Chapter 489: Tenfold Kept

"I told you something once."

Brynhild’s voice drifted softly through the cramped carriage.

The wheels creaked beneath them as the wolves pulled them deeper into the dark path, the world outside swallowed by thick trees and drifting snow. The lantern hanging from the carriage ceiling swayed gently with every uneven movement.

Holly froze beside her.

Her shoulders were already shaking. The chains around her wrists and ankles rattled faintly as she tried—uselessly—to shrink into the corner of the iron frame.

Brynhild tilted her head slightly.

Her silver gaze stared into nothing.

But her attention was entirely on Holly.

"Just to remind you," Brynhild said quietly, almost kindly, "I told you... if anything happens to Sophia..."

Her fingers rested loosely on her own knee.

"I would make you pay for it."

Holly’s breath hitched violently behind the gag.

Brynhild continued, unhurried.

"For every single thing that happens to her... I would return it to you." She paused, then added, "Tenfold."

Holly’s eyes widened.

Tears poured freely down her face now. Her chest heaved as broken sounds forced their way through the cloth stuffed into her mouth. Her head shook again and again in frantic denial.

Brynhild listened to the wet, panicked sobs. To the sharp hitch in Holly’s breathing. To the trembling rattle of chains.

Then she clicked her tongue softly.

"Tsk," she said, disappointed. "You really did forget, didn’t you?"

Holly let out a strangled, desperate cry.

Brynhild smiled faintly.

"Or maybe," she mused aloud, "you thought I was joking."

Holly’s sobs grew louder.

Her shoulders rose and fell violently as she cried behind the gag, her face twisting in raw terror.

Brynhild shifted slightly in her position. Then she sighed. It was a slow and tired sound.

"You seem to forget something very important about me, Holly."

Holly’s breath stuttered.

Brynhild lifted one hand, her fingers curling loosely in the air.

"I can’t see."

The carriage rolled on. Snow brushed softly against the sides. The wolves’ steady breathing echoed faintly through the thin walls of the carriage. They moved so fast that in just a few minutes they were almost at the location where the placement test took place.

"But that just means," Brynhild continued calmly, "that every other sense I have is sharper than yours will ever be."

Holly whimpered.

"And that crying you’re doing right now?" Brynhild tilted her head. "It’s grating on my ears. And it doesn’t even sound like music. My daughter’s tears at least have a reason, but yours don’t."

Holly broke.

Her sobs turned messy and uncontrollable. Her body shook harder, the restraints biting into her skin as she thrashed weakly in place.

Brynhild sighed. "You know what, just cry then. Just continue. I’m pretty sure this wasn’t what you thought would happen when you tried to kill Sophia. You thought you’d be a hero."

Holly’s breathing turned shallow and frantic.

Brynhild leaned back against the carriage wall.

"Too bad."

Silence stretched between them for a moment, broken only by the wheels and the wolves.

Then Brynhild spoke again.

"Before we reach our destination..."

Holly stiffened violently as Brynhild once more turned her face slightly in Holly’s direction.

"I’m going to do something to you."

Holly’s eyes widened at that. Her entire body went rigid.

Brynhild’s smile was faint and almost pleasant too.

"I always keep my promises after all, and my sister—yes, Sophia, just in case you have no idea who I’m talking about—came back to us with a twisted ankle."

Holly froze at the words. She wasn’t the reason Sophia twisted her ankle. It wasn’t her fault at all. She had nothing to do with it.

But no matter what sound she made behind the gag, Brynhild did not care, nor did she listen.

"And I told you something very clearly, didn’t I?" Brynhild asked. Holly shook her head frantically.

"For everything Sophia twists..."

Brynhild leaned forward.

"You break."

Holly screamed behind the gag. The sound burst from her chest in raw terror.

She shook her head violently.

No.

No.

No.

Brynhild’s hand moved, tracing Holly’s shin blindly.

Holly jerked so hard the chains rattled loudly. She kicked weakly, panic surging through her entire body as she shook her head.

Then it hit her again—Brynhild was blind. She couldn’t see Holly shaking her head.

Holly’s sobs turned hysterical. She began screaming through the gag even as she cried.

Her whole body convulsed as she fought uselessly against the restraints. She twisted toward the front of the carriage.

Toward the thin wooden wall separating her from Orion.

Her muffled screams grew louder, sharper and more desperate as she tried to reach him.

To alert him to what was going on in the carriage he drove.

Brynhild chuckled softly.

"Keep screaming... demon."

Holly flinched violently at the sound of her voice so close.

"Really," Brynhild said pleasantly. "Go on."

Holly screamed harder like a fool. Her eyes squeezed shut as tears streamed down her face.

Brynhild tilted her head.

"If you think anyone is coming to help you," she said gently, "you should think again."

Brynhild’s hand slid lower then. Her fingers closed around Holly’s ankle.

Holly’s entire body went rigid. Her scream cut off into a sharp, choking sound.

Brynhild’s grip tightened, and there was no hesitation or warning.

In one swift, brutal movement, a sickening crack tore through the carriage.

Holly’s body arched violently.

A broken, inhuman howl ripped from her throat behind the gag.

Her back slammed into the iron frame as pain exploded through her leg.

Her eyes rolled back, and the chains rattled violently as she thrashed.

Brynhild released her ankle, and Holly collapsed forward with a strangled sob, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.

Her broken ankle hung uselessly. Her breath came in broken, panicked gasps.

Brynhild observed, then tilted her head in thought.

"Just breaking your ankle..." she murmured.

Holly whimpered. Her body curled instinctively around the injured leg.

Brynhild shook her head.

"No, that’s not enough."

Holly’s eyes flew open. Pure terror flooded her face just as Brynhild’s hand moved again.

Brynhild’s palm pressed flat over Holly’s knee, and Holly tried to pull back.

Brynhild just spoke softly.

"For everything she twists..."

Her hand lifted and came down with full force.

The impact was brutal.

Driven not only by muscle, but by the savage, unleashed strength of her wolf.

The sound was wet and crushing.

Holly’s body convulsed violently.

A howl tore from her throat so raw it scraped the air itself.

Her knee collapsed inward. Her scream shattered into broken, incoherent sounds as pain flooded her entire body.

Brynhild struck again.

And again.

Driving her hand into the ruined joint with merciless precision.

Holly’s cries turned into strangled, choking sobs as she thrashed helplessly in the restraints, her body writhing in agony.

Brynhild did not stop.

Her palm slammed into Holly’s knee one last time with full force—

Shattering what little structure remained.

And Holly blacked out from the pain.