Page 39 of Song of Night

Asher takes the axe and one of the daggers, and I take the other two, strapping one to my belt holster and the other inside my boot. We each take a flare, and Jaylen takes a third.

“Well, let’s be on our way, then,” she says.

She waves goodbye to her companions and we make our way back down the ravine the way we’d come, heading for the earthen stairs and the enormous tree. I take it all in as we move. I’ve never seen anything like this place. I can still hear the music, and my thoughts return again to what other wonders lie beyond this forest. For one wild moment I imagine what it might be like to turn in the opposite direction, to leave Night and never return. But my heart lies there, even as broken as it is. I can’t give up on it, even though it will likely claim my life.

As we approach the steps leading out of the ravine, I hear a clamoring of voices, as if some sort of argument has broken out. Jaylen looks over her shoulder and her expression grows grim. She gestures for us to move up the stairs ahead of her.

But as Asher climbs the first step, a voice booms out across the ravine.

“I know you!”

I turn now, too, and above me, Asher places his hand on the axe at his side. A tall mountain of a man lumbers toward us, murder in his eyes. He raises a massive arm and jabs it toward Asher.

“Lord of Night!” the man bellows. “You killed my father. You owe me a blood debt.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

ASHER

I stare at the man before me, his face twisted in rage. There’s no point asking who his father is. I have killed so many in my long life. Was it in battle, or a flare of wild magic? Or did I claim his soul to keep my hunger at bay, the unending hunger that is my dark curse?

It doesn’t matter, in the end. The result is the same.

“I’m sorry if I have taken someone you loved,” I call, my voice ringing across the gathering crowd.

“Your apology means nothing to me, demon.” The man rears his head back and spits on the ground.

“We are on a mission of utmost importance,” Jaylen calls. “I must ask that you let us pass peacefully.”

“Did you know who this man is, Jaylen?” The huge man snarls, stabbing a finger in my direction. “And you brought him here, into our home?”

A couple feet away from me, both Jaylen and Zara go rigid. I can’t endanger Zara’s sister, not after she saved us. And because I know that Zara will never, ever forgive me. After all, it’s the entire reason she plotted my death for years.

“I will pay your blood debt!” I shout, making sure all can hear. “Is it combat that you wish?”

“I want your head on a spike,” the man growls.

“Very well,” I say. “If you can take it from my shoulders, it’s yours.”

Zara turns her head slowly and stares up at me, her expression inscrutable. She’s said almost nothing to me since we joined together in the forest. If I die here, that conversation will be the last we ever had.

It makes me sick to think of it. But there’s nothing to be done for it now.

“Does everyone here bear witness to this blood challenge?” My accuser bellows.

A chorus of ayes rise throughout the ravine. They all seem just as eager to spill my blood as he is. I could sense it from the moment we’d stepped foot in this place.

“There are no rules in this combat,” he continues. “Other than the challenge ends when one of the combatants is dead.”

A small ripple of magic moves off of Zara, but I rest my hand on her shoulder and squeeze.

“I do not wish to kill you,” I call to my challenger. “Are you sure first blood is not what you seek?”

“You will not kill me.” The man smiles. “Because you will not be fighting me. You will be fighting my beast.”

A round of cheers moves across the crowd, and Jaylen turns and shoots me a look that tells me my life is forfeit. I’d figured the man wouldn’t be satisfied with first blood, but I had to offer, since taking the life of both him and his father seems unnecessarily cruel. It seems, however, that he had other plans all along.

It’s too late to back out now, and I owe this man a blood debt either way. I nod. “Let’s proceed, then.”

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