I turned and took in her tearstained face. “He’s dead, Khouri.”
She pressed her hands against her cheeks, and her chin quivered. Tears welled from beneath her closed eyelids and ran freely down her bruised cheeks.
The man had been a monster, but he was still her father. I gave her a moment.
When her eyes opened, they were clearer. Less haunted. “Good.” Her voice was barely a whisper but fierce. “I’m glad he’s dead.”
“Haven?” Grandmother spoke from just inside the door. Her gaze caught on the dead man, and her face tensed, even as her wrinkled cheeks paled.
“He threw death magic at me.” I swallowed past a sudden lump in my throat. “It rebounded.”
She pressed her open palms over her heart.
Death magic was rare and highly prized. The sudden flare in Grimswood would not go unnoticed. The guard would be arriving soon. We both knew it.
“It’s Wolgen Smit.”
The remaining color leached from Grandmother’s face, and she fumbled for the doorframe to hold herself steady.
“This is Khouri,” I told her. “Get her out of here.”
Grandmother’s gaze shifted to the girl. She took in thebruises and the torn clothes and the blood. “Who was he to you?”
“My father.”
Grandmother gave one brief, pained nod. “We’d better do as Haven says. Come with me.”
“But—”
“Khouri, we don’t have much time.” I struggled to produce an encouraging smile. “You need to go with her.” Now.
Grandmother held out a hand marked by veins and age spots and decades of caring for others. “Come with me, dear. We’ll keep you safe.”
Khouri stumbled to her.
Even as Grandmother wrapped her arm around Khouri’s narrow shoulders, she cast a look my way—pain, deep and sharp, darkened her eyes, and the sight nearly stole the breath from my lungs. We both knew what this meant.
Grandmother deserved better than this. She’d spent her life caring for others, only to see her daughter, my mother, dragged into an endless war. Now there was every chance I’d share my mother’s fate. I swallowed the emotion clogging my throat. “I’m so sorry. I love you.”
Her chin wobbled. Grandmother was a pillar of strength. She persevered through heartache and want and unspeakable horrors. She never faltered. Never. That tiny wobble told me more than I wanted to know. She didn’t expect me to survive this. “I love you more.”
I breathed past the need to cry and nodded toward Khouri. “Keep her safe.”
Grandmother took the girl’s hand. “Grim is the wood.”
I choked back a sob, somehow managing a watery reply. “But strong are the roots.”
A tear tracked down Grandmother’s cheek, and then she and Khouri disappeared into the hallway.
I sank onto the couch, suddenly too exhausted to stand. Silence pressed in on me, leaving me with my thoughts. One thought. Life as I knew it had ended.
Chapter
Two
HAVEN
Ten minutes. That was how long it took the guard to arrive. Ten minutes to gather my thoughts and courage. Ten minutes to say goodbye to my old life. Ten minutes before four enormous men crowded our small parlor, taking every bit of space and electrifying the air with male dominance.
