Ronen #2
Turning my attention back to the pet, I really took him in.
Not like every other time, filled with hatred and bias.
I took him in without letting my insecurities, past, and feelings cloud my judgment.
I took him in, remembering what it felt like to be under the Hell Rune’s control, doing everything Etan told me, even if it destroyed me.
He hated himself for what he did to Lucille. The truth sagged beneath his eyes and rang through his words. They had been a damnation, not a confession. He believed the best way to atone was by giving up his life, and yet a part of him still fought.
Like I had.
His potential Soulhound prowled closer, placing himself beside the pet.
I stepped back, a little unnerved by his size, while Rune practically drooled after him.
That was what we needed. For her to fall in love with the pet’s hound. Seven Hells that’d be a story.
The pet stiffened. “What is it?”
“Your Soulhound. If you so choose.”
The male bumped his skeletal head against the pet’s ribs, seeking attention. The pet hissed, and his Soulhound shifted his gaze to me, eyes blazing with accusation. I stepped back again, remembering how protective Rune had been of me in the beginning.
“Why is he all bones?”
“Soulhounds develop flesh once their chosen agrees to their claim. You’ve been found worthy. If I need to tell you how rare this situation is, then you need to go to the library and do some research. That’s not why I’m here.”
Aspen leveled me with a look of clarity. It was like something reached inside him and dragged him through his depression for an honest, no-bullshit conversation.
“Why are you here?”
I grinned. It wasn’t pleasant. Not sure it ever would be around him.
“A spark is only good at starting a fire. You need to figure out what’ll fuel it. I’m here to pry that out of you.” I pointed at the bony hound. “So is he, it seems.”
And with that, I’d had enough conversing with him for the day.
I turned, snapping my fingers at Rune before she decided to nip at the Soulhound’s ankles.
He’s twice your size. Behave.
“Let’s go.”
Lucille’s panic practically drove my heart into overdrive.
He nodded, and we luscelered back to the castle, our Soulhounds following at our sides. It wasn’t until we reached the arena doors that I realized the pet’s Soulhound wasn’t beside us anymore.
I glanced at Rune, who had her head turned back toward the tree line where the large skeletal hound sat. His glowing blue eyes glinted in the forest, watching us.
“He doesn’t want to come in,” the pet said.
I grunted and snapped my fingers at Rune.
Eyes forward. Let’s move, I told her.
She growled, her irritation hitting me.
I’m not the one gazing longingly at the pet’s new beast.
She whipped her head around and barreled through the doors, practically running toward the healers’ wing. Her denial sang through our bond.
I held back my smug smile as we followed. She sensed it, and her irritation spiked into frustration.
At the healers’ wing, surprise flashed across Sam’s face when he took Aspen in, just like last time. Did he also find it shocking I hadn’t killed him yet? Or was it the state of the pet’s injuries?
“We need you to heal him fast again. I imagine Lucille is hunting for him. Also, if you could provide him an alibi for his burning lungs, that’d be great.”
Sam’s eye twitched.
“Follow me,” he directed stiffly, leading the pet to a private room.
While he healed him, I quickly dropped by Alexei’s room.
He lay on his stomach, pillows tucked beneath his injured, bandaged wings, with open books everywhere. He also had a stack of inappropriate magazines near him, surprisingly unopened. He didn’t even look up as I walked in, all his focus on the worn leather book.
“Finding anything?” I asked.
He lifted his head and blinked as if coming back to reality.
“Not yet. But I asked Vanessa to spy for us. She agreed, then proceeded to stammer out that she kinda already had been.”
“She has?”
“Seems after the king didn’t take a few of her meals, she decided to use a servant passage to check on him.”
“That’s bold.”
The last two servants who dared use those passages ended up as ice sculptures the next day.
“Yeah, you’re telling me. She said she saw him grab a cloak and head for the servant passage. She ran before she got caught.”
I frowned. “Where would he be going that he couldn’t use his own door?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Told Vanessa to trail him next time.”
“You think that’s safe?”
“No. But she knows the risks, and she’s willing.”
I nodded.
“Ridigar’s infected. Targeted us in the Eternal Forest. I think he wants the pet dead.”
Alexei arched back in surprise, jostling his wings and wincing.
“Vendetta?”
“No. There’s something else going—”
Rune sent me a sharp warning at the same time Lucille’s frustration and fear vanished, replaced by that lurking, vile force.
I luscelered out of Alexei’s room and toward the pet’s.
Lucille marched down the hall toward his door, Sam right on her heels.
Before she could even touch the doorknob, I snagged Lucille’s waist and shoved her against the wall. My hand immediately wrapped around her neck and held her jaw in place. She didn’t have time to blink, hide, or fight me.