Chapters (42)
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT PAGE
- DEDICATION PAGE
- CONTENTS
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I got down on hands and knees and crawled toward the collapsed section. Dusty light was filtering up from the lower level, revealing the smoky swirls of incense floating and breaking apart just above the hole. I inched forward on my belly, not wanting to fall through the floor and land right in the middle of them. Finally, I hooked my fingers over the edge and looked down, squinting through the haze and trying not to cough as I inhaled the sickly sweet fumes.
About fifteen feet below me, through the crisscross of splintered floorboards, I could see one end of another altar. Pots of incense at the corners. A group of Mazikin massed, leaning over a struggling figure tied to the table. I could see his chest and shoulders straining against the ropes. And when one of the Mazikin dropped to her knees to stir the incense, their victim’s face was revealed.
Malachi.
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-FIVE
PARALYZED BY DISBELIEF AND horror, I stared down at the boy I loved, unable to fathom how they could have caught him. He was so strong, so invulnerable, so unstoppable. But now he’d been stripped to the waist. His armor had been tossed to the floor next to the table. Blood coated one shoulder and flowed from a wound in his neck, a clean cut rather than a bite mark. His jaw was ridged, and his eyes were clamped shut as he fought to free himself from the ropes; his wrists were torn and raw from his efforts.
Several of them were touching him, running their hands over his body, exploring their prize. One of the Mazikin, a young woman standing near his shoulder, slid her fingers along his chest. She bent to lick his cheek, her pink tongue seeking his skin. His eyes flew open as he jerked his face away.
And that’s when he saw me. His chest heaved, and his eyes grew wide. In them I saw too many things to name. Love. Regret. Fear. And pleading. It was a look I’d never seen before, and my throat closed as I translated it. He knew what was about to happen to him, and he didn’t want me to watch.
It jolted me out of my paralysis. My fingers clenched around the knife as fiery rage swept through me, more powerful than anything I’d ever felt before, disintegrating any terror or hesitation, sending wave after wave of determination and strength through my body.
Malachi was going to get his wish. I had no intention of watching. I was going to kill. Them. All.