Read Online SanClare Black (The Prince of Sorrows) by Jenna Waterford - Free Book Online Page A

gave him barely more than a sip of water, they headed off, each man taking hold of one of Nylan’s arms. They set a fast pace for Nylan’s short legs, but if he didn’t keep up, they dragged him along, not slowing. He was far too exhausted and ill to feel or hear anything from them, but that was the only mercy.
    T he woman halted the march for a moment after Nylan had stumbled for the third time. “You have to walk. That is one of the conditions of the contract.”
    “ Please,” Nylan rasped, crumpled in the sand where the men had dropped him. “Water, please.”
    “ No, you’ve had all the water the conditions of the—”
    “ Nik your contract!” Nylan shoved himself up from the ground to glare at the woman. “I’m the Prince of Sorrows, and I deserve better than this, contract or not.”
    The woman ’s façade cracked, and she looked a bit nervous, perhaps, Nylan thought, at having someone as young as he was swear at her so crudely.
    Nylan struggled to his feet and took a step toward her. The men seemed at a loss as to whether they should intervene. “I’ll call the curse down on you if you don’t give me some water. Now.”
    “ Goddess!” the woman exclaimed after a moment. “You are dangerous, aren’t you?” She didn’t seem to be mocking him when she said so. Nylan’s glare deepened. “I wondered why they were being so very cautious. It explains much.”
    She handed him a nearly -empty water bottle and waited for him to drain it. It contained just enough water to make him realize how horribly thirsty he was, and he nearly screamed in despair.
    A nod from the woman and the men caught his arms again. They yanked Nylan roughly, and he moved, knowing there was nothing else he could do.
    The sun was almost down when they crested the last hill. Nylan froze and then dropped to his knees, too exhausted and horrified to stand. From the pattern of the devastation, and the ever-brighter glints shimmering around them, he knew they had almost reached the terrible place where the Breach had been formed. It lay before them, a great rent in the very soul of the world, and Nylan could feel its wrongness tearing at him.
    They ’d reached the edge and were looking down into the petrified, blackened crater where the Breach had first torn reality apart. Nothing had survived its formation, and if Nylan had believed Worldsend to be the least hospitable place he’d ever seen, this part of it was a thousand times worse than the rest.
    “ Why?” he breathed. His body shook with weariness. His hunger had become so much a part of him he—almost—was beyond feeling it. This place thrummed in his ears, in his brain, invading all his senses until he felt nothing, saw nothing, knew nothing but the Breach.
    “ You know why, child,” the woman said, her voice almost gentle. “You’re a threat. Sorrows are always threats, and...” She didn’t finish whatever it was she’d been going to say, and Nylan turned to look at her, frowning in confusion.
    She reached out and caught his face between her hands, and, with no more warning, she was inside his mind. He tried to resist her but lacked the strength to do more than be afraid. Her presence burned white hot and left him sobbing when she finally released him.
    “ What did you do?” He dropped back to the sand, clutching his head in his hands. Blood dripped from his nose, and he coughed out choking sobs, trying not to vomit.
    “ A simple spell, child,” she said, dismissive. “You aren’t to come back, but you aren’t to be killed. This makes things complicated.”
    “ What did you do, senna?” one of the men asked. They both looked frightened. “I thought you said we wouldn’t hurt him.”
    “ If he knew, he would consider this a kindness,” she said. “Memory can be a terrible burden, especially a memory such as his, filled with death and betrayal and pain. He won’t have those nightmares to fear anymore.”
    “ My memory?” Nylan gasped. The pain was