She wondered what he was counting. The trees? The blades of grass between himself and his friends? It didn’t matter.
“Kill me,” Brela hissed, trying to antagonize Ripley. At least death at the water-wielder’s hands would be faster than whatever torture she’d face for being a Veil Worshipper. “Kill me, Ripley, just like I killed your brother. Win the prize of killing the Night Terror.”
Valkip paled, but he still didn’t want to believe it. Didn’t want to accept the truth of why she begged for death.
“Shut up,” Ripley growled back.
“Let the lady go,” the other man in blue said, his legs shifting as he attempted to move wider; to surround Ripley.
“Don’t move!” Ripley shouted, his hands tensing. The hilt of Brela’s knife, still stuck in Ripley’s wrist, brushed against the back of her hands.
Valkip saw it too. His eyes were back to hers, and she could read the order in his look.Beggingher to create the distance he needed to use his magic and not hurt her.
She was still dead, either way, and this gamble was dangerous. At least this would give her a few more seconds and a small chance at escape.
Brela locked eyes with Valkip as she mouthed,I’m sorry.
Her hands clasped around Ripley’s arm and yanked it into her body. The hilt of her knife jammed into her chest, but the force shoved the blade clean through his wrist. He screamed, dropping the weapon that was against her throat, staggering back as she kicked and dove away, drawing her last knife.
For a moment, everyone froze. Breaths held.
Valkip’s wide eyes locked on her collarbone. The man in blue saw the same thing.
Ripley and Lord Remont only saw Brela ready to fling her blade, her eyes locked on Valkip.
Their magic was fast.
Golden shield and icy water collided. Cracking. Spraying. The force knocked her off her feet. She had no idea if her knife was thrown true to her aim, only that pain burst through her spine and jolted through the base of her neck. The forest spun above her, deep blue sky and green trees blurring as she faded in and out of consciousness.
But one image was clear.
Valkip standing over her, eyes locked on her collarbone and the Veil shard that pulsed faster than her heart. Behind his glare, she saw the look of betrayal, but there was something worse in his eyes.
Disgust. Fury.
There was no breaking his chain.
She should have shoved that last knife through her heart and ended it quickly. At least Elias and Farrah would have had closure when they heard about a Veil Worshipper dying. They weren’t stupid enough to try to find her, but now they’d always wonder what happened to her. Why she never returned to her family.
Brela accepted the blackness the next time it clouded her vision.
* * *
Elias wrappedhis hand around Farrah’s mouth to muffle her gasp of horror. Somehow the one that clenched in his lungs remained silent as they watched the scene settle.
Ripley had limped into the trees and disappeared, yet none of the men seemed interested in chasing him.
No, of course they wouldn’t.
Not when the Night Terror was unconscious at their feet, a Veil shard bloodied but shining black and purple against her collarbone.
He didn’t want to believe the rumors that had spread through Averlyn that afternoon. Brela had never been discovered, yet those whispers said something different. The brothers knew the identity of the assassin, and they were going to make the Night Terror pay. Tonight.
That’s the only reason they followed Warley and Ripley through the trees. Lost them for a time until Brela had screamed deep in the forest. By the time they arrived, it was too late to interfere.
Elias swallowed, staying crouched behind the fallen tree with Farrah frozen in his arms. Watching. Trying to figure out why Brela didn’t use her illusion magic to hide the shard. Trying to fight the panic that she had asked for death from Ripley. Confused that she had chosen to throw her last knife when she swore that if she was ever trapped, she’d use her last blade to end her life over being taken.
It was the only way to keep her from being brutalized and tortured. She’d made Elias and Farrah promise to never interfere if she was ever caught, or to kill her first as long as they could get away safely, but that was easier to agree to before they had grown close. Before they had loved so deeply. Before they had slept in the same bed for years, holding onto their real family.
