Page 63 of The Never Queen

“Where did you learn how to do this?” She asks as I unravel the last length from her wrists.

“It’s a long story.”

“Bash,” she says quickly, and I can feel the blood rushing to my face.

“Yes.”

“He and Kas were my favorite. Did I ever tell you that?”

“No. I don’t think you did.”

“Sweet boys.”

“They’re like, several hundred years old.”

She shrugs. “Age is meaningless with men from the Seven Isles.”

She’s not wrong.

To make it still look believable, I reposition the ropes around Mom so when someone comes in, from a distance it’ll still look like she’s tied up.

I lean into her, whispering through her hair to her ear. “I’m going to see if I can get someone to come in here. I just need you to stay where you are, just like this. Okay?”

She nods.

I take up a length of my rope and wind each tail tightly around my hands, getting a good two-foot span between them.

“Help! Something is wrong with her! Please help!”

There’s a rustle beyond the door.

I position myself behind it, rope ready.

A lock clicks open.

The door is thrust open.

A man steps into the gloom, checking Mom from a distance. “What’s wrong?”

I wish I had the Shadow so I could land on the man’s back from above like a fucking bird of prey.

But I can be resourceful without it.

I leap, getting the rope around him. It tightens over his throat, and I drop all my weight. He starts choking immediately, scrambling at the rope. When it’s clear that’s a dead-end, he staggers backward, ramming me into the wall.

The wind gets knocked out of me, but I’m not letting go. I’ll fucking choke, too, for all I care.

He spins, tries to throw me off.

Teeth clenched, I hold on tightly. All I have to do is HOLD ON. That is my only job. I don’t think about anything else.

He sputters and pitches forward.

We land with a crash, him on his stomach, me on his back.

Still, I hold.

I hold and hold.