Page 76 of The Blood of Gods and Monsters

Regis’ crow leads us through the streets of Riviere in the dark, but not towards the place I’m used to going. We pass the coffeehouse that Ruen had taken me to the day he’d found out my secret. I barely offer it a passing glance as the crow turns a corner, its beady eyes looking back over its wing as if to make sure we’re still on its tail. It’s heading away from the shop, not towards it.

I follow regardless even as we enter a section of the city I don’t recognize. The townhomes are closer together than even those near Madam Brione’s shop. I thought that it had been the slums of Riviere, but I soon realize that it was merely a run-down section, not the slums themselves. Because the part of Riviere that Regis’ crow is flying towards is in far worse condition.

Cracked windows full of darkness. Dust and dirt and grime on every doorstep. Some houses have doorways completely open to the elements with nothing but dirty sheets to block intruders. I slow my steps, and behind me, so do Ruen and Kalix. They don’t say anything as the crow slows above an intersection.

“I thought we were going to the shop,” Kalix says, his voice a careful whisper.

I shake my head. “We’re following the bird,” I reply. “It’s leading us to Regis.” I hope.

Wind beats against my face as the crow lowers itself and then lands on my shoulder. I stare at the creature, but it’s not looking at me. Instead, its eyes are scanning our surroundings. Its beak twists this way and then the opposite way.

“Do you think it’s lost the trail?” Ruen asks.

“Just give it a moment,” I tell him.

As we wait for the animal to come to some sort of decision, I take the opportunity to glance around the street. The roads here are even smaller than that near Madam Brione’s shops, hardly wide enough for the three of us to stand shoulder to shoulder and certainly not big enough for any carriage. There are broken objects littering the stones beneath our feet, cracked pieces of furniture left to bleach in the daytime sun, and rancid food in garbage cans where several glowing eyes of vermin peer out toward us. A shudder works through me. Regis hated the dirt in Madam Brione’s shop. I can’t imagine him here where filth is caked into each corner and crevice.

The crow on my shoulder spreads its wings, feathers drifting over my cheek as it takes flight. “Come on,” I say, though I don’t need to. Kalix and Ruen are already moving with me.

Regis’ crow flies further up the street, the dilapidated townhouses turning into wooden shacks stacked on top of one another, each in worse disrepair than the last. Then the animal takes a sharp left turn down an alley.

Ruen curses and reaches out to grab my arm, pulling me to a halt when I would follow after the creature. “Wait. We can’t all fit down there.”

“I have to?—”

“Let me go first,” Ruen insists, stopping my argument before it can begin.

“But—”

Ruen doesn’t wait for me to finish what I’m about to say. He lifts his head and nods to where Kalix stands behind me. Hard hands grip my shoulders, keeping me in place. A snarl rips past my lips as Ruen turns and disappears into the darkness.

“Release me.” I hiss out the command, but Kalix merely chuckles and tugs me against him, my back to his front. Something hard presses against my ass. I snap my head around and gape up at him. “Are you fucking serious right now?”

Kalix merely shrugs. “Blame yourself, little liar,” he replies. “You’re irresistible when you’re feeling violent.”

I flip him off and then turn to face the opening of the alleyway again. Seconds pass and then minutes. The longer we go without any hint or sign of either Regis or Ruen, the more my body tenses as if preparing for something horrible to come walking out of the darkness at any moment.

My eyes flick back and forth, up and down the street. There are no lamps here—not even burned-out ones, just … none at all. As if this place is a part of the city that’s long been forgotten by all. Metal crashing onto stone makes me jump, but Kalix remains perfectly still at my back.

“It’s just the rats,” he tells me.

I glance over my shoulder to be sure, but he’s right. One of the trash cans overflowing against one of the shacks has been tipped over and several of the rodents that had been making meals of the insides pour out and disappear into the shadows. Disgust rolls through me. Regis would not be fine here. If he is in this place then he must be either dead or dying. The smell of urine and decay invades my nostrils like a foreshadowing of impending doom. I wrinkle my nose against it.

Kalix’s fingers squeeze tight around my upper arms, dragging my attention back to the alley as he speaks. “Ruen’s returning.”

My breath catches when I see him—a figure darker than the shadows as it steps out of the gloom beyond. In the next second, my eyes fall to the man he’s holding in his arms. Regis’ face is pale and bloodless. There are dark purple bruises beneath his eyes and a black stain over the side of his throat. No, not black, I realize as they draw nearer. Dark red. It’s dried blood.

“He’s badly wounded,” Ruen states, stopping in front of us. “If we want Maeryn to see to him, we need to get him back to the Academy fast.”

As Ruen grows closer, I reach up, shaking off Kalix’s hold. Brushing one of Regis’ dirty blond dreads to the side, I bite down on my lower lip at how cold he is.

“Are you sure he’s still…” I don’t want to say it, but from how he looks…

“He’s still alive,” Ruen assures me, “but he won’t be for much longer if we don’t get him help.”

I nod and step back to allow Ruen to take the lead this time as we retrace our steps back to the Academy.

Candlelight flickers over the hollows of Regis’ face a few hours later as Maeryn bends over him, running her hands up and down his chest. My face blanches at how he smells just like the place where we found him. Like death.

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