I forced myself to sit up, every muscle screaming in protest. My vision swam, but Velra's words cut through the haze like a blade.
She had found him.
Bjron the Butcher.
A wanted criminal in the Draken Duchy. A psychopath who ate humans after killing them.
He'd been hiding well from the Draken Duchy's reach—but it seemed he couldn't hide from Velra.
"Don't forget our deal. You'll kill him, and I'll take all of his blood."
I nodded, slow and deliberate.
"Deal's still on," I rasped. "I kill him. You get his blood. Every last drop."
Velra's smile turned razor-sharp—the kind of expression that said she was already imagining the taste.
"Good," she murmured. "My bats say he's holed up in an abandoned mine two days west of here. It used to be a smuggler's den—perfect for someone like him. Rotting walls, no law, no light. He's not alone either. A few desperate types orbit around him like flies. Cannibals. Runaways. People who lost their names a long time ago."
Perfect.
