Page 20 of Wraithwound

“If you’re not begging, you’re doing something else. You don’t think I know some vendors have been sneaking irritants to those that oppose the Commander?”

“I don’t know anything about that,” the young man said.

“Show me your coin then,” the guard threatened, stretching his neck. He towered over the young man, the features of his face set in a permanent scowl.

A sense of dread coiled around Lena as she witnessed the interrogation. Corvin’s whole body had gone rigid, anger leaking off him as he watched.

The young man shifted the jar in his hands and reached for his trousers, patting down the pockets there. His face paled further still.

“Wait—”

A slow smile stretched over the guard’s face as he leaned in. “Liar,” he said again before flipping the dagger in his hand and driving the full length of the jagged steel blade into the young man’s chest.

Lena’s heart stopped dead in her chest as the young man’s eyes grew wide in shock, and he dropped the glass jar, which shattered at his feet. She turned her face, unable and unwilling to watch as another life was extinguished before her. And then the melodic clink of metal broke the stunned silence, the notes out of place amidst the death and cruelty she’d just witnessed. Lena looked up.

Coins.

As the guard withdrew the dagger from the young man’s chest, he’d ripped the fabric of his tunic causing the coins stored in his shirt pocket to fall. The air vacated her lungs, and she brought her arm up to her chest, willing herself to breathe.

The guard laughed, throwing his head back as he did. And then he bent over, wiped the blood off his dagger on the young man’s sleeve, and said into his face, “Too slow.”

The guard straightened and looked into the waiting crowd.

Corvin shook with anger as he reached behind himself, putting his arm in front of Lena as if to keep her in place. Lena wished she could help the young man, but he was already dead.

The guard glanced around at the crowd once more before sheathing his dagger and striding off, a grin still stretched across his face.

Lena stood rooted to the spot, afraid her legs would betray her nerves. Corvin turned to look at her, his face full of pain and helplessness. She knew that look well.

“They’re just— they get away with murdering people in the streets now?” Lena whispered.

“And anyone who tries to help them,” he said.

“What?”

“If you had tried to help, they would have killed you too. I thought you might—” Corvin let out a breath.

“I . . . ” Guilt twisted her stomach into knots. There was a time she would have tried to intervene, but much had changed in Enora, and Lena wasn’t that person anymore.

“Are they just going to leave him there?” she asked.

“They’ll send guards out in a few hours, but they like to leave the corpses in the street to serve as a warning.” Corvin tugged on her hand and began walking. “It’s great to see you, but make sure you leave soon, Lee. They’ve implemented quadrant sweeps. You don’t want to be here for that.”

Lena only managed to nod as Corvin led her out of the market.

Chapter

Sixteen

Sitting in the cozy home with its colorful carpets and the pops of green from the plants and herbs that occupied the shelves, Lena couldn’t help but feel out of place. She stared at the fire for a long while before she got up to get a bowl of stew. It was there that Lena finally gave herself permission to think about what might happen to her and Henry after leaving the city. She knew she had one more chance to probe the minds of the greatest healers in Reimar to see if there was anything else to be done. If not a cure, she hoped they might know a way to slow the wraith’s ability to take over.

Deep down though, she already knew what she’d learn because if it was possible to cure an infected person, or at least slow down the wraith’s progress, it probably would be common knowledge by now. She supposed there might be some other option she hadn’t considered. Lena hadn’t known about the sedatives, although she figured someone desperate enough to save their family member wouldn’t hesitate to try them.

The door swung open, and Jessa made her way inside. She looked exhausted, her face pale and drawn, something akin to a faint black shadow trailing in her wake.

Lena squeezed her eyes shut before opening them again, thinking the strange aura would clear, but it remained. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she recognized it was vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t identify what it was.

“Are you okay?” Lena asked as Jessa set her things down.