The cold wind howled fiercely through the thick, bare trees. It swept across the dirt road, blowing a cloud of brown dust over the terrible scene. The wind was so loud it completely drowned out the frantic, heavy beating of Delaney's own heart.
She lay perfectly still on the hard, rocky ground. Beside her, the dead body of Lucas Kingsley rested in the dust. His dark, cruel eyes were wide open, staring blankly up at the sky. A pool of dark red blood was slowly spreading out from the hole on this head, falling freely his face,soaking into the dry dirt.
Delaney closed her hazel eyes tightly. She needed a moment. She needed to pull her shattered mind completely back together. Her throat throbbed with a sharp, burning, terrible agony where Lucas's strong fingers had crushed it. Every time she took a small breath, it felt like swallowing broken glass. Her ribs ached terribly from the violent fall out of the moving carriage.
