Chapter 29 TRANCE
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE | TRANCE
LYRA
Every muscle in my body froze the moment the words left her mouth. My head pounded as I thought of that night, desperately trying to remember everything that happened, but no matter how hard I tried, nothing came to mind. The more I tried to remember, the worse my headache got. I was in so much pain that I screamed out and held my head.
Anika held my hands that I placed on my head to keep it in place, trying to yank them off. “You're hurting yourself, Lyra. Stop!” She screamed, pulling at my hands to take them off my head.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard she pulled, she couldn't get my hands off my head. It was like they had been glued there and wouldn't move no matter what happened.
I kept screaming, and with every passing second the pain increased at a rate so alarming, I felt like my head might implode from the tension.
“Lyra?” one of the twins suddenly yelled from outside Damian's room.
Even in my state, I knew we would be absolutely fucked if the twins walked in and saw Anika, and yet I couldn't stop screaming. It was as if I was being kept that way for a specific reason.
Flashes of various places and things I'd never seen before dropped into my mind suddenly. The moment those memories began invading my mind, I felt a sense of calm. Like my head was on fire and the memories were the water extinguishing the flame. I was grateful for remembering things, but everything I remembered had nothing to do with the night I got knocked up.
In my vision, I was standing in a room, as naked as the day I was born. I was heavily pregnant too, and my eyes stared ahead, like I was in some sort of twisted trance. A number of people surrounded me, holding tiny bowls filled with blood. They kept chanting things I've never heard in my life. Incantations. I saw the same person who had been following me, the same image of myself there, smirking and bleeding.
A gigantic fire was set in front, and I reached out to touch it. I didn't understand the trance, but something in the fire called out to me. The moment I touched it, I snapped out of the trance. At that same moment, the room burst open, and both Valentino twins walked in, panic etched on their faces.
“Who the fuck is he? Where is he?” Damian asked, raising the pistol in his hands, frantically pointing around the room to shoot the intruder he thought he heard.
“What's going on, Lyra? Are you hurt?” Damien walked over to me and sat on the bed, pulling me closer and assessing my body. “We heard screams. We were scared something had happened to you.”
I shook my head, resting on his shoulder. I needed to calm myself after the terrifying vision I had. I had so many questions to ask, but I was scared to ask them. What if I asked the enemy? What if I asked the wrong person and instead of protecting me, they ended up bringing the trance to pass?
At this point, I didn't know who to trust. The twins might seem like logical people to rely on, but when I remembered the fact that they're keeping something from me, I knew they were just as horrible as the rest. I couldn't also shake off Orion’s words before he was dragged out of the pack: “The twins are only using you to secure the throne.”
They might just be protecting me for their own selfish reasons. What would they do to me if I didn’t possess what they wanted?
“I just had a really bad headache. I felt like my head was about to split open,” I murmured, snuggling into Damien despite myself. I mentioned nothing about the trance; I knew that wouldn't end well.
He ran his hands through my hair, holding me protectively. “Are you sure no one attacked you? I could have sworn I heard a voice.”
I nodded, afraid that I might slip up and tell them everything if I spoke too much. I needed to be extremely careful around these men. For all I knew, they might be wolves in sheep’s clothing.
“Why is your window open?” Damian moved toward the window, gun raised again.
It was then that I recalled that Anika was here with me seconds ago, and she must have run off through the window. She might still be hanging onto it. I didn't think it was possible to jump off this floor without getting hurt.
“Damian!” I yelled unnaturally, panicking. “My foot hurts so much. I need you to massage it now.” I cried, pouting.
He immediately left the window and came over to massage my foot as I requested. I saw a glimpse of Anika’s hands steadying herself on the window.
She wouldn't be able to hold on for long.
After a few seconds of the twins pampering me, I knew it was time to make them leave. So I briskly got up, went to the door, pulled it open, and ordered them to get out.
“Why?” they said in unison, thrown off by my sudden decision.
“Because I want to be alone.”
“But we came here.”
“I don’t care why you guys are here. I need you to leave. I need to be alone. I need to think.”
They didn't move an inch. Damien even had the guts to cross his legs, lay back, and get comfortable on my bed.
“We are spending the rest of the night here.”
I shot him a glare, wishing I could walk over and smack the smugness off his face. I held myself back and stuck to the plan. I just wanted them to leave so that I could save Anika from falling from the first floor.
“Please, guys. I really need you to leave. I really want to be left alone now.” I made my voice small, tired, and weak.
I wanted them to feel pity for me, and just like I expected, they fell for the bait. At least, Damian did. Damien simply narrowed his eyes.
“It's fine, we'll leave, but you know where to find us if anything goes wrong.” Damian dragged an unwilling Damien out of the room, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.
Anika came into the room the moment I locked the door, her eyes twinkling in excitement. “I found an escape route, Lyra. I found out how we can leave this place together.”