Trial by Fire

“Good. She should be weak enough now that it’ll be safe to run a little test.” Gideon picked up the edges of the handkerchief and went to her cell. The girl hugged her stomach, biting her lower lip to stop the nausea. It must be so disorienting to feel your willstones picked up by another and moved around while you sit still, Gideon mused. He didn’t know. He’d never had the displeasure.

“We can give her the littlest stone, and see if she can transmute a tiny bit of energy with it, while I hold the other two for safe keeping.” Gideon met her eyes, pleased to see a wealth of anger there. She really was just like Lillian. This was going to be so much fun for him. “I’m always going to keep at least one of your stones with me. Wouldn’t want you to get any ideas above yourself. Now would I, Lily?”

The girl’s glare dissolved into pleading. Now she was starting to get it. With two of her stones held hostage, Gideon was the one in control of her magic. Unless she wanted to suffer, she’d better do every thing he said exactly as he said it.

“This is a power storage cell,” he continued, putting a heavy but small black box in front of the bars of Lily’s cage. He handed her the smallest willstone. “I am going to give you a tiny bit of heat and I want you to turn that heat into electricity and put it into the storage cell. Do you understand?”

Lily nodded blankly. “You want me to charge that battery.”

“We’ll start there and work our way up. If you’re good, we can move on to something more fun. Remember, there’s a gauge on this battery, as you called it, so don’t try keeping any power for yourself. I’ll be watching.” He squeezed her other two willstones, still cupped in the palm of his hand to give her a taste of the punishment she’d get if she tried to trick him. Lily gripped her head, stifling a scream in the back of her throat. “If you’re good, we’ll keep working our way up to higher and higher levels of energy. Who knows how far we’ll go? Maybe all the way into another world.”




Rowan has a way to find you, no matter how deep they bury you. Please don’t lose hope, Lily. We’re coming for you.

I haven’t lost hope, Juliet. What’s the plan?

Um. Well. I can’t tell you. You’re a prisoner, and they can make you talk. The less you know, the better.

I understand.

Really?

Yeah.

You’re just going to trust us?

Of course I am. You’re my sister.

That’s. Wow. That’s great.

Juliet? How is it I can hear you when I can’t hear Rowan, Tristan, or Caleb?

Because we’re family. Hold fast. We’re coming.

Lily woke up amused. She didn’t know if she were dreaming her sister to comfort herself or sharing actual mindspeak with Juliet while on the verge of sleep.

It didn’t really matter. Lily wasn’t going to wait to be rescued, no matter what Juliet and the guys planned. The next time Gideon gave her a stone, even if it was just her golden stone, she was going to take it and whatever energy he gave her in his attempt to “train” her, and use it to stop his heart. She would be punished. Carrick might even smash her other stones, trying to kill her, but Lily would survive. Like a wolf chewing off her own leg to get out of a trap, Lily knew she would survive. And then Carrick would have to come into her cell to get her, or leave her to open the lock on her door with her golden willstone and whatever energy she had left in her body.