Free The Silver Siren by Chanda Hahn Page A

to Kael’s
heart and touched the side of his neck searching for a pulse. He
pulled back, clearly distressed. He shook his head. Strong arms
seized me and I was jerked back to my feet. The small room was
instantly filled with other SwordBrothers. Two had come down out of
the rafters, others climbed in over the ledge, the door opened and
more filtered into the room. There were so many, and I hadn’t even
seen them.
    My mind had been so numb, I’d barely
registered the impossible odds of escaping and the cruel test
they’d played on me. I had failed.
    And I’d killed Kael.
    Bile rose up in my mouth and the room
spun. My knees went weak, but I couldn’t fall. My captors wouldn’t
let me.
    Tears finally burned in my eyes as I
realized the consequences of what I had done. “Kael! No-o-o!” I
hiccupped. This was not what was supposed to happen. He was
invincible. He could take on a whole army, but he couldn’t protect
himself from me, and I had attacked him in the most vulnerable
spot. His heart.
    “ Let me go,” I cried. “Let
me go to him.” It wasn’t fair that I couldn’t touch him, be with
him. I pulled against the two holding me, but Alek turned his eyes
to me, blazing with anger and tears.
    “ No, take her away. Take
her to the pits, and make sure she doesn’t come back.
Ever.”
    A higher pitched feminine scream
erupted over my shoulder as Gwen rushed forward and threw herself
on Kael’s body, crying hysterically. Great heaving sobs wracked her
body, and I just stared at him.
    At Alek.
    And I knew that I had forfeited my
life.

Chapter 11
    The
pits were just that. Pits. Deep dark holes in the ground. I looked
up and could see the stars shining bright, teasing me with their
twinkling light, but from far away. I walked around the pit and
tried to reach across but I gauged it to be at least ten feet. And
the walls must’ve reached one hundred feet high. They were smooth
stone, no cracks or crevices to provide foot and
handholds.
    My father once mentioned places like
the pits, but he said they were called oubliettes, places of
forgetting. An appropriate place for me as all I wanted to do was
forget what I had done. After I had paced the small area back and
forth, I finally collapsed in exhaustion and tears. My voice echoed
up the shaft as I cried my heart out.
    Pain, unending pain assaulted
me.
    I kept wiping my hands on my shirt,
trying to wipe away the sin I had committed. Murder. I’d murdered
Kael, and I truly knew I deserved to die.
    I was a monster. I should be
exterminated.
    This wasn’t really a prison. I knew I
could escape from a hole. The question was, without Kael, did I
want to?
    I was deep into my own self-hatred
when a shadow fell over me and a rope plopped on the ground next to
my leg. The rope moved back and forth as someone began to descend
it. I didn’t care, and they didn’t deserve my attention. The weird
rock formation on the wall next to me became extremely interesting,
and I decided it required all of my attention. The shadow stepped
away from the rope, and I could hear the sound of the rope being
pulled back up.
    Oh well. I had company. At
least I wouldn’t die of boredom. The figure moved to stand in front
of me. I recognized her when she kneeled in front of me with a
condescending expression. I took my earlier words back. I think
I would rather
have died alone than face her.
    Gwen. The woman Kael had once been
engaged to and probably still loved. I pretended the tall beautiful
SwordBrother didn’t exist and went back to examining my
rock.
    Gwen swatted my leg, prompting me to
acknowledge her. It didn’t matter. I could ignore one woman. I
could see her lips were moving and she was speaking, but I didn’t
comprehend one word.
    Her brows furrowed and her mouth
formed a slim line. She prodded me again with her hand, and I
rolled my head and glared at her, mimicking her solemn face. She
stood up and I could see her mouth form words. She looked like she
was yelling at me. I