Every cell in my body felt like it was on fire. I scread and writhed in agony. Nothing had ever felt this horrible, not even when the Cryptex cursed .
I could hear my screams echoing off the bathroom walls, my mind swimming in pain and fear. I didn’t know what was happening to . The pain was going to kill . I just knew it....
How could anyone survive that kind of pain?
Suddenly, I felt like I was falling. The bathroom floor dropped out from under and I was whizzing through the air, falling further and further into a bottomless pit.
My stomach flew into my throat and my head spun as I fell through the darkness. I thought I’d fall forever, screaming and moaning in pain as the bottomless pit swallowed whole.
The walls of the pit were made up of my mories of Jared. I saw them so clearly, of all the love and experiences we shared.
As I watched them, the mories started to change. It was like they were being erased.
No... not erased, rewritten. Things that we shared in the past were changing to be ugly and cruel.
The wonderful mories of dancing together, getting married, and traveling the Light Realm–I saw them run like watercolors, bleeding together, and the images that reford were different. They were dark and brutal.
My heart raced and I tried desperately to rember the happy mories. I could barely hold onto them as more and more of my mories changed.
Suddenly, I ca to a lurching halt, stopping dead. My body jerked and I stopped falling, hanging in midair.
A woman appeared before . She looked familiar. I knew I should have recognized her, but the mory that told who she was, was just out of reach....
I frantically searched my mind for a na, for anything that told who this woman was, but I ca up empty. It was a black hole where mories of this person used to be.
She erged from the darkness and stood before , a wicked smile on her lips.
My stomach churned. She was very unsettling. I felt an instinct to mistrust her but I had no idea why I felt that way.
“Who are you!?” I pointed at her.
“Oh, Eliza, I’m hurt. You don’t rember ?” she put her hand on her chest and blinked like she was going to cry.
I scoffed, doubting she would shed a single tear.
“Who are you?” I repeated.
Her wicked smile widened from ear to ear. “I’m Hestia, my dear. You might not rember, but I am the one after you and your child.”
“What!?” I gasped. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around my stomach where my child was growing.
I still had the mory of my baby but sothing was... off. This was Jared’s child... why did that fill with a horrible feeling of disgust?
“What the hell did you do to !?” I demanded, glaring at the woman. My voice trembled, and so did my legs.
This was all wrong. This had to be a dream, so horrible dream. What was happening to ?
Anger flared in my chest and I wanted to jump at this Hestia person and beat her until she undid whatever she’d done.
“Oh, co now, is that any way to talk to soone that has given you a gift? I don’t hand out gifts like this to just anyone.” Hestia chuckled.
The sound was like nails on a chalkboard and I cringed.
“What are you talking about? You haven’t given a gift. You’re taking things away from , right out of my mind!”
I could feel more and more of myself slipping away. I grabbed the sides of my head and fought against it.
“Oh, but I have given you a gift. It will ensure that you and your child are always safe from harm. Isn’t that what you want?”
“Well... yes... but you... I don’t trust you!”
“Smart girl.”
“Then why are you doing this!?”
“I told you, it will ensure that you and your child are safe. That’s what mothers want, and I sense that you’re no different. Just accept this gift and move on with your life.”
I shook my head. “No!” I tried to make sense of what Hestia was saying but my mind was so foggy and clouded.
Nothing felt right anymore. I didn’t even feel like I was in my own body. My mind raced in a million directions but I couldn’t hold onto any thoughts or mories. Things were being rewritten so quickly.
“What is the gift?” I gasped, my voice weak. My body was getting weak, too.
Hestia walked up to . She put her hand on my back and leaned in close. I felt her hot, sour breath on my face.
I cringed away but I couldn’t get away from her.
“To keep you and your child safe, I’ve given you a gift that will make you forget about your past, your love, and your child. You will live a new life, free from the burden and pain of your mories.”
“What!?” I pulled away from the woman.
