Chapter 176

Pain stabbed my chest. I sucked in a breath...

... bound by heavy chains to a chair. My ribs were cracked, blood caked my lashes, and my left arm hung at an awkward angle from the latest round of tortures. None of that compared to the stain on my soul. I, Gavriella Behar, had taken magic from innocents, used by Chariot to sow chaos, fear, and evil, and too cowardly to end my life and deny them this abhorrent act.

The chains loosened and I fell forward into someone's arms. The woman's features were blurred by the light shining behind her, like a halo, but my magic recognized hers and my breath caught. The missing Jezebel. She lived.

The world spun, my heart breaking.

Now I would condemn her to her fate. Another stain on my soul. I wanted to tell her I was sorry. That the road ahead of her was hard and lonely and in the end I wasn't sure we made any difference at all, but I was too weak. Or maybe too well trained.

I secured her promise to stop Chariot.

Poor girl.