Shadow and Bone

seen. I just knew this was all some kind of terrible mistake,
and at the end of this farce, I would be the one looking foolish.
I cringed when I thought of the teasing I would take when this
was over. And hopefully, it would be over soon.
“Quiet.” The Darkling barely seemed to raise his voice, but
the command sliced through the crowd and silence fell.
I suppressed a shiver. He might not find this joke so funny. I
just hoped he wouldn’t blame me for it. The Darkling wasn’t
known for mercy. Maybe I should be worrying less about
being teased and more about being exiled to Tsibeya. Or
worse. Eva said that the Darkling had once ordered a
Corporalki Healer to seal a traitor’s mouth shut permanently.
The man’s lips had been grafted together and he had starved to
death. At the time, Alexei and I had laughed and dismissed it
as another of Eva’s crazy stories. Now I wasn’t so sure.
“Tracker,” the Darkling said softly, “what did you see?”
As one, the crowd turned toward Mal, who looked uneasily
at me and then back at the Darkling. “Nothing. I didn’t see
anything.”
“The girl was right beside you.”
Mal nodded.
“You must have seen something.”
Mal glanced at me again, his look weighted with worry and
fatigue. I’d never seen him so pale, and I wondered how much
blood he had lost. I felt a surge of helpless anger. He was
badly hurt. He should be resting instead of standing here
answering ridiculous questions.
“Just tell us what you remember, tracker,” commanded
Raevsky.
Mal shrugged slightly and winced at the pain from his
wounds. “I was on my back on the deck. Alina was next to me.
I saw the volcra diving, and I knew it was coming for us. I said
something and—”
“What did you say?” The Darkling’s cool voice cut through
the room.