Page 1 of Tales of a Deadly Devotion
Chapter One
Kat
Chapter Two
Alma
I’ll keep you safe. Always.
I’d told many lies, but that one haunted me most of all, the guilt gnawing ruthlessly at my bones, right down to the marrow.
I’d told her she could do anything.
I’d lied.
Lying, sinful bitch.
How viciously those words hissed through my mind now, making me flinch as my aching fingers dug into my temples, clawed nails biting into my flesh. Yet the pain was no match for the agony tearing at my chest. Terror like iron bars closing around me as I watched the late afternoon sun slip across Kat’s prone form, deathly still amongst the dark covers of Blackthorn’s bed. The blue tinge to her chapped lips, parted so the barest rattle of breath could escape. Too weak. Too slow.
He’s here. She’d screamed those words, nails digging deep into my forearms until I smelt blood. Her skin burning, the ruthlessness of her flame scorching my wrists with its wildness. She’d screamed my name. Then Emrys’s in desperation, as she thrashed and sobbed helplessly.
Magic had a price, I knew that, but I’d never been prepared to witness her pay it. Not like this. Reliving every horroralone, as she begged for her death. As galmoth venom ran through her blood. Torturing her into madness.
Please.That word had crawled up her throat the most. The one I hated more than any other.
Maybe this was my final punishment, for all I’d done. For all the secrets and lies. To lose her.
My only friend. The only love I’d known.
Another tremor moved through my fingers. The sharp sting of scales forming as I balled my hands into fists, rubbing raw knuckles against the coarse fabric of my skirts.
She hadn’t moved in days. Not even when useless healing incantations were cast or as I ran damp cotton across her dry lips.
I’ll keep you safe.The lie bowed me forward over my knees, a muffled sob threatening to leave my lips, but I swallowed it down, refusing to break. To accept the closeness of her death.
‘Alma?’ The soft voice lurched me around to see William standing at the foot of the bed. The fire behind him had been freshly stoked, drenching his worried face in warm light, making his obsidian horns appear tipped with gold.
‘William. I didn’t hear you come in.’ I wiped at my cheeks, ignoring the rough texture at my jaw.
‘It’s all right.’ He smiled, a smudge of dirt on his cheek. The potent smell of soil, mint tea and fresh bread greeted my oversensitive nose at his presence. ‘You should get something to eat and some fresh air.’
‘I—’ I shook my head, the mere motion making my neck hurt. ‘I had something earlier.’
My tired eyes fell back to Kat, hoping she’d react to our voices, but there was nothing.
‘Alma,’ William coaxed gently, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder. I tried not to flinch at the contact. An old habit as my eyes lifted to meet his. ‘That was yesterday.’
A horrid sinking dread made bile burn the back of my throat. Eyes darting to the window, to another darkening grey sky, bruised with an oncoming storm.
I hadn’t noticed.
I’d lost another day and I hadn’t noticed.
‘I’ll stay with her,’ William offered quickly, sensing my distress as he held up the book from beneath his arm like a small trophy. Golden script I couldn’t understand glinted in the firelight. ‘I thought she’d like the history of Greyland herbs.’
His warm grin didn’t touch the sadness haunting his eyes. He’d been reading to her. Ancient plants and herbs. Healing tonics and root remedies. I didn’t understand at first, but then I watched the relief it gave him. Hope I couldn’t find for myself.
That she was still here. That she was listening.
