Page 57 of Hellbound

Her soft voice now had an edge to it. “Machete, sickle, and axe.”

Anger branded itself deep in Ksenia’s stomach as she watched a few cloaked Envorsen swarm the shopkeepers, searching for the contraband that matched her descriptions. They had hidden in plain sight. And Danika was using her bondsense to betray these people, effectively sentencing them to death.

Everyone moved at once—panicked and directionless.

One of the Envorsen had wrestled the sickle from an old woman, her thin wrist caught in his gloved hand.

Danika cocked her head in Ksenia’s direction, whose feet were rooted to the ground as people pushed and shoved to get away.

Ksenia stumbled backward—Danika must be able to sense Caromir.

Their eyes met. Danika’s flickered. “Dagger.”

Her heart felt hollow as her own sister didn’t register her, but her woe was short-lived. Four heads snapped to her in attention. Bohdan’s green eyes bore into hers, and Ksenia didn’t want to stick around for a greeting.

The guards parted the crowd with unnerving ease and brute strength, sending bodies toppling as they strode toward her.

Face them. Fight them. Kill them. At her hip, Caromir grew hot in the leather sheath.

No. She couldn’t. If she fought them and Danika was hurt in the process…

It wasn’t safe for Ksenia to be around her right now.

But still, Danika was alive.

Her insides turned as she forced herself in the opposite direction.

Wooden stalls splintered, goods crashed to the ground, screams punctuated the chaos.

Everything was drowned out by her own heartbeat thumping loudly in her ears.

She had only ever escaped Bohdan by the skin of her teeth, and her instincts caught up to her.

She spun down the side alley, vaulting over barrels and heaps of rubbish. The steady, methodical footfalls behind her were chilling. As if assured, no matter how hard or fast she ran, they would catch her.

Lantern light flickered overhead, illuminating the wet stone floors and the jagged edges of the walls.

Her heart stuttered as Vornaya’s bloodlust pulled at a perverse thrill within her.

She pushed those desires to the back of her mind as she continued racing down the twists and turns of the Vein until she spotted an exit.

She crawled out and braced herself against the grate, sucking in lungfuls of crisp night air.

Before her, Rothaven was quiet. Lamplight behind shuttered windows. A hound barking somewhere distant.

She ran along the backstreets until the Vein’s entrance was far behind her, and the only sound was her own ragged breathing.

She pressed herself into a dimly lit alley and waited. Minutes passed, and no footsteps emerged from the dark.

She had entered the Vein to hunt, but came up empty-handed. She was unsure how much longer her fraying sanity would hold, but seeing Danika had bolstered her with more hope than she had begun her journey with.

She took the long way back to the manor, sticking to the shadows, cutting glances at her surroundings in case anyone had followed her.

Then, in the quietude of her quarters, she once more found herself restless and unable to sleep.

Danika was alive but being forced to use her bondsense to bring people selling contraband to the executioner’s block.

She sat straight up in her bed, sheets tangled around her legs as she swung them over the side and caught her head in her hands.