Page 28 of A Sky of Emerald Stars

“I can’t shift in a fucking wagon,” I snarled, my Wolf already pulling to the surface, desperate to heal me.

“I won’t let you break anything... oreatanyone if that’s what you’re so worried about,” Maez said as she unbuckled myvest so I wouldn’t shred it with the change. “This is just a quick shift, just like we’ve trained for. Heal and then return.”

I took another breath, my pulse still far too fast, my ears still ringing. I nodded and screwed my eyes shut. My Wolf was all too eager to emerge, the survival instinct kicking in. I felt the heightening pain as my muscles twisted, my bones crunched, and then with a pop, there was nothing but sweet relief.

I stood on all four paws, my silver tail swishing. I still panted from the heat, but my heart had slowed and my breathing was steadier. My sight and hearing were perfect once more. I heard every whine of the wagon wheel, every snorting breath of the oxen, every hummed note of Navin at the front of the wagon. I smelled the sunshine baking off the sand and the sweat-slicked socks now discarded around my paws. I stretched, padding back and forth along the couch, shaking the vestiges of clothing off.

“Feels better, doesn’t it?” Maez said with a smirk, folding her arms across her chest.

I snapped at her, not liking this human form so close in my space. I heard the whoosh of her blood in her veins, smelled her earthen musk and minty soap she used to bathe across her skin, my eyes honed to all her vulnerable flesh. I was trained to never view humans as prey... but with one so close, it was hard to control the hunting instinct. My mind was still foggy, my judgment not as clear as it normally would be. It felt like teetering on a dream. I prowled a step closer and sniffed Maez’s skin.

“Don’t you bite at me, bitch,” Maez growled, asserting more Wolf into her voice. Only then did my judgment snap back into place. I recognized that she wasn’t in fact human and pulled back. “Good. Now shift back before you piss on the couch.”

I bared my teeth at her again. I was about to will the change when the curtain pulled back with Navin saying, “Did y—” He froze, staring at me. Time stood still. This wasn’t the quiet meditative stillness of before. Now, the way he looked at me was so charged I could feel it buzzing through the air. I couldsmellhis fear wafting off him like a too strong perfume.

“Navin, get the fuck out of here,” Maez said, leaping toward the curtain.

But he didn’t. Instead, Navin’s eyes hooked with mine. I saw it all there: the concoction of shock and fear. My lip curled in a low growl.

“Sadie,” Maez warned, stepping in between me and the human.

Navin stumbled back, pulling the curtain again.

In a blink, I shifted and crumpled onto the couch, wincing at the sharp pain of the sudden change. And not just the physical one. It felt like a tearing that Navin would no longer be able to deny what I was. Not with the truth of it staring him in the face. My body was healed but my soul was a jumbled knot of warring emotions. He’d seen me. Seen me in my rawest, truest form. Seen thebeastthat I am.

And he’d been paralyzed with fear.

Sadie

I’d never been more grateful for a sunset. As the sun dipped from the sky, a surprising chill filled the desert as temperatures plummeted. We rode southward throughout the rest of the evening toward the bridge that led up to the lowest of the floating islands. We rounded behind a jagged rock formation, hiding the wagon from the main road. Even when Navin parked next to a mound of craggy desert rocks and came inside, he didn’t look at me.

“We’re breaking for an hour,” he said, “then we’re on the road again. We need to get most of the way before sunrise if we don’t want a repeat of this morning.” He grabbed his lute off the shelf and returned to his bunk. A moment later we heard the deep woody notes of Navin’s music.

Maez and I exchanged glances as shame filled me.A repeat of this morning...and he didn’t mean my father’s surprise attack. I still didn’t understand how they knew where to find me. And now, I had no clue which way to turn. My father was somewhere behind us, mybetrothedwas ahead, and everywhere around us was unforgiving, uninhabitable desert. I couldn’t exactly show my face in Rikesh with a bounty out for me, could I? But turning back might put us directly in my father’s path again.Turning west would take us to Damrienn, which we definitely couldn’t do... And what of our mission for the Golden Court? Was there any hope we could still pull the Onyx Wolves into the fray? Or at least convince them not to raise arms against us?

“You look like your brain is about to catch fire,” Maez muttered, and my feet abruptly stopped.

I hadn’t realized I’d been pacing back and forth. A silent conversation passed between my friend and me. She knew me so well I swore she could hear the questions racing in my head.

The space was suddenly too confining, making my skin itch. Flicking my knife back and forth wouldn’t be enough to settle me. I couldn’t just sit there and stew about my father and my arranged marriage and every which way I was entirely fucked. Nor could I just listen to Navin playing his music, ignoring me, clearly spooked by