11. Huntyr
Chapter 11
Huntyr
I knew that there had to be another way in and out of The Golden City. At Moira Seminary, we were forced to believe that the only way in was through the Transcendent. But Wolf left. The angels were not stuck in this city forever. There had to be another way.
Even though I saw just how difficult it would be to somehow get over this damn wall, it was guarded. I tilted my head to the sky, squinting as I took in the handful of soldiers who patrolled the top of the towering structure.
As if anyone could get that close. I wouldn’t be surprised if Asmodeus used his magic to extend an invisible wall even higher than the stone, killing anyone who dared enter.
Still. Wolf had gotten out. Others surely left if they were permitted to. There was another way out of here.
And I was about to see it.
What I wasn’t expecting, though, were tunnels.
Fucking tunnels.
There was no magic path, no ominous route through the wall, no ladder to climb over the towering structure. “This is it?” I asked as we approached the back of The Golden City, just feet away from the edge. “This is what gets us out of here?”
Wolf knelt ahead of us, pulling the large stone away from the entrance. To anyone else, it looked like part of the stone road that led throughout the entire city. But as he opened the entrance, I saw what really hid beneath. A long, dark, underground passageway.
“After you,” Jessiah said from behind.
I hesitated. “What’s the trick here? What’s the catch?”
“No catch,” Wolf answered. His face was straight. Serious. “These tunnels take us beneath the wall.”
I still couldn’t get myself to move. My mind was spinning, trying to find the obvious flaw in this logic. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Not at all, Huntress.” Wolf straightened before lowering himself into the entrance, landing at the bottom and ducking to stare up at me. “Are you coming? Or would you prefer to stay here?”
Anger flooded my senses. “You’re telling me that we had to die to get in here the first time, when there were fucking tunnels that would have led us inside?”
Jessiah shifted uncomfortably behind me, but I kept my eyes glued on Wolf. His jaw tightened, his nostrils flared. Surely, he was trying to form some sort of lie, some sort of story to cover this all up.
“It’s not that simple,” he said. “And we don’t have time to explain right now.” He turned and started down the dark passageway.
I jumped in after him, the air instantly cooling as I maneuvered my body. I could stand fully, but Wolf hunched ahead of me to avoid hitting his head. “You’re not getting off that easy,” I yelled. “Why did we have to die? Why couldn’t we use these the first time? Hells, Wolf! You died, too!”
I was half-running to keep up with his long strides, but he stopped in an instant, spinning to face me so quickly that I nearly ran straight into his chest.
“Because that wasn’t the plan, Huntyr.” Wolf’s breath hit my face as his chest heaved. Jessiah was re-adjusting the stone over the entrance of the tunnel, cutting off any sunlight that would have filtered through. “The plan was to die. The plan was to trust Era, okay? Besides, we couldn’t have found the tunnel from the outside without help.”
He turned to continue walking, but I gripped his bicep and forced him to stop. “What plan? Asmodeus’s plan?”
“No.” My eyesight was getting stronger. Even in the darkness, I saw the way Wolf’s gaze flickered over my shoulder to Jessiah before he chose his next words. “Era told me, okay? She told me we had to pass the Transcendent like everyone else. So we did. And we’re both still alive, so there’s no use discussing this now.”
When he spun out of my grasp again, I didn’t stop him.
My mind spun with the information, trying to pull apart Wolf’s words.
“Don’t think for a second that you can get through these tunnels without us,” Jessiah added from behind me. I finally forced myself to keep walking. It only took a minute or two to reach the other end.
“And why is that?”
Wolf pushed open the exit above our heads. Sunlight flooded in, followed by the lush scent of fresh air.
“Take a look for yourself,” Jessiah answered.
I ignored Wolf’s outstretched hand and crawled out of the tunnel, squinting as my eyes adjusted to the light. I pushed myself to my feet and brushed my dirty hands on my trousers before fully taking in our surroundings.
Jessiah was right. We weren’t just out in the forest, free from The Golden City. We were standing just feet away from the massive, towering wall, but in front of us stood a small, wooden building that appeared to be horse stables.
“Welcome to the stables,” Wolf said, stepping up beside me.
It all looked so normal, like this building existed here for decades in the peace of the forest.
“How is this possible?” I asked. One of the horses grazed freely in the grass a few feet away.
Neither of them answered. Instead, they turned toward the door of the stables that slowly opened, revealing a cloaked figure stepping toward us.
Nobody spoke as the man approached.
But then he stopped a few feet away from us, pausing for a moment before removing the cloak. He was a few decades older than us. A long gray beard hung from his face, and tanned skin wrinkled around his face as he scowled, unmoving. “I don’t believe my damn eyes.”
My heart stopped, adrenaline pushing into my limbs from the wave of unknown. I was ready to fight. I was ready to draw Venom and prepare for an attack.
