Storm of the Seven Sins by Emily Colin

Author:Emily Colin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781961469068
Publisher: Emily Colin

Chapter 25

Ari

“What do you want?” the bird croaks, its avid, greedy gaze fixed on my face.

I knew it. “Answers,” I demand, leaning into the blade.

Ronan gives a snort of disbelief, but I pay him no mind. Next to me, Kilían’s silent and still, his attention focused on the raven with the cold ferocity I associate with the Lead Interrogator at his most dangerous. Any lingering animosity I have for him dissipates, replaced with fierce relief. Both of us are out of our depth here, but other than Eva, there’s no one I’d rather have by my side.

The sins-forsaken bird doesn’t comply. Instead, it caws a harsh, unnerving laugh. Sebastían, who’s knelt on my other side, begins to growl, so loudly the vibration shakes the earth beneath us. I swear, if he shifts and eats this damn bird before I get my answers, I’ll pull my blade out of the raven’s wing and sink it into his heart.

I elbow him in the ribs, a stop-gap measure. “Shut up. I need to listen.”

By a miracle, he complies, the growl breaking off. “I smell anise,” he says. “And roses. This is that red-robed bitch’s work, I’d stake my House on it.”

I know which one he means. The one who stood at the apex of the phalanx; the leader. It confirms what I suspected from the moment that damned flock of birds descended on us, flying from the direction of Vik. Mocking us.

“Stop laughing,” I tell the raven. “Or…” I lean into the blade, feeling a dim sense of guilt for hurting an animal. After all, it didn’t ask to be possessed this way. But I would do far worse, if it meant finding a clue that would lead me to Eva.

The bird gives a squawk of pain, and the pool of blood seeping from beneath it widens. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about magic, it’s that unless the relationship is consensual, whoever’s utilizing it pays a cost. I’d wager the pain the raven feels is echoed by the Mage who’s possessing it. Which is something, at long-godsdamned-last, that I can use.

Its head jerks, its gaze fixing over my shoulder. I turn and look, but there’s nothing behind me but Jaxon, Ronan, Layla, and the guards.

“Is this what you want to know?” the bird says, its voice half-scorn, half-agony. “Look, then.”

The world around me—gray sky, drifting snow, mountain crags—falls away with an alarming sense of vertigo. Then I am inside the bird somehow, seeing through its eyes. I see an empty, half-built room, scattered with debris. A window, bits of glass clinging to its edges. And then, sitting on the floor, her arms bound behind her and her ankles tied together, I see Eva.

One of her cheeks is bruised, her black hair stuck to the other one with maybe sweat or maybe blood. Her head droops, as if controlling it is an effort. She isn’t straining against her bonds, trying to get away; she’s sagging in them.

Those bastards still have her drugged.

Rage whips through me, and I speak not to the accursed bird but to the girl I love.

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.