Page 53 of Veil of Blood and Bone

He worries for her.

Does he not remember? I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. It’s my soul’s design.

The realization hits with a slice through my head, and I meet Helene’s gaze and then swoop higher. Any memory I might have tapped returns to oblivion, confusion knitting me together and swallowing me whole.

Kari. Helene. A curse...

She swings again and strikes the troll on the side of the knee with my dagger. Brave, feckless. Fearless. The adrenaline rush of the battle eats away at her hesitation.

Jaw clacking, I push myself lower, diving at the troll again and sending magic out with the next sweep of my talons. A coppery stench fills the air, his stubbled face and pock-marked chin speckled with broken blood vessels.

Below, Helene lets out a sound like a shaky laugh and draws the blade again.

I peck at the troll’s eyes until one of them pops, a sure method to disorient the beast. It clutches its face with another belch of hot breath, a yell that bristles my feathers. I drop to the road and shift back to my human form, gritting my teeth and pulling another knife from my boot.

Helene is breathing hard, and the thud of her pounding heart matches my own. They hammer against our ribcages, frantic, terrible.

She attacks prior to my recovery from the mad realization: I’ve seen her like this before. I lift my head, fear slamming into me, the memory livid and wild.

The tip of the knife slices the sinew at the back of the troll’s ankle, and it screams.

I reach forward, jerking her out of the way with enough force to knock the air from her lungs when her spine collides with my chest. Blood spurts from the new wound and the creature reacts, falling and kicking out with its good leg.

Helene pulls tight to me. I release her, spitting my fear into the flakes of ice on the breeze, memorizing how she swipes blood from her face.

“You want to come for me? You want to scare my sister? Then fucking come and get it,” she yells to him, her voice strangled. Raging.

We fight alongside each other, cutting and clipping, tearing through muscle until the troll is a patchwork of wounds. Animal instinct powers both of us.

Whether she’s been taught to dread the world or not, she goes up against this brute with my weapon, and respect flows through my veins.

My blood pulses, cheeks so cold they’re hot. We move together in tandem, and I hardly remember we have an audience nearby.

My entire life is a blur of fighting and gore and scars. I part my lips on a breath, and we press forward to defeat this agent of Kari. Finally it roars but can’t rise again. Swallowing hard, I go for the killing blow.

It’s an act.

I realize too late the duplicity. I manage to step in front of Helene before the troll knocks into my chest and sends me flying, crashing into the side of the nearest building, nothing more than a stone kicked down the road. The gale picks up and howls when I make contact..

Brick cushions my impact, skull cracking, black and white spots dancing across my vision.

Helene is screaming. It cuts through the bite of the wind and terrorizes my heart. I shake my head, pushing onto my knees amid the pile of bricks. She’s fine. She’s ashen-faced and furious and sound because she’s not the one in trouble.

Her sister is.

Audra’s been hit with something, and I can’t help her until the troll has been dealt with. Caught in the middle, I glance between them, at my limit. The choice is simple.

I head for the beast, awareness deepening.

Magic surging.

Because we’re not alone, and the shadows are not the only things joining us in this fight. Another ancient presence has made itself known, something reeking of centuries, and a starvation more profound than mine.

Chapter 11

Nicholas

Humans are content to ignore and excuse anything out of the ordinary. Maybe this place works on them. Maybe not.