Queen of Shadows ( PDFDrive )

CHAPTER
5
The night might very well end in her blood being shed, Aelin realized as she
hurtled down the crooked streets of the slums, sheathing her bloodied fighting
knives to keep from dripping a trail behind her.
Thanks to months of running through the Cambrian Mountains with Rowan,
her breathing remained steady, her head clear. She supposed that after facing
skinwalkers, after escaping ancient creatures the size of small cottages, and after
incinerating four demon princes, twenty men in pursuit wasn’t all that horrific.
But still a giant, raging pain in her ass. And one that would not likely end
pleasantly for her. No sign of Chaol—no whisper of his name on the lips of the
men who had surged into the Vaults. She hadn’t recognized any of them, but
she’d felt the offness that marked most of those who had been in contact with
Wyrdstone, or been corrupted by it. They wore no collars or rings, but something
inside these men had rotted nonetheless.
At least Arobynn hadn’t betrayed her—though how convenient that he’d left
only minutes before the king’s new guards had finally found the winding trail
she’d left from the docks. Perhaps it was a test, to see whether her abilities
remained up to Arobynn’s standards, should she accept their little bargain. As
she’d hacked her way through body after body, she wondered if he’d even
realized that this entire evening had been a test for him as well, and that she’d
brought those men right to the Vaults. She wondered how furious he would be
when he discovered what was left of the pleasure hall that had brought him so
much money.
It had also filled the coffers of the people who had slaughtered Sam—and who
had enjoyed every moment of it. What a shame that the current owner of the