But Jessiah stepped forward, closing the distance between them in two swift steps and throwing an arm around the man.
To my surprise, the man hugged him back.
“It’s been years, Griffith!” Jessiah greeted as he pulled back, letting Wolf walk up and greet the man just as warmly. “I didn’t know if you would still be here!”
“Of course, I’m still here,” Griffith replied. “Who else is going to make sure these beauties survive out here?”
Wolf stayed quiet, but I could feel the small trickle of joy filtering through our bond. Whoever this man was to them, he was important.
I found myself standing awkwardly while the three reunited.
The man—Griffith—paused when he noticed Wolf’s lack of wings. “I heard the whisperings, but I didn’t want to believe it myself.” The air stilled. The birds even seemed to stop chirping.
“Don’t worry about me, old man,” Wolf replied with a smile. “I’ve missed these horses, anyway. Who needs wings when you’ve got a four-legged creature willing to take you anywhere you need to go, right?”
Another beat of silence lingered. Jessiah glanced down at his own feet and shoved his hands in his pockets. I fought the urge to do the same.
But eventually, Griffith smiled. “That’s damn right, son. Let’s get you boys set up with the best animals we’ve got.”
Griffith winked at me—his only acknowledgement of my existence—and turned toward the stables. Jessiah followed quickly after him, but Wolf lingered back, waiting for me. I could tell in his pleading gaze that he didn’t want me to ask any questions.
And even though I was still pissed off and confused, I kept my mouth shut.
Wolf walked in after me, holding the stable door open until I was inside. It was small but tidy. Griffith had his own living space in the corner, covered in blankets and pillows and lanterns. The horses had individual stalls inside the building, each one clean and spacious. I could tell he deeply cared for these horses, it was more than a job to him.
I liked Griffith already.
“Wolf, you still remember the ropes around here?” Griffith asked as he walked to the end of the stables.
“I sure do,” Wolf answered.
“Good. You can help your friend here get adjusted. I’ll take your brother to one of the new mares outside. Meet us out there when you’re ready.”
The way they spoke was so familiar, like they had known each other for years. Griffith said nothing else as he opened the far door to the stables and led Jessiah back outside.
There had to have been ten horses here at least. The fact that they were protected here for so long with just one man…
“We’re within the protection of The Golden City,” Wolf said in a low voice. He busied himself with greeting the horses in the stalls around us. “The hungry ones can’t touch anyone here. Nobody gets in unless Griffith lifts the magic to this place.” He answered my unspoken questions without even looking at me.
“Griffith controls the magic of the wall?”
Wolf shrugged. “Only to these stables. The tunnels take us here, and Griffith can let us out from this point. But the only way back is also through him.”
I stayed quiet as Wolf ran his hand down the nose of a beautiful white horse. He was good with them. He whispered to them softly, greeting each of the three horses inside the stables before finally opening the stall door to one of them.
“Here,” he said. “This one’s for you. She’s calm but quick.” He led the beautiful horse over to where I stood. Something in her eyes held power. Confidence.
This horse was a warrior.
“Have you ridden before?” Wolf stared at me with arrogant, amused eyes as I approached the large animal.
She blew a puff of breath into my face as I reached out and grabbed her loose reins. “Yep,” I lied.
“Good,” Wolf said. “I was over here thinking you hadn’t ridden a horse before, considering you were raised in Midgrave , and that you would have to ride with me for your own safety, but it looks like I was wrong.”
“You were very wrong.” I slid my hand down the horse’s long, white neck. She really was a beauty. Hells, I wished we had been lucky enough to have horses in Midgrave. Nobody there could keep them fed, though, much less safe. “I won’t be needing your assistance. Or your attitude, for that matter.”
Wolf smiled at me in the shadows of the stables and leaned back onto the wooden wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “That’s great.” He smirked as if he knew I was lying, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. “Hop on, then. Jessiah will be waiting for you out front.”
I mean, Wolf could do it. How hard could it possibly be?
I walked to the side of the horse, moving my hand from the soft, silky fur to the thick saddle. Just hoist yourself up. It won’t be that bad.
Yeah, I was very, very wrong about horses. As soon as I gripped the saddle and hoisted myself up, the massive beauty beneath me moved. She took a few steps forward, then backward, and when I pulled on the reins to try and gain control, she bucked completely, lifting her front two legs off the ground and sending me tumbling backward. I landed in a thin pile of hay, not nearly enough to break my fall.
“Shit,” I mumbled under my breath as I tried to force air back into my lungs.
“Dammit, Huntyr.” Wolf was at my side in an instant, hands on my head, my shoulders, my torso. “Are you alright?”
I forced a smile. “What? No snide remark on how I can’t ride a horse?”
