With their attention focused on my seductive charms, I could attack them and use that as my escape.
But I didn’t know how the ceremony occurred, what steps were taken.
I doubted the mating ceremony would take place in a church with plenty of exits.
Especially when one of the Elders had already singled me out.
“I will go second,” he’d said.
I shivered, my skin crawling at the thought of him or anyone else touching me.
Anyone but Vai.
He was so kind and sweet, so good to me.
And I had done nothing but whine and treat him badly.
In all this, there was one silver lining.
Vai was heading home and would go on to live a normal, happy life.
With someone else…
Yes, with someone else.
It didn’t thrill me to think about that but it was the only silver lining I had and I intended on holding on to it.
I would need it in the hours to come…
If only I had known I would end up in this situation.
I could have brought a weapon with me.
I could have prepared for an attack.
Instead, I’d allowed myself to be outwitted.
Now I was trapped with nothing but my thoughts.
Then I froze.
A thought occurred to me—so fragile, so delicate, that if I focused too hard, it might slip through my fingers.
No…
It couldn’t be that simple…
Could it?
I got to my feet and dusted off my hands.
I felt something thick and congealing on the tips of my fingers.
It wasn’t the blood that seeped from the tear at the corner of my nail.
It was the darkness, I realized.
It was darker than tar and seemed to absorb all light that touched it.
Anything could be in there.
Anything I could imagine…
Something might have been concealed inside it, invisible if I hadn’t already searched every recess of the cell.
But it wasn’t what was hiding in the darkness that arrested my attention.
It was what could be taken from it.
Maybe I wasn’t as defenseless as I thought.
Maybe Vai had given me the skills I needed in case I ended up in this situation.
I cursed myself for not thinking of it sooner.
When I first crossed into the Shadow Realm, I could have taken Iav by surprise and thumped him over the head with a heavy cudgel.
I didn’t even need the use of my hands.
I’d seen Vai use the shadows as a weapon without so much as moving his eyes.
All he needed was to imagine it.
And it became.
I reached into the darkness and cupped my hand as if reaching for something solid.
But what?
I needed to be more specific.
When I brought my hand out, it was empty.
Of course it was.
The darkness gave you nothing unless you imagined something clear inside it first.
I tried again and lowered my hand into that oily blackness, and this time, I imagined picking up a dirty snowball.
I raised my hand, and there, cupped in the palm of my hands, was a slimy, turgid black tar snowball.
It oozed between my fingers.
I shut my eyes and imagined it had a more solid form.
When I opened them, I found the snowball had adopted the characteristics I’d imagined.
At my shock, the ball faded as if someone had shone a bright light over it, expelling it from existence.
“No, no, no, no,” I said.
I reached back into the darkness and attempted to form another snowball.
I scrabbled at the shadows but couldn’t bring another into being.
Clang!
The lock on the door at the end of the hall snapped and the door swung open.
The jailers were coming again, their boots click-clacking across the scuffed stony floor.
Somewhere deep inside, I knew they were coming for me.
Why?
Because it was the worst possible moment.
The worst thing always happened right when you needed it not to.
I needed time to practice but I wasn’t going to get it.
I took a deep breath and reached once more into the shadows.
I let out a slow breath and recalled my meditation lessons from Olivia.
I had a big exam the following morning and needed to stop stressing out so much.
I managed to pass—barely.
I closed my eyes and shut my mind to the approaching danger.
The calmness washed over me like a cool summer breeze.
I cupped my hand and imagined something solid in my hand.
I raised it and marveled not at a snowball but a sharp blade.
It was identical to the steak knife I used whenever I ate Olivia’s home-cooked food.
The meat was always tough and I needed a blade that could handle the job.
It probably wasn’t the best weapon to use against these creatures but in my panic it was all I could think of.
The heavy boots thudded down the hallway and stopped outside my door.
The other inmates had already become quiet.
I imagined them huddling in the corner of their cells.
It wouldn’t help them.
The only way to help us now was to help ourselves.
If they came in my cell, I would have to be quick.
They wouldn’t give me half a chance to defend myself.
Right now, I had the element of surprise on my side.
They didn’t know I could manipulate their realm.
Thanks to Vai.
My dear beloved Vai.
The thought of him producing a thick hot wad at the back of my throat.
Hot and blistering, it clogged up my nose.
I refused to let it overtake me.
He was the reason I could do this.
If I escaped, if I could reach him, I would jump on him, tear his clothes off, and complete the mating ceremony.
With my heart full of him, I turned to face the door.
The heavy boots thumped loudly and came to a stop.
Right outside.
They turned toward me, the soles grinding the grit to dust.
I tucked the knife behind my back.
The guard was so tall he peered through the slat without having to perform my earlier gymnastics.
His eyes glinted, curling with glee as he angled his head down to slide the key in the lock.
I felt at the serrated edge with my thumb.
Sharp, sinister.
When my door creaked open, I heard the audible sighs of relief from the other cells.
The other inmates got to live in peace for another twenty minutes.
The guard stepped inside my cell.
He had
