Page 32 of As Above, So Below

Netharis stares at me, watching for any indication of an outburstlike before.

I want to lose control.

I want to rip this room apart and tear him and the Layer Lords limb from limb. Yet I can’t bring myself to move. My innate feels eerily calm. My shadows and darkness a still pond within the depths of my essence, waiting for my next move.

“Maybe we shouldn’t wait until the end of the week,” Kassil offers as he inspects the pointed nails on his left hand. “It appears her ability to process information has been impacted as well.”

“She gets three days, Kassil,” Netharis says in a low tone, warning him not to push further.

Immediately, suspicion snakes through me.

Why would he give me three days?

Why would it matter if I sign or if he does?

This has to be some kind of test of loyalty.

I’ve no allegiance to the hells, despite the House brand on my flesh.

I have seventy-two hours to figure my shit out.

Seventy-two hours before I’m eternally bound to my abuser.

Kassil turns to me, painting a charming grin on his face. “Three days it is then. I look forward to reuniting with you, moonflower,” he purrs with a devilish grin.

?????????????

Within the sanctuary of the library my rage finds and annihilates me. The protective calm I had experienced moments before shatters, leaving me exposed and raw.

Rushing to the nearest shelf, I sweep soul crystals, obsidian boxes, and books from their haphazard perches. They crash to the ground, crystals shatter, releasing the crimson souls within. They dart away, shooting toward the ceiling, cowering in corners out of my reach.

They’re frightened and I don’t care.

Let them discover the true nature of the hells outside of thesafety of this room they’ve sat in for centuries.

Shadowed tendrils lash out in every direction, ripping the tattered, dark red curtains from the windows, upending chairs and tables, and pulling entire shelves to the ground. I grab a crystal and hurl it across the chamber with a scream.

It smashes against the dark wall, shards glittering as they rain to the floor. The captive soul streaks away, out of the reach of my hands and out of the reach of my shadows.

My sight blurs, tears stinging behind my eyes as I continue to destroy anything and everything my hands and shadows touch. Pages shorn from books and slung without care, bolts ripped from the floor as shelves fall in a cascade as I scream until my voice gives out.

Hopelessness rears its desolate head and swallows me whole, and I slump to the floor in the center of the room, surrounded by disarray. My eyes sweep over the library as tears continue to silently fall, showing me the extent of the damage I’ve done.

My refuge lies in ruin.

Destroyed, by my own hand no less.

I stifle a sob.

The large table in the center of the room sits shattered, its pieces beneath me and scattered throughout the library, shards embedded into the obsidian wall. Empty bookshelves lean like fallen dominoes, mounds of books lining the floor between them.

Overhead, the gilded chandelier sways gently, its chain creaking.

With a jerk of my hand, shadows rip it from the ceiling, and it crashes to the ground beside me. Trembling hands cradle my face as another pitiful sob escapes my chest.

“Ves…” Ylara’s voice calls softly from beside me.

I can’t bring myself to look at her.