Sahara's Ransom by Shannon Blake

Author:Shannon Blake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Areion Media, LLC

TWENTY-FOUR

Jared came out of the vision shaking. He was on his hands and knees on the plush, richly woven rug that covered the floor of his sitting room. The heavy scent of spice hung in the air like a cloud, and the light of a solitary lamp threw dark shadows against the wall.

"What's happening to me?" Jared groaned, pressing his forehead into his hands. "I hurt her. Somehow. I hurt her...God, what have I done? What am I doing?"

He crept forward into the circle of light and huddled there, his knees drawn up under his chin. The vision of her hanging there, one hand gripping the metal rung of the ladder, tears sliding down her cheeks, made his breath catch in his throat. But already the darkness was swarming over it, twisting it, distorting it. Her face was the first thing to go...her smile vanishing in shadow. Jared's breath came ragged, tears spilling over. He stretched out a hand, wanting to hold her, to catch her. But something went wrong.

She lost her grip, and he never heard her scream.

"No!" he cried. "Sahara! No!" A flood of curses broke through his tears, and he slammed his fists into the floor. The wooden planks splintered with a sickening crack.

"You really should try not to break the floor like that," came an oily voice from just behind him.

Jared jumped to his feet and spun, hands balled into fists. "Don't sneak up on me, Azimir," he growled. "One of these days, it will be the death of you."

Azimir speared a pointed glance in the direction of the floor. "This is the third time this week that I've had to repair something in your chambers," he said.

Jared caught him by the jacket, dragging his face just inches from his own. "Where's your assassin, Azimir? Left him behind this time?"

Azimir's face paled, and Jared felt a surge of triumph. "So who will save you? Who will even hear you scream?"

A stunning blow to the back of his head made him drop Azimir and fall to his knees with a grunt. Azimir backed away from him, coughing and rubbing his throat.

"I didn't leave him behind. I never leave him behind."

Jared glanced over his shoulder. Rafe stood there, a jagged, heavy-handled knife in his hand. A stab of sorrow cut through the darkness in Jared's mind. Rafe's eyes were utterly blank, his motions stiff and mechanical. He would kill Jared without a second thought. Without pity. And without regret.

"Rafe," Jared whispered. "Look at me."

His grief threatened to overwhelm him, and for a moment he hung there, suspended above the floodtide of his wrath like a raindrop trembling on a leaf's edge. His eyes swung toward Azimir, who was standing with his arms folded across his chest.

"What?" said Azimir with a short bark of laughter. "You will not harm me. You dare not lift your finger. But I will show you where you can loose your fury."

Jared lost his hold and slipped once more into the abyss. Each time he clawed his way up again, but each fall into darkness carried him further and further down.

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