His brows furrowed as I winced. A shooting pain came from my back, just behind my ribs. I shifted, but Wolf was already on it, inspecting the area. A few seconds later, he yanked a small piece of wood free from the wound.
I nearly punched him in the face. “Dammit, Wolf! You could have warned me!”
“ You could have told me you couldn’t actually ride a horse. Do you know how dangerous that could be? Especially on a three-day journey! Hells, you could have died trying to ride her!”
“Sounds plenty better than riding with you for three days straight.”
A sharp pierce of emotion flooded our bond before Wolf shut the window between us. It was rare of him to hide his emotions from me, I realized. At first, I thought it was because he wanted me to feel how sorry he was, but now, he started to hide more and more.
“Come on,” he said, standing. “We’ll get you bandaged up before we start our journey. The last thing you need is an infection from the stables.”
I let him pull me up but didn’t miss the way he avoided my gaze as he led me to the back of the horse stables and began rumbling through the spare medical supplies.
The more steps I took, the more the wound in my ribs stung.
“Lift up your shirt,” he ordered, sounding more annoyed than anything. I did as I was told, rolling my fitted black tunic up just above the wound.
His jaw clenched as he studied it. “This is going to hurt,” he warned.
He wasn’t lying. I hissed in pain as he poured alcohol over the wound, catching it with a clean cloth and wiping the skin dry.
I tried not to flinch with every touch as he pulled out every small piece of hay. “Sorry,” he mumbled so quietly, I barely heard him.
“You can’t just heal me with your magic? Wouldn’t that be faster?”
He stilled, eyes widening. “Don’t say things like that around here. It isn’t safe.”
“What isn’t safe?”
His voice was hardly audible as he whispered, “I don’t have healing magic, Huntyr. I’ve never healed before.”
The lie rolled off his tongue effortlessly. Chills rose on my arms at the solemn tone of his voice. He could heal, I’d seen it.
But he let the wounds from his severed wings take weeks to heal. For whatever reason, he was serious about keeping his magic a secret.
He bent over, adjusting his gaze on my wound as he blew on the skin. Not only was his breath a nice relief from the stinging pain cursing through my torso, but his warm hands fell on my hips to hold me still.
I couldn’t control my body’s reaction to him—the goosebumps that flooded me, the wave of need. Too late, I secured the shield to our bond so he wouldn’t know what I was feeling.
But if he noticed, he said nothing. He worked in silence as he eventually pulled away and secured a bandage around my torso. I was still torturously aware of the brush of his knuckles as he lowered my shirt. “There,” he sighed. “That’s going to be sore tomorrow, but at least it will be clean. Now, let’s go. Jessiah’s waiting.” He stormed off, leaving me scrambling after him through the stables.
Wolf’s horse was much different than mine. The animal wasn’t white and feminine like my horse had been. No, Wolf’s horse was a shadow, sleek and black and absolutely massive.
“Holy shit,” I mumbled as Wolf led us to him. “That animal is huge.”
Wolf finally smiled, and I hated the way my chest twisted. “The biggest horse we have. I’ve had her since she was a baby. I haven’t ridden her in a while because, well, with my wings, there wasn’t much need.”
Guilt cursed through me. Fuck, I should not be feeling sorry for him. He was the one who betrayed me. He was the one who did this to himself.
Still, I dropped my gaze when he looked in my direction.
“Need help getting on?”
I approached the god of an animal slowly, making sure he warmed up to my presence. “I–” I took a long breath. “Yes.”
I could have sworn I felt something else through the bond then—something like relief. “Come on, Huntress. Up you go.”
The saddle was too high for me to hoist myself up. Wolf knelt down and gripped my foot, wrapping an arm around my leg as I pressed up on his shoulders to reach the horse’s back. Even in the cool morning air, I felt the heat through his shirt, felt everywhere his body touched mine as I swung my leg over the animal.
Wolf immediately backed up and gripped the reins, making sure to control him. “Good,” he muttered, more to the horse than to me. Then, he walked back over and hauled himself onto the saddle just behind me, like it took no effort for him at all. Aside from his thighs brushing against mine, he kept himself as far away from me as possible.
I didn’t care. In fact, I preferred it. Hells, I didn’t want to ride with Wolf in the first place, but I knew it took a lot more effort to keep himself away from me on that small saddle.
Wolf led the horse out of the stables into the morning light, where Jessiah waited for us on his own brown horse. “There you two are. I was starting to think you left without me.”
“Of course not,” Wolf joked, his chest barely brushing my back as the horse halted. “We need you to feed to the hungry ones if we get attacked on our way to Scarlata.”
“Very funny,” he replied dryly. Griffith finished securing the saddlebags on the back of Jessiah’s horse. “And I hope you both ate, because there is no way I’m letting you take my blood if we starve out there.”
