so, so close. The aroma of the river hits me in the face, and I wonder if this is what Dee smelled moments before she passed.
Is this the terror she felt? The panic clawing at her?
“Help me,” I gasp, closing my eyes as a bout of dizziness hits. “Please.”
A few of the men surrounding me chuckle. One of them notes, “She looks so much like her sister. Ass and all.”
Fury whips through me. “What did you say?” I croak. Then more forcefully, “What did you say, you creepy old fuck?”
“How dare you talk to me like that, you bitch!”
Another commotion breaks out. Fear grips me. I try to lift the skirt off my face when the swaying slows, but my limbs don’t want to cooperate. Feeling in my fingertips disappears.
Oliver cries out, and I call for him again, but don’t get a response.
“Leo!” I yell.
“Isn’t that cute?” a voice asks. “She wants you to help her, young Jarvis.”
“Will you help her?” another voice asks, mocking.