4. Wolf
Chapter 4
Wolf
T he moon was full tonight. I appreciated the extra light for Huntyr’s sake. I could already picture the way she’d refuse to take my hand in the darkness, and she’d likely stumble and hurt herself out of stubbornness.
I liked that about her. Her stubbornness.
But now, it was becoming my biggest weakness.
“This way.” I turned and made my way out of the main building.
Everyone else in The Golden City lived outside of the main castle. The city was set up in rings, with the poorest and weakest living on the outside. It wasn’t fair—anyone could see that—but when Asmodeus decided something, that was what happened.
I wouldn’t be hiding it from Huntyr, though. If she was ever going to accept her position as heir to Scarlata Empire, she would have to see what it had become.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked. A cool breeze caressed my skin, and I heard her shiver behind me.
“I want to show you what this place has turned into.”
“You mean what you’ve turned it into? How many people here are really vampyres, anyway? And how did they get into The Golden City?”
The towering buildings shadowed us with the moon’s light. A crow cawed in the distance, followed by a grunted cry that I could only assume was one of the hungry ones outside the wall.
“Do you really want to know?” I asked. “Or are you simply trying to insult what I am? Don’t forget that you are a vampyre too, Huntress.”
She scoffed but said nothing. I could have easily pushed her, could have given her a long speech on how important it was to accept her destiny, but I kept my mouth shut.
The right time would come when she was ready—or when she began craving blood. Any day now, her first craving for blood would hit. Any day now, her vampyre fangs would come in, possibly even with a new wave of her magic.
Then, it would be impossible to deny.
“This place is nothing like what they told us,” she whispered. I barely heard her over the creaking of a dark building to my right. “How many of them knew The Golden City is… this?”
“None of them know,” I answered, “but they have their suspicions. The teachers at Moira are kept in the dark, even Headmistress Katherine. They stepped foot in The Golden City ages ago, but since accepting their positions in Moira, they’re no longer granted entrance. For all they know, The Golden City is still as beautiful and magical as they remember.”
“And you?” she asked. We turned another corner, heading down an alley with practically no lights. If I still had my wings, I would have to turn to fit.
“What about me?”
“How can you live with yourself knowing that so many people die for this? All our friends… They didn’t deserve that. They didn’t deserve to die just when they thought they made it.”
“Who said they deserved it?” I questioned. “If I could do anything to stop it, Huntress, I would. Trust me, I have little power against the archangel.” I stopped at a slim doorway covered with a tapestry. I pushed the cloth aside, exposing the hidden pub that lay inside.
I watched as Huntyr’s mouth fell open. “What is this place?” she asked.
“Go on in and find out.”
She turned and shot me a sideways glance, but her eyes were finally lighting up for the first time since Asmodeus found us. I missed that look, that slight twinkle in her eyes.
She stepped forward, her black boots gliding over the gray stone beneath us.
Inside was nothing like the rest of The Golden City. It was warm, with red lanterns illuminating the interior and colorful paintings decorating the four walls. A bar filled the back half of the room, leaving plenty of room for tables to fill the rest. I recognized the usual barmaid, as well as a few of the patrons.
“Look who’s finally showing his face around here again?” one of the males at the closest table called out. I walked over to him and clapped his shoulder.
“They still let you in here, Nathan?”
He laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile at my old friend. I used to come here every night before I was sent to Moira. This was my hidden escape from the cruelty of The Golden City, from the evil and darkness that surrounded the place.
“And who’s this?” he asked. His eyes slid to Huntyr, eyeing her skeptically. Nobody knew about my mission to attend Moira and find the princess. Nobody knew who she really was, what she could mean for this kingdom.
It was all part of my father’s plan to keep this as quiet as possible.
“This is Huntyr,” I said, waving my hand in her direction. “She’ll be staying with me for a while.”
She glared at me once before she held her hand out for him to shake. “Nice to meet you,” she said.
Nathan’s smile only grew. “Likewise, Huntyr. We don’t get many newcomers around here. You ought to tell Wolf here to stop being a stranger. We barely see his face around here anymore!”
