The Burning Hand by Jodi Meadows Read Free Book Online

hiding I was awake anymore. I lifted myself andtried to shift some weight to my legs, like maybe I could stand, but my feet were numb and my ribs hurt too much. With a frantic groan, I threw my weight to one side, hoping to unbalance the Nightmare gripping onto my hands, but he just squeezed so hard the bones seemed to rub together. I let out a strangled cry.
    Then I saw her. Romily.
    Just as the Nightmares dragged me around a tree and one man suggested knocking me out again, Romily stepped out of the shadows of the building and bent to retrieve my sword. No one paid attention to her, even though she was now in plain view.
    â€œRom!” My voice cracked, and one of the Nightmares thunked me across the head. Blackness scattered across my vision, but we’d stopped moving. They’d dropped me and forced me around to my knees at the bank of the river. Water droplets sprayed around me. Nightmares loomed like they were waiting for me to make a move so they could hit me again.
    If Romily heard my call, she ignored me. Instead, she turned toward a tall figure approaching her. They stood out in sharp silhouette, so I couldn’t see the man’s face, but a sense of dread knotted in my stomach.
    The man dropped a large sack into Romily’s outstretched hands. Then he shooed her away and strode toward me.
    Lord Hensley.
    I wanted to fight, but my weapon was gone. My hands were tied. My ally had turned. The futile struggle to get free had rekindled the pain in my ribs.
    One of the Nightmare men had a knife; he kept it near my throat.
    Saints. They were going to kill me. The only question that remained was how. Drowning? Cutting? Burning? I tried not to imagine the details of all three.
    â€œHere we are at last.” Lord Hensley strode up to me.
    A rock dug into my knee. My hands ached as I tried to move my fingers and force blood back into them. My breath came harsh and ragged.
    â€œI’m sure you’re shocked about losing your friend.” Hensley glared down at me. “It wasn’t hard to buy her off. I marked her as your informant the moment she began questioning Mercush about where firefly is made, and I made a deal. A little money for her and her mother. A little firefly for her brother. I can’t say I’m surprised she decided to take me up on the offer. It was a good one.”
    Even if I’d wanted to respond, I couldn’t. The knife at my throat was unwavering.
    â€œYou understand I needed to put a stop to your antics before they got out of hand.” He lifted his stump. “Pardon. But if we can’t find amusement in these things, what’s the point?”
    Next he would press his good hand against my forehead and make a joke about me being hotheaded. That would be how I would die.
    A loud roar came from the nearest warehouse. Something banged from the inside. The Nightmares frowned at one another, and several left to investigate.
    There were only five with me now, plus Hensley. More than enough to kill me the moment they were ready.
    My mind raced with possibilities for escape, but there was nothing viable. I couldn’t fight. I didn’t have a weapon. I couldn’teven feel my feet with the way the restraints squeezed my ankles.
    Hensley blocked most of my view, but around him I caught Romily’s small frame coming toward us. She still had my sword, but her expression was lost in the bright lamps behind her.
    â€œKeep him still,” Hensley told one of the Nightmares. Heavy palms fell on my shoulders, shoving me downward. He grabbed the top of my mask and yanked it off, taking several strands of hair with it. Then he jerked my face up and his eyes went wide. “You.”
    â€œI knew you were guilty,” I whispered. My jaw ached with the words; a bruise was forming from the Nightmare’s hit earlier.
    Hensley stared at me for a long moment, deciding what to do. It would be obvious who’d killed me if he burned me, like he had