The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

But I knew what would make it a little okay, right or
wrong.
I pulled free from Casteel. “What did I promise you?” I
asked Jansen.
The Royal Guard commander reached for his fallen
sword, but I was faster, thrusting the sword out. Grunting,
he staggered back, dropping to his knees. Glaring up at me,
he folded his hands over the blade as if he could actually
stop what was about to happen. “I told you that I’d be the
one to kill you.” I slowly pushed the blade into his chest,
smiling as I felt his bones break under the pressure of the
sword as it met softer tissue. Blood bubbled out of the
corner of his mouth. “I keep my promises.”
“As do I,” he rasped, the life fading from his eyes as his
hands slipped from the blade, the skin of his palms and
fingers torn open by the sharp edges.
As do I?
Without warning, something jerked me back with such
force that fiery pain erupted in my chest. I lost my grip on
the sword. The movement was so sudden, so intense, that I
felt nothing for a moment as if I’d become detached from
my body somehow. Time stopped for me, but people were
still moving, and I saw a flash of Jasper as he leapt onto a
Protector’s back, his teeth clamping down on the masked
man’s throat. Something fell from the man’s hand. A bow…a
crossbow.
Slowly, I looked down. Red. So much red everywhere. A
bolt protruded from my chest.