Page 405 of Alchemised

She knew she should go for the kill, but she wanted to hurt him.

She grabbed hold of his head, even though her shoulders screamed in protest, and shoved her resonance through his skull. He was too startled to stop her.

She’d never used any type of animancy on a lich before. It was easy, like shoving her hand into a rotted gourd. There was a simpleness about the mind; it lacked the noise of the truly living. Atreus’s thoughts were linear, flattened. They all ran towards Kaine and Kaine alone, because that was all he had left of Enid.

She knew that when Kaine had checked her memories, she could feel his consciousness, his emotions. There was no reason why she couldn’t push her own memories through that connection instead of looking for Atreus’s.

She wanted him to know. To understand the consequence of what he’d done.

Her mind was a cacophony of rage, and she shoved it all through Atreus’s skull.

Kaine was kneeling in front of her as she was reaching towards him.

“Did—did any of them say anything that could incriminate you?”

No. That wasn’t what she wanted to show him. She tried to focus.

Kaine kissing her, hands cradling her face, pushing her back onto the bed, his body over hers, pressed close.

Her memories were so disjointed and overlaid, she wasn’t even sure if that memory was old or new.

“Your soul has been ripped out of your body. With time I think it will reintegrate, but initially it would need to be secured, like—like the servants’ souls are doing to the phylactery.”

“A sacrificial soul.”

She nodded, unable to look up. “The person would have to be willing.”

Not this. Enid. Something about Enid.

“My life was blown apart when I went home at sixteen, and everything I did from that point on was trying not to lose the only thing I had left. When she died—it didn’t matter …”

She could feel Atreus’s shock, his outraged disbelief. He tried to tear free, and she nearly lost her grip. The connection between their minds turned red.

Kaine’s face, clearly younger, his hair still dark, appeared in front of her, fury radiating from him. “Who do you imagine was alone with the High Necromancer when word came that my father had been caught and confessed?”

Atreus stopped struggling. Helena’s lungs were fighting for air, but she was lost in her memories, trying to crystallise them.

“I’d hear her screaming for hours sometimes.”

Searing heat was swallowing her, but Helena wouldn’t stop.

“She kept saying it was all her fault, and her heart stopped—”

Helena was jerked up. Her head lolled back, and everywhere she looked fire was crawling across the walls, consuming everything.

A pale face loomed in front of her. She struggled to focus.

“Hold on.”

The voice was distorted, but she knew it. She reached out dazedly as Kaine’s face flickered in her vision.

“You came—” She reached for him. “I guess you always do.”

“Hold on, I’ll get you out,” he said, pressing her hand down and pulling her close.

Something painfully heavy was wrapped tight around her, and he lifted her into his arms. She arched in agony as his arm pressed against her raw shoulders, but he gripped her tight, carrying her through the flames. The hallway was thick with smoke, fire creeping out from her room, but he didn’t stop until they were outside.

She gasped the clean, fresh air greedily as he laid her down.