CHAPTER NINE
Kate ran from the creatures that hunted her through the shifting darkness. She sliced with her sword as one got too close, but Kate didn’t stop to try to fight it. She’d already found that some things couldn’t be killed so easily.
The darkness around her changed, becoming the House of the Unclaimed. It was alight now, smoke burning in Kate’s lungs, figures coming out of that smoke to grab for her. She recognized Sister O’Venn as the long dead masked nun swung a whip at her, the barbs of it slicing across Kate’s skin in a flash of agony. She struck again as hands grabbed Kate’s arms, dragging her toward the whipping post that sat at the center of the House’s courtyard.
“No!” Kate yelled. “This didn’t happen to me. It was Sophia you whipped!”
“Then you’re long past due your
