Dara’s hair was all over the place, like she’d been dragging her fingers through it.
I was so tired. All I wanted to do was sleep.
Our father had been particularly brutal this time.
Dara started throwing things in a bag, but my eyes were heavy.
“No, no, no.” Dara tapped my cheeks. “Stay with me, Wilder.”
But the pull of the darkness was too strong…
…I jolted back to consciousness and yelled in agony. My entire body was in pain. I didn’t know what day it was, what time it was, anything. The only reason I knew that I was alive was because I could feel the pain.
The world was fuzzy as I opened my eyes and I as I looked up, I saw several faces behind the glass wall in front of me. My father was talking to them, but I couldn’t hear him.
“Father?” I groaned, but he didn’t turn around. “Father?”
“Ah, Wilder, you’re awake.” His voice boomed through the intercom and ricocheted around the cavern. “We’re going to put on a show.”
What? Why were all these people here?
“This boy will grow into one of the rarest witches known to man. A Shadow Witch,” my father explained.
There was an audible gasp from the collection of people.
“Are you sure?” someone asked.
“How is that possible?” came another voice.
“In ten years, he will come into his full power. What you will see today is a mere fraction of the possibility of what you could siphon. Imagine what you could do with all that power,” my father said, his voice full of confidence and charm. “I will show you a demonstration of what he’s capable of and then we will start the bidding.”
The bidding? Wait… was hesellingme?
Oh God, Dara was right. We should have left when we had the chance.
“If you could all put on the glasses,” my father said. “And then the fun can begin.”
“NO!” I screamed. “Father, please!”
But it didn’t matter. The electricity shot through me and my heart spasmed, jolted, and eventually stopped.
I awoke with a scream, my hands scrambling for purchase as my body flew up.
Hands grabbed me but I fought them. “No. Let me go!”
“Hush, it’s okay, Wilder. It’s me. It’s Byron.”
A sob wrenched itself from deep in my chest.
“Breathe for me, baby,” Byron said softly, his lips pressed to my temple as he held me tight to his chest. “I’ve got you.”
I tried to take a deep breath, but it got caught in my throat, turning it jagged and raw as it passed my lips.
Bile rose up my throat, and I dived from Byron’s arms and lunged for my bathroom, making it just in time to empty the contents of my stomach.
When I’d finished, I collapsed to the floor, lost and drowning in the memories I’d regained.
Chapter Fifteen