When She Rose From the Ashes (Natalie and Jensen) novel Chapter 63

Chapter 63 The Test

Chapter 63 The Test

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The next instant, Jensen’s eyes flew open, his body trembling as he nearly yanked his hands back out of the basin.

“What’s this? Mr. Luke wants to give up already?”

The attendant spoke with mock solemnity, though a trace of ridicule flickered in his eyes.

Jensen froze. His forehead broke out in a sheet of cold sweat, his face draining pale.

It made no sense. It was only clear water-yet the moment his hands went in, it felt like a thousand needles stabbing into his skin, the pain spreading up both arms until even the bones felt as though they were splintering

apart.

His teeth rattled together, and he forced himself to ask through clenched jaws, “What’s in the water?”

‘Nothing more than a few special herbs,” the attendant replied casually. “They won’t kill you, and they won’t leave a mark. The point is to see if you can endure pain. Every patient who seeks Witch Doctor is already in dire straits. If you can’t withstand even this much, you’re not worth his time.”

The explanation made Jensen’s jaw tighten until it ached.

Five years ago… had Natalie endured this same ordeal?

f she had, then she’d suffered far worse than he could ever have imagined.

He was a grown man, strong and trained, and even he was on the edge of collapse. How had she borne it back hen?

The water in the basin rippled faintly, but the sensation was unbearable-like salt and fire poured into an open wound, a torture that made him want to rip his arms free.

One movement and the pain would be gone. But doing that would mean the end of any chance to learn the truth about what Natalie had faced here.

fis body swayed as if it might fall.

The sensation crawled deeper, scouring through his nerves, burning into every corner of his being. It was agony beyond words.

But in that agony, Natalie’s face emerged in his mind’s eye-soft, gentle, her quiet beauty like a balm. She had never been fiery like Sharon; she had been water, not flame.

Once he had thought fire was more dazzling, more consuming. Now, with the water gone, he realized he had lost the only thing that gave him life.

“Natalie…”

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Chapter 63 The Test

Her name slipped from his lips in a hoarse whisper.

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Behind the screen, Baron’s eyes narrowed at the sound, a flash of killing intent surging so sharp it cut through the air like a blade.

Jensen stiffened. He had felt it-the sudden murderous chill. His head snapped up just as a man in a silver mask stepped from behind the screen.

“Witch Doctor.”

The attendant bowed deeply and stepped aside.

Jensen locked his gaze on the figure. Danger-that was the first and strongest impression. This man radiated it.

“I hear you wanted to see me?”

The voice was low and rasping, like that of an aged man at death’s door. But something about it felt wrong to

Jensen-off.

A voice changer? No… the tones carried too much texture, too much emotion. Machines couldn’t produce that.

It must be his real voice. But still, Jensen couldn’t shake the sense that something was amiss.

And stranger still, the man felt… familiar. As if they had met before.

Jensen was already at his limit, his arms shaking violently in the basin. But he refused to pull them out.

His eyes, sharp as a hawk’s, locked on the masked man. “You’re Witch Doctor?”

“None other,” Baron answered smoothly.

He noted Jensen’s swollen, trembling hands, and beneath the mask, his lips curved slightly.

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