Calla
I FELL ASLEEP TO THE ROCKING OF THE SLEIGH, MY HEAD slumped on Grae’s shoulder.
We’d traveled through the night, only stopping to change over from carriages to sleighs as we ventured further into snow-laden Taigos.
The moon was high in the sky, begging for our shift.
But I would shift when I saw Briar, when I knew she was safe; until then we had to press on.
When the sleigh lurched to a stop, Grae’s arms instinctively flung out and grabbed me to stop me from hurtling forward. When he was certain I wouldn’t go flying across the sleigh, he released me and hopped up to look out the window.
“Just some snow snakes,” Verena called from up ahead. “We’ve got to clear them off the path for the horses to pass through. Won’t be a minute.”
Grae waved a hand and ducked back into the sleigh.
“Bloody snow snakes,” I muttered, staring out into the shadowed forest.
We were halfway across Taigos, which meant we were only halfway to Briar, not nearly close enough, and I prayed we wouldn’t need to stop again until we reached her.
Grae gathered me into his chest and rested his cheek back atop my head in the same position we’d been in before our jarring wake up.
This was the only position I seemed to be able to sleep in; like a babe startled in the night, I needed Grae’s warm arms to swaddle me from waking to the nightmares plaguing my every sleep.
A howl cut through the night and Grae and I both straightened to the sound.
“Was that one of ours?” he asked, wiping a sleeve across the fogged window. When his forearm streaked across the pane, we saw them dotting across the dunes of snow: Wolves.
“We’re under attack!” Verena shouted as she started barking orders to the other Wolves in her retinue.
Grae and I leapt from the sleigh, shifting instantly to protect ourselves from the line of Wolves cresting the hills.
Ice and Onyx alike stood shoulder to shoulder, looking down on our caravan—at least twenty of them.
The Onyx Wolves were in Taigos? I barely had time to register what that meant, too busy calculating defense strategies in my head.
Seven Wolves against twenty wasn’t great odds, but I had a battalion of human guards surrounding the sleighs, too.
We’d prepared for this. We’d expected this even.
Judging by Verena’s wide lupine eyes, she hadn’t anticipated this attack, especially not with a foreign pack in tow. My guards moved in front of us, blades drawn, as the opposing Wolves snarled and advanced.
I wondered which of the two other Taigosi factions this was: Djen’s or Hestoff’s.
Whoever it was, they’d managed to ally with the Onyx Wolves with stunning swiftness.
A second row of another dozen Ice Wolves crested the hill, and my stomach plummeted as a whine escaped my maw.
I shook off the remnants of my shredded clothes and darted a look to Verena.
If these Wolves broke through the human line, it would be hard to tell friend from foe in their white furs.
“We can handle them,” I said into Grae’s mind, not sure if the confidence was meant to calm him or me. “We’ve faced worse odds before.”
“So long as victory doesn’t come from another bloody dying wish,” Grae replied.
Like a soldier sparring before a contest, I nipped at his side and he snapped back, snagging a tooth on my fur.
“We can take them.”
“We can take them,” Grae echoed.
My senses narrowed; my breathing slowed. I was ready.
The Wolves sprang forward, a clash of teeth and fur as they battled the human guards.
A few breached through the front lines, and Verena and her Wolves were swift to pounce upon them and rip out their throats.
At least we knew they were truly on our side of this battle—the last time I trusted an Ice Wolf Queen, it had not gone so well.
Blood stained the snow as the night filled with snarling and shouts and screams of pain.
We cut through the attackers spilling through the two guards stationed directly in front of Grae and me. My mate and I worked as a team—me distracting them as Grae pounced and snapped their necks. Quick, ruthless, efficient. There was no time for honorable kills when we were so vastly outnumbered.
I was grateful for every day we trained, every day when I was tired and weary and Grae would still drag me into the ring and not hold back. His fighting skills were still sharper than a knife and I knew something about having a mate to protect made us both even more lethal.
The panic that was gripping me tightly began to ease. We were winning.
I stole a fateful glance at Grae when the snow erupted in front of us.
I shook off the powder, a keening note cutting through the air.
It was the sharp, trilling sound of a tin whistle.
I looked up the hill to see a human standing there—a thin metal pipe held to his mouth.
Was that one of Ora’s ilk? The ones who wielded song magic .
. . a Songkeeper? Whoever he was, he was clearly our enemy.
I only had a moment to study him, when my eyes darted to where the snow was exploding, leaving a giant pockmark in the earth.
And in that hole? My eyes flared, my heart booming.
A creature emerged from the snow—dozens of translucent white hands and spiky rows of teeth.
It grabbed one of my human guards and brought him to the central ring of sharpened teeth, chewing and shredding as the guard screamed.
Blood sprayed everywhere as the beast shredded through its prey.
The lines broke, soldiers fleeing at the horrifying sight.
I heard scrambling behind me and turned to find Mina climbing atop the roof of her sleigh, violin in hand.
Her limbs trembled but her violin sang over the sounds of fear and death.
The beast seemed to pause for a second to her music.
The Songkeeper on the hill stopped his playing to laugh and shake his head.
Even with keen hearing, I could only barely hear him say, “You think you can control my creature, Mina?”
My gut clenched—they knew each other.
I didn’t have time to dwell on the exchange as I was bowled over by another Wolf. I scrambled back to my paws, fighting and snapping my teeth. The sleigh rocked with the force of the rushing Wolves and the music stopped from behind me.
Mina!
Grae scruffed the Wolf atop me. “Go!” he shouted in my mind. “Protect her.”
I was already moving, twisting onto all four paws and leaping over the toppled sleigh. I jumped in front of Mina, catching one Onyx Wolf in midair as they leapt toward her. The Wolf yelped as I knocked them back.
Blood misted the air as the monster behind us shredded through the group.
I had planned for a Wolf attack, but monsters?
That I hadn’t bargained for. We’d only heard of one from Sadie—Rasil—the one who betrayed them, the head of the Songkeepers.
Was that him on the hill? Had he and the Onyx Wolves allied with the Ice Wolves? Were they moving to take Taigos?
Four Wolves of white and black started inching forward toward us. I stood in front of Mina, guarding her from the attack, but I knew, no matter how I calculated, we wouldn’t be able to take them. I frantically looked around, seeing if there was a path of retreat—
A flash of blinding emerald light exploded all around us. Lightning cracked, a white-hot bolt striking one of the advancing Wolves. The others paused in horror, taking in the sight of their comrade’s sizzling body.
I knew that magic, felt as though that lightning bolt had carved its way through my own body once. But Sawyn was gone, which meant . . .
I looked to the east. At the head of the caravan stood a cloaked black figure—green lightning dancing around her fingertips as she shot bolt after bolt at our attackers.
Maez was here. Maez had come to save us.
But all the relief flooded from me when I saw who cowered next to her, covered in blood.