~ODETTE'S POV~
"One more time," I whispered.
Artemisia looked at me questioning, assessing me and then nodded.
"Trial four," she murmured, "and this time, remember who you are."
I was dropped in somewhere unfamiliar.
I stood in a white room.
But it wasn't really a room… It was something else entirely.
No walls.
No ceiling.
Just endless pale light.
My mother appeared a few feet away, her real self and not her real self. That strange blend of truth and mockery.
Ezelreth didn't bother pretending this time.
Her eyes glowed and the dragon slit pupil prominent in her eyes. Like something demonic was living inside her.
Her smile was wrong. Jagged and vicious. Her posture too still. Like a statue.
The air around her was tainted and corrupted. She felt sickening to be near.
Was this how she is now?