Huntyr smiled. “The more time he spends here with you, the less time he has to piss me off. I’ll do my best.”
They both laughed. My chest twisted.
“Alright, alright. We’re here to grab some drinks.”
I started to turn toward one of the empty tables when his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. When I met his gaze, he was already staring at me with wide eyes. “It’s not right, Wolf, what they did to you.”
He motioned to my missing wings.
I clenched my teeth. “You know me,” I smiled. “I probably did something to deserve it.”
He let go of my wrist, but his scowl didn’t disappear. “I seriously doubt that.”
And that was the end of it. I turned and ushered Huntyr to one of the nearby secluded tables where we could talk in private.
I tried to brush off the fresh wave of grief that hit me. Nobody in the castle showed an ounce of empathy over my wings. Jessiah was shocked, yes, but nobody truly cared the same way these people did. These people were my real friends, the ones who actually cared about me, not just about who my father was or where I came from.
No, these people loved me in spite of that.
“Who were they?” Huntyr asked as she sat across from me.
“Just some old friends.”
“And you have to meet here in this secret, secluded pub because…?”
“You’ve met my father,” I pushed. “He likes to know everything that goes on around here. He doesn’t appreciate people meeting like this, not when he can’t control what’s being discussed at all times. He prefers people to be hidden, powerless, and alone.”
Her eyes scanned the room once more as she leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table. “And all these people—they’re angels? Fae? Why wouldn’t they obey your father’s rule?”
I took a long breath before answering. There was so much she didn’t know, years and years of history that would take days to unpack.
“The Golden City used to be everything you’ve dreamed of,” I started. “My father was part of it. Magic ran rampant, elite fae and angels alike lived here, free and powerful.” Her eyes widened, and I kept my mouth shut as the barmaid brought over two large ales. I nodded and waited for her to walk away before I continued. “He was the one who changed things around here. Scarlata had been gone for years; it wasn’t on anyone’s radar that he might want to conquer the vampyres, too. Not when he already had so much power here in The Golden City.”
She nodded as my words landed.
“There are vampyres here now, though. Why would he do that? Why would he bring vampyres here when The Golden City was safe from them for so long?”
“Power. Power will make anyone do reckless things, Huntyr. He brought vampyres here to inflict chaos. They were all vampyres like you and I at first, but then, more hungry ones began turning up, and now, The Golden City is the furthest thing from safe.”
Her eyes darkened. “And he forced you to turn to a vampyre? He used his magic to change you?”
I fought to keep my breath steady. “In his eyes, having a vampyre son would give him more control. I can’t say it’s worked out great for me, though.”
She picked up the ale and took a long drink, her eyebrows raising as she swallowed. “Wow, this is actually really good.”
I smiled. “Better than the ales in Midgrave?”
I watched as the corner of her mouth turned up. She stared into her ale mug and spun the glass absentmindedly as her mind wandered. “The taste is better, yes, but there are plenty of things I miss about home.”
“Like what?” I drank my own ale. I wasn’t going to push her, but if she was actually willing to talk to me for the first time since we arrived, I wasn’t going to stop her.
“Like…like the smell of freshly baked bread wafting from the bakery in the mornings as the sun rose in the distance. Like being able to hear laughter from three streets over. Like my best friend. I miss her the most, I think. Her and Lord.” Her breath hitched.
“The man who gave you those scars?”
Her eyes met mine. “It’s complicated, Wolf. He cares for me. He just shows it differently.”
Anger flooded my veins. I leaned forward, coming inches from her so she could feel my words as I said them. “Someone who loved you—who truly, deeply cared for you—would never do anything to hurt you. He sure as all hells wouldn’t leave those scars on your skin. Whoever Lord is, whoever he pretends to be, he isn’t your family.”
Her eyes darkened as she stared at me, nostrils flaring and chest rising. “He’s all I have, Wolf. He’s the reason I’m here, the reason?—”
“He sent you here knowing how dangerous it would be, knowing how much it would hurt you.”
