Page 30 of Unmoored

“It is an unfortunate transition for her,” Cordelia said with a sigh. “Her Talassian magic has been suppressed for her entire life, and it seems to be… frightened. For a woman of her age, I wouldn’t expect magic to be lying dormant still, which means something forced her to repress it subconsciously.”

“She has not been given an easy life,” I said, wondering why I was feeling defensive of her. “Her father never would have accepted her having Talassi blood, and she spent two years in that torture chamber the humans call an asylum.”

“I fear that asylum made it worse,” Cordelia said. “Myhope is to wake it enough to help her shift the parts necessary to exist underwater for extended periods of time, but I fear she may never be able to access her true Talassi form.”

“That is quite a shame.”

“It is,” she said.

“How much longer do you need before you can make the call?”

“Give me three more days. There is one last procedure I can try, but it’s going to be extremely painful for her. I’ve been giving her a sleeping draught for most of the week, but it may not be strong enough. She will undoubtedly wake up in a great deal of discomfort.”

I shook my head, bothered by the small ache growing in my chest. For some reason, I disliked the idea of Hazel being in pain, especially if it wasn’t inflicted by me. But she had no choice, and I needed something to be done with her.

“Do it,” I said. “Whatever it takes, try to wake this strange magic within her.”

“All right,” Cordelia agreed.

She left me in the room while she summoned her assistants, and I stared at the emaciated form before me, lost in my own thoughts.

It was useless to try and pretend I didn’t care at all, but these were not emotions I wanted to explore. In truth, I was most likely just feeling basic compassion, as nobody in their right mind would want to see someone wasting away and suffering. That drive I’d had to play with her, to provoke her, and to consume her was gone. In its place was something akin to despair, and I placed my hand atop hers for just a moment.

What a sad thought, that our magic could be lost forever because people around you were too controlling and abusive to allow it to thrive.

“I hope you don’t hide that monster inside you forever,” I breathed.

19

HAZEL

My consciousness existed in two states: limbo and pain. I had no idea how long I’d been here, and all I knew was that I’d do anything to stop feeling like this. To stop feelinganything.Dreams of Draya no longer comforted me, rather they terrified me. Instead of creeping in to caress my face, he’d crawl over my body and use his claws to rip open my skin, then he’d consume my flesh piece by piece.

I watched from my paralyzed dream state, feeling every centimeter of his fangs cutting through my muscles, and his tongue running along my tendons and bones. Yet I could do nothing.

This agony lasted for what felt like an eternity until I finally jolted awake to something other than pain. Air filled my lungs, a deeper breath than I’d taken in weeks, and my eyes shot open only to be blinded by pale blue light emanating from the creases in the black stone ceiling.

A scream crept up my throat, but my mouth was so dry that no sound came out. It only burned.When my eyes adjusted, I focused on the woman sitting next to me – Cordelia, the doctor.

She held a pouch of liquid in front of my face, nodding for me to take a sip. I had no choice but to trust her, and I was glad I did. Cold water ran down my dry throat, soothing the hoarseness and cooling down my burning body. It was only then that I realized I was drenched with sweat, and gooseflesh pebbled over my skin.

I was undoubtedly ill, and I wondered if I was dying of consumption just like my mother. How poetic.

“Miss Emerson,” Cordelia said. “Do you know where you are?”

I nodded, not ready for words and unwilling to give them to this woman who’d put me through hell.

“You’re going to need to bathe and eat, then we will have a chat about… everything,” she said, her dark eyes roving over my frame.

I tried to lift my leg to step out from under the quilt, but it barely moved. My chest tightened, and my breathing quickened as I realized my body was utterly spent. The soreness hit me all at once, confining me to the bed, and it felt as if my muscles were detaching themselves from my bones.

What happened while I was asleep?

Cordelia’s shirtless male assistants entered the room, swiftly picking me up from the bed and depositing me into the pool. Shivers wracked through my body as they immersed me in the freezing water, but I was in so much pain that I didn’t mind. The cooling sensation of the water sluicing over my skin came as a relief to my aching muscles.

The men made quick work of washing my body, and Ifaded into what felt like a lucid dream until I was deposited back into my bed, somehow already dressed in a new set of dry linen garments. This time they gave me trousers and a shirt, which felt odd, considering I rarely wore pants. But who was I to make demands at a time like this?

I must have fallen back asleep, because I woke again a few hours later to Cordelia gently shaking my shoulders and urging me to drink more water. Food had been delivered, more cooked fish, and I ate as much as I could, though it didn’t amount to much.