Chapter 21
STARK
Cratos and the other direwolves have barely had a chance to rest when a throbbing pulse of fear comes over my bond with Meryn, followed immediately by her voice in my mind—and in Venna’s and Noemi’s, judging by the way they both still.
“Come quickly. Deserter soldier, he has Saela. Don’t attack, I’ll try to talk him down, but please be at the ready.”
A growl rips out of my throat. How dare he?
If she hasn’t made progress by the time we get there, I’m going to yank out this guy’s intestines through his mouth.
The three of us mount up in record time. Our direwolves move swiftly and quietly through the forest to reach Meryn and Saela at the clearing. The setting sunlight through the forest leaves makes everything dappled in shadow.
We slide off our wolves to move closer but stay out of sight.
Meryn and Saela are on the opposite side of the clearing from us. The soldier is unkempt and dressed in a Nocturnan uniform, his eyes wild as he presses a glittering knife to Saela’s throat. Her skin is drained of all color, lips pressed into a thin, quivering line.
“Are you one of my soldiers?” Meryn’s voice echoes across the clearing.
The man’s face twists in contempt. “Your soldiers? Absolutely not.”
The rage in me builds, so close to the surface now.
The woods around the man rustle. Then figures emerge from the long shadows cast by the struggling sun. Their faces move in and out of the pale bluish light as they approach.
More soldiers. Maybe thirty, all wearing the same uniform.
Fuck.
“You two stay here,” I tell Noemi and Venna, voice low. “I’m going to disarm him. Be ready to attack, and make sure Skaia and Ephyse are prepared.”
Venna signs back—my words must have been too soft for her. “Please repeat?”
I attempt repeating the message in sign language. I’ve been studying it on my own since I first learned one of Meryn’s closest allies was hard of hearing. She nods, so I must’ve made enough sense.
“Is Anassa almost here?” I ask Cratos.
“Yes, almost,” he replies. “We’ll attack at your signal.”
Nodding to him, I begin to move quietly around the circle of the clearing.
“We’re King Killian’s soldiers!” the attacker shouts. His voice is bold and echoes through the devouring woods.
The piece of shit is proud.
No matter how this ends, the ground will be soaked with blood.
The soldier continues his loud, belligerent declarations as I draw closer. “Who the fuck do you think you are? The Valtieres have reigned over Nocturna for centuries! You can’t end our allegiance with some sudden order.”
Saela is standing very still. I’m surprised she’s not trembling. She must have that Sturmfrost steel in her, too.
“We left the front, and we’re traveling to Rabenfrost to support our king. Finding you was a fortunate coincidence.” He smirks.
Killian must have more military support than we’d anticipated. These fucking idiots. They’re allowing themselves to be tricked and lied to.
“I’m almost on him,” I tell Meryn. “Keep him distracted.”
She straightens a bit at the sound of my voice in her mind. Her silver hair looks nearly blue in the low light of the clearing. “Don’t kill them. Please. They’re my citizens, too.”
“Are you kidding me, princess?”
“Please,” she begs. I see her eyes search the forest, looking for me, pleading.
I shake my head but keep moving. I’ll make no promises. I’m nearing the soldier now, and Meryn’s in full view.
“Give me a few minutes to change your mind.” Meryn looks back to the soldier, her voice steady.
“I understand why you don’t trust me and why you don’t want to fight for me yet.
But I am the rightful queen. If you let my sister go, if you take time to have a conversation with me, I believe I can sway you to my cause. No one needs to get hurt here today.”
He just laughs spitefully. “We won’t bow to any mad bitch.” There are murmurs of agreement whispering from the woods around us.
Ah, so that’s what this is, then. Their opposition isn’t just about loyalty to Killian, and they’re not just rejecting Meryn’s claim.
They’re rejecting the very notion of a woman ruling, exposing the festering misogyny in this kingdom.
Meryn’s gaze hardens, and the shade in the clearing suddenly expands in a way that has nothing to do with the lowering sun. This fucker might not know what that means, but I do.
Finally, our queen is properly pissed.
Her anger lights a fire in my gut.
“Give in to it,” I say without thinking. “Use shadebending, and end them.”
She blinks, her lips thinning. “I can’t. I can’t! I might hurt you all, too. And I don’t want Saela to see me like that.”
Another man speaks from the soldiers’ side. I can’t make him out, but his voice is crackly. “It doesn’t matter how powerful you think you are, you psycho bitch. You’re outnumbered.”
That’s it. No one talks to her that way.
But before I can move, the woods themselves fully dim as if someone has dragged the sun from the sky.
The look in Meryn’s eyes has become deadly. She’s no longer seeking peace. There’s a vicious, hungry edge to her now that makes my blood heat.
