I was alone in the dark. By myself. This was my worst nightmare brought to life.
“Please,” I sobbed, rubbing my hands over my temples. “Is anyone there?”
No response.
The chorus of screams continued to wash over me.
Time had no meaning in this place. Eventually, I forced myself to take a step forward. Then another. The inky darkness continued to be absolute.
“Hello? Is anyone there? Sebastian?”
With every step, I expected the Tether to burn. I waited for that coiling agony to make itself known in my stomach. When it never came, dread took root within me. Silent tears rolled down my cheeks. The screams grew louder, until they reverberated through my bones.
I was alone.
My footfalls echoed off the ground, and I counted them as I walked. The action was the only thing that kept me going, allowing me to avoid the horrible truth echoing in my brain.
A hundred steps.
Two.
A thousand.
Three thousand.
At that point, I could deny it no longer. The Tether was broken. I was alone. A keening sob ripped from my chest.
Sebastian was dead.
If this was real.
But how could it not be?
I tried to think through possible scenarios, but my mind was sluggish. Lagging. The burning citrus kept plaguing my senses, muddling my mind.
Everything hurt. Voices broke through the screams, but when I tried to focus on them, I couldn’t understand what they said.
Hours went by. Days. Nothing mattered anymore.
It was dark, and I was alone.
* * *
A cold dropletsplashed against my cheek, feeling like a dagger of ice on my skin. I winced, trying to move, but everything was foggy. Slow. I could barely think. The pungent, burning citrus scent was still present.
A horrible, throbbing pain started in my head, and a sharp pain in my chest wouldn’t go away. My legs felt like they were made of lead, and my arms were weak and sore. Every single part of my body ached, as though I had been through a battle.
Another droplet, this one colder than the last, landed on my forehead. A third landed on my nose. Then a barrage of ice-cold water fell onto my face. I sputtered, gasping for air as the liquid instantly turned into ice.
My skin hurt and an intense, all-consuming cold spread through my entire body. I shivered, my teeth chattering as my lungs tightened. Breathing became next to impossible as the cold attacked me from all sides. A cruel laugh that sounded like steel and pain came from above me.
“Wake up,Princess,” a gruff male voice jeered. “You need to drink.”
I shook my head, moaning. The last thing I wanted to do was drink something right now.
A cold rim was jammed against my lips. “Drink,” the gruff voice commanded.
When I refused, rough fingers landed on my chin. They pried my frozen lips open, and ice-cold water slid down my throat, assuaging a thirst I hadn’t known existed.