Page 40

Story: Blood Rains Down

He nodded, flinching as he tried to reposition himself against the sandstone building, the hay beneath him slowly turning crimson.

My head peeked around the corner of the brothel as my eyes scanned the entire area before stepping back into the road.

My heart convulsed as I rushed to the bodies.

A groan left my lips as I dragged each of them beside the tavern across the way, laying them as close to the building as I possibly could before throwing piles of hay over them. Flicking my fingers toward the trails of blood, I watched as they disappeared into the sand and slapped the back of each horse. They jolted, kicking their front legs up before galloping down the road, leaving nothing but clouds of dust in their wake.

My feet raced back to Nox’s side, praying to the Gods he was still conscious.

I stopped dead in my tracks as I rounded the back corner of the brothel. Dukovich was kneeling over Nox with a dagger to his throat. Nox held his own dagger to Dukovich’s side with as much strength as he could muster.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I snarled.

“This man cannot be trusted,” Dukovich growled down at him, bearing his teeth. “He’s a traitor.”

“News flash,” I spat, shoving him away from Nox as I snatched the blade from his hand. “So areyou.” Dukovich’s jaw clenched at my words. “Get him to the safe house. I have to find Pri,” I snapped, pulling Nox to his feet.

“He will kill me. If you leave me with him, he will kill me,” Nox stated, his voice thin—weak.

“No, hewon’t,” I said, more so in warning to Dukovich than to calm Nox.

“I do not know the location of the safe house well enough to tether us there,” Dukovich barked at me in frustration and I rolled my eyes.

He had a point.

Gods, men were useless.

I wrapped my fist around each of their arms muttering profanities under my breath and tethered us from Folkvein Street.

We landed in the center of the safe house as Nox screamed out in pain. He crumpled to the ground, his limbs writhing in agony against the residue that was slowly turning his veins black as I leaned his back against the couch.

“Thank Gods!” Pri’s voice rang through the room and my head snapped up at the sound.

She was hunched over the dining table, trying to dress the wounds she had littering her body. A weight lifted from my chest at the sight of her.

She was safe. Wounded, but safe.

“Are you okay?” I asked, rushing toward her. She nodded, flinching as she pushed a salve into the deep wound in her thigh.

Another one of Nox’s screams filled the room.

“I was stabbed, but luckily it didn’t have Svech on the blade,” she said, her voice sharp as she clenched her teeth against the pain.

“Can you remove the residue from him?” I asked, my gaze shifting to Dukovich as I pointed to Nox.

He stared back at me for a long moment, his eyes blackened by hate but he still gave a sharp nod.

“Good, do it.Now,” I commanded before I returned my focus to Pri. “What happened?”

She lowered herself into a wooden chair, placing both elbows onto the table as she let her head fall into her hands.

“One of Nox’s men . . . they must have betrayed him. We met this morning at our usual location but we only stayed there long enough for him to give me a secondary meeting spot. He suspected we were being watched—I just thought he was being paranoid—but an hour into our meeting we were ambushed by Hanth guards.” She looked up at me, fear staining her eyes in a way I had never seen before as they flickered nervously back to her hands.

“What?” I asked, the question almost a whisper. I didn’t know if I wanted to hear the answer.

“All of the Drow armies and leaders have been taken to The Silliands. It is starting, and they are preparing to attack.” My heart tumbled down my spine at a rapid pace, Nox’s screams muting in the background as static filled my ears.

“When?” My voice wavered and I tried to force it steady.

Table of Contents