Page 27 of The Bonds of Indigo

My heart stutters.

“You have to want something.”

Just one thing.

“Name it,” he says. I need to be careful; it seems his link to me is just as strong. “Within reason. I won’t be killing fucking kids for you.”

My throat tightens and I squeeze my eyes shut.

“I don’t trust you,” I murmur. “So, you’ll have to make it a blood bind.”

“You and this shit—” He pushes to his feet, the sudden motion startling. Then comes the crack of breaking metal. I flinch and look up.

He’s crushed the first chain, then moves to the other, snapping it just as easily.

“Whatever. You’ll also tell me about this… shit with your name.”

I stare at him then at the ruined chains on the floor. I don’t want to leave. Even after everything—after the pain I’ve been put through here, and the humiliation, I’d rather stay here where I’m untouchable by true evil.

“Get up.”

I slide up the wall slowly, arms trembling as I lift my hands. The metal cuffs still bite into my wrists, but the chains drag uselessly along the floor.

Then I see it. The open door behind him. It’s a natural feeling to want to be free, even if my brain tells me no.

“Let’s go.” He steps aside.

I hesitate for a mere heartbeat before moving past him.

Jozier’s body is the first thing I see outside the cell. He’s sprawled backward over the railing that overlooks the prison’s lower floors, his back broken, neck twisted, spine jutting out where his Adam’s apple is.

“Is… everyone dead?” I whisper, glancing back at Butcher as he brushes past me.

“Yes.”

“Even the cook?”

That stops him. He turns his head slowly, eyes narrowing.

“Everyone.”

I take a deep breath and nod. My body screams to stop, to rest, but I force my legs to move—one in front of the other—following him down the hall.

We reach the first floor. Blood and bodies cover everything.

I wonder if he killed the other prisoners, too.

“Gods, no. I didn’t kill them.”

I’m grateful he isn’t looking at me when that slips out. I’ll close the link between us once I can channel again. Right now, I’m too drained to separate my thoughts from his.

“The authorities will be alerted to the attack in twenty-four hours.”

“They’ll know I’m missing,” I say dryly.

He stops dead in his tracks. I’m too close to react, slamming right into his back.

A soft oof escapes me as I stumble backward, my bare feet skidding on the blood-slick floor. Before I can fall, his arm shoots out and his hand clamps around my wrist right over the cuff.