Princess of Death (Three Provinces Book 1) by Renee Travis Read Free Book Online Page B

and then tortured his son to death in the basement.  He finally hung himself in the attic.  It was seven days before anyone found them.
    “Is it true that by the time the bodies were found there wasn’t one drop of blood left?” Nergal wondered.
    “Yes, and the bodies were all piled up neatly in the living room, but there wasn’t a sign anyone else had been in the house before the guardsmen.” Guardsmen were Kassaptu who kept the peace and solved crimes in Salas.
    “Ishtar!” I called out, no need to be quiet, the house knew we were there and either already had my sister or knew where she was.
    If you entered the house it locked you in and forced you to relive the last moments of the family, depending on your age and gender. At Ishtar’s age she’d suffer the fate of the daughters.
    Like a button being pushed all noise stopped, and then we heard it, my sister’s startling scream from the second floor.
    “Shit!” Nam started and we all ran towards the house, the door refused to budge, solid oak against our onslaught.  He put his hands against it and I watched as sickly green magic poured out of him, weakening the door, causing illness to spread through the wood. When the door gave I was the first one up the stairs.  The house smelled of lavender and fresh cotton, one more trick to make you feel safe and at home.
    “Wait Eshie, we don’t know what we’re facing!” Nergal grabbed my hand pulling me to a stop.
    “I do not care; I have to get to her. I’ve seen the pictures Nergal, what he did to his daughters was beyond horrible.” Ishtar screamed again and it ended on a sob, I jerked from his grasp and bolted the rest of the way to the second floor landing.
    “We need a plan Eshie,” Nam panted behind me. There were five closed doors and I knew the house would try to confuse us.
    “I can tell where the only living being is.” Ekur said from behind us.
    “Must be a bat thing,” Nam grinned.
    Ekur closed his eyes and then opened his mouth, letting out a high pitch squeak I watched his form waver for a few moments. When he came back into focus he pointed to the third door down.
    “Something alive is in there.”
    We crashed into the room and what I saw would stay with me for the rest of my life. My sister was pinned down to the bed by invisible hands, she had a red welt across one cheek, her skirt was up around her waist, legs clamped together, arms pinned above her head, shirt torn and revealing her camisole underneath. There were scratches all over her arms and her lip was bleeding.
    “Ishtar!” I yelled. She looked my way, but it was like she couldn’t see me.
    “Mama help me! Daddy don’t…” My stomach lurched at her words and a sickening feeling churned deep within me. She was begging and crying for her father to let her go. So this is what had happened, another piece to the P.O.T. puzzle.
    “Get off that child!” Nergal’s voice boomed in the room and a shot of golden power went by my face. It attached to whatever was on top of my sister, slamming it into the wall, leaving the black sizzling imprint of a man on the wall.
    My sister curled up in a ball, crying. I went to her and gathered her in my arms.
    “It’s coming back.” Ekur warned us.
    “We need to get out of here.” Nam was fidgeting; I could feel the house surging with hate, wickedness and power.  Nergal took Ishtar from me and we fled, feeling as if we were being chased the whole time. I knew if I looked back I would see something that would scare me for life. Whatever it was that resided in that house was the most malevolent thing I had ever come in contact with.
    It wanted me to turn around as I ran across the living room and out the front door, and a sick part of me wanted to see it. But I knew, I knew that no good could come from actually knowing what had been attacking Ishtar and what ruled the house as Master.
    Once outside we all paused to breathe. Nam went to my sister and began to right her clothing, touching