23. Raven #2
“Have they?” I narrowed my gaze. “Because I gotta tell you, I’ve spent a bit of time in your citadel, and if it’s adjustment you see when you look at them, it isn’t a healthy one. The people are scared and miserable. I imagine a hundred years of entrapment will do that to people.”
“We don’t always particularly like the lot fate drops upon us, yet we make do. But you…” The woman sneered, her gaze cold and calculating, her finger circling a point in my direction.
I reached for the scythe I kept clipped at my back, only my hand found nothing but air.
I patted down my back, my hips, and discovered no tool.
All I had at my disposal were my wits, words, and less than ideal fighting form…
and the chains holding the young soul to the chair…
if I could somehow manage to get to the chair and free the chains.
She laughed as if she understood what I was thinking—what I was looking for.
Free the chains, free the young soul.
As before, the chains shifted, slithering around the chair like a snake, loosening their hold.
I blinked and narrowed my gaze.
What moved the chains? I thought it but…
Had the child been responsible?
The woman glanced at the chains but ignored the movement. She brushed her fingers through the young girl’s hair, and I sucked back a breath at the sight of tenderness.
“I am not without heart or empathy for the citizens’ plight,” she said. “My feelings have no effect or influence on what must be done.”
For a brief moment, her eyes softened, and her hand lingered along the line of the child’s shoulder. “And unless you want to end up like the people you say are so miserable…or my sweet, little princess here…I suggest you hightail it back home to your momma. That is…”
She lifted her chin toward me, indicating my waist and hip area. “Once you are strong enough to walk your sorry bones free of the citadel walls.”
Hightail it back home to my momma?
What the…wait… Strong enough?
I glanced down at myself and stared at the blood seeping through my thin clothing, realization blinking into place. I wore some sort of sweat-soaked night shift. My bare feet felt like blocks of ice, and goose bumps covered my exposed calves.
Why had neither the atmosphere, nor my attire, not registered before?
Because…
My heart ricocheted in my chest as my ribs fought to restrict my breath. My systems failed to operate at full capacity. I’d been injured, and rather severely. I was… I was somewhere…not here. Somewhere else. Dying or slowly healing or becoming a partly dead thing, I didn’t know.
Maybe it was already too late for me. The Killian said he had stayed my collection, but he could have lied. And if he didn’t collect my soul, did that mean I would continue on in one of those states similar to Earl?
If I were currently laid up in a bed somewhere, then what was this experience unfolding before me? Was it real or part of the cursed state I was becoming?
A sensation brushed the top of my hand as it had before, but again, I saw nothing there.
I refocused on the scene in front of me. Real or not, something inside of my core burned to save the girl.
“The Killian said—”
“You met the Killian?” She stepped back, and delicious surprise colored her face. “Well, well. You must be worse off than I thought. Maybe you’re not a concern after all.”
My skin heated. Her opinion was unacceptable, and if she thought she could push me out of the way, then I would make her regret the easy dismissal.
Although, the fact that she wanted me out of the way and the reason behind that desire… Definitely something worthy of further consideration.
Maybe, just maybe, I now looked at the source of the citadel’s issues and the century-long curse. And perhaps that source feared I had the ability to put things right once more. Quite possibly the reason why she wanted to scare me out of Veritas.
Whatever the reason, I wouldn’t run so easily.
“Who are you?” I asked.
She hummed. “Who I am is unimportant, but if you feel the need to call me something, you may call me Watcher. I have been here a long time, and I have seen a great many things.”
She had unknowingly presented a challenge, and I would prove the irritating female―Watcher―wrong in every possible way. If working with the Killian might assure success, then so be it.
Watcher stood. Crossed her arms. Thrust out her hip. “If the Killian has extended you a deal, beware. He’ll use you, take all your attributes for his own, then grind you to dust and use you to fertilize the land.”
Okay. That mental image is a bit over the top.
Anger flashed through my core, blistering across my spine and burning in my skull. “Don’t pretend that the words you’re attempting to feed me are for my betterment.”
I didn’t believe for half a second that this Watcher would truly lift a pinky to help me.
Free the chains. Use them to reap this oppressor’s soul.
The words whispered through my mind, along with a spider-walked shiver along my spine, and even though I had no idea where the thought came from, I complied and focused on the child’s binds―willed them to unwind.
Albeit I was unsure why I even tried. I didn’t possess any telekinesis abilities.
The chains didn’t move.
Watcher tilted her head and strode two steps closer, puzzlement followed by surprise coloring her expression. “Hellfire anger. I wouldn’t have imagined it so, but in this moment, I can see the resemblance.”
“To whom?” I matched her stance, squaring my shoulders.
Desire burned through me to storm forward and punch the wicked harpy, but I held my ground.
“If he finds you here, he will devour you, and freedom will no longer be a part of your existence. I suggest you go before he learns about your presence.”
I hated cryptic messages. She purposely messed with me, trying to incite fear. I wouldn’t allow that to happen.
“Who?” I asked again, this time making no attempt to rein in my irritation.
Watcher faked a mocking frown. A breath later, a tiny laugh escaped her lips. “What’s wrong, little reaper? Didn’t your mommy and daddy trust you enough to tell you the big bad secret? A mere few minutes in your presence and I can see the truth of it.”
I held my expression blank, but my blood roiled. What did this female…this Watcher…know that I didn’t? Did a secret exist, or were her words nothing more than a ruse?
“Get out of Veritas!” Watcher roared.
Free the chains. Save my soul.
At the intrusive voice in my head, I snapped my gaze to the child. I envisioned myself grabbing the binds and yanking them free.
The chains spun free of the chair and flew to my awaiting grasp.
A laugh of disbelief leaped from my lips. Had I just managed the inconceivable? If so, how?
I’d think on that question later…when time permitted.
The chains flung around me like a wild whip, ready to strike. But I moved too slow, or she moved too fast.
Before I could raise a defensive hand or lash out with my newly acquired weapon, the mad female slammed her fingers into the side of my waist like a dagger.
Her nails cut into my side to the sound of my scream.
My stitches popped, and blood began to pour.