Book 1: Mind Games

Kieran

The blood splattered all across the stone wall and floor is fresh. The birds continue to caw at me, and it feels as if they are scratching the inside of my brain. I want to yell at them to get the fuck out of here, but I also don’t want to anger them.

Besides, I need to know what the hell happened to Blake.

I storm off toward the guards’ station where the same fat fucker is sitting picking at his teeth that I passed when I came down. “Where the hell is Blake?” I demand. “Did you assholes kill him?”

He looks up at me, his face completely blank as if he doesn’t speak the same language as me. “Wh-who?”

“Who–Your Highness!” I correct him. “Blake, you imbecile. The old guy with the dark hair. The one with the fucking birds!”

“Oh, him. Crowman. That’s what we call him down here. Crowman. Because of all the birds.”

I reach down and grab him by the neck, my hand wrapping all the way around the circumference so that my fingers