AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Now, I’m burning men alive, and not for Mother. I intentionally added even more red to my ledger of death for little more reason than a whim.
At least, there were only ten this time.
Only ten…
I scoff.
When did I become this person? A person who feels better when her nightly death count is lower than the one before?
And this time, instead of killing them for the crimes they committed, this time it was Einar and my mother, and Damian, and even a sands-blasted dragon that I was slaying. Anyone, everyone, who had a hand in taking Zaina to that frozen place.
To her death.
More liquid streams down my face, and I can’t seem to care if it’s tears or blood. Maybe it’s better that it’s blood, that this is all coming to an end soon.
A small, weak sound comes from me, and I hate myself for it.
I couldn’t save her. I couldn’t save Zaina, or Jessa, or Mel, or any damned person worth saving.
A sob escapes me, and I fall to my knees, ignoring the way the stones cut into my skin.
Logically, I know it’s only been a couple of minutes since I left the burning building. Logically, I know I need to run, to get as far away from here as possible, before the guards find me. Before Damian does…
But I can’t move. My head is in my hands, and I’m rocking back and forth, pounding my fists against my skull.
I’m desperate. Desperate to feel something else, something other than the pain inside. Desperate to make it stop.
Maybe Damian will come just in time for the two of us to die in the fire. Maybe I’ll get to watch as he’s engulfed in flames just before I am. I can die the same way that Zaina did, watching our dearbrotherburn.
There are worse ways to go.
I rock back and forth again, unable to drown out all of their voices. They blend together in my mind, an orchestra of judgment and taunting. I slam my fist against my head again, trying to quiet them. Trying to rid myself of each of their faces.
Everyone I couldn’t save, and everyone I murdered.
It’s too much.
Another blow to my temple leads to another and another in my failed attempts to drown out the cacophony in my head.
Finally, one voice rings out louder than all the rest, and somehow, even after everything, it’s the one that cuts the deepest.
