22. Revi
Revi ripped through the zruyeds, hardly even aware of what he was doing. Fury governed his movements; he was more wolf than man at that moment. Kienna’s floral scent spurred him forward. It was a smell that he never should have encountered mixed with the acrid tang of the monsters, and the combination drove his vision red. He took down the first in a single sweep and lunged at the second. He could smell a third across the clearing, beyond Kienna. A threat. His current foe bit down into his shoulder, and he snarled, bucking it off and tearing through its throat. The body dropped as he turned toward the third one.
This monster, it seemed, had the heart of a coward, for Revi could smell the terror on it before it turned tail and vanished into the forest. Unacceptable. These monsters had come to the heart of his Court, to his very castle, and they had threatened Kienna.
He took off after it, closing the distance, gaining, leaping onto its back and burying his teeth in its flesh. It didn’t even get to put up a fight before he had finished it.
He lifted his snout to the air and breathed deeply. The threat was eliminated. He left the body where it had fallen, turning and stalking back to the clearing. Red still clouded the edges of his vision; adrenaline still pulsed through him. The need to fight, to make something bleed, was a steady thrum at the back of his mind.
There they were. Kienna, frozen in place, hair falling loose from her braid and ruffling around her shoulders, scent tinged with fear. He didn’t want to consider the source of that fear.
Beside her, against Revi’s express wishes, stood Enlo. Somehow his cousin had found a way around his promise.
“You,” he growled. He wasn’t even sure whom he was speaking to. Rage pulsed through him toward both of them.
Enlo stepped forward, placating hands raised in a gesture that only made Revi angrier.
“We didn’t know there would be zruyeds so close to the castle, cousin,” he said in Elyri. “I never would have brought her out here if—”
Revi snarled, cutting Enlo off and making Kienna flinch.
“You promised,” he said, also in Elyri. “You promised to stay away from her.”
“I never sought her out,” Enlo countered, his shoulders tensing.
Revi scoffed. He started pacing in front of them. “Since when do you use your silver tongue on me, cousin? You promised, and I trusted you.”
Enlo crossed his arms mulishly. “We finally have someone new at the castle for the first time in years, since this curse began, and you expect me to completely avoid them? She found me, Revi. She sought me out.”
A snarl ripped from Revi as those words stabbed into him. She hadn’t even known Enlo existed, but of course she had sought him out. He would always be more charming, more appealing to everyone than Revi was.
Revi turned to Kienna and switched to her language. “Why did you leave the castle grounds?”
Her fear had ebbed, and she stood, brow furrowed, looking between Revi and Enlo as if trying to puzzle something out. At Revi’s words, her gaze snapped to him.
“He said it wouldn’t take long and we wouldn’t be going far,” she said. “But I should have kept my promise. I’m sorry.”
The sincerity in her tone drained the fight from Revi’s body. He couldn’t stay angry at her, but he didn’t want to see her, either, standing too close beside Enlo. They looked perfectly matched. Beautiful and unmarred.
“You bring only torment into my life,” he muttered in Elyri. The comment earned a sharp look from Enlo. Of course it would. Revi could do nothing right regarding Kienna in Enlo’s eyes.
“What were those things?” Her gaze skittered toward, but didn’t quite reach, the corpses beyond the gazebo.
“Something that should never have gotten so far into my Court.” A shadow of a growl had returned to his voice, but there was no heat to put behind it anymore. With the adrenaline fading, his body ached. He hadn’t slept in days, not since before he’d been wounded during his last skirmish, and he’d only stopped to hunt and shift into a wolf form on his return journey. Without the bloodlust pushing him, making it back to the castle would be a trial in itself.
“Come.” He took a step and swayed, the world spinning around him.
“Beast?” Kienna’s voice rang out in alarm. “Are you all right?”
“Come back to the castle,” Revi said, leaving her question unanswered. He wasn’t, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Revi.” Concern lined Enlo’s tone. “What’s wrong?”
Revi only growled, forcing the last of his strength to keep him upright as he stalked from the gazebo toward the castle. He hadn’t even made it to the trees where the third zruyed lay when his legs gave out. The last thing he remembered was the scent of fear on the air again and Kienna’s frantic voice.