“Not all poisons cause physical pain or injury,” I said, my gaze darting away from him because holding that direct gaze was impossible.“Some affect you mentally, or cause you to hallucinate, some seek out your strengths and numb them so only your weaknesses remain, and some find your worst fears and heighten them.I’m guessing what’s in those bottles is all of the above.”
“I don’t like it,” he said.“That he’s targeted you with that shit.”
“You and me both.But maybe you should forget about me, and worry about what Felditch has in store for you.”
He looked around the room.“I can’t see anything else, just that one bottle.Why only one for me?”
“I guess we’ll find out as we go.”
A gentle chime rang out, like silverware against a crystal champagne flute.The first bottle lit up, glowing gold.A piece of parchment appeared beside it.I quickly scanned it.Fuck.All the poisons had to be consumed in the time Felditch had allocated or we were out.
I swallowed thickly and turned to Silas.“Whatever happens, whatever I say, or how hard I beg for it to stop, you have to make sure I drink each one when the next chime sounds, okay?And when it’s your turn to drink as well, give me mine first.The last thing we need is for the poison to hit you hard enough you forget about me, especially if I’m too incapacitated to do it myself.”
He frowned.“You want me to force you to drink them?”
“If I can’t…or won’t do it?Then yes.”I picked up the first bottle.“Remember, this can’t kill us, only giving in to the fear can do that,” I said for my sake as much as his.
Alarm covered his face, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think it was real.I chose not to check; I didn’t want to be disappointed again.Pulling out the cork and tossing it on the table, I raised it toward Silas.“Cheers, big ears.”Then I downed it in one.
My world spun, the poison instantly doing what I knew it would.It slid through my body, numbing reality, stripping me bit by bit of rational thought.The dungeon vanished.
I was alone.
Completely alone.
Panic gripped me by the throat, choking me.No.No, not this.I was surrounded by darkness, a black void.
Hell was gone, my sisters were gone, everyone and everything I loved was gone—and they weren’t coming back.I screamed, the sound echoing into nothingness.The horror of it ripping through me like I was being torn apart.I tried to tell myself it wasn’t real, but it was.Oh gods, it was.My heart was shredding in my chest.
“Ursula,” a rough voice said through the darkness.“Come back.Fuck…come back.”
I jolted and blinked, and the dungeon came back into focus.My face was wet with tears, my heart pounding, hurting from the horror of those brief moments deep in one of my most terrible fears.
Sucking in a breath, I tried to reorient myself.
“You okay?”Silas asked.
Not even close.“At least it was quick.”No doubt a small taste of what was to come.I had to assume they’d get longer and more horrific as we went.
“You were out of it for twenty minutes,” he said.
Fuck.“It felt like moments.”
The chime came again, a little louder than the last.The next bottle was glowing green.Hand trembling, I picked it up and pulled out the cork.
Silas growled.
Ignoring him, I raised the bottle.“To Felditch, suck my dick.”I downed it.
A moment later, unimaginable grief washed over me.I turned and the room was filled with my sisters, all of them slain, lying dead, mutilated, bleeding all over the floor.I screamed, falling to the floor, crawling around their bodies, searching for those who might have survived this massacre.Their blood coated my hands, my clothing, there was so much of it.So much.They were gone.They were all gone.I kept crawling, and then I found him.Lucifer.He lay unmoving, his body cleaved open, bloody wings painted on the floor beneath him.
His eyes snapped open, his yellow irises locking on me.“Why did you fail us?Why did you let them win?You killed us.”He sat up abruptly and grabbed me by the throat.“You fucking killed us.”
I tried to scream, grabbing at his fingers around my throat.
“Ursula!”
My name was roared, and again, I was pulled back from the darkness.I was on my hands and knees, sobbing, my palms grazed from crawling all over it.Silas was beside me on the ground, trying to pull me into his arms.