Seven Blades in Black by Sykes Sam

Author:Sykes, Sam [Sykes, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Adult
ISBN: 9780316363457
Google: h_BLDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B079RCCRM6
Goodreads: 40389431
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2019-04-09T06:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-THREE

VIGIL

When you wake up and find yourself tied up and blindfolded, you’ve either had a really bad night or you’re about to have a really good one.

And if you’ve been paying attention, you know by now that I don’t have good nights.

There’s an animal panic that comes, a desire to thrash and snarl and spit as though any of that could break you free. And that panic shook me awake, my heart hammering against my ribs and my breath coming swift and ragged. But—not to brag—I’d done this enough to know that panic only robs you of the strength and wit you need to escape. I managed to fight it down.

Turns out it’s a lot easier when you can’t move.

Feeling returned to me slowly. Warmth crawled back into my muscles, fresh aches and pains greeting me. And none were keener than the bite of hemp securing my wrists behind my back and the choke of cloth wrapped around my eyes. But the gravel rubbing against my side as I tried to move was definitely trying its damnedest.

Still in the tunnel, I thought, drawing in a lungful of cold, still air. As feeling returned to my legs, I managed to find my way to my knees. I’m still in the tunnel.

Everything else that happened was a blur oozing out of my brain that felt like it had been baking in an oven for the past hour. I remembered red: red skies, red clouds, red light. I remembered collapsing, unable to move. I remembered eyes staring down at me, a broad grin and…

“Alive.”

I froze. As if Taltho’s voice were ice water poured into my veins. And once I did, I could feel him, even if I couldn’t see him. I could feel his just-too-dark presence and his bloodshot eyes on me. His voice crawled across my scars.

“Lucky.”

“A Mendmage doesn’t need luck. This was skill, you creepy fuck.”

Galta’s voice was a slight relief to hear, if only because her voice made me want to cut my ears off rather than pour acid into them like Taltho’s did. I heard her approach, her boots heavy and clicking on the stone floor, her voice echoing off the walls.

“Skill and stupidity, anyway. For a minute there, I thought she wasn’t going to fall for it. But then she did and pow!” Her laugh was a brick hurled through a window. “You saw that, right? Tell me you saw it.”

“Impressive.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” I felt her grin twist on her face like it was a knife in my flesh. “I never thought I’d see you again, Sal, after that night, let alone see you like this.” I felt the hard toe of her boot nudge me in the side. “I read stories about you, you know. Sal the fucking Cacophony, killing Vagrants and wrecking shit, just like the old days.”

She let out a low and ugly hum that turned into a lower and uglier laugh.

“Funny, though. They all talked about how much of a hard-ass you were. Not a damn one ever mentioned you on your knees.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.