t. My eyes flickered to the rearview mirror as I pushed the accelerator tow

bags and the money with the family seal behind in my bedroom. I did

fe tucked under my mattress since I was fourteen.

at was actually mine. The road ran out just befo

e as children. That was before the feud with t

nd the base of the rocks. There were no lights from an

moment with the engine idling. The headlights cut through the darkness and hovered ov

moved to the back of the vehicle and pressed my palms against the col

t the gravel. I shoved again and felt my muscles burn with the

a sudden, violent momentum. It yanked itself out

I watched the car sink into the deep, dark belly of the Mediterranean. The

but the sound of the sea. I gave myself thirty

your feet. I had known the path since I was twelve years old. The r

ove. I stripped down to the thin layers I had worn for the swim

be during the summer months. It was sharp an

th out of me and I struggled to keep my head up. I am not going to drown here, I

m of my arms cutting through the salt. I had gone perhaps two hundred meters when I heard

ide-sweeping pattern across the rocks. My father's wolves were already searching

. I let my dark hair float flat against the waterline to hide my s

to the men on the road. His voice carried cl

g on the surface." There was a long pause a

e that was flat and bored. He did not

ng fast." He did not need to finish the sentence to make his point. If

do. They are already calculating the

" the second voice said. "

d until the light faded. I floated in the black wat

The mark on my wrist went quiet as if the sea had extinguished the fire.

en her. I am no one now, I thought as I turned toward the shore.

e distant lights of the coast without looking back. I reache

mperatures. I crawled toward a thicket of trees to find cover. I

e of heat. The mark was starting to glow again through my wet clothes

not belong to his scouts. They were heavy,

. I looked up and saw a man with a jagged scar across his throat. H

into the moonlight and I saw the Valdemar crest pinned to his

t over my shivering shoulders. He turned and st

er wasn't the only one who h