CHAPTER NINE StowawayExhausted, I lay face down on the mattress and waited to catch my breath. The sinking feeling remained and I fancied I saw the dark pit of despair inside my soul which Bracken had delighted to show me. I brought death. His prophecy proved true. Death sucked in everyone who tried to love me. Sonora. Limah. Even silly, gluttonous Sorrel who had disappeared without trace following his betrayal of me. “I wish I was dead,” I sniffed.
The sound began as a low inhale and ended in a gasp. Shooting upwards in response, I balled my fists and faced the direction of the noise. Huge amber eyes blinked within a pale face from beyond the end of the bed, the cheeks ruddied and flushed. “Is it safe to come out yet?” she asked. “You don’t really want to die, do you?” I blinked, not qui
