Page 7 of Land of Monsters

“No.” Iacob’s voice barked like a command. “We do not turn away anyone asking for help.”

“Sir—” The Druid tried to speak again.

“I said that is not who we are.” Iacob cut him off. “Too many claim they are open forallin need and are not. I will not be a hypocrite. I saw it too much growing up.” He stepped up to Vlad, putting his hand on the muzzle of the gun and pushing it down until it pointed at the snowy ground. “We help those who need it.” He nodded at Viorica and Codrin, getting them to lower their weapons too.

Iacob’s gaze came to us, his stout frame taking a few steps in the snow to us. With a heavy exhale, he crossed his arms over his chest, his expression growing more serious.

“Though I think you owe us the full truth.” His dark eyes darted between us, landing on me, his tone sharp. “Tell us who youreallyare.”

?

Minuscule pinpricks jabbed at my thawing skin inside the warm dome, causing my nose to run and my bones to ache. The spell around the encampment buzzed overhead, making me realize how much the bracelet had dulled my senses before. How little I was living, yet the onslaught of it had me longing for the buffer.It was as if I was standing naked—raw and exposed. And way overstimulated.

The herb and mushroom tea in my hands did very little to soothe my nerves. Eyes from all around the dome sliced into me, especially from Dubthach, though the insignificance they had addressed me with the first time was gone. I was depleted and weak, yet they still detected the unusual power that lay within my bones because I was too exhausted to wall myself up.

Dubthach examined me like he was trying to peel back all my layers and ascertain what threat I posed, what powers were lingering just out of his grasp.

I had learned from a very early age to guard myself. I was always around powerful figures and international leaders, people who would feel threatened by the truth. Most already feared my father just from his name alone, knowing my uncles and aunts also stood behind him as well. They knew what my twin and I were, but after years of showing no sign of any particular threat, they relaxed.

The press cooed over my brother, the media fawning, finding no flaw within his six-foot frame. Rook was engaging with everyone from heads of state to maids and even the tabloids, his charm winning people over instantly. I learned to smile, flatter, pretend I was the same. That I didn’t come out fucked up and resenting the cage of royal life.

“Are you ready to explain?” Iacob sat on a bench near us, his robe opening across his bare torso, displaying his hairy chest. Celeste cuddled up next to him like she was a little girl visiting Santa; they all were so free with touch and displaying affection with each other.

One side of me grew up going to the dark dweller ranch with a huge, physically affectionate family. The other side lived in a castle, curtsied, and addressed leaders formally. I couldn’t step out of place because the press seemed desperate to findsomething wrong with me. From my lunches with friends, shopping sprees, or helping with Aunt Zoey’s orphanage, they found ways to tear me down and make me always seem frivolous and shallow.

Little did they know the depths I kept hidden.

Ash cleared his throat, sipping his tea. He still wouldn’t fully look at me, and I couldn’t deny the ache in my chest. It shouldn’t matter. He made it clear we were nothing. This partnership would end if we made it out of here alive. And now that he knew the truth, the end was coming sooner than later.

Exhaling, I started first. “My name is Raven, and I am a dar—”

“I’mthe reason we are hiding here.” Ash cut me off, his eyes sliding over to me so quickly I almost missed it, but I could sense his body stiffening, telling me to shut up. “She was dragged into my mess like you have been.”

I blinked at him, knowing he was lying. Or at least not telling the whole story. I was just as much the problem. The Russians were here for me. I was the one who brought even more weight down on us.

“My real name is Ash.” He set down his mug, looking at Iacob. “I have come here to seek revenge for people I loved who were taken from me.” His voice stayed steady. “Sonya and Iain are not hunting me. I’m hunting them.”

“Ash?” Vlad muttered his name, his eyes widening. “The same Ash who is said to run with the legend Warwick Farkas?The Wolf?”

That name had some sucking in breath, as if saying it would conjure whoever this man was.

“One and the same.” Ash dipped his head.

“Futu-?i gura mati!” Fuck your mother’s mouth!Vlad stood up, hissing out a curse.

“Many did,” Ash replied.

A laugh snorted from me, my hand clasping over my mouth.

“So wrong,” I mumbled.

He shrugged one shoulder at me. “But true.”

“The Wolf? The man who the legend says came back from the dead? That not even death would have him, spitting him back out? Who can slaughter hundreds in mere seconds?”

“Whoa.” Ash held up his hand. “That’s a total exaggeration. He can kill maybe a dozen, two dozen at most in seconds.”

The entire group stared at Ash in silent horror.

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