The room spun around her, and the walls looked like they were caving in on her. Elnora managed to catch her before she would hit the cold floor.

She wished she could see Kellan one last time before she died.

She prayed to the Trine that she would.

At least she would see Dana again.

Elnora was the only face in view. She cradled Bethan’s body. She hated Elnora’s hands on her; she wriggled out of her grasp.

‘Congratulations,’ Bethan rasped, ‘you became your biggest fear, Ellie. You’re just like them.’

Tears laced Elnora’s eyes, but she nodded.

She leant down closer to Bethan and whispered, ‘Don’t hate me just yet.’

Bethan’s eyes got too heavy for her, and she closed them. The last thing she thought about was Kellan being alone again.

chapter thirty-five

chapter thirty-five

bethan kore

her eyes snapped open.

Bethan found herself taking ragged breaths as if she had just awoken from a horrible nightmare. A nightmare she was almost certain she wouldn’t wake up from. She was lying down, her eyes staring directly at a white-tiled ceiling. Bright downlights blinded her vision; she let her eyes close again.

Being alive wasn’t the only shock; remembering every small detail of what transpired before was the other.

Don’t hate me just yet. Elnora’s final words. Too late.

Bethan was still milling over Elnora’s motives when something squeezed her hand. Relief settled over her. She felt a soft hand resting on hers; she dared to flutter her eyes open to catch a glimpse of Kellan—

The hairs on her arm stood. It wasn’t Kellan’s rough, calloused hands touching her.

She shot up, screaming at the sight of Elmwood’s eyes baring into her. Tharin’s eyes were lined with worry and concern, her toes curled. Tharin grabbed the back of her head and stroked his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp. She cringed away, but Tharin persisted in comforting her.

‘It’s okay,’ he murmured. ‘You’re safe now.’

She winced again from him. He let out a sound that showed his annoyance with her.

Was she still trapped in Rennigan House?

She took in her surroundings, flicking her head away from Tharin; on the other side of the bed was Sunni Rennigan.

‘The girls didn’t want to overwhelm you with what happened,’ she said.

Her voice sounded sincere enough, sweet. And Bethan would’ve put it to a motherly concern, but she knew the coldness underneath Sunni’s kind eyes all too well.

She scanned the room; Elnora sat next to Bethan, while Circe and Agatha sat on a small two-seater couch made from shiny black leather. Her two friends, considering Elnora was no longer one, showed genuine concern, Agatha leaning forward at her while side-eyeing Tharin in the process.

From her assessment of the clinical white room and the sterile walls, she could only be in one place.