Page 32 of Wild Wolf

“That’s a corlash bear,” Ethan breathed in warning, telling me this animal was deadly.

It growled at me in warning and my shivers were timbered.

“Oh yes,” I whispered. “I wouldn’t leave you here in the dark, new friend.” I broke the lock on his cage, opening it wide and stepping back.

Ethan gripped my arm tighter, tugging me aside as the bear-thing stepped out into freedom, sniffing the air and assessing the two of us. He towered over us both, his eyes full of rage, but he didn’t turn it on us, an understanding passing from one monster to another. He turned and raced away up the corridor and I blasted more cages open, letting the bigger beasties run after him, beasts with claws and fangs and feral needs that would be unleashed upon the wicked Fae who lurked in this here hell hole.

“Wilder,” a voice rasped behind me and I whirled around with Ethan, finding a cage I’d missed. A big one. One that was as dark as the pits of death and I wondered if the thing inside it was eating the light around it.

I squinted into the gloom, my goosebumps goosing as I sought out the monster within which knew my name. He lunged, a hairy arm with a clawed hand swinging for me through the bars and slashing against my air shield. I saw his face as he stepped out of the gloom, this hulking creature like a yeti, only worse than that. Far worse with his gnarled face and long limbs. But I knew his features, recognised them from the depths of my mind.

“Gustard?” Ethan balked, recognising him too. “What happened to you?”

If this had happened to Gustard then what the fudge had happened to our Lion boy? I glanced at the surrounding cages but didn’t spot a yeti-Roary anywhere so that was good. Unless it was bad.

“Shadowbrook,” Gustard hissed, his eyes snapping onto him. “Open.”

He seemed to be capable of only one word at a time, his voice altered too, deep and growly, like it belonged to an animal instead of a Fae though he looked just as wicked and twisted as always.

“Open!” He bellowed, shaking the bars of his cage.

I reached for it, but Ethan slapped my hand away and I pouted at him.

“He deserves to rot in there for what he did to Rosa,” Ethan snarled.

“I know,” I said, turning my gaze back on Gustard. “I was only going to make his living space a little less comfortable.” I touched the bars, bending them with my air magic and turning them red hot too as they buckled in on him, making Gustard roar in agony.

“Looks like the punishments of death are finding you in the living realm, Gussy,” I hissed. “You’ll rot here. Rot like an apple in a well and no one will look for you.”

I gave the space one more look in case Roary was lurking in a corner but there was no sight of him here or anywhere.

“If that’s Gustard,” Ethan breathed fearfully looking around too. “Then what-”

“I learned a long time ago that there ain’t no worth in worrying about the could-bes, kitten. Right now we know nothing and we won’t know it until we know it. So let’s not get all tangled in the could-bes. Okay?”

Ethan arched a brow at me like he was surprised. “That’s actually pretty smart,” he admitted, all surprised. Rude. I was known for my cunning plans and wily mind. But right now we had better things to do than squabble over his lack of faith in me.

“Then let’s get back to the chaos, eh?” I turned from the still shrieking Gustard, petting Crow-thing and following Ethan into the dark, twisty-turns of the passages beneath this forsaken place. And I knew with a certainty that set my blood alight, I would see it fall before I left its shores.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The table I was crouched beneath was burning, the crackle and pop of the heavy wood combining with the growing heat and billowing smoke to force me from my place of refuge.

I’d lost track of Shadowbrook and Wilder in the mayhem and now it was down to me to cause the distraction Rosalie needed.

I steeled myself, flattening my palms to the dirty flagstones beneath me in an attempt to stop them from trembling. I expelled a harsh breath and rolled free of my concealed spot, throwing myself into a series of rolls. Whatever might be lurking out there wouldn’t be able to get a lock on me.

I threw myself to my feet with a feral cry, raising my arms over my head to appear bigger and more intimidating. It was one of the tactics I’d been taught during my guard training at Darkmore and though the one time I’d tried it in there I’d received cat-calls and raucous laughter, I felt like I had it down now.

But there turned out to be no one there for me to intimidate.

The ramshackle marketplace which had been full of nefarious vendors and buyers alike was now abandoned, flames licking at several stalls, holes blasted through the walls and into the floor. Debris littered the ground and a few bodies were strewn over tables and under heaped rubble. Aside from that, I was alone.

“Err…guys?” I called out, turning to hunt for a sign of Sin or Ethan anywhere. They were probably in danger, desperately in need of my help but I had no idea where to find them.

The last time I’d been with them we’d been headed towards the east side of the stronghold so I turned that way and took off, water magic coiling around my fingers, my senses sharp in anticipation of anything.

A high-pitched shriek broke through the air ahead of me and I stumbled over my own feet as my heart leapt in surprise. I hesitated for a moment but my team were relying on me and I knew now that it was time for me to step up and embrace the call of the dark. I had to keep on this path.

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