Page 51 of Ash and Roses

The wood creaks against the force of my body as I throw myself up against the door, fingers fumbling with the locks. The door won’t budge, so I pound on it with all the force I can muster, borrowing whatever strength I can from the monster. “Ruben! Open the fucking door!”

There’s no answer. Even if he can hear me, he won’t get to me in time. I pound on it over and over, the smashing of my fists matching the thundering of my pulse. She’s going to die. I did all this to protect her, and it’s going to be for nothing.

A jolt hits me, so powerful that when I regain enough control to open my eyes, I find myself on my knees. I gasp for a breath of air, shoving back the monster with the last of my strength.

I can’t change now. I can’t—

CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT

ABBY

“Are you sure about this?” The man I’d kicked asks. He’s shorter than the others, and probably younger. He looks like a person who was roped into something they don’t want to do, manipulated by those they look up to, and are now in too deep to turn back.

“It’s now or never, while everyone is distracted. Quinn will have eyes on her if we wait.”

“And why not never?”

His answer comes as a fist to the face, powerful enough to have him spitting blood. I’d kicked him with as much force as I could muster, and it hadn’t come anywhere close to that.

“Why are you doing this?” I ask to distract Morgan. He looks as if he wants to hit the man again, but turns his attention back to me.

“Because the so-called prince won’t.” He inches closer to me, moving like the predator he is. “Tell me, Princess. Do you remember me?”

I’d thought he looked familiar the first time I saw him, but I still can’t place it. “You’re from Lunae.” I take in his confidence with the weapon, as if he’s been around them far longer than he’s been here. “A Guardian.”

He smiles. “Very good, butwhichGuardian am I?”

I don’t have an answer. Many Guardians wear their hoods up. There’s no need for them to show their faces, and even if they did, I can’t be expected to remember all of them. A few worked inside the palace, but many were stationed in the city and villages to control the people.

“Don’t tell me it wasn’t good for you.”

My brows tense together as I study his face. I’d sought companionship in the arms and beds of many Guardians, but I have no memory of ever being intimate with this man.

And then it hits me. All of my rendezvous with various Guardians had been consensual… except for one.

The memory—little more than the haze of a dream—comes back to me all at once. It was too dark in my room to see the man’s face when he’d slipped inside from the dimly lit hall. I was too stunned to be awoken in such a way that I didn’t cry out. The intruder didn’t hurt me, and it was over so quickly that I’ve often wondered if it could have been just another nightmare.

But now I know for certain that it wasn’t.

“I remember you,” I say with a defiant raise of my chin. There’s even more reason to fear him now, but that fear has melded into molten rage stirring deep within the pit of my stomach. “You’re just as much of a coward now as you were then. You didn’t bring me out here because you’re afraid I’ll go back to Lunae and tell my father about you and the other wolves. You’re just protecting yourself from what Quinn will do to you when he finds out what you did to me.”

The two other men share uncertain glances, but Morgan’s eyes never leave mine. Hatred seethes within them, but he fights to keep control of himself. “This has nothing to do with that. What do you think that false king and witch of a queen will do if they find out about this place? Quinn is too weak to protect his people. He always has been.”

False king? Witch queen? He’s gone mad.

“You’ll never get away with this. You may kill me now, but what do you think Quinn will do to you when he finds out?”

He laughs. “Quinn is the reason we’ll get away with this.” He opens his arms wide and spins in a circle, raising his voice as if to show just how alone we are. “Look around you. The forest is empty. Not a monster to speak of. And do you know why that is? Because Quinn isn’t here. He’s locked himself up somewhere for the duration of this cycle, and when he’s human enough again to realize you’re gone, it will be all too easy to say you discovered the truth about him and fled. By then, there will be nothing left for him to find.”

He moves towards me, and I brace myself. Even if I still had my weapon, there’s no way I could survive with three against one. My only regret is that I could have at least taken him with me.

Someone screams and Morgan skids to a halt. I want to look for the source of the sound, but I can’t risk taking my eyes off the knife in Morgan’s hand. This could be my chance to run. If they’re distracted—

Something lands between us with a wet thud and I can’t stop myself from looking down. It’s the man I’d bit… or the top half of him, anyway. I can almost swear he blinks once before going completely still, the only movement being the entrails sliding out of him. Where his legs went, I can only guess.

“Fuck!” The curse came from the second man. He was standing just behind me, but his voice sounds farther away now as if he’s distancing himself from whatever did that to his friend. “You said he was locked up!”

Before Morgan can respond, a massive silver wolf leaps out from behind a thicket and stalks towards us, muzzle and forepaws coated in glistening red. It shows its teeth as a low growl ripples through it so deeply that I swear the earth trembles beneath me.

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