Distorted Affliction

Chapter Seventeen

The feel of the cold floor against my cheek, hard and intolerable, brought me back to consciousness like an ice bath. My eyes flashed open and I sat up quickly, assessing my situation, my head spinning slightly from both hunger and the amount of magic I had tried to utilize. The room was small, with no windows and a singular door, the kind you would find in a dungeon. It was made of thick metal, with three tiny bars along the top that offered a small view to the outside.

I pressed my palm against the stone wall, pulling myself to my feet slowly. There was little space to move, and it took me only three steps to reach the door. Standing on my toes, I did my best to look out between the bars into the dark hallway beyond. I wasn't sure if this had been an installation in the house prior to the Mouri taking over residency, or if this had been something Lazarus deemed a necessity somewhere along the way, but my cage was sturdy.

Glancing down, I realized that I had been stripped of my clothing, suddenly becoming aware of the chilly draft seeping in from underneath the entryway. I wrapped my arms around my body, trying to pull the warmth of the magic from inside of me, but no matter how much I tried, there was no response. No spark of power ignited inside of me, nothing that showed I was connected to the magic at all.

"You asked for this, you know," a light voice called from beyond the thick metal of the door. I couldn't see her, but I was certain Seline wore a small smile on her lips.

"Oh great," I said, heaving a sigh. "It's come to ridicule me for having some sort of loyalty to my own kind."

"Loyalty?" she sneered. "You call what you've done loyalty? Your little affair with Sin has created a disaster, one that I intend to clean up. Not only did you risk the entire coven's magic for your own selfish reasons, you hooked up with a Mouri and created an abomination. Silas is a weapon, August, one that could be dangerous if wielded by the wrong person. Lazarus has his plans, but I have my own agenda, one that doesn't involve him taking our magic from us. Not that you'll be granted use of yours for much longer."

"Seline, you've lost your mind," I spat, trying to stand up to look through the little bars again, but I couldn't see her. "You know you're helping the enemy to destroy the balance that our kind stands for."

"You risked that balance when you fucked Sinclair," she hissed. "You forfeited any right to touch this magic when you aligned yourself to him, and you have even less right to lead a coven."

"At least I have common sense," I retorted, turning my back to the door. I decided against playing into her game, because I understood then that she was trying to roust me for a reaction. This was her own form of torture, and she was enjoying it. 

"You should have just given Lazarus what he wanted," Seline said, her voice getting quieter, as if she were nervous someone might hear.

"Oh yea?" I responded, also keeping my voice low, but not for the same reasons. I was conserving energy. "And then what? I would have granted him the Dagaz to every one of his little soldiers and then they would have free reign to kill as they pleased."

"You're so foolish," she laughed, and under any other circumstances I would have said the sound of her laughter was like music echoing around the tiny quarters. "He doesn't want to give the Dagaz to every one of his Mouri. Lazarus wants one for himself and his generals. How else would he maintain control over his army? If he granted them the ability to walk in sunlight, half of them would disappear, taking the gift as a means to do as they please. These Mouri don't want to be controlled, but he's gotten himself placed in a position of power, one they can't escape out from under.

"With your help," she continued. "He'll be able to extend his reach, to walk in the daylight among mortals. They'll have no choice but to submit to his power completely, to rely on what he's capable of doing for guidance."