Lorelei

A scream tore from my throat before my eyes even flew open, the sound swallowed by the deluge of ice-cold water that slammed into me.

I jolted upright with a strangled gasp, water sluicing from my hair, my face, and my sleep-soaked clothes. It was freezing, a thousand needles stabbing into my skin. I scrambled back on the sodden bed, wrenching around, my hands frantically wiping the stinging water from my eyes.

They stood there. A young maid, holding an empty ceramic pitcher, her ...