“Like you could stop me.” The vibrations of Wolf’s laugh radiated through my body.
“Are you both ready?” Griffith asked, stepping between us. “You have what you need?”
“We’re ready,” they said in unison.
Griffith nodded, but I could see the concern that weighed his features. He cared for these two. He cared what happened to them. “Good,” he replied. “Be safe out there. I’ll see you when you return.”
And then he waved his hand toward the forest. I couldn’t see a damn thing, but I could feel it. A small area of that invisible, protective shield that surrounded the entire wall of The Golden City called out to us, pulling us forward.
“Always a pleasure, Griffith.” Wolf kicked our horse into a trot, barreling toward the forest. The sudden speed of the horse forced my body back into his, but Wolf stayed perfectly upright, maneuvering the reins around my body with ease.
Jessiah caught up to us a few seconds later, his white angel wings falling on either side of his brown horse.
And then we were off. The horse ran for a few minutes before eventually slowing to a walk. I turned to peer over Wolf’s shoulder, but the stables that had just been there were gone, hidden by the thick magic that protected the entire city.
I said nothing as we marched away from the wall, deeper into the thick, lush forest that separated us from the ruins of Scarlata Empire.
Hours passed. My legs ached from the trotting of the horse, and my body all but screamed at me any time I tried to pull myself away from Wolf. Eventually, I let my body relax into his, no matter how much he tried to stay away from me. But he didn’t seem to mind. He just kept us down the straight path in the woods, the sun filtering through the canopy above and the birds chirping at our arrival.
After an entire day of riding through the forest, I had to admit it was a nice contrast to the absolute dungeon of The Golden City. I found myself turning my head up and staring at the tall trees. They relaxed me. Mesmerized me.
It reminded me of the forest back home in Midgrave. Quiet, except for the community of everything else that lived out here in peace. Green, lush bushes coated the area around our trail. I pictured what it would be like to slip off this horse, to run away, to live out here forever.
“You’re smiling,” Wolf said. It was the first time he’d spoken to me since we left.
I cleared my throat and refocused my attention forward, where Wolf couldn’t see my face. “I’m just thinking.”
“About killing me?” His voice finally held that teasing tone I didn’t even realize I’d missed.
“That seems like it would fix a lot of my problems, actually.”
His mouth came close to my ear as he whispered, “Careful, Huntress.”
A shiver rattled my bones. I made sure our bond was closed completely, but this close to him, it was hard to separate ourselves, our emotions.
As if on cue, a roll of hunger wrecked my stomach. I hunched over, groaning in pain. “Fucking hells,” I muttered.
“Jessiah, hold up!” Wolf called ahead of us, and Jessiah’s horse stopped instantly, backing up to us.
“I’m fine.” The words were followed with another wave of hunger, another moan I couldn’t keep in. Goddess above, is this how vampyres felt when they were hungry? Are these really my vampyre cravings?
The last few days, they came and went. I was happy to ignore them, especially when I still wasn’t ready to accept that I was one of them, one of the creatures I spent my entire life killing.
I mean, how messed up could this get?
“No, you’re not fine,” Wolf sighed. He slid off the saddle before grabbing me by the waist and hoisting me down. “You have to feed, Huntyr. Soon.”
“Just give me a damn minute.” I tried to stand up straight but immediately doubled over, wrapping my arms around my waist again as if that could fix me, as if that could stop the pain that threatened to break me.
“You don’t need a minute. You need to feed .”
Jessiah slid off his own horse. “Maybe this is a good place to rest for the night. You two clearly have some things to discuss.” He pulled both of our horses through the forest, getting lost in the green foliage.
Wolf’s hands were on me, hovering, searching for a way to help.
But he couldn’t help me, not like this.
“I’m not drinking blood,” I said before he could argue. “I’m not ready, Wolf.”
His face contorted in pity. “You’re never going to be ready. Nobody is ready, especially somebody who just recently found out they are a vampyre.”
“ Half vampyre,” I corrected.
“Right. Half vampyre.”
I took a few long breaths, willing the hunger to pass, before I finally pushed myself to stand. This hunger, this wicked thing inside me, would not be the thing that broke me. I would not allow it to be the one thing that brought me to my knees after all of this.
“You might not be ready,” Wolf added, “but your body is.” He slid a hand up the side of my neck, rubbing his thumb against my cheekbone.
My breath hitched. “I need more time.”
Wolf’s eyes softened as he tilted his head to the side. “Time is something we don’t have.” The moon glistened above us, giving us the smallest amount of light in the eerily dark forest, just enough light to see the way Wolf pulled his hand from me and removed the blade from his hip.
Then, he sliced his own forearm.
“You once offered me your own blood when I needed it the most. Consider this me returning the favor.”