Dark Possession - Aja James Page 0,4

not gagged. She hadn’t spoken in countless hours for this very reason. No need to incite her captors to silence her.

Adventures such as these simply didn’t happen to females such as she.

Yes, as one of the Dozen, the inner circle of the Pure Queen Sophia, Eveline encountered various intrigue and danger once in a while. But that was because of the individuals around her, caused by factors exogenous to her own little world.

None of the “exciting” stuff happened to her specifically.

Well…

Except for that one time when she was almost burned alive after being accused of evil sorcery. Which, to be fair, the humans might have had a point. But she hadn’t intended for what happened to happen.

In the end, no harm done. Not to the humans, and not to Eveline, since she was rather immune to fire.

And then there was that other time when she accidentally rendered a whole village of men blind (literally) with lust. So uncontrollably aroused were they, that the poor women (and in some cases, other men) couldn’t move for days after the “storm” without wincing from soreness in intimate places. It took yet more days before the affected men regained their eyesight.

You know the saying too much sex could blind you?

Or was it too much masturbation?

Eveline mulled on this a bit.

She could recite ancient tomes with precision, but modern anecdotes often confounded and eluded her powerful mind.

Whichever the case, she rather suspected that it was her spell back in the day that created this human aphorism.

Suffice it to say, Eveline had hightailed it out of that village as soon as the proverbial shit hit the fan.

Who knew her little spells could go so awry?

She didn’t use what humans referred to as “magic” very often, precisely because of these strange, unpredictable side-effects.

Eveline considered herself a logical, placid, eminently reasonable sort of female. She loved books. Words. Stories. Languages. Both written and oral.

If the role of Scribe for the Pure Ones wasn’t typically taken by a male, she’d have happily hoarded that honor for the duration of her immortality. Because of her particular abilities, however, she’d inherited the role of the Seer some centuries ago—the individual who occasionally divined potential futures from the Orb of Prophesies.

Sadly, Orion, the previous Scribe and closest confidante of Eveline, had perished a few years ago, leaving his role vacant among the Dozen. With the gap, she naturally assumed both responsibilities, for they worked closely together.

As with everything in the universe, there was always balance. Time wasn’t linear like humans believed. The past always repeated itself in the future, unless the souls that shaped the present made different choices that led to different paths.

Eveline happened to love her job. She was essentially the librarian and the fortune teller for the Pure Ones. She could lose herself for days deciphering old texts full of symbols she’d never encountered before. Her nose was always in a book, her face hidden behind a lengthy scroll.

She read and deciphered everything.

Religious texts. Educational scripts. Instruction manuals. Fanciful stories. And, of course, histories.

She was so immersed in her reading that she seldom looked up from it. Which meant that she often walked into doors, walls and various pieces of furniture. Good thing Pure Ones healed fast! Else, Eveline would be perpetually black and blue from accidental bruises.

All this was to say, Eveline Marceau was not the type of female who found herself in this present type of situation:

Kidnapped, bound and blindfolded in the middle of nowhere woods, heading to…

Some dire consequence, no doubt.

This kind of drama simply didn’t happen to females like her!

She would have used what little “magic” she had to free herself earlier if she thought she had a high probability of being successful.

But A, her abilities weren’t very reliable, and she’d probably land herself into deeper trouble if she tried to cast a spell willy nilly.

See above unfortunate events.

B, she needed a focal point for her magic that was external to herself. And her emotions had to be particularly strong to harness her power. Or her life had to be in imminent danger.

See above again.

Eveline wasn’t the sort of female who often found herself at the whim of her emotions. She was exceedingly calm, mild-tempered and rational. No matter the circumstance. This was a boon most days, because it meant that the “accidents” she caused with her magic were far and few between.

But tonight, her equanimity was only helpful to the extent that she wasn’t hyperventilating because of her predicament. Where most females might have