The Darkness Within Karas by Jane Shand

Author:Jane Shand
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jane Shand

Chapter Ten

A NOISE startled Rosa awake and she sat up, heart juddering. She went to the window and looked down into the street. The street was in darkness. Only a faint silvery light from the moon gave any illumination, but something was moving. Figures were running along the street. Men in dark clothing. A glint in the dark showed bared metal. Did these men have weapons? Thieves or worse, no doubt. Rosa clenched her jaw. Were there any decent people in this city? She shook her head. That wasn’t fair. Garthwin was decent as were the Fiscella family and Signor Rossi. Valetta had tried to help her too. She had seen both sides of the city in her short time here. She supposed even Virona had a criminal element. There was just less opportunity there and less wealth to attract the thieves.

A crash from directly below had her flinching away from the window. Shouts and yells and the sound of metal on metal echoed up from the ground floor. Those men had broken into the building. Rosa’s chest filled with dread. What would they do if they found her? She scanned the room wildly, but there was nowhere to hide. She eased towards the ewer and bowl. The ewer was quite heavy. Maybe if she hit the first person into the room over the head, she could use her magic to flee past the others in the confusion? They surely wouldn’t know how many girls to expect? What were they after? Rosa strained to hear over the noise of her heart thundering in her ears. Thuds and yells and scrapes moved around the house below. Then silence fell. It was almost worse than the clashes and thuds of fighting. At least she knew what was happening and where. Footsteps creaked on the stairs.

“Check the rooms that end. I’ll do this end.” A soft, masculine voice. It didn’t sound like a murderous cutthroat. Though what did they sound like anyway? Rosa’s breath was coming in panicked gasps, and she took hold of herself with a sneer. What are you? Some kind of snivelling coward? Get a grip!

Rosa gripped the ewer tightly and trod softly to stand behind where the door would open. She waited, keeping her breath shallow and quiet as the steps ceased just outside the door. A rattle of keys and then the lock clicked. The door swung open, and a man stepped into the room. He looked around. Before he could look behind him, or turn around to leave, Rosa swung the ewer at his head. It hit with a thud. The man grunted and collapsed in a heap. Rosa stared at him, eyes wide. Was he dead? He moaned and relief swept through her, followed by a surge of adrenaline as the man at the other end of the corridor called out.

“You okay?”

Rosa took a deep breath and drew her magic around her. Then she stepped over the prone man with a wince and slipped out the door.

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