Page 39 of Vows of Silence

The passenger door jerked open suddenly, and I cried out as icy rain blasted across my exposed skin.

He leaned inside the wreckage slowly, one gloved hand bracing against the ruined frame above my head.

I breathed through my nose, the sound of my breath the only noise to be heard as the mask lowered further into the car, hovering only inches away from me. I was so close this time that I could see through the eyeholes, seeing nothing but pitch-black eyes reflecting back at me.

The silver mask cocked to the side, jerking slightly as he scanned me from head to toe.

“Please…” I whispered brokenly, not even knowing what I was begging for anymore.

Frank groaned weakly beside me. The sound barely existed, but Silas heard it.

Of course he did.

The silver mask lifted, looking toward Frank slowly. And then he lifted his gun.

“No—!”

The shot exploded through the car.

My eyes widened, my jaw slackened, and my ears rang at a deafening pitch. My head exploded with the noise, bringing with it a new wave of pain. A gloved hand grabbed my jaw, twisting my head until I was looking at the mask. He tilted my head from side to side, using his thumb to wipe away some of the warm liquid from my cheek.

In my peripheral, I could see the blood sprayed across the dashboard, I could see Frank’s body completely still beside me. And still the mask didn’t let go of me. Still, he forced me to look at him, seeing my own face reflected back at me.

My entire body convulsed with horror.

I couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t think.

The gloved hand lowered to my throat.

“No,” I whispered.

The head cocked again, and something sharp pierced against my neck. Pain bloomed instantly, and then disappeared, takingwith it the rest of my injuries. As though whatever was coursing through my veins was gathering up all my weaknesses, all my scars, and removing them, keeping them for its own.

The world began to fade, darkness swallowing the edges of my vision as the mask became the only thing I could see.

Silver.

Cold.

Watching.

Then everything disappeared.

Chapter 13

The Flame

Pain greeted me before consciousness properly did.

A deep ache pulsed through my ribs with every breath, my shoulder burned, and my head throbbed so viciously it felt as though someone had cracked my skull open and stitched it back together incorrectly. For several long seconds, all I could do was lie there and breathe through it, caught somewhere between sleep and awareness whilst the fog slowly lifted from my brain.

Where was I? And what had happened to me?

Opening my eyes was too painful. I tried to lift my arm to cover them, only to find my arm screaming in protest before I’d even really tried.

And so I tried to figure out my surroundings based on what I could feel and hear.