Page 156 of Foul Days

Asen raised an eyebrow. “We?”

“Of course, ‘we’!’ I made Boryana a promise, witch to witch. I have no intention of breaking it. I’ll turn every last bloody cobblestone in Chernograd to find the bastard.”

Asen finally stood up and wiped some of the puddle water off his trousers with his hand. “I’ll do the same in Belograd. Half his network is based there. It’s likely he’ll go to them, if he wants to disappear for a while in a city where not everyone knows him. Once one of us stumbles on a lead, we’ll contact each other.” He extended her hand towards Kosara. “Deal?”

“Deal.” Kosara took his hand and let him help her up. “Provided it’s all worked according to plan.”

“Well, how about we check?”

* * *

With every step, the Wall’s inky shadow grew bigger, looming over them. Whenever the wind died down, Kosara could swear she heard it scream. She recognised its voice. It made her shudder.

“How does it feel to finally be rid of him?” Asen asked, his eyes fixed on the Wall above.

“It feels good,” Kosara said. “Very quiet.”

It was quiet: the monsters had left Chernograd after twelve long days. What’s more, her own monster was gone. For the first time in seven years, she didn’t hear his voice in her head.

“What about you?” she asked. “Are you ready to go home?”

“I am. You?”

Kosara took a deep breath. She wasn’t ready. How could she possibly be ready? But she also couldn’t put it off any longer.

The spell to trap the Zmey inside the Wall was the most complicated she’d ever cast. Until the last moment, she hadn’t been sure she had it in her to finish the job. She’d never done anything half as challenging before.

What if it hadn’t worked? What if she’d managed to trap him in the Wall, but she hadn’t embedded him? What if he was still alive, still himself in there, waiting to pounce on her as soon as she stepped closer?

“Kosara,” Asen said, obviously sensing her fear. “I’ve seen you waltz into the Zmey’s palace as if it was nothing. I watched you weave the spell to trap him in the Wall. You can do this.”

Kosara let out air through her nostrils. “You didn’t watch me. You were too busy taking a nap.”

“Well, I wish I’d seen you. I bet you looked magnificent.”

“Stop buttering me up,” Kosara said, but she was smiling. She stretched out her hand and touched the Wall’s dark surface. It was freezing cold—so cold it burned, but she didn’t move. She waited. For a few painful seconds nothing happened.

Then the Wall began to withdraw from her.

Kosara pushed against it. It shifted under her fingers, soft and pliable, until her whole arm disappeared inside it. She felt nothing. It was as if her arm hung in the air.

She inhaled deeply and took a step forwards. The Wall engulfed her. Kosara blinked, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, until she spotted light trickling through in the distance, from the direction of Belograd.

Before she continued, Kosara turned back. Asen stood behind her in the snow. He was slightly blurry, as if she looked at him through frosted glass.

“You try it,” she said, but no sound came out.

Still, he must have read her lips. He placed his palm on the Wall and, slowly, it swallowed him. He looked around, blinking fast. “It seems to be working,” he said, and his voice came out muffled, like he was shouting underwater. “Shall we?”

Kosara didn’t need much convincing. She felt so vulnerable standing there, with the Wall surrounding her on all sides. As if any minute, it might decide to close in on her, trapping her inside forever. Her heart thumped in the back of her throat, echoing in the quiet.

Kosara took a step towards the light, then another. Next to her, Asen walked casually—he didn’t seem to feel the press of the Wall on all sides. Lightning flashed high above their heads. Kosara’s breathing grew fast and shallow; she was afraid to inhale too much of the Wall. As if it would poison her.

Just at the edge of her vision, she could swear she spotted the Zmey’s blue flames dancing. His face floated behind her eyelids every time she blinked, his teeth bared. She thought she heard him in the distance, wailing and thrashing and slamming his fists against the Wall’s surface.

She felt Asen’s hand in hers, and he squeezed her hard. “He can’t get you anymore.”

Kosara’s heart rate spiked. How did Asen so often know what she was thinking? Had he spotted the Zmey’s fire, too?

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