Page 2 of Queen of Wrath

As if someone had taken hold of the volume dial to the city, and ruthlessly continued to turn it, the sounds of crumbling buildings and people screaming in agony and despair became louder and louder.

My hands flew up to cover my ears, desperate to drown out the horror of what I’d done.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry!”

My eyes flew open, blinded by the morning light immediately after.

My heart was pounding out of my chest, sweat running down my face in torrents.

I flung myself out of bed in a fright, gasping for air. I was alone in my room.

Again? Why do I keep having the same dream?

I lowered my head into my hands in an attempt to calm myself, but the sickening feeling did not leave my body. Instead, I threw the sheets off of me and knelt next to the shrine I’d placed in the corner of my room to honor the Lunair Goddess, Lunaira, and my family members who were up there with her now.

My mother always used to tell me that no matter where I was, Lunaira would always hear me.

I hoped that was true. For I’d been praying to her more than ever before, pleading that she would help me keep my sanity.

I shifted my weight as the cold, hard wood of the floor bit into my knees. “Lunaira, please guide me. The path ahead of me is treacherous and unclear. One step wrong—if I’m caught—it would all be over… My one chance, the one I’ve been waiting for, would be lost forever… But mostly, I’m afraid of who I have become…and what I’ve lost to become her.”

After a moment of silence, my hands hesitantly fell away from each other. I lowered myself back until I lay flat on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

Something about the gold stars painted on the white surface above seemed to calm me, probably because they reminded me that I was no longer in that prison cell.

Although it had been several months, I still found it hard to believe. I never thought I’d escape that dreadful place one day.

I rolled over onto my side and let out a deep sigh.

I may have escaped, but can I ever outrun what that place did to me?

When it got too quiet sometimes, especially at night, I could still hear the screaming, sobbing, and moaning of the other prisoners. That was why I couldn’t sleep without a light on anymore, burning through candles at an alarming rate, just so the darkness wouldn’t swallow me back into that cold, unforgiving place.

I thought I’d be past it by now…

I curled my knees into my chest and wrapped my arms around them. Even sitting on the floor like this felt more like home than the bed had earlier.

What about all those stories we were told when we were younger? Tales about the unbreakable spirit of the werewolf…

There was a light knock on the door, followed by a soft voice I recognized as Rowan’s. “Emma, are you up yet?”

I was still getting used to people calling me Emma all the time now. I knew she was only doing it to help me get used to it, but I wished she would use my real name when it was just us. The longer I pretended to be Emma, the more I forgot Lea. But Emma was actually the one who fanned my rage and fueled my path to revenge, the one who made all of this possible.

To get what I wanted, I was willing to let Emma push Lea aside completely—even throw her off a cliff if that was what it took.

I snapped myself out of my mind enough to answer Rowan.

“Come in,” I called out unconvincingly, not in the mood to get up just yet, so I just raised myself enough to sit cross-legged on the floor.

I was barely finished speaking when she burst into my room. “I thought we could do some shopping around the city. You know? Build your own wardrobe. We can keep borrowing things from Akil Wiley for only so long.” She stated his name with derision. “If I have to hear him complain that you nicked or stained one of his robes again, I'm going to fling myself off the highest point in Theskin… Thank goodness Emma is only a temporary arrangement.”

My eyes snapped up, my heart in my throat. “Temporary?”

Rowan looked at me confused for a moment, then smiled, “Well, of course. Once this mission is over you can have your life back.”

The thought churned my stomach. “What life?” It wasn’t like I had anything to go back to. “There won’t be anything left for me once Emma is done exacting Lea’s vengeance.”

Rowan frowned and lowered herself to my level, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Now you listen to me. You can’t let this be the only thing you’re living for. There is much more to life beyond revenge, even if you can’t see it right now. Despite everything you went through, your heart is still kind, and no one can ever take that away from you.”

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