Nobody moved.

Not Cordella, who stood behind Sophia, still holding the dagger to her chest while barely standing. Not Sophia, whose eyes were wide with shock, blood spilling slowly from her mouth. Not me, all I could see and smell was blood.

But then Cordella pulled the dagger out of Sophia’s chest, and the stillness was broken at once. Sophia snapped out of her shock and gasped, pressing a hand to her chest, slowly going down on her knees. Cordella fell backward, her breathing heavy.

“No, no,” I muttered in a panicked trance. There was so much blood. It was so thick in the air that it was all I...