25. Emma

"Stand up," Narissa said.

I did as she said without question.

I entered a strange catatonic state after receiving the medicine.

Not only could I not summon weapons from the shadows any longer, I lacked the will to do so.

I was locked inside myself, unable—or perhaps more accurately, unwilling—to fight back.

Run! You have to run! Now!

But no matter how much I hollered at myself, my traitorous body simply would not respond.

After revealing there was no way out, Narissa never made eye contact with me again.

And I could no longer speak.

No voice, no self-control.

No hope of ever escaping this place.

I whimpered under my breath.

It was the only form of communication I now had available to me.

I could wiggle my index finger but even that action was robbed from me after a few more minutes passed.

I wondered when the drug would wear off and felt a sense of terror unlike anything I had ever felt before at the thought it might never wear off.

And even if it did, it would no doubt be too late for me to do anything about it.

Tonight, I would not only be claimed by my dark fated mate, I would be claimed multiple times.

Worse still, the blue poison had blunted my ability to control myself but did nothing to dull my mind.

I could still feel everything around me.

I could feel the comb running through my hair, gently massaging my scalp.

I could feel the moose Narissa applied to shape it, whisking it up and twisting it into a style I had never thought of before.

Then she took me to the dressing area.

"Please remove your clothes," Narissa said.

There was a sense of rote in her actions as if she didn't even think about what she was doing.

Or she was so used to doing it, it no longer surprised her.

She did what she had been told to do.

She dressed me in three dresses before settling on the second.

A sheer yellow garment that left little to the imagination.

It was cut low but flowing, the silk tickling the tops of my thighs.

I felt exposed.

I always wore more than this when I went to bed.

This was happening, I thought.

I was going to get fucked by a gang of strangers.

Alien strangers.

I glanced—inwardly, at least—toward the door.

Run! If you go now, you can get out of this place!

But there was no running.

There was no escape.

What I'd seen earlier in the arena was my destiny.

My destiny?

Was that me thinking, or was the blue poison now infecting my thoughts too?

Narissa nodded appreciatively and took me over to another chair.

She added make-up, just enough to make my features pop.

"I'm sorry," Narissa whispered in my ear as she added another thin layer of blusher to my cheeks. "I'm sorry it has to be this way. I'm sorry it has to be like this for any of us. It is what it is. Later, the medicine will wear off. If you're smart, you won't fight. Let them do what they want. They get nasty when they don't get what they think they're owed."

I had to fight.

It wasn't in me to give up.

Even when the odds were stacked against me?

And things could only get worse if I did?

"All right," a haughty overweight Shadow said, waving Narissa aside. "That's enough of that. We don't want her looking like a clown."

She appraised me and nodded.

"This way," she barked, motioning with her finger.

She led me out of the room.

Out the corner of my eyes, I spied two other victims being prepped for the ceremony.

And another one entering now.

On the surface, they appeared as calm as I did.

Were their hearts hammering inside their chests like mine too?

As the Haughty Shadow marched down the hallway, I imagined planting a bludgeon across her back or swinging it across the base of her neck.

I would knock her out so I could make my escape.

But my hands still wouldn't respond to my commands.

My legs still wouldn't turn in the opposite direction.

Both male and female Shadows watched me as I wound down the hallways.

They leered, eyes scanning, making me sick to my stomach.

But it was nothing compared to what was about to happen to me.

I was more terrified than I had been my entire life.

And I looked as calm as a Hindu cow.