10. Wolf
Chapter 10
Wolf
L ight simmered in my palm. Alone in the dark shadows of the vacant wing of the castle, I took a long breath, watching the way my power moved and flickered across my skin.
I spent so much of my time suppressing my full potential, and it was a relief to come here and let it seep out of me, like running out extra energy.
My magic was growing. I didn’t want to accept that being near Huntyr affected my power, but it was true. I noticed it in Moira, and ever since we bonded during the Transcendent, it was undeniable.
Huntyr’s power growing was changing me too, which was why I needed help.
I quieted my senses and let my ears focus on the castle around me, ensuring no other living being was in this wing of the castle. My knees grew sore against the stone floor beneath me as I let my head fall back.
To anyone else, I surely would look sadistic, and that was before what came next.
I pulled out the small dagger I kept in the sheath at my hip and sliced my palm. I didn’t even flinch as the blood pooled there, dripping down to the floor.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
At least Moira was right about something: drawing blood was the quickest way to access your deepest pools of magic.
But for me, it could access something else too. I’d been able to speak with Era herself since my father sacrificed my soul. She came to me in dreams on occasion, but this time, I needed to speak with her on my terms. I had been patient long enough.
I closed my eyes and let my magic flutter around the spilled blood.
And then, I waited.
I didn’t know why I felt this connection to Era. I only knew that this was all happening for a reason, a reason she kept me hanging on for but never divulged.
I was getting sick of anticipating her next move.
With my eyes tightly shut, I felt my power swirling around me. It started slow but picked up second after second, until the air in the room created a whirlpool of magic and light and power.
Era was answering my call.
I saw her in the depths of my mind before she said anything. This was how she always appeared to me—always in my mind, never in the flesh, which was why I became so skeptical of what she really wanted from me.
“You summon me, boy?” she asked. Her words were smoother than honey, but the back of my mind twitched with the power I knew she possessed.
This was the Goddess of Vaehatis. She was more powerful than any being in existence, my father included.
“Yes, I do. I need to know what your plan is. What do you want from me? What do you want from her ? I was fine with staying in the dark before, but things have changed. There’s not much more she can take.” The words rushed out of me in a desperate force.
Era became clearer in my mind, the smoke of power fading as she stepped forward. “Everything is happening as it should.”
It was always riddles and half-truths with her. Before, that was fine, but now, I required more.
Era read my mind easily, listening to my thoughts before I had a chance to speak. “You worry for the girl.”
“Yes, I do. She thinks I am betraying her.”
“The only way to save her life, to save everyone you love, is to follow my orders carefully. Your father is a powerful man who has been corrupting this place for a long, long time. Patience is required to have ultimate peace, Wolf.”
I took a long breath. Arguing with the powerful goddess was likely not the best idea, but this still wasn’t helping me.
I needed to understand why. Why did Era want to use me as a pawn? Why did she want me to protect Huntyr, to stay here with my father?
“All in due time, child.” Her voice faded slowly, and the picture of her perfect face in my mind began to blur. “You and the girl are both much, much stronger than you believe. I need you both. Do not give up when we are so close.”
“So close to what ?”
But it didn’t matter how much more blood I spilled, how much I called out to her. Era, the Goddess of Vaehatis, was gone.
“ S he’s refusing to marry you, isn’t she?” Jessiah teased. Two days passed, two days of avoiding my bedroom at all costs, of lingering outside the door, too afraid to enter.
She needed time to accept this. Once she realized she had no other option, she would get on board.
But that was only one of our problems. Huntyr’s cravings were growing. She kept our bond closed as much as she could, but every so often, I could feel the pain wrecking her entire body.
Hunger. It was a different type of pain, not one similar to stabbings or other physical injuries. It was something dull and unavoidable, something that tortured you slowly until you lost your mind.
She would have to feed, and soon. Eventually, she would reach a point where she could no longer refuse, where her body would need blood to survive. Feeding would be just the beginning.
From controlling her feeding, to a new rush of magic, to new strength and speed and vampyre abilities, her entire reality would change, and this was all while we were navigating Asmodeus and everything else he wanted.
“She’ll come around,” I added. My father waltzed into the room lazily, his long, white robe trailing behind him.
Still, his teasing smile didn’t leave his face. “Trouble in paradise, son?”
My face heated. Yes, there was trouble. There was also the messy new complication of Huntyr’s taste still lingering on my tongue, burned into my memory. “It will all be fine soon enough.”
