First Blood by K Gorman

Author:K Gorman [Gorman, K]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Noctem Drift Media
Published: 2020-05-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Traitor.

Nales was a traitor.

The forest raced by, a rush of blues and grays, leaves and branches slapping at her knees and shoulders. She hardly felt the raw gasp of her breath. Her mind hung in a cloud of panic, anger, and shaking, primal fear, as if the entire world had narrowed into a tunnel in her head. Raging. Fuming.

Screaming.

Gods, what the fuck had just happened? Nales had spoken to that demon, and then—

What in the ten unholy hells had that kiss on her head been? Not sexual, that was for sure, but more a promise—or perhaps a farewell?

Her heart stopped.

Had he been saying goodbye?

No, no, he’d definitely told her to come find him. If she could read through his words correctly. Had he been play-acting? Gods, she wished she knew what was going through his mind.

No. He’s just like the rest of his family—an ambitious, self-centered prick. He is a traitor.

A branch snagged on her broken elbow. She screamed as pain smashed through her, ringing thought her flesh like the vibration of a gong, so hard and sudden, it blinked out her vision in a flash of white.

“Fuck!”

She swallowed her yell, her voice turning to a growl in her chest and throat. The white flash subsided into tiny darts in her vision, prickling at the edges. Pain wracked through her arm in a second wave, overlapping the initial burst like a burn of fire through the inside of her flesh.

Her breath whistled through her teeth.

She slowed to a stop and bent over, breathing hard.

Get a hold of yourself, rnari. You are in the Twelfth Circle—act like it.

The forest was quiet around her. Still. No wind breathed through the trees, and not a single leaf moved. It felt as though all of the animals had gone into hiding. Even the insects were still.

Sweat was beginning to chill against her skin. Her clothes felt hot and clammy in places, the pain in her arm slowly dulling into a searing, angry numbness.

She collected herself. Calmed the race and spin of her mind.

Nales’ voice ran through her mind again.

‘Lord Grobitzsnak is wise and benevolent. I made a deal with him. You would be wise to do the same. He has agreed to give you one week to return to the Raidt and give them news of his rising. They can either join him in life, or die and join him in death.’

She remembered the tone of it—cutting, diffident. As if it was an obvious choice.

Gods. He couldn’t possibly believe for one second that the Raidt would bow down to some demon. The Raidt never bowed. Even against the demon blade of his ancestor, their surrender and subjugation had been won in blood and a long, ruthless siege.

She took a slow, steadying breath.

Maybe he was stupid. And had, stupidly, betrayed them. Just like a Cizek.

She closed her eyes, feeling the anger burn.

I am going to kill him.

The violence of it was particularly surprising to her—hot, burning, no hesitation. Like she were already carrying out the deed.

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