Page 16 of Blood Seeker

Just a Seraphim soul, floating… floating away.

Time no longer held meaning.

Caro was reborn. Died. Reborn again.

Drowning without water.

Flushed from her body and reattached once more.

Did it hurt? Maybe. She couldn’t sense anything, her mind existing in a stratosphere removed from her spirit.

Not true. They were connected in a way. Blinking. Swaying. Dying again.

A strand of light caught her focus, so subtle and slight, a sliver of insanity brightening her shadows. She carefully, quietly, clandestinely swam toward it, seeking the outlet her soul desired.

No one was watching today. Not closely, anyway. Her restoration was almost complete. Soon she would wake with a renewed purpose. She felt nothing in regard to that development, just acceptance.

They would provide her with a task.

She would fulfill it.

To disobey was impractical.

Just like following this tarnished, barbed thread. Visions of the past swirled around her. She hid her intentions, choosing to watch them through a passive mind’s eye.

No one stopped her.

Not even a prick in her conscious.

She was fully reformed now and no longer a concern.

Which allowed her to play, to subtly alter the message once more. They’d established this memory loop to play over the strands, to pass on to those she couldn’t name—not without risking discovery.

Subtly, subtly, subtly, she touched and stroked, adding her own words, blinks, and sounds.

She remained alone, unbothered, her mind still deep beneath the spells of Seraphim power, but not openly monitored.

Caro added another blur. Tweaked another detail. Removed the water from one loop. Waited.

Nothing.

Were her visions even working? Was this all just a trick of the mind established by those meant to guide her through the reformation? What if this was a test? Was she failing even now?

She mentally touched the loop once more, seeking the memory from the day of her drowning. The blurs were too fast, imperceptible.

It was a risk.

But she needed them to see.

Rightness settled over her, a subtle shift that almost bled warmth into her forever frozen state. A trick of the mind? Another experiment?

If she didn’t pass, they would just start over.

If she didn’t try, she might never escape.

Sacrifice wasn’t new to her. She could withstand more pain if it provided her with a chance.

She slipped deeper into the memory loop, careful to avoid detection by the one who had created it, and entered the mental maze deep inside.