“Saskia, this is my new guard, Joaquim,” she says as if she were introducing me to yet another colleague.
Guard?
He’s blocking the doorway. “Move out of my way,” I growl.
My menacing stance is about as effective as a puppy’s. He squares his shoulders at my attempts to move past him. Shoving him is as easy as trying to move a brick wall.
The guard smiles, his mouth tiny and practically hidden behind his thick beard. Without a word, he lifts me like a child and takes me back into the office. I scream, kicking out and gnashing my teeth, but I can’t hit out as he’s pinned my arms to my side.
“Get off me!”
My mother simply stands there, impassive, as I thrash against the guard and he deposits me in front of her. I make a run for it again, but this time he pushes me so hard I go flying forward, stopped by my mother’s powers that drop me with a thud onto my back.
She looms over me and I skitter backward. Joaquim stops me by placing his boot on the back of my head.
“Did you really think I couldn’t tell you were resisting my touch abilities?” she snarls. “You thought you could use an antidote against my powers, and I wouldn’t be able to tell?”
I scramble to my feet, but the guard grabs me from behind, his arms locking around my waist and trapping my arms in place. Dread fills me slowly, from my toes to my trembling chin. Solina closes in on me.
“I had your room searched, and I found that nasty little potion of yours. You got it from some scummy New York Brew Witch, didn’t you? Because no member of the MA would risk creating a brew against me.”
No!
My father tried to warn me about her. Even in death, he was protecting me from Solina. I should have listened. I should have run days ago.
My scream is silenced by Joaquim’s fat palm clamping over my mouth. I don’t understand — I took the vial this morning. How could she have found it? She’s bluffing.
“You look confused, hija. Surely you don’t think I would have taken the bottle of brew from your room?” She cackles. “I’m not stupid, Saskia.”
It’s like she can read my thoughts. Then, with a shrieking panic, I realize she can. She can feel my emotions. Angel’s potion has worn off.
I stomp on the guard’s huge feet, pulling against his hold on me, but Joaquim’s deep laughter joins that of my mother’s.
“I swapped it,” she continues as if I'm not screaming or crying or trapped in the hold of a bearded giant. “I emptied the brew and replaced it with a placebo. Three days ago. Which means the effects should be wearing off just about… now.”
Tears prick my eyes. This can’t be happening. I came prepared, I knew what to expect, and still, she’s one step ahead.
“No,” I sob, taking huge gulps of air.
“A quick lesson in MA customs, hija. When a First dies, the Second inherits her powers. Now, I can’t just control what you feel, but I can also control what you do. I can access deeper Touchmage powers than ever before. Which means you will be my Second”
She beams as if I should be breaking into a spontaneous round of applause.
“Why me?” I croak, swallowing down the salty tears collecting on my lips. “Why have a weak Witch as your second-in-command? Why not Salvador?”
“It’s because you are weak that you will make a good Second. Saskia. I can’t risk working alongside someone who can overpower me.”
“But Salvador hardly has any powers. He can’t overpower you.”
My mother nods at the guard and his thick hand is back over my mouth. I can’t speak. I can barely breathe. My head hurts as I try to make sense of her plan.
“You will become my Second, and you will remain entirely under my control. We simply need to get this tiresome Ascension out of the way and then, as fate intended, the de la Cruz Witches will rule the MA. Well... I will.”
She puts her hands on me and I scream into Joaquim’s sweaty palms.
This time not only do I feel the intent behind her touch, but my mother’s power flows through me like a snake made of pins digging its way under my skin. I feel her spell flood every vein in my body, sharp and spiky and so painful her guard has to prop me back up as my knees give way.
Obey, her magic is screaming as it travels up my spine and into my brain. Obey. Obey. Obey.
Just when I think I can’t take any more, my vision clouding and body threatening collapse, I stand up straight and let out one long breath.
“Well done,” my mother coos, as if I performed a trick and she hasn’t just flooded me with a million megawatts of pure bitch poison. “You can let go now, Joaquim. Saskia finally knows what’s good for her.”
The guard releases me but I don’t move. I can’t. My body is still humming, I can still feel every prick of every thorn beneath the surface of my skin. But I say nothing.
“You will come to the Ascension, and you will Ascend beside me,” she says.
Fuck you! I want to yell. I want to tear her eyes out, slap her, pummel her to the ground. But against every will inside of me, my lips turn up at the edges and I give her my sweetest of smiles.
“I will,” I say, with a dutiful nod.
“Good. Joaquim will escort you home now, and tomorrow morning you will go to Estrella’s. She will dress you for the Ascension.”
Every fiber of my being screams in protest, but it’s futile. Her magic remains swirling through my veins and I’m powerless to stop it. Like a good little Witch, a marionette in her hand, I follow Joaquim out of the office — a
