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CHAPTER ONE

One swift act

I had thought that was all it would take

A knife in the gut

A firood measure

But as Venda sed me up, as the misshapen walls and hundreds of curious faces closed in, as I heard the clatter of chains and the bridge lowering behindme off from the rest of the world, I knew my steps had to be certain

Flawless

It was going to take otiated Lies would have to be told Confidences gained Ugly lines crossed All of it patiently woven together, and patience wasn’tsuit

But first, , I had to find a way tomy chest Find my breath Appear calm Fear was the blood scent for wolves The curious inched closer, peering at me with half-open mouths that revealed rotten teeth Were they a?

And there was the jingle of skulls The gathering rattle of dry bones rippled through the crowd as they jockeyed to get a better look, strings of s from their belts as they pressed forward to see me And to see Rafe

I knealked shackled somewhere behind me at the end of the caravan, prisoners, both of us—and Venda didn’t take prisoners At least they never had before We were more than a curiosity We were the enemy they had never seen And that was exactly what they were to me

We walked past endless jutting turrets, layers of twisted stone walls blackened with soot and age, slithering like a filthy living beast, a city built of ruin and whim The roar of the river faded behind me

I’ll get us both out of this

Rafe had to be questioning his promise to me now

We passed through another set offor us as if our arrival was anticipated Our caravan grew sroups of soldiers veered in different directions now that they were ho paths shadowed by tall walls The chievdar led what reled in front of me as alked into the belly of the city Was Rafe still somewhere behind me, or had they taken him down one of those miserable alleyways?

Kaden swung down from his horse and walked beside me “We’re almost there”

A wave of nausea hit me Walther’s dead, I re more they could take from me Except Rafe I had“Where is there?” I tried to ask calmly, but my words tripped out hoarse and uneven

“We’re going to the Sanctum Our version of court Where the leaders meet”