20. Huntyr
Chapter 20
Huntyr
W olf and I trained together in Moira, but nothing like this. It was as if something deep within him unleashed, as if he was holding back on his own power the entire time we were in that academy working together.
The first few days, I could barely get out of bed in the morning. Not only was Wolf challenging my body by throwing lessons of tactical training in every so often, but he absolutely drained my magic every single day.
I thought my magic was supposed to be growing. I thought there was supposed to be something special about my blood, about what I could do.
It certainly didn’t fucking feel like it.
“I need a break,” I gasped. I bent over and put both hands on my knees, supporting myself. “Hells, I don’t remember this being so difficult.”
“That’s because you barely even touched your magic in Moira. What they taught you there was hardly even the basics.”
“Really?” I pushed my black hair aside and looked up at him. “That’s not how I remember it.”
Wolf scoffed, putting both hands on his sweaty waist. “I hated being there, watching you struggle to learn what they were teaching you. They barely had any idea what they were talking about.”
I took a few more big gulps of air, finally catching my breath. “How? How can Moira possibly exist when this is what’s waiting for us on the other side of the Transcendent? How do they not know they’re sending everyone to their deaths?”
Wolf shrugged. “They trust the archangels. That alone is probably the most dangerous thing anyone can do.”
“Careful,” I warned. “You never know who could be listening around here.”
Wolf stepped closer, eyes darkening. “I’m always very aware of who may be listening.”
I knew what it was like to grow up in a place that wasn’t safe. I knew what it was like to look over your shoulder for danger at every damn turn. “It must have been hard here, living as a vampyre.”
He dropped his head, mind escaping somewhere I could not follow. “It was isolating, confusing. My father already brought vampyres into this kingdom, but nothing could prepare me for what would happen when he sacrificed me to the goddess.”
My breath hitched. “How could Era let that happen? How could the goddess allow him to turn you into a vampyre?”
Wolf shook his head. “She spoke to me that day. I thought it was a dream at first, but then…” He paused, clearing his throat before continuing, “she told me I would understand eventually, and that she was doing what had to be done.”
Those words made me pause. “Strange,” I mumbled.
“What’s strange?”
“She told me something similar during the Transcendent, after we both—after I thought we both died.” I didn’t exactly want to tell him that Era told me to stay with him, especially since everything that happened afterward was so fucking awful.
“I wonder if this is what she meant,” Wolf continued. “Your blood could change things, Huntyr. Your power could change things.”
I thought back to the passages in the books left in Wolf’s bedroom. “I read something about this, about the powerful one with blood who could end the hungry ones. What you said about my mother looking for a cure, and now this...” I stared at Wolf, waiting for some sort of reaction, but the tight clenching of his jaw was the only thing that indicated he heard me. “It’s me, isn’t it? Your father thinks I am the one who can do all of that, who can control them.”
Wolf didn't answer me. He didn’t have to.
“He’s wrong,” I continued, voice wavering only slightly. “You know he’s wrong, Wolf.”
“No, I don’t.” His eyes met mine in a hungry glaze. “What I tasted in your blood—I’ve never tasted anything like it, Huntyr. You have something special. I mean, hells, look at your wings. When’s the last time you saw someone with wings like that?”
I stiffened. “We both know what happened when the hungry ones attacked us in the forest. I saw it. Jessiah saw it.”
“It was an accident. Hells, who knows if that was even my power? You were the one who said we needed to keep it a secret, Wolf. You were the one so adamant on protecting this.” I didn’t understand him! One second, he’s swearing me to secrecy about what we saw in Scarlata, and the next, he’s wanting to exploit me.
“Things have changed, Huntyr. We need to prepare to show him what you can do before he becomes impatient.”
“You’re kidding, right? I can’t show him any of my magic, Wolf! Not with what he can do to me!”
“We don’t have a choice. If I don’t get it out of you, someone else will.”
“We always have a choice!” Emotion leaked into my words. “This is too far, Wolf. I’ll marry you. I’ll pretend to be on his side, but I will not show him my power. He’ll use me. He’ll make me… Hells, I don’t even know what he’ll do with my magic once he finds out!”
I felt the presence of the archangel before I saw him. He sauntered into the room behind Wolf.
And then, a slow clap came from Asmodeus.
Wolf stiffened, eyes snapping to me in warning.
“Good work, son,” Asmodeus said. “It seems you know a few things you have yet to share with me. Care to rectify that? Or shall I?”
Wolf’s posture instantly changed. “I was planning on telling you,” he said, “as soon as she was ready.”
What the fuck was happening?
“I knew you were the one I was looking for.” He stepped forward to stand beside Wolf, his disgusting eyes flickering over my body. I fought to keep my chin up, even as everything in me wanted me to retreat from his gaze. “I just needed something to confirm it.”
“You can’t prove anything,” I spat.
“Maybe not,” Asmodeus pushed. “But my son here seems to think you’re worth protecting, which means you truly are powerful.”
I didn’t dare look at Wolf. This was a completely different version of him than I saw in Scarlata. Was he doing this to protect me? Fuck that! Fuck protection! This was much deeper than him and me now.
Scarlata changed everything.
“I have amazing things planned for you, Huntyraina. Powerful, great things.”
I said nothing as I stared back at him, even though the panic started to claw at my chest, begging to take over my body.
“That’s enough for now,” Asmodeus announced. “Go back to your room and rest, Huntyraina. With what we have coming, you’re going to need it.”
I didn’t think twice. I shoved past both of them and bolted back to Wolf’s bedroom, grateful he didn’t follow.
Was this his plan all along? To make me trust him then deliver me right back here to Asmodeus? Did he know Asmodeus was listening to us back there?
Tears poured down my face as I ran into the room and slammed the door behind me.
Trust no one.
Why the fuck did I keep forgetting that?