The image leaves, and I open my eyes to see I’m in a forest—and not the psychotic living forest. Fortunately.
Confused, I look around and then meet Kya’s equally baffled eyes.
“Why’d you go here?” she asks.
“I took us here?” I ask distractedly, closing my eyes again, straining to see again, even though it’s completely different than usual.
“Yes, you—”
Her words disappear when the blue-filtered image comes back into focus, only this time Ella has apparently put distance between them, because he’s on the other end of the circle, slashes appearing on him from an unseen force.
His shirt has been ripped to shreds, and blood is pouring from his body in lines I know too well. She’s creating lashes to mimic some of my scars.
He rips the rest of the shirt away, crying out when another strike hits him.
His body jerks when he crashes to the ground as several more marks appear, one after another.
A roar of rage bellows from somewhere, possibly from her, before the vision cuts off again.
When my eyes crack open, I realize I’m standing in a different place, and Kya appears right beside me.
She starts to speak, but I close my eyes, hearing only my breaths and my hammering heartbeat. That blue-light image pops back into frame, and I watch as Alton’s body writhes again, jerking with the unseen cracks of power.
When my eyes open this time, I hear echoes of shouting in the far distance.
Kya appears beside me as an agonized bellow follows it, and I dematerialize, covering the distance. It takes Kya a second to catch up with me, but she sucks in a breath when she sees what I see.
Down the hill, Ella’s eyes are solid black as she levitates off the ground, her sole focus on Alton as more and more slashes appear on him, an exact replica of my front.
He rolls over, and I see it’s also on his back, because he’s launched down when many more painful marks join the ones there.
His face is split open, and he cries out in pain as he curls in on himself.
Ella staggers back when her feet collide with the ground, her hands shaking as her eyes fade down to silver.
Alton looks frustrated that she’s not trying to slash him open again. Kya starts forward, but I hold her back, watching this play out instead.
“It’s so brutal to have your body ripped wide open, that even most immortals die. But not Slade,” Alton says to Ella, causing my jaw to grind. “He survived to endure it all over again. All because of me.”
Kya’s breath stutters, but I ignore her as my eyes narrow on the scene, taking in the way Ella is shaking her head and rocking.
“Stop!” she screams, just before her eyes turn black again.
He’s forcing her to punish him, that selfish son of a bitch.
I dematerialize and land right in front of her, watching as her black eyes widen, and her hand pauses in the air.
I look away from her, my gaze settling on my wide-eyed brother who looks damn surprised to see me.
“You’re having her punish you?!” I snap, watching as another lash appears on him.
He cries out, startled by it, and I growl as I lunge, kicking him out of the familiar flaming circle, and coming down on top of him, my fists raining punches that connect, one after another.
He lies there, not fighting back.
“Hit me!” I shout. “You let them do it for you, now it’s your turn to do it yourself!”
“No,” he growls, then goes limp in my hands, closing his eyes like he’s already given up and wants this to happen.