Page 13 of A Vow of Shadows

“Aren’t you coming?” he asked.

I started to shake my head, but the Ferrier saved me from needing to concoct an excuse.

“Miss Fil’Owen will be departing elsewhere.”

If Rencourt found the Ferrier’s reply odd, he didn’t question it. Together, he and the Ferrier headed away from the carriage. Within a few steps, they faded from view, lost to the dark.

Chapter 10

The Ferrier

Souls like this made the job easier—enjoyable even. My silence went unnoticed by the prattling Lord Rencourt who continued to tell me all his favorite memories even after we’d reached the point of departure.

A loving wife.

Healthy children.

A long life.

I smothered my pang of jealousy as he faded away into the mists. Those feelings had no place within me. I’d dug my grave, and now, I had a mysterious little human to share it with.

Chapter 11

Katrin

The solitude struck me all at once, the reality of what I had done crashing into me with the force of a cannonball. Alone in the dark in an unfamiliar place, I felt the noose of anxiety slip around my neck. My breathing grew labored, my hands clammy.

I pressed back into the seat, seeking the contact of something firm and steady—something to ground me—but the plush, velvet cushions did little to assuage the panic clawing its way up my throat.

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to cry.

I wanted to throw open the door and bolt after the Ferrier.

But I did none of those things.

Melting off the seat, I became a puddle of sweat-soaked fabric and trembling limbs. I squeezed between the two benches, drawing my knees up to my chest, and there I waited.

An eternity passed before the steadycrunchof gravel alerted me to the reaper’s return. At least, I hoped it was him. I had no way of knowing from my position on the floor and no chance to look without revealing myself.

I tried to quiet my heaving gasps, forcing calm, measured breaths through my nose.

The footsteps paused on the other side of the door, and every muscle in my body tensed. If it was the Ferrier, would he look in and think I’d left? Who else but he would be out here in the middle of the night?

Whoever it was, they made no sound as I contemplated all of this.

A thought occurred to me that made my blood freeze in my veins.

What if Death lurked outside the door?

It had to be after midnight and that meant it was officially my twenty-first year. I could have traveled all this way, paid all that money, just for Death to find me anyway. Unless the Ferrier had summoned Death. He could have pocketed the money and sold me out.

I’d been a fool to trust that one so close to Death would be willing to protect me from it.

My labored breaths turned to hiccupping sobs, tears flowing uncontrollably as I curled in on myself.

The door to the carriage flew open, but I didn’t have the breath to scream. I scrambled away from the approaching darkness with renewed vigor. If this was the end, I wouldn’t go without a fight.

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