VALORIA WILDEROSE
I look at her, searching her luminous face for emotion and finding none. Is she actually offering to end our agreement?
I remain silent, unsure—and tempted. Despite my hatred of him and all my complaints, I had never truly considered what going back would feel like.
She raises her hand toward the surrounding darkness and snaps her fingers. A red door, never there before, creaks open.
"Look at the door, Valoria." Her voice is suddenly hypnotic. "Look at everything awaiting you if you go back."
I stare into the darkness beyond, confused—until I feel myself being sucked into it. In an instant, everything hurts again.
Agonizing pain, sharper than anything I've ever known, courses through my body. The sweat trickling down burns like a million needles piercing my flesh and bones; my blood feels like magma.
Then come the torment and the taunts—from figures that look exactly like my father and sisters—whipping and mocking me amid the agony.
