Brom studies us just as I hear a horse whiny in the distance.
Evengi whirls at the sound but Brom keeps his gaze locked on me. “The still beating heart of a living necromancer. It’s always been a trap, Natasya, Ivan. I only hope that you find some way to outwit them. Because I could not.”
Chapter Twenty
Natasya
“Idon’t want to witness what they will force me to do next,” Brom says, his tone broken. I blink as he begins fading away, the tree behind him becoming clearer and clearer till I can’t even tell if he is still here.
“I’m sorry,” his voice comes again, faint like a whisper.
“Brom wait!” I cry, but he is already gone.
I have so many more questions to ask, apologies to say, explanations to give. But he’s gone.
The truth is, he’s been gone for a while, I just didn’t want to consider it. It was easier to blame Evengi because at least I doubted Evengi would have killed him. But that doesn’t change the grim truth that Brom the Bones has been dead all along.
I raise my hand to cover the side of my face as I draw in deep panicked breaths as I stare at the pile of leaves where Brom used to be. Suddenly, someone grips my arms and yanks me around. Hard enough to jolt me back to the present moment. I find myself staring into Evengi’s wide eyes. “My name is not Evengi Ichabod. My name is Ivan Fyodorov.”
“Fyodorov?” I whisper the name as faintly in the back of my mind it rings with familiarity. I’ve heard that name before.
He pushes me away from him. “If I don’t make it, find my family and tell them I love them.”
I stumble back in surprise, nearly tripping over the hem of my skirt as I watch a large black horse break through the trees. Now that I get a look at it, I recognize it as Brom’s steed. Only its eyes have a strange and unnatural glow to them.
My eyes travel up the horse to its headless rider. As I see it up close, I see Brom’s tunic, the neckline stained with dried blood. The rider carries a sword that must have been buried with the necromancers. An ancient blade but still sharp enough to have taken off his head.
My eyes flick down to his belt and the leather-bound book strapped to it. Evengi wraps his arms around me and throws us back as the horse rushes forward. The sword swings through the air, only just missing Evengi’s neck
We both hit the ground, but I barely have the chance to catch my breath before Evengi is scrambling off me and yanking me to my feet. He shoves me to my feet.
“Run, Natasya, it’s your heart they want.”
“What about you?” I gasp out. My mind seems sluggish with everything happening. I want to slap myself and focus, but I can’t seem to jar myself out of the stupor of learning that Brom is dead.
He smirks at me as he picks up a large branch as the horse prances in a circle to come back around. He swings it around likeit’s a blade, and it’s evident that he has a fair bit of training. “I’ll hold it off while you get away.”
I stumble back several steps as Evengi raises the stick to block the next swing of the horseman then the rush of clarity comes over me. He’s giving me a chance to get away and I’m squandering that opportunity in my dazed confusion.
I whirl on my heel and hike up my skirts as I take off through the woods. I need to get back to my father, he will know how to proceed and how to deal with this threat of necromancers. He will have the men available to kill them all over again. Then we can take Brom’s spellbook, and my mission here in Sunder Hollow will be complete.
And I’ll just have to live with the humiliation that my sister was able to accomplish her task of gaining a spellbook, but I could not without needing help.
I hate admitting defeat, but even I am not mad enough to face off against a hundred necromancers.
But Evengi is…
I shake my head at that thought. Evengi just needs to survive until I get help. He’s uniquely suited for it, perhaps he can reason with the ghosts.
“If you take one more step, I will command my thrall to kill him.”
I skid to a stop, slipping on wet leaves as I turn my head to see a transparent figure standing only a short distance away. He has a long black cloak with the hood pulled far over his face, hiding most of his features from view but I can see enough to make out his slimy eel of a smile. And I happen to be an expert on eels.
“And something tells me you don’t want that,” he continues.
I narrow my eyes as I study the ghost. There’s a possibility that he is bluffing. Even if he isn’t I should keep going. I’m bolstered by the fact that it’s actually what Evengi would want.
He would do anything to keep the necromancers from winning, even if it means saving my life. But there’s a niggling truth telling me that isn’t his reason for saving me. After all, if he truly wanted to foil their plans, all it would take is killing me.
