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ChapterOne
ALYS
Iwas finished with my latest frustrating-as-hell mission protecting farmers headed to Palamin. But even though I was exhausted, sweaty, and a complete mess, I was in a good mood, because finishing a mission usually meant I would have time to spend in the Capitol, which meant time to hang out with my son, Dimitri.
And nothing was more important to me in this world than my son.
Just the thought of him made my chest ache. Sometimes out on the open road, walking with the dirt under my feet, and the quiet trees on both sides of me, all I could think about was my son and the decisions that led to the mess I was in now. And Ihatedletting my mind go down that road because I didn’t like to think about the past. Not when there was nothing I could do to change it. No way to have my son back under my care and my enslavement over.
Maybeenslavementwas the wrong word, but it felt right.
A tingle moved through me. One that whispered of sinister emotions. Emotions that weren’t coming from me. Which wasoh so great. Being a member of one of the Stormdust clans meant I was an empath, someone who could pick up the emotions of others. My gifts helped in times like these, warning me that there were people nearby who meant me harm, but most other times, it was a curse.
Who wanted to constantly pick up on other people’s emotions? Not me, that was for sure.
Not surprisingly, a man stepped onto the road in front of me, and then two more men slipped out of the trees on either side. The man in front had hair that was slicked back and one tooth missing, which I spotted when he smiled at me. “Your bag, ma’am,” he said, pointing at my backpack, in a tone like he was asking, which we both knew wasn’t true.
I smiled right back, keeping all of them in sight. “Notice the stone on my forehead,” I said, pointing. “You sure you want to do this?”
Most people outside the major cities thought gems on the foreheads of servants were symbols of status, which often scared troublemakers like these away. They might be willing to rob a farmer, but someone who could get the Wardens or worse, a Judge, sent after them? Not so much. The last thing anyone wanted was to anger our law enforcement, the Wardens, and end up executed or exiled. Or for someone to call on the Judges, not that the five most powerful people would be called on for something as meaningless as a robbery. Still, people on the Outside might not know that.
It didn’t really matter that the truth was the onyx on my forehead essentially meant I was an indentured servant to the Guild. I was betting that this guy didn’t know what it meant. It was my way of trying to spare these three the beating of a lifetime. And based on my interactions with people Outside, I was making a safe bet.
But he didn’t take the bait. “Sorry, Princess, we still want your bag.”
Damn it. The geas set on me by my boss, a magical leash that only let me kill who I was ordered to kill, meant I couldn’t put these three in the ground unless I was truly in danger. Itcouldlet me hurt them though, which I was feeling more tempted to do by the minute. If I wasn’t so tired and so eager to get to my son, I’d already have leveled these guys to the ground, teaching them a lesson not to prey on the weaker that they wouldn’t soon forget.
Instead, I decided to try one more way to end this thing non-violently, with a little good old-fashioned lie. Well, nottechnicallya lie, but Iwouldbe taking advantage of a legend. “Not scared about pissing off the Guild, huh? Our big, powerful government not fearsome enough to you? Well, then maybe you should be scared ofme. How about I formally introduce myself… I’m Alys Stormdust-Quinn.”
All three thieves took a step back, but it was the talkative one who responded in a soft voice filled with awe and disbelief, “Not possible. You can’t be one. There’s no way.”
Stormdusts were a powerful family line said to be able to create incredible pleasure with their touch, and to turn people into a bloody mess with just as little effort, which wasn’t true as far as I knew. Bloody messes took effort. They were also said to be crazy and powerful, whichwastrue, at least a little. They’d mostly been a mystery until the Guild had producedLightning Flare, a holo that wove small truths with huge lies, so even though Stormdust was part of my last name, I’d stopped using it to avoid the attention.
Right now though, I was hoping my name alone would be enough to scare off these assholes.
“Prove it,” he finally said.
Tucking my hair back to expose one pointed ear, I stared at him.
“Could be cosmetic…” he sounded worried, though.
“Want me to blow one of you up?” I asked in a chipper voice. When I lifted a hand, all three ducked.
“She could be lying,” the talkative one whispered to one of his buddies.
The buddy shook his head. “What if she isn’t?”
They were still trying to decide what to do when I felt an intense sense of terror. It was so powerful that it almost took me to my knees, and then the terror was followed by another feeling, one that was slimy and wrong. One that belonged to a Ridden. I knew it immediately.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.
“What?” One of them asked, sounding panicked.
A Ridden was created when a person died. When the person’s soul left their body, a dangerous spirit could enter the empty vessel. The body would instantly change into a creature with a mouth similar to that of a shark and hands tipped by sickeningly sharp claws.
And one was heading right for us.
A moment later, a young girl came exploding out of the woods, her dark cloak flapping around her. She took one look at all of us and let out a wailing scream. My knife was instantly in my hand as I moved faster than any of these people were capable of moving, and used my body to block that of the girl’s. The men looked from her to the woods, and then the Ridden emerged.
