When Nelle Wychthorn was forced to sign herself away in marriage, she should have read the contract's fine print. Because she signs not with ink, but with blood. And that changes everything.
Season 1 'Of Crows and Thorns'
***
Fiery Nelle, the isolat...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Panic and fear erupted, billowing in my gut in a volatile storm that seared through my veins and froze me to the spot.
Nelle...what the?
I watched in alarm as she raised her arms on either side, palms upward, eyes falling half-mast as if she waited for the first ray of light to brush against her cheeks and warm her face. Her soft nightie hugged her lithe body as a gentle breeze caught the material and teased the ends of her long wavy hair.
I barely heard my brother utter, "Holy Zrenyth...what is she doing?"
Because my heart stopped beating.
Someone was up there with her—
Byron.
Nelle spared her father a glance. There was nothing on her face, no emotion that I could read. No fear of where she stood with the tips of her toes curled around the lip of the roofline. She didn't balk at the dizzying height below. Nor did she seem afraid of who was inching carefully toward her over the slate-tiled roof.
I couldn't read the expression on Byron's face. I didn't know if he was there to pull Nelle away from the edge or push her over it.
Marissa shrieked, "Get away from her!" She took several hurried steps back, balling both hands. "Don't you dare! Don't you dare!"
Nelle turned her face toward the horizon, those expressive gray eyes seeking the sunrise. The first ray of sunlight struck her honeyed skin, illuminating it with brilliance.
She bodily swayed as if she was rolling on the balls of her feet back to her heels.
Her whole body rocked forward—
Then tipped back—
Byron lunged, momentarily blocking my line of sight to her.
My heart slammed into my throat—
And then...I couldn't see. I couldn't see what he was doing to her...but I saw the outcome and heard Marissa's scream of terror.
Nelle pitched backward into the air.
The position of her body, the way she faced Byron, it was as if she'd changed her mind and tried to step back to safety. And instead, she'd been pushed over the edge.
Head going back, legs tipping up—
She fell and it seemed to take forever watching her fall—
Down,
Down,
Down.
She fell headfirst toward the flagstone path below.
Stone. Unyielding. Unforgiving.
At that height and smashing head first, she was going to die.
