Abbie Devereaux wakes in the dark, he is hooded, bound at her hands and feet. She doesn't know where she is or how she got there. A man she never sees feeds her and talks to her. He promises to keep her alive for now, but says he will kill her...
The Shroud Shifter speaks:
I clipped my self-sharpening, teflon-coated, brushed-steel axe and swung it at her neck. Her head was sheared cleanly off; blood burst from the cavity, her arms and legs twitched spastically, then her whole body...