Page 72 of Hellbound

He howled, clutching his hand to him.

“You little bitch! You’re all dead—” He flung himself toward the scimitar.

She snatched it from him and staked his hand to the ground with it.

Blood spurted from the wound, dribbling onto the dirt.

He began to blubber and bargain, but his pleas were soft waves lapping at the edges of Ksenia’s mind as she brought Caromir to his rapidly pulsing jugular.

A heady hit of satisfaction zipped through her nerves as the first drop of blood hit Caromir’s edge. The hunger had receded, but only partially. Only making room for something far more ravenous.

She couldn’t control her body as she wrenched his head back with one hand and slashed his throat, painting the walls a brutal blood-red.

Every hair stood on end, and a pleasant warmth thrummed through her veins.

She shuddered, then opened her eyes. Her mind was clear and sharp for the first time that week. She could hear the man’s blood dripping into the drain, the hiss of the flames in the lanterns. And sadly, Rinna’s fearful gasps.

Rinna had fallen back in her chair, her face blood-flecked from the man’s murder. She let out a choked sob, feebly fighting her binds as Ksenia approached.

Ksenia stopped, breathing ragged. Her thoughts fragmented, scattered, and she found herself unable to explain.

Rinna flinched as Ksenia righted her with ease, her strength triplefold now.

“I’m sorry you saw that.” The words sounded hollow to her own ears as she sliced through Rinna’s bindings and pulled the gag from her trembling mouth.

Rinna bolted from her chair, clutching at her chest as if Ksenia might rip her heart out.

She crumpled to the floor, clutching the sides of her head. “He…he was keeping us safe.”

The words pelted Ksenia like stones, and she jerked back. “…No, he was holding you and your child hostage.”

Rinna shook like a leaf, her arms clasped around herself.

“We should find your child.” Ksenia found it difficult to swallow. Rinna’s words replayed in her head, lionizing the man who’d been manipulating her.

She rolled the corpse over, blood glistening on his face and his front. Ksenia was numb as she probed his body in search of any item that could help.

Her fingers closed around a few wayfinder coins in his pocket, and she blanched. How many families had he successfully indebted and then turned in anyway for the bounty? She shook her head as she continued to search.

She gave a rough tug, breaking the metal chain around his neck from which an iron skeleton key hung. She wordlessly presented it to Rinna in her outstretched hand.

Rinna’s fingers carefully avoided touching Ksenia’s bloody palm as she collected the key. Ksenia sheathed the man’s hellbound scimitar across her back before following Rinna out of the room.

Her steps were jerky as they walked the empty stone-hewn halls, twisting and turning until they reached a locked cell with a thin, dirt-streaked girl inside. She had nothing in her possession but the clothes on her back and a threadbare blanket in the corner.

Ksenia bit her tongue as she rationalized what had happened: Rinna was traumatized. She had been forced to rely on that monster for who knew how long and had begun to see him as a source of light.

The girl perked up at the sight of her mother and reached through the iron bars for her. The skeleton key scraped and bit through the rusty lock.

A blur of brown and beige collided with Rinna as her daughter flew to her with a whimper. She smoothed the girl’s tangled hair and murmured into her ear.

Ksenia stood in the silence of their reunion until she had to interrupt.

Rinna flinched when Ksenia tried to press the wayfinder coin into her palm. “No—no, he told me this is how the king would find us.”

A bitter tang coated her tongue. She wanted to deny it, but after she had seen Bohdan with one in his possession, she wasn’t so sure of the truth.

Still, it was their best chance at freedom.