Page 12 of This Vicious Dream

“What do you want?” Her voice is flat, and she’s already turning away, toward the soldiers’ horses. Her gaze moves past the strange tangle of bones and decomposing bodies as if she doesn’t even see them.

“Why are you here?” I ask.

She pauses, brow crinkling. Her brows are slightly darker than the wealth of dark red hair tumbling over her shoulders.

“Kyldare kept me here. Foryears. I was about to make him pay, and then you showed up.”

My gut clenches. I should have killed him.

It’s not that I’m particularly altruistic. But caging a woman like Madinia Farrow isn’t just wrong—it’s unnatural.

“Why?”

I take another step closer, and her whole body tenses. Something dark stares back at me from behind her eyes. Something dark and familiar.

But those eyes are immediately turning glassy.

Confusion. Confusion and fear.

“He wanted something,” she murmurs aloud, her expression distant as she retreats into her mind. For a long moment, it’s as if she’s not even there.

“What did he want?” I press.

She’s silent for a long moment. And I watch as she rebuilds her shields. Her shoulders straighten, and she gives me that look again.

My mouth twitches. Even at her weakest, this woman holds her ground, masking her vulnerability with defiance, head held high, eyes flashing.

“I don’t know. It’s irrelevant. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She gives me a regal nod, as if we’re standing in a grand ballroom and she’s politely declining a dance.

“And where are you planning to go?” I ask.

She turns, walking along the path, and I follow her. She stiffens, and a thorn-covered vine slithers toward me. I pause, staring at the thorns, the tower.

Perhaps what I need isinsidethe tower.

But…

Madinia Farrow. I remember her name, even if she doesn’t remember mine. And my instincts roar at me, telling me she can lead me to what I seek. She can lead me to—

I stumble as a memory slams into me. My hands clench around an object, and it’s so realistic I can feel the spine, the pages…

A book. I’m looking for a book.

Elation sweeps through me. Finally. An answer. For the first time, I know what I’m looking for. What Ineed.

And this woman is going to help me find it.

Madinia

“Where, exactly, are you going?” The man calls from behind me.

I’m going to the nearest town, that’s where I’m going.

Kyldare’s witch may have created a spell that ensured basic hygiene—for Kyldare’s benefit I’m sure—but the fact remains that I haven’t bathed inthree years. My stomach is rumbling with newly awakened hunger. And…

I need to be alone. I may not remember much of my past, but I remember making the decision to forget, so Kyldare couldn’t get the information he wanted from me.

Unfortunately, it’s not just the location of whatever Kyldare is looking for that I’ve forgotten. It’s everything before Daharak—

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