“Good,” he said. “Because there’s something I need from you. Both of you, actually.”
Jessiah shifted in his seat across from me at the breakfast table. “What’s going on?”
“Scarlata is still crawling with vampyres, but I plan on sending some of ours that way to begin rebuilding while our blood queen is still stepping into her power.”
“You want us to go to Scarlata?” I pushed. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Yes, it is, but you’ll be bringing her with you.”
Bring Huntyr to Scarlata?
“What exactly do you want us to do there?” Jessiah asked. “Scope out grounds?”
“I need a good idea of what’s left—buildings that are still standing, anyone living there who is sane, remaining fae in the area, anything.”
I leaned forward. “Can’t you send some of your other men there? Huntyr’s weak since she isn’t feeding. She won’t survive an attack if we encounter hungry ones on the journey.”
My father pulled out a chair and sat down, leaning back and stroking his own chin in thought. “No. This is going to be your kingdom to rule, son. One of you, anyway.” Another teasing smile. “Bring her with you. Perhaps it’s the last bit of motivation she needs to finish her transition and become who she was born to be.”
“When?” Jessiah asked.
“Start packing,” he said. “You’ll have to take the horses, as only one of you has wings.” Again, not a single speck of guilt laced his words. It would have been nice if he at least acknowledged that he was to blame for my missing wings, but that would require him to care. “You’ll be on your way by nightfall. It’s a three-day journey on horseback, so you’ll need to get started as soon as possible.”
“Just us three, then?” I didn’t know whether I was relieved or annoyed that he wasn’t sending a single guard on this trip with us. The journey was dangerous, but if time taught me anything, it was that my father had an ulterior motive here. He was always testing us, pushing our limits.
This was no different.
My father’s cold gaze met mine. “Doubting the task, son?”
I shook my head, pushing myself from the breakfast table. “Nope. We’ll be on our way come sunrise.”
“ A re you fucking kidding me?” Huntyr asked. “You want me to travel three days with you and Jessiah into vampyre territory?”
I stayed near the door, not wanting to risk moving any closer to her. I thought about our kiss every damn minute of every day since it happened. It was impulsive and reckless and stupid as all hells, but she actually kissed me back.
Something in her still cared for me, if that’s what you’d even call it. Something in her wanted me, enough to kiss me back, at least.
And that was all the hope I needed.
“We don’t exactly have a choice, Huntress. Besides, you’ve spent your entire life tracking and killing them. We’ll be perfectly safe.”
“And Jessiah? He’s okay with storming into vampyre territory?”
“He’s skilled with a sword. It won’t be a problem.”
She threw herself back onto the bed and groaned. I felt another wave of her hunger threaten the bond.
“You’ll need to eat, Huntress. You won’t survive the journey like this, and we both know it.”
“I’m not hungry.” She threw a hand over her eyes, blocking out the sun.
“I’m not talking about food.”
She stilled, freezing for a second before lifting her head and looking at me again. “I don’t need blood.”
“You do, and the sooner you realize it, the better. You can’t run from your cravings forever. That’s how they control you. That’s how you become one of the hungry ones.”
“I’ll never become one of them.”
“Agreed, which is why you need to feed now.” I took the risk and stepped closer, slowly putting one foot after another until I stood at the edge of the bed. “I can help you, you know.”
“I don’t need your help.”
I stepped even closer, moving to the side of the bed where she laid. “It’s not just my help I’m offering.”
I kept both hands clasped behind my back, but her eyes landed on me once again. She knew what I meant. If it was my blood she wanted, she could have it. All of it was hers; all of me was hers.
“I’d rather starve to death than feed from you, thanks.” She flashed me a sassy, don’t-fucking-talk-to-me smile and rolled over in bed.
“Suit yourself,” I said, stepping away. “But at this rate, I’d give you two more days of this. You’ll continue to suffer until you feed.”
“Suffering isn’t a foreign concept to me, Wolf. I think I’ll be fine.”
I clenched my jaw, forcing my anger down. “We’ll leave at sunrise. Be ready to go then. And don’t do anything stupid. Luseyar will be waiting outside your door until then.”
She mumbled another response that sounded something like fuck you , but I was already heading out the door.
The next three days would be worse than any test in Moria, worse than the Transcendent, even worse than all of it.
But my purpose didn’t change. Keep Huntyr alive. That was my goal, always, and it was about to get very fucking difficult.