She took another long drink before asking, “And what about you? You swore you cared about me. You swore you loved me. I guess that was my own fault for believing you, right? Lord told me not to trust a single soul out here. I should have listened.”
Goddess above, this woman. “I still love you, Huntyr.”
She sucked in a breath. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s true.”
“Just stop . I don’t believe you anymore.”
“You can believe whatever you want, but I’ll spend every day of my life protecting you from this. If I could take you out of here right now, I?—”
“What did I just say, Wolf? You can’t start saying things like that again and expect me to believe it! Hells, I—” She ran her hands through her curly black hair. “I believed you once and look where that got me. I can’t do that to myself again, not after this.”
She didn’t meet my gaze again as she picked up the mug and finished her ale. I lifted my hand to the barmaid, who was already staring at us, and signaled for two more. “I know you have no reason to believe me, Huntyr, but I never expected to fall in love with you. If I would have known what was going to happen, I?—”
“You would have stopped your father from kidnapping me for my blood?”
“Shhh,” I cooed as we received two more drinks. “Don’t say things like that so loudly.”
“Right. I forgot everyone is afraid to stand up to him. We’ll all just let this corruption continue. What exactly does he want with me, anyway? What does he think I’ll do for him? Rule over the vampyres on his behalf?”
I shrugged. “Pretty much.”
“Well, I’ll never give him what he wants. He can kill me before I ever step in to rule Scarlata.”
I sat back and watched her. She was finally not entirely repulsed by the fact that she may be the heir to the blood kingdom. Accepting who she really was would be the first step.
The rest would come later.
Her eyes dropped back down to the mug of ale that she twisted mindlessly between her palms. “Do you really believe I’m the heir?”
“I don’t doubt it for a single moment,” I answered. “I can sense the vampyre in you too. You’ll start turning soon. You’ll start craving?—”
“Blood?” Her chest heaved. “I can’t picture myself doing that. I don’t know if I can.”
“You can because you have to,” I answered. “Trust me, nobody wants to drink blood before they’re a fully turned vampyre. Even vampyres raised in the blood kingdom were repulsed by blood until they matured.”
“What about you?” She met my gaze again. “When was your first time?”
The dark memory haunted me. I tried many, many times to forget the details of my turning. I tried to forget how disgusted I felt as soon as I woke up from the sacrifice, how hurt I was that my own father would stoop to such lows.
But I also remember the pain. The hunger. “It was unlike anything I ever felt. As soon as my father made the sacrifice, I changed. It felt like someone reached into my stomach and curled my insides in their fist.”
“Lovely,” she sighed.
“You’re ready for it, though,” I added. “You’ve felt my hunger through the bond. It’s manageable.”
“Until it’s not.”
I shrugged. “I do what I can.”
“Can vampyres feed off other vampyres? How is it that you were able to drink my blood when I’m also a vampyre?”
“Half a vampyre,” I corrected. “You still have fae blood in you, and I still have angel. Normally, vampyres would need blood from another species. Animals, fae, angels. You and I seem to be exceptions, along with the rest of the half-breeds.”
She took a long, deep breath. “I can’t believe this is my life.”
“Yeah.” I glanced around the room. “You and I both.”
We sat at the bar for the next few minutes in silence. Drinking. Waiting. Breathing. I let my own thoughts drown me, let them pull apart my mind and fight with my memories.
I didn’t want to be the blood-drinking vampyre I was forced into being, but here I was. I never wanted to feed off Huntyr, but I had, and I damn well enjoyed it, too.
I didn’t want any of this. Not for me, and especially not for her.
There was nowhere in this entire kingdom that would be safe from him. He would never let us go freely. He would track us down, either himself or with his own army, and he wouldn't stop until he got us back.
Until he got her .
He wanted power that badly.
“Huntyr?” a familiar female voice called out from behind me. Huntyr’s eyes widened as her gaze landed on the visitor. I spun around to see who it was, only to find?—
“Voiler.”