into focus—the one who would free me. Horror wrapped around me like the coils of a serpent.
No.
One part of me was thrilled. At last, my magic had finally done what I’d commanded. It had bound itself to my twin soul, the perfect complement to my own. The one fated to lift the curse and join me for eternity.
And another half of me wanted to scream at the dead gods. My twin soul was a Dokkalfr. A Night Elf. Once she learned who I was, her only goal would be to send my soul to Helheim.
I lay back on the stone bench that served as my bed as I waited for her to find me.
Whatever happened next, I’d have to make sure she didn’t figure out how to end my life for good.
Chapter 4
Ali
My head throbbed as I opened my eyes. I lay in the middle of the vault, my cheek pressed against a chunk of unicorn horn. I sat up slowly, and nearly screamed when I looked at my watch. A full five minutes had passed since I’d broken into the bank. I was all out of time.
I stood on shaking legs, but my head felt strange. Unbalanced. Like that time Barthol had brought home an old bottle of vodka and dared me to drink half of it.
Even with my head spinning, I managed to stumble into the draugr-coated hallway. Gross, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
But my stomach flipped when a figure moved at the end of the hallway, just before the door to the manager’s office. Not a draugr this time—someone with golden hair draped over white robes, eyes the color of honey, and a thin hawthorn wand in his hand. There was no mistaking what he was. A High Elf.
He stood about fifteen feet away, and he’d spotted me.
I whispered, “Skalei.”
In an instant, a blade appeared in my hand—Skalei, the dagger given to me by the Shadow Lords when I’d first received my commission as assassin. I remembered how Barthol had comforted me, holding my hand as the Lords carved runes into my flesh to bind the blade to me. All I had to do was say its name, and it would appear in my grasp.
“Don’t move!” The elf’s melodious voice floated across the hallway, angelic and forbidding.
The air near my cheek hissed as a spell whipped past my head, narrowly missing me. The High Elf wasn’t messing around, but I wasn’t about to obey his command. I took a step forward, dagger in my hand.
His golden eyes pierced me from the other end of the hall as I stalked closer, every one of my muscles tense and ready.
“Stay where you are!” he called.
I wasn’t following his instructions. For one thing, it’d take him a few seconds to recharge his wand. And for another, if he caught me, I’d be as good as dead.
So, I threw the blade. It sank into his chest, and he fell to the ground, clutching his heart.
I muttered, “Skalei,” again, and the dagger returned to my hand, now slick with his blood. It was a good thing I had it back, too, because I could already hear more High Elves heading my way.
I stepped over the High Elf’s body and rushed closer to the manager’s office with the broken window. At the edge of my vision, I saw another High Elf round the corner behind me, blond hair streaming off his shoulders.
He raised a wand. Magic buzzed in the air, and a burning pain shot up my leg. I had no idea what kind of spell that was, but I was sure I’d find out soon enough.
My leg felt like it’d been dipped in boiling water, but I made it back into the banker’s room, slamming and locking the door behind me. I cursed when I realized I’d left my crossbow and the knapsack I’d been filling with relics in the vault.
My heart was a wild beast. So far, the robbery had turned into a complete disaster.
With a boom, the door shook. The High Elf outside was battering it so hard that I thought it might break.
I shoved my hand into my pocket, grinning when I felt a sharp chunk of stone. At least I still had the vergr crystal.
I hurried to the shattered window, reared back, and threw the crystal across the street. It soared over the road and landed on the snowy roof where I’d been hiding before.
A High Elf’s fist slammed through the wooden door. It was time for me