Chapter 135 – Chains in the Mind

Chapter 135 – Chains in the Mind


Trinity's POV

Fire....that was what it felt like. Not the golden kind that flickered in fireplaces but the one that devoured forests, burning and merciless. It ripped through every vein, reducing flesh and bone to ashes, destroying reason.

"No!" The scream tore out of me but it wasn't mine, it was a strangled one as Nasir's arms clamped over me like steel chains, his voice a guttural snarl in my ear "Fight her, Trinity. Stay with me and don't let her in!"

But Morgana was already there and a voice crept into my mind like a snake, smooth and lethal. "Why struggle?" he asked "You've always been weak, always a stranger and let me show you what true power is.

My chest heaved, my fingernails clawing at my own skin like i might rend her from it "Get out of my head"

Nasir's grip turned firm, holding me in place, his scent inundating my senses with dirt, storm and wolf "Think about me alone, you hear me, doll? You're mine and not hers" i said

But Morgana laughed. Not out loud inside me. Every corner of my skull vibrated with the sound. Oh, he thinks he owns you poor Alpha. He doesn’t understand you’ll belong to me soon and you’ll beg for it.

“No” My body bucked violently, legs kicking and spine arching against Nasir’s hold as my vision blurred with spots of red, black and silver.

Nasir cursed, his voice breaking “Lucian, do something!”

"I can't" Lucian's reply came hoarse, strained and his darkness wrapped around him but it reeled back whenever it came too close to me "She's warded herself into Trinity's soul and it's her battleground now"

Kael's voice snapped in, furious "Then tear Morgana out of her and tear it away"

"She'll kill herself if we do!" Lucian roared back.

Their voices were distant, muffled and my world was converging into one battleground "my own head and Morgana was winning.

Darkness consumed me when I opened my eyes and I was not in the woods anymore.

I was in a massive, endless hall of mirrors, each of them reflecting something different, scared, angry, broken, laughing, weeping and their whispers burst forth, their voices mingling together into a deafening roar "This is your real self" the whisper of Morgana seemed to come from all directions.

I spun wildly around with a thudding heart "Where are you?" I asked.

One mirror went out of business. Her face alight where my own should have and pursed beauty set amidst hair as dark as night, eyes blazing with an ancient hunger.

"I am where you are" she whispered "And soon, you will be where i am"

"No" My voice trembled and was coarse with rebellion "This is my body, my soul and you can't have it"

She smiled at me behind the glass, patient and cruel "Child, you've been wolfless so long and rootless. Do you really think you can resist me when even your own pack rejects you?" 

The words sliced deep as claws and my face in a second mirror spat them back at me, taunting, wolfless, rootless and worthless.

I covered my ears with my hands, shaking my head violently "Stop it! That's not who I am!

But the reflections laughed, doubling, packing in together and their faces twisted, mouths stretching wide, voices becoming a chant: Worthless. Worthless. Worthless.

Tears burned hot down my face and for a moment, I did almost believe them.

Then another voice cut through raspy and urgent without a doubt Nasir's.

"Trinity, Listen to me, you're not weak. You're mine and by God, i won't let her get you"

I gasped and his voice was not as ring-like as Morgana's. It burned hot, hot, like an isolated flame in darkness.

Morgana's smile twisted "Ah. There it is, the tether with his voice and his bond. Do you feel how much he aches for you and how much he'll destroy you? I'll use that through you and will break him."

"No!" I yelled, slamming my fists against the mirror. Crackles flashed like lightning over her face.

She snarled, her shape warping "You can't hurt me, little girl. You are me"

The mirrors shattered and glass slicing through my flesh until there was nothing left but blackness as I fell to the floor clutching my head.

And agony searing, vicious as my body throbbed in the real world, wrenching in Nasir's arms and I felt his fear, his anger and his helplessness.

"Trinity! Hold on! Don't let her win!" His voice was raw.

In the fog, I managed to grasp his name "Na…sir…"

Morgana's laughter thundered within me, shaking my bones. Yes, call him and make him believe he will rescue you, while you unravel in his arms.

My eyes were blurry once more but I could see him towering over me and his face twisted in anger and pain, amber eyes burning like coals, blood streaked across his chest as his wolf howled its way through him, wild and desperate.

Something snapped inside me.

I was fighting for myself no longer and I was fighting for him.

I shoved air into my lungs, grappling with the darkness and bulging against her voice "You don't own me. You never will"

Morgana snarled. Shadows within me seethed, enraged and tearing at my veins. You'll break and when you break, you'll belong to me forever.

My shriek tore the night apart. The ground trembled beneath us, a ripple of naked power coursing outward.

Warriors stumbled. Kael swore and Lucian's shadows flared with alarm.

And Nasir, he wrapped me tighter to himself, even as the power knocked him to the ground "Trinity, come back, please" he begged.

Ash and ozone hung in the air and my skin burned with the weight of unseen shackles.

And then Morgana's voice said one final word, low and triumphant.

Rise then my body obeyed.

I stood but I wasn't me anymore as my hands worked on their own, my lips curling into a smile I didn't feel. My eyes Goddess, my eyes weren't mine as they gleamed silver-black, echoing her will.

Nasir's gaze landed on me with fear written across his face "No, Trinity"

My voice was oily, taunting and not my own.

"She's gone, Alpha"