Page 78 of Gilded Curses

Orin tightened his hold on her again, but the strange sound and disorienting effect didn’t stop. The dagadon had control over time, and he knew she was using her power to disorient him by making it blur, speed up, or something else.

He struggled to maintain control and not to fall over as waves of vertigo cascaded over him, and his stomach lurched. The worst part was he couldn’t tell if he was holding her or not, until he felt a tug on his arm as she tried to pull it away.

She’d run to the guards if she got free, and it would all be over. He lifted her off the ground as he tried to choke the power from her, but the whomping sound only increased.

Her feet kicked against his shins as he staggered to the side and nearly went down. Bracing his legs apart, he swayed as his stomach lurched. He was glad he hadn’t eaten, or she’d be wearing it.

Unable to stand it anymore and desperate to make it stop before she could escape, Orin plunged the knife down. It sank into something as warmth spread across his hand, but the whomping sound increased as inwardly, he felt like he was lurching from side to side.

He had no way of knowing what the knife was sinking into. He didn’t feel any pain, but the noise grew louder as the room listed to the side like a ship taking on too much water.

Pulling the knife free, he thrust it down again and twisted. Sheree’s heels bruised his shins, and her nails raked his skin as tiny, choked cries issued from her.

Orin staggered to the side and nearly went to his knees as he yanked the knife upward, slicing through something until the blade caught on something. When it did, the noise eased, and the room settled a little, though it still felt like he was walking sideways.

Yanking the knife free, he swung it down repeatedly, seeking to break her ability’s hold over him. He still couldn’t see and could barely think beyond ending this insanity before he was discovered.

He stabbed again and again until the noise finally stopped, and the room slowly righted itself. Blinking, Orin tried to bring everything into focus as his vision remained blurred.

Closing his eyes, he kept them shut for ten seconds before opening them. A hazy cloud remained at the edges of his vision, but it was clearing. When he closed his eyes and opened them again, the room came into clear focus.

Looking down, he discovered his hand covered in blood and bits of flesh. Blood dripped from him to stain the pristine white floor beneath them.

Sheree slumped in his other arm. Her head hung forward, and her shoulders were still as her insides spilled onto the floor.

Disgusted by the feel of her, Orin released her, and she hit the floor with a thud. Kneeling beside her, he turned her over to examine the vast damage he’d inflicted.

Despite having sliced her from the navel to the sternum and countless stab wounds, she was still alive as her eyes rolled before focusing on him. She was too weak to cast her ability over him again as her breath rattled in and out of her chest.

Leaning over her, he pressed the blade tip under her chin. “I’m not going to let you live; we both know that, and we also know you’re not going to give me what I need. But you’re going to watch me chop off your head.”

Her eyes widened on him before he went to work. Gurgled sounds issued from her, and her fingers twitched on the ground as Orin took his sweet time working the blade through her throat.

He worked leisurely, but it wasn’t long before he finished severing her head. With a bitter grin, he lifted it by her hair and carried it over to the mantle.

He set it on the ground as he removed a snow-white clock from its position in the center and plopped her bloody head in its place. Stepping back, he smiled at the agonized expression on his prize’s features.

It was lovely.

There was no more hiding that he’d been out here tonight, and he had nothing to use against the other dagadon since he’d killed his hostage. He smiled as he poked Sheree’s nose.

It was disappointing that her death hadn’t lasted longer and been a lot more painful, but he hadn’t expected the devastating effects of her ability. Besides, it was still fun.

Turning away from the mantle, he spied a shadow ducking back from the room’s doorway beyond. Orin sprinted across the room, grabbed his knife from where he’d left it on the ground, leapt over the couch, and chased after whoever hid there.

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

“How did you find this?” Loth asked.

“I tried thinking like Sheree. What more fun would it be than to place us in the rooms that could provide us freedom?” Sahira asked.

When she first discovered it, she hadn’t gone in to examine the inside of the hidden room before knocking on the brownies’ door. They’d answered almost immediately, and she’d ushered them into the room before closing their door and locking it again. The brownies could unlock it again, but this lock might buy them the few extra seconds needed to survive.

Once they were all in Orin’s room and under her silencing spell, she let them in on what happened with Orin and where he’d gone. She assumed he was still safe; if they’d discovered him, the guards would have come in to round up the rest of them.

Pip surveyed the cracked door at the back of the closet. “Do you think it provides freedom?”

“I think I have to go in and find out. Did you tell Loth and Fath what I revealed to you in the garden?”