In the middle of the night, I woke to a hand clamped over my mouth and nose.
Panic hit me all at once. I thrashed and clawed for air, trying to tear free, but whoever had hold of me was stronger.
When I could finally see clearly, Talia and Vivian were on either side of me, dragging me out of the room without a word.
Before I could even understand where they were taking me, they hauled me to the edge of the burning pit and threw me in.
The scream ripped out of me before I could stop it. Then the tonic I had taken before, the one brewed to protect the body from harm, finally took effect.
The pain vanished. The lava no longer burned me. Even the skin that had already been seared began knitting itself back together almost at once.
I fought to stay above the surface, but panic and exhaust
