Page 153 of A Vow of Wrath and Ruin

My eyes flicked from the parlor to the door. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. Turning my back to the knob, I slowly turned the brass handle. Its engravings made dents in my skin. My hands fumbled to turn the knob. I scanned the stairwell, the parlor, and the blackened hallway for any sign of Baylis.

A winter wind whipped violently at the door.

Click.The door opened, and a chill swept through the foyer. My joy soured in my mouth.

Shit.

I didn’t have time to think. Pushing the door open, I ran into the snowy night. Thin air filled my lungs. A forest of pines surrounded the cabin. The moon loomed overhead. Two horses dug in the snow. If only my hands were free, I could ride away from here.

I scanned the dense forest. Baylis was out here. I could feel it in my bones. But where? My breath turned to mist in the cold night air. I couldn’t stay out here in the open for long. I needed to run. But where? Judging by the sky, we were east of Ruska. Likely Eryndor or Leighton. A human kingdom was better than an elven one, and Leighton was known to have dense forests.

I headed east into a thicket of pines. The snow hadn’t melted here yet. Baylis would be able to track me easily. I just had to hope she was far away from wherever this was.

An arrow whizzed by my head, lodging itself in a tree.Shit.

I sunk into the snow, resting my back against a tree trunk.

“Don’t worry, sister, I can’t kill you,” Baylis’s high-pitched voice echoed through the forest, surrounding me. She was everywhere and nowhere at once. I needed to move.

I listened for the sound of her feet crunching through the snow, but I could not hear them over the crows cawing in the canopy.

The snow burned my skin. I had to run. My vapored breath would give me away if she came close. I scanned the trees. We were on a steep hill. This wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t have another choice. I had to move forward.

My knees cracked as I braced myself against the tree.Do it, Aelia, just run.My pulse quickened, and my mouth dried. It was now or never. I started down the hill. Arrows whizzed by. She was trying to scare me. If she wanted to hit me, she would have.

“Don’t make me hurt you!”

Birds took flight. The sounds of their flapping wings echoed through the silent forest. I could feel her behind me. I was a mouse running from a cat in a maze of her making. She’d let me run myself out. Let me think I was going to escape. Then she’d strike.

But I wouldn’t give up that easily. If she wanted me so badly… I’d make her work for it.

Zigzagging my way down the hill took everything in me to keep upright. With my hands tied behind my back and my feet slipping in the snow, a fall was imminent—arrows whizzed by me.

“Stop, Aelia. There is nowhere for you to go.”

I didn’t answer. I wasn’t trying to go anywhere, just trying to escape her.

“Aelia! This is your last chance.”

She trained her bow on me.

I closed my eyes and threw myself down the hill. Sticks and rocks bruised my skin, and blood filled my mouth. Whether it was from my tongue or my nose, I couldn’t tell. As I tumbled down the hill my foot caught on a root, twisting until I heard an audiblecrack. A hot scream ripped through my lungs, but still I kept rolling. Rocks battered my body. Pain radiated through me as I finally came to a halt at the bottom of the hill. Pushing myself up, blood poured from my face, staining the pristine snow below. I dragged my leg, trying to keep moving.

The cold tip of sharp steel ripped through my back, and my breath turned to a wheeze. I cried in pain.

The birds silenced.

I pulled in a ragged breath. My lungs filled with blood and the gash in my back ripped anew. Sinking to my knees, I prayed Ammena would take me, but I knew I wouldn’t be that lucky.

My vision tunneled. The sweet, earthy scent of the river wafted in the air.

“I told you not to run,” Baylis chided me.

Another heavier pair of footsteps approached.

“Pick her up. Erissa is not going to be happy,” Baylis snapped.

“I’m still going to get my coin, right?” Alwin asked, scooping me up. My broken body lay limp in his massive arms.

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