"Keep trying," Brynn urged. "I will continue to tend to your needs. I just need to bandage my palm.”
I watched the shadows writhe at the tub’s edge, mesmerized by their strange dance. Brynn moved somewhere behind me, then I felt the gentle press of a warm cloth against the angry lashes across my back.
Each contact made me tense, jagged pain shooting along my torn flesh. As she checked the bandages she’d applied earlier, I forced myself to focus past the pain.
So I concentrated on my shadows, calling to them with every ounce of will I possessed. The familiar tingle of my power stirred deep in my chest, weak but persistent, like embers fighting to become flame.
Something fluttered inside my ribcage—a sensation like butterfly wings against my heart. The feeling spread outward, tingles flowing down my arms like melted gold despite the searing pain from the bracelets. The shadows at the tub's edge seemed to sense the change, creeping incrementally closer, their fear warring with their desire to answer my call.
My breath came in shallow gasps as I fought to maintain the connection, sweat beading on my forehead from the effort.
Her touch gave me strength, and I channeled that into my escape attempt. One more determined wiggle sent the silver cutting deeper and deeper into my flesh, drawing blood. My ring finger popped free with a small rush of relief.
Shadows glided toward me like living silk, no longer hesitant or afraid. They wrapped around my arms in cool, gentle spirals, their touch like velvet against my skin. Their pulsing energy responded to my heartbeat as if they were extensions of my own body. Thank god, the bracelets had loosened just enough!
"I knew you could do it," Brynn whispered. She continued washing the filth from my tired body with a soft cloth, her movements reverent, as if she were tending to something sacred. "See if you can put your fingers back inside the bracelet then slip out again. They can't know you can do this."
She didn't have to spell out what would happen if the queen discovered my newfound ability. The unspoken threat fueled my determination to beat the queen at her own game.
For the next few minutes, I practiced the delicate dance of freedom and captivity. My pinky and ring finger slipped in and out of the loosened bracelet with increasing ease, the motion becoming more fluid with each attempt. The silver still burned against my skin, but now it felt less like a prison and more like a lock I'd found the key to.
Something lightened in my chest alongside the bracelet. Hope—real, tangible hope—bloomed warm and steady. Mybreathing quickened. This wasn’t just wishful thinking anymore. I was actually going to be able to use my shadows.
Brynn moved to the wardrobe and withdrew a white, sleeveless, gauze dress, the fabric so pure it seemed to glow in the dim light. She held it up with a rueful expression, and I couldn't help but notice how it flowed like angel wings. It actually reminded me of something a sacrificial lamb would wear—virginal white, simple, designed to make the wearer appear innocent and helpless.
But as I looked at my reflection in the bathwater, a fierce smile tugged at my lips. This lamb had teeth and shadows that answered her call.