Page 4 of What Whispers in the Dark
Shadows danced, unsettled. He commanded these scouts of the kingdom, silent guardians who detected Magnelis’s dark whims and those of his worshipers. Now, they stirred. Cold and compelling, they tendriled until his thoughts narrowed and sought whatever caused them to call.
Garrik.
It was not a request, but he ignored that distant, stern voice. Ignored the other, too.
His power drew him in, taking his perception to that weightless place as if he soared with winged creatures. Lingering on the edge of the Middleworld, he pressed forward into his magic, scouting the forest and what lay within it. A spirit flowing along a phantom current. Weaving through the trees, a laid-out path by his powers of darkness, invisibly passing creeping things and brushing his conscience along the bark of trees.
Something was out there. Something?—
Ghost did not wait for his order. She broke into a lope, pounding forward with Jade and Thalon, their weapons drawn, close behind.
His nerve endings ignited,burning as if sliced by shards of glass.
Ravens.
Dozens of them, along with?—
Rage—terrible, all-ending, perverse darkrage—swept over his bones.
The depths of his frigid violence caused every inch of tan flesh to blanch like wintry moonlight, branching with black veins and tightening to the point of pain. The sculpted planes of his face sharpened as his teeth reformed as razor-tips, demanding purchase on the thin flesh of a neck.
Amassed in a huddle inside the serenity of a glade … chained by their small,smallnecks …
Younglings.So many younglings.
Daggers were lodged in three Ravens’ throats well before they broke the outlining tree line. Whirring past him like a shrill battle cry—and just as exhilarating. Garrik thanked the starsJade was on his side as Ravens shouted and fumbled to their feet, knowing not which way to turn and defend themselves.
The effort was futile.
Magnelis’s elite did not know it, but they were condemned the very moment they entered that glade. The very moment they decided it wise to capturechildrenfor whatever sadistic purpose. Likely bound for sale in the Lord’s Markets of Kadamar, fated as groomed slaves—orworse, test subjects in Galdheir’s dungeons.
He should know. He was fucking one of them.
Among the chaos, Jade tore the last dagger from her thigh and embedded it between another’s eyes. “That’s four,” she growled, low and deadly.
Racing his gelding around a tree, Thalon, horrified, shouted from behind, “You’recounting?”
She threw a wicked grin over her shoulder, violent enough that Garrik’s resolve shivered. He fought the unquenchable thirst to have his powers mist every Raven from existence, and instead, compelled Smokeshadows to braid along her empty sheaths.
He would not thieve this fight from her, knowing she craved it. When it concerned Magnelis’s elite, they all did.
And with younglings involved … there was no questioning the necessity of the violence. So …let the bloodbath fucking begin.
As if she heard his thoughts, Jade’s grin turned purely reptilian as her weapons refilled and another row of sheaths wrapped around her thigh below them. Shadows misted away, but a touch of adoration in her eyes remained. She was ravenous for a taste of vengeance as she drew and launched another dagger.
A flawless hit.
“Five,” she taunted, striking that precious Guardian nerve. “Catch up.”
Frowning, Thalon retorted, “You act as if this is a contest.”
“And you actslow.”
Thalon mock-gasped, shouted, “Wounded,” and cracked his neck as her dagger flew. Another wet gurgle and hollow thump. Another Raven down. “You’re starsdamnedterrifying.” He cringed.
Jade’s snide was quick, passing the last tree and into the glade. “If you’re scared, you can wait with the younglings.” She jumped from her horse, landing in a crouch with a dagger poised in front of her chest, ready for the next kill.
Ravens now looked at them. Found the source of their friends’ death. Their faces a range of fury … and the weak ones … fear. Deliciousfear.
