MIREYA POV
Panic exploded inside me.
I stepped back without thinking, breath coming fast, eyes darting to Edda. Fear tightened my chest, sharp and crushing. Whatever this man wanted, I knew one thing….if he took me, I might never come back.
No!" Edda shouted.
Drak moved fast. Too fast. His hand closed around my arm, rough and crushing, and I cried out as panic took hold of me. I struggled, kicking and twisting, but it was useless. He was stronger.
"Let her go!" Edda lunged forward, but another man blocked her path. I saw the fury in her eyes, the helpless rage, and it broke me.
"Easy," Lord Malric said calmly. "You keep fighting, and the boy dies."
My blood turned to ice. I stopped moving at once. My eyes flew to Soren, lying pale and broken on the ground. Orla and Hestia were sobbing, holding him between them.
"Don't," I whispered, my voice shaking. "Edda… please help…."
Her jaw clenched so hard I thought it might crack. She stood frozen, fists shaking at her sides, forced to watch. Forced to let it happen.
Drak tightened his grip and dragged me back. My feet scraped against the stone as fear swallowed me whole.
Lord Malric stepped closer, his voice low and certain. "Be grateful," he said. "You've just been chosen for something greater than this filth."
I didn't feel chosen. I felt stolen.
As they pulled me away, I looked back at Edda. Her eyes met mine… burning, broken.
I tried to scream, but it came out as a strangled sob.
"Mireya!" Orla and Hestia's voices rang out, shrill and desperate. I saw Soren stirring weakly, trying to reach me, but he couldn't.
Edda stood there, frozen, her chest rising and falling fast. Her eyes… they didn't even meet mine. She was furious, terrified, and powerless all at once. I could feel the weight of her anger even as fear crushed me from every side.
Then, without warning, strong hands grabbed me and threw me into the back of a wagon. The wood scraped my legs as I hit the floor, and I rolled once, twice, trying to catch my breath. The doors slammed shut, plunging me into darkness.
I pressed myself into the corner, hugging my knees, listening. The shouts of my siblings faded as the wagon started to move. My tears burned, my chest ached, and I couldn't stop shaking.
The wagon creaked and rattled as it bounced over the cobblestones. I pressed myself harder into the corner, my knees pulled to my chest, trying to make myself as small as possible. My hands shook so badly I couldn't stop them.
I had no idea where we were going. The road stretched into darkness outside, and every jolt made me gasp. The smell of horses and wood filled my nose, mingling with the fear that seemed to twist tighter around my chest with every second.
I tried to listen, to figure out how far we had gone, but all I could hear was the steady clop of hooves and the occasional murmur from the front of the wagon. Lord Malric and Drak were out of sight.
Tears slipped down my face, and I didn't even try to wipe them away. I was alone, completely alone. My mind spun with questions I couldn't answer…
Where were they taking me? What did they want from me? Would I ever see Edda, Soren, Brina, or the others again?
I hugged myself tighter, curling into the smallest ball I could, my body trembling. Every bump in the road made me flinch, every shadow behind the wagon wheel made my heart jump.
I wanted to run, to fight, to scream… but there was nothing I could do. I was trapped, carried farther and farther from Harrowden, into a darkness I didn't understand.
The wagon finally stopped with a jolt that threw me forward. My knees hit the wooden floor, and I let out a small, helpless whimper.
Drak's hands grabbed me roughly, yanking me to my feet. My arms were scraped from the ride, and my heart was hammering so hard I thought it might burst from my chest. I tried to pull away, but his grip was iron.
The doors swung open, and the cool night air hit me, sharp and heavy. Before me stood a mansion unlike anything I had ever seen in Harrowden… or in the market.
It was enormous. Towering stone walls rose high, cold and gray under the pale moonlight. Spires jutted into the sky like jagged teeth, and the windows glowed faintly, flickering with candlelight that made the place seem alive. Gargoyles crouched on the edges of the roof, their eyes dark and hollow, and the iron gates at the front were tall enough to swallow a grown man.
The driveway was wide and paved with smooth black stones, lined with leafless trees that twisted their branches like skeletal hands. A fountain in the center was cracked, water frozen in ice, but it still gave off a sense of grandeur… and danger. Every step closer made me feel smaller, weaker, like the mansion itself was judging me.
Drak dragged me up the steps, ignoring my struggles, and shoved me through the massive double doors. They creaked loudly, echoing through a grand hall lined with marble columns. Shadows danced across the walls from the flickering torches. The air smelled faintly of incense and blood, perhaps I was wrong but it made my stomach twist.
Drak shoved me into the living room, and I stumbled, catching myself on the edge of a marble table. The room was enormous… ceiling high enough that torches flickered far above my head. Rich tapestries lined the walls, heavy and dark, embroidered with strange symbols I didn't understand. The floor gleamed like polished stone, and a massive chandelier hung overhead, candles casting a dim, flickering glow across the room.
Everything about it screamed power. Wealth. Control. And danger.
Lord Malric stood at the far end, leaning casually against a carved wooden desk. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. His gaze swept over me slowly, deliberately, like I was nothing more than a prize to examine.
"Welcome to my home," he said, his voice smooth, cold. "From today, you'll live as my daughter."