Chapter 3: Everly

Chapter

Three

EVERLY

Fear spikes through my veins as the man drags me through the corridors, where the walls press in on me, and the air grows colder with each step.

He stops in front of a door and shoves it open, revealing a woman tied to a chair in the center of the room. Her dark red hair hangs limp and matted around her face, and her green eyes are dull and lifeless.

The room is bare, except for the chair. A single torch sputters on the wall.

The man pushes me into the room, and I stumble, nearly falling to my knees. He follows close behind and closes the door with a resounding thud.

The woman doesn't even look up, her gaze fixed on some distant point only she can see.

"You will spy for me, Everly, or I will tie you next to this woman, and you can both starve together. Would you like that?"

Bile rises in my throat as I contemplate running from this room, from this man, from this entire situation.

But I can't.

I'm trapped, like a fly in a spider's web, and I don't want to be a fly. I'd rather be a hawk, so I could scratch out this man's eyes.

Sadly, I'm not a hawk, and I have no other choice but to obey. Otherwise, I'll be like this woman. Broken. Battered. Desolate.

My focus shifts back to the red-haired woman, to her pale skin and vacant eyes.

I swallow, my mouth dry as dust. "I'll do it. I'll spy for you."

The man's lips curl into a smirk. "Good choice. You're smarter than you look."

Thanks for the compliment, you pompous ass.

He steps closer. "You will infiltrate the Bloodstone army camped outside Karra. You will gather information and report back to me. If you try to run, if you betray me..." He glances at the woman in the chair, and my stomach twists into painful knots. "Well, let's just say you'll end up like our friend here."

"I understand."

The man studies me for a beat longer, then steps back. "Good. My men will provide you with the necessary instructions."