Chapter 14: Silver

We took the mountain road in Lucan's car with Tobias driving.

Nobody spoke.

Lucan held my hand on the seat between us, and I let him.

The white truck had left tracks in the dust at the old Silver Creek quarry gate.

The padlock was cut.

Tobias killed the lights and we coasted in.

Brock's four masked wolves stood in a ring at the lip of the pit, with Hazel in the middle.

They had tied her wrists with a plastic cord.

Her white braid had come loose, and there was a bruise on her cheek.

My stomach dropped through the floor.

I got out of the car before anyone could stop me.

"Let her go!" I shouted.

One of the wolves pulled off his mask.

It was Brock, in a black jacket, sandy hair slicked back, grinning like a man at a barbecue.

"There she is," he said. "The prize that quit being a prize."

"Let my grandmother go."

"Sure. As soon as she signs."

He held up a sheet of paper and a pen.

"A statement," he said. "She saw the King burn that mark off you with a hot knife, to make you his. She'll swear it in front of the Moon Court."

Hazel lifted her chin.

"I will swear to no such thing, you spoiled boy."

"Then you can say it to the bottom of the pit."

Two of the wolves took her by the elbows and walked her backward to the edge.

Loose stones rattled down and did not stop for a long time.

Lucan came up beside me, and I felt his whole body go tight.

"Brock," he said, low and flat. "If she falls, I will not kill you quickly."

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