The Bone Dagger (Out of Darkness #1)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Helaina clenched her fists to the point of throbbing pain as she stood before the corpse.

How dare he?

Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead, colliding with damp strands of hair. Her fingers found their way to her lips, and she began gnawing at her nails until the copper taste of blood developed on her tongue.

He had always been a fighter. When everyone else had feared her, he had been the only one to try and help.

So many had given up on this realm, accepted the way of things.

Year after year he had persisted in finding a solution.

He had done so much to protect Keles, its people.

He had tried to protect her. It shouldn’t have ended this way.

Yet there he lay, Keles’s once-celebrated prince, surrounded by the thick, stale stench of alcohol and death.

Damn it, Adriel.

She should be on her knees wailing, waking up every patron in this decrepit inn. That was her brother lying there—the heir to the Kelesian throne.

But Helaina Ironblood didn’t have room in her heart for devastation any longer.

She doubted she was even capable of producing a single tear.

Not anymore. Not after spending her youth completely isolated, hidden away in the castle, cut off from society like a rabid animal.

Not after losing Krysta. Certainly not after tonight.

Anger, that was her comfort. If she stayed angry, if she held on to it tightly, refusing to relinquish the fury inside, then she wouldn’t fall victim to the lurking numbness, the crippling grief.

She stared into his unblinking eyes as he lay atop that tattered mattress.

“I hate you.”

It was a lie. Even when he had spent the last couple of years drinking himself into oblivion, she could never hate him. Still, the hurt cascaded over her like an unrelenting wave. Adriel had done this willingly. He had left her to face everything alone.

He clutched a piece of paper to his chest, his parting words, no doubt.

Helaina sucked in a trembling breath, then snatched the note from his cold hand. She tucked it into her tunic, glancing at the door. Every moment she lingered here was a risk.

But if she left Adriel for the townsfolk to discover, he would become a laughingstock.

Gossip would run wild. She had been sending payment to the local inns and taverns to keep Adriel’s activities secret and his reputation untarnished for almost two years now.

She could picture how things would change after tonight, how they would snicker and ridicule their once-beloved prince for being a drunk.

If he were discovered here now, like this, they would whisper his shame for years.

She wouldn’t allow it. Adriel deserved dignity—the real Adriel, not the one who drowned his guilt in endless brandy and wine.

Helaina tried to swallow down her overwhelming anguish as she turned away. There was no time to dwell, she had to decide—if she stayed any longer, he might find her. It was downright foolish to come here alone, especially for someone who had never set foot outside the grounds of Oakmire Castle.

As she hurried out into the hall, something rose within her.

The dark presence that always stirred when her emotions ran high.

That inescapable burn that flared hotter and hotter as she aged.

She let out a startled yelp when the door slammed shut behind her on its own, meeting the doorframe with a violent thud.

A plume of black shadow oozed over the sill, feathering in all directions.

She clasped the trusted beads around her wrist, focusing as hard as she could.

“Go away,” she commanded. She felt like a lunatic talking to herself in this empty hall, but the shadows listened. With a faint whisper, they disappeared between the floorboards.

This is why—why you belong behind walls. Where you can’t hurt anyone.

She looked to either side of her, ensuring no one saw the odd burst of magic she had accidentally set free, before quickly descending the stairs.

She found the innkeeper and confirmed what he and his staff had already suspected when they sent word to the castle. She paid them to discreetly haul his body back in a rickety wagon. One heavy purse of coins to take him home, a second payment for their promised silence. No one could know.

Adriel Ironblood—the crown prince of Keles—had died in that room.

Helaina would never be the same without him.