She’s so fucking gorgeous when she’s mad.
“I think you meant, Your Royal Psycho Bitch Highness.” The sharpness in her voice could slice the thickest of skins.
“We done here?” I ask her.
“Finish them,” she responds. “I’ll protect Saela.”
I don’t need to be told twice.
I step out of the woods, unbridled rage roiling through me. Before anyone can blink, my blade is at the soldier’s throat, mirroring his threat against Saela.
“Bad choice, boys,” I growl out, tasting the promise of bloodshed in the air. My broad body dwarfs the weak man in front of me. “She might be inclined to show you mercy as your queen. But I’m no royal.”
Some idiot has the balls to ask, “Oh yeah, who are you, then?”
Locking eyes with Meryn, my insides ignite. “I’m the creature from your nightmares they wield like a weapon. Your lives mean nothing to me.”
I slice the man’s throat open in one smooth motion. Blood erupts, pouring over the back of Saela’s head and her hair.
She shrieks and runs to Meryn, stumbling.
Meryn’s arms are around her instantly, and she throws up a defensive shield around them both using Phylax magic. I nod to Noemi across the clearing. She races forward, stepping in front of Meryn and Saela and encasing them inside a second defensive shield.
At least when Saela’s around, Meryn will accept proper protection.
Fur streaks between the trees as the direwolves arrive in a storm of teeth and claws.
Anassa tosses a soldier into the air, and he lands atop another with a scream. She bounds over to stand by Saela and Meryn, protecting them alongside Noemi. Venna and Skaia emerge from the trees with frightening speed.
Even though the soldiers outnumber us, they’re suddenly looking a lot less confident.
They finally fucking realize they should not have threatened a queen.
The wolves leap into action. The screaming starts and doesn’t stop.
I throw up a hand as three soldiers try to charge me and release an impelling blast without restraint. The power comes stronger and more easily than ever, as it has ever since Meryn reclaimed her crown.
There’s an audible snap as the brutal force of my power cracks their ribs, throwing them backward.
Several more soldiers encircle me, though they all look hesitant to be the first to engage. Drawing my twin blades from my back, I come at two of them at once, slicing their throats with a single slash.
The men behind me try to run, but Cratos catches one in his mouth, chomping down. The other he pins beneath a massive paw, extending his claws into the man’s chest as he shrieks.
I move in to swiftly silence him with my blade.
Noemi stays close to Meryn, maintaining her shield while keeping soldiers at bay with her sword. Ephyse provides another layer of defense. He tears a leg off one of the soldiers with a vicious wrench of his jaw.
Whirling around, I look for any soldiers we may have missed. Their numbers are dwindling fast.
While Skaia leaps around, snapping up prey, Venna’s been slipping through the shadows, picking off fighters before they know what’s hit them. Now, she darts in again, dispatching a soldier who tries to flee with an efficient knife to the gut.
Anassa circles around Saela and Meryn, snapping at anyone who gets too close.
It’s a relief to be unleashed, after weeks—months, really—of being on passably good behavior.
This is me at my best. At my worst.
Myself.
Blood arcs across my face in a dark splatter as I spin to gut another attacker.
Meryn pulses a warning toward me, but I’ve already sensed the next one on my left. I slot my blade into place between the man’s chest and his chin.
For the briefest of moments, my eyes find Meryn’s, even as two more come for me. I need to see that she’s right where I want her to be.
Safe. Behind me. Protected.
The battle lasts only a handful of minutes. The final soldier falls to Cratos, whose jaws close around his entire skull. The man’s screams cut off abruptly as Cratos bites down.
Then, everything is silent. The birds are gone.
Slowly, the woods start to whisper and creak as if they’re letting out a breath.
Noemi relaxes her shield, as does Meryn. The shadows she summoned part, and the sun comes back out. She loosens her protective hold on Saela.
She’s behind her sister, so she can’t see what happens—but I do.
Saela’s eyes dilate enormously, swallowing up her irises. Her gaze—undeniably hungry—is locked on the blood-soaked ground, on the bodies.
Meryn’s not fast enough to tighten her grip. Saela rips from her and moves with inhuman speed.
“No!” Meryn shouts. As if she could stop it.
The little girl falls on the nearest corpse. She latches on and tears at it with her hands. I have an iron stomach for gore at this point, but even I’m a little queasy as the sounds start. Gasping, sucking, gulping sounds.
Saela looks like a starving animal savaging prey.
Meryn and I make eye contact with the others at the same time. Venna and Noemi are staring in shock, their expressions a mixture of revulsion and disbelief. Venna’s hand rises to cover her mouth. Betrayal flashes across Noemi’s face.
Fuck.