Page 44 of Death and Desire

Violet pulled the trigger. A plume of smoke rose from the small gun. She seized the distraction and turned, bolting into the alley where the cat had vanished. Air burned her lungs as she disappeared in the darkness.

Behind her, shouts rang out. She glanced over her shoulder, spying dark figures racing into the alley behind her. Damn and blast! Violet hadn’t verified whether the shot hit its intended target. She’d known it would only give her a window to escape.

Her foot caught on the uneven path, and she pitched forward, colliding with cold stone. The derringer clattered to the ground in the shadows. She couldn’t stop to find it.

Mustering every ounce of self-preservation within her, she pulled herself to her feet and ran. She wove deeper and deeper into the maze of buildings until she collided with a solid wall of stone.

A dead end.

Heart pounding, Violet turned in time to see the three thieves enter the narrow alley. Her gaze raked over the walls, searching for an escape.

There was nothing.

Trapped.She cursed her stubborn impetuousness, wishing she’d remained with Isaac, David, and Dina. She would die here. at the hands of these thieves, and for what? Her own foolish pride.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” The burly thief stepped into a glittering shaft of sunlight. It warped his face into extreme contrasts, making him more sinister. “Good thing we’re getting paid whether you’re dead or alive.”

Violet inhaled, bracing herself for the oncoming attack.Anubis, help me.

Chapter Eleven

Darkness surroundedher with a thick veil of midnight smoke. Violet held her ground, even as her legs threatened to give out beneath her.

“What the...” The thieves looked at each other in confusion before they too were engulfed by the strange substance.

It swirled around them, thick as a river’s current, but the force barely ruffled her hair. A gentle breeze brushed her cheek, soft as a lover’s caress, as they were all plunged into darkness.

Choked screams echoed in the maelstrom, followed by silence. Slowly, the shadows receded, and sunlight pierced the hazy fog surrounding her.

Violet blinked, her eyes adjusting to the shifting light. She jumped at the sight of her three attackers on the stone at her feet. She shoved the tip of her shoe into the burly man’s arm, but there was no response.

Are they dead?She swallowed bile building in the back of her throat.

“Not dead, although they deserve to be.”

The dread flowing through her spiked at the sound ofhisvoice. When she looked up, the last vestiges of spiraling shadows centered around Khalid as he stepped closer to survey the unconscious men lying in the alley. His unreadable expression was fixed in contemplation.

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