Fear and horror filled . I felt the tug of despair threatening to drag back down that hole and keep there forever.
Darkness crept in from all sides, reaching for with spindly little fingers.
“No! I won’t forget! I won’t forget!” I fought against the darkness.
I swiped my arms at the air, determined to keep it away from . I wouldn’t forget about my love. Who... Jared, I wouldn’t forget about Jared. I loved him. He loved . We were going to be a family.
Hestia’s power was strong. Whenever I latched onto a mory of Jared, it was yanked right out from under and I was floundering in the darkness again.
There had to be sothing I could hold onto, sothing strong enough to stop her magic.
Jared... I thought of the song, his mother’s locket, and our shared birthday. Jared and I were destined to be together, forever and always.
“I will rember. I will rember... the song... the locket... our birthday....” I whispered. “The song... the locket... our birthday... Jared....”
My stomach lurched again and I was dragged back down the hole through a flood of distant mories that seed so far away now, I didn’t know if they really were mine.
It was like I was watching my life from the outside. I was witnessing my mories like I was watching a movie.
I was back at the seedy brothel where I was being sold as a slave. Jared ca to the room to collect . He was cold to as he told he was taking to his village.
When we got to the village, he put to work. He never spoke a kind word to . He pushed around and ordered to always wait on him and serve him.
Despite his cruelty, I couldn’t help falling in love with him. He was harsh, but it wasn’t long before I discovered his curse.
The more I learned about it, the more I realized he was just cranky because of that curse. I knew I’d be cranky too if I had a curse hanging over my head for my entire life.
Since I was there to serve Jared, I made it my mission to break the curse. I knew that when it was broken, he’d reveal his true self to and we could be together. He’d co to love like I loved him when he had a real future without the curse.
I worked tirelessly to break the curse. Finally, when I did, I thought that Jared would co around. I thought he’d appreciate for working so hard and caring for him, for freeing him.
Instead, he inford that my only purpose was to serve him and have his children.
I rembered the night he seduced , using my feelings against . Not long after that, I found out I was pregnant. I had lingering hope that Jared would see as more than a breeder... as the mother of his child.
He wasn’t happy when I told him. He didn’t take in his arms and hug and kiss like I wanted him to.
Instead, he just sneered and muttered sothing like “about ti.” He sent back to working and cleaning for him.
When we got word form the capital that Lena was poisoned and sick, I begged Jared to let go see her and help.
“How can you help? You’re no good for anything except taking care of my ho and having my children.”
My heart shattered into a million pieces, and I knew then that he would never love that way I loved him. He’d never appreciate or cherish . He was a cruel man.
I had to get away from him.
In the dead of night, I ran away to the palace to help Lena. King Xander agreed to let return to the Light Realm with them. I was so grateful, finally finding an escape from Jared.
Now that I knew he’d never love , I had to get away from him. I had to protect my child from becoming like him.
Just as we were boarding the boat, Jared showed up, demanding I return to his village with him, for the safety of our child.
My heart swelled with hope that he really did care.
“You can’t leave, Eliza. I need you here. I need you and our child.” He spoke to softly, sweetly, running his fingers through my curls.
It was the sa way he’d spoken to when he seduced .
My heart hamred in my chest, and I wanted to believe that he was really there for and that he cared about .
I couldn’t take that chance....
He’d already fooled more than once, and this was my one shot at getting away from him.
I made the devastating decision to reject him to save myself and our child. It was the only way to get away from him, the only way to get to the Light Realm.
The flicker of pain in Jared’s face when I rejected him burned into my mind, but it was quickly overshadowed by the anger that exploded in his eyes.
He dismissed completely and told I was on my own. In tears, I boarded the ship and headed to the Light Realm.
Slowly, I ca out of the mory, back to the place where Hestia had t with . She was gone, but all my mories were so clear now.
Panic rose in my chest. I’d escaped from Jared to protect my child. But he followed to the Light Realm.
He was here to force to give up my child to him....
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