Page 14 of Bloodbane

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Malice and Mirth

{ G R A Y S O N }

Flames lick through my veins, consuming me inch by agonizing inch. The roars shattering my mind do not reach my ears—filling only with wracking coughs and grotesque gurgling as my stomach cramps and convulses, sending blood flowing into my throat and spilling from my mouth.

Frenzied hands paw at the source of the inferno blistering through me, and the pain flares brighter with each probing stab. Hazy shapes move above me through pulsing static, pressing in, shifting and growing and flickering, until finally—mercifully—everything turns black.

But the darkness has claws, dragging me down into the horrors of the past, delivering me into the hands of ghosts never laid to rest.

Eyes glowing yellow with malice and mirth watch me writhe and jerk, trying to escape the binds snaking around my arm, tethering me to the stone wall. Biting frost chases white-hot flames, searing along every nerve as I strain to break free from my own flesh. My skin withers away, dying beneath scorching ice as callous laughter thunders around me.

Time stretches thin. Every second is an eternity of pain—pain beyond words, beyond thought.

Unbearable.

Inescapable.

Helheim creeping through my veins, destroying me without need of sun or fire… only silver.

Whispered words and frantic shouts echo above me, and I battle my way back toward the light.

I force my lids open.

Blurred shadows continue to move above me—slowly, quickly, stuttering movements and dragging trails—my eyes unable to find focus.

“—e hell happened?”

“—treating his wound—collap—”

“—seizing again. Hold—”

“—ayson? Can you hea—”

The distorted voices fade as I slip away once more.