CHAPTER 44

“How shall I carve you up today, Aelin?”
Cairn’s words were a push of hot breath at
her ear as his knife scraped down her bare
thigh.
No. No, it couldn’t have been a dream.
The escape, Rowan, the ship to Terrasen—
Cairn dug the tip of his dagger into the
flesh above her knee, and she gritted her teeth
as blood swelled and spilled. As he began
twisting the blade, a little deeper with each
rotation.
He had done it so many times now. All
over her body.