Page 77 of Savage Crown

That’s why she didn’t kill me.

That’s why I’m still breathing.

Lartina must have suspected me all along.

From that very first moment I stole the parchment.

Damn it all to hell.

I throw my weight forward, breaking free for a single, desperate second?—

A fist slams into my ribs.

The world lurches.

Pain explodes through my side.

I hit the ground hard, gasping.

I taste blood.

My vision blurs.

The room tilts—shadows flickering in my periphery, boots shifting closer.

Hands grab me again.

Rough. Unyielding.

I thrash against them.

But it’s no use.

They’re too strong.

The night folds in around me, suffocating and final.

A blade sings through the air.

A gurgling sound.

A body hits the floor.

The hands on me loosen.

I collapse, coughing.

The stench of blood fills the air, thick and metallic.

I blink through the haze.

And there—standing over the fallen body, his dagger dripping with death—is Rylan.

For a second, neither of us move.

I’m still on the ground, chest heaving, arm bleeding, body trembling.

He stands above me, tall and dark and furious, his emerald eyes burning like cold fire.

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