Page 124 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

“Oooh, she’s got spirit.” He laughed. “Or what?”

“Death.”

The man smiled, but she only saw his reaction for a couple seconds, as the room soon turned dark. The candle they had brought faded, and even the light from the moon disappeared. All light, all life was being sucked out of that place—slowly. The man screamed and screamed.

“Look, he’s got spirit,” she mocked.

Yes, that’s it. Kill them all. Kill everyone. A voice in her head. Comforting. Empowering. Familiar. She could kill everyone. She should. Kill all the Ironhold invaders. It would feel so good. It was just a matter of relaxing, letting go, letting that power flow.

Then an image came to her: her parents. If she killed everyone, they would die. Not only them, but also Siena, all the cooks, the guards, the castle workers’ children.

And so what? the voice said.

Are you kidding me?she replied, still in her head.

The light from the window again illuminated the room. There was a dry branch in front of her. Not a branch. She stifled a cry begging to come out of her throat. It was the man’s corpse, dried. She pushed him and got up, trembling.

The other man was crouching, eyes closed, hands covering his ears, his entire body trembling, which meant he was very much alive. Leah was at once relieved and afraid. She didn’t want to kill anyone else, but she couldn’t let this man tell anyone what he’d seen. That weird death thing was gone. It didn’t feel like a power she could use, but rather like something that took control of her. And now it was gone.

Leah had to act fast, as the dead man’s screams would have attracted attention.

Out of options, she dashed out of the room, hoping to get to a secret passage before anyone caught her.

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