Her keen ears picked up his elevated breathing. She placed her tiny hand on his biceps and felt the muscle flex dangerously beneath the layers of clothing.
“The man who killed all those women,” he said.
“How...” He started trembling, and she squeezed his arm. “How do you know it’s him?”
“At the end of the alley. I can see him. So much blood... And he’s...” He swallowed heavily and made a sound akin to a low growl.
“He’s... what?”
“He’s elbows deep in her innards.”
Seraphina covered her mouth with her hand. And bit hard into the flesh of her palm.
Chapter Nineteen
Tonight, as it turned out, was a time of no dwellings and no questions.
If she directed her senses toward the end of the alley, Seraphina could hear faint sounds of squelching and grunting, and smell the copper of fresh blood carried by the wind. She stood frozen just inside the shop’s doorway, where Rune had retreated and pulled the door shut behind them. The darkness pressed in around her, and she had to focus hard to place the killer and his victim in space; it was more like using her imagination than anything. The relic sharpened her senses to a degree that surpassed even normal sight, allowing her to perceive the wet sounds of tearing flesh and the ragged breathing of a man bent over his work.
It was almost impossible to process… That a human being could do that to another human being.
“We must do something,” she and Rune said at the same time.
A rush of anger vibrated through her body. Seraphina had never witnessed such savagery. What had happened to her two years ago had been savage, but at least she had survived, she was here, and she had another chance at life no matter how wretched it may be. The woman lying on the ground as she was being torn to shreds was gone, and the unfairness of it made something hot and terrible rise in Seraphina’s chest. The barbarity of a man taking the lives of so many women for his sick pleasure made her boil, and she felt drops of sweat forming at her nape despite the frigid air.
“I saw a door at the back of the shop,” Rune said. “I can go through there. If we walk out the front door, he will see us and flee before we get to him.”
Seraphina turned toward his shadow.
“The back door most likely opens into an inner courtyard. There will be no way out.”
“I will climb on the roof and drop down to the other alley.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Not to me.”
She remembered him telling her how he’d scaled the city wall. If he’d managed that feat, then he could climb onto a low roof.
“Count to one hundred,” Rune said. “That will give me enough time to climb the roof and get back down, then find my way to the end of the alley. When you walk out of the shop, he will be cornered between us, blocked at both ends with no escape.”
“A good plan. I’ll let him see I’m blind and not a threat. That should distract him.”
Rune brushed her cheek with the back of his hand, the touch light and feathery.
“Be careful. Don’t put yourself in danger.”
“You too.”
He crossed the shop, and she heard the back door open and close. Seraphina began counting in her head, her hand flexing on the walking stick. She felt ready, her body coiled and prepared for what was coming, but she was also apprehensive, because something could go wrong. The killer was dangerous. Even though she was certain that wouldn’t be a problem for Rune, and she was also capable of taking him down if need be – especially now that she had two daggers – she was more concerned about him escaping and killing another woman. No matter what happened, she and Rune had to stop him tonight.
When she whispered “one hundred” under her breath, she stepped out into the alley. The cold air hit her face, and with it came the overwhelming smell of blood and opened bowels, so strong she almost gagged. She tapped her walking stick in front of her, and she could sense the man’s shadow looking up at her from where he crouched over his victim.
“Stop right there. Not another step.”
Seraphina halted, her body swaying slightly as if uncertain of her footing.
“Who is there? I’m sorry, sir. I cannot see you. I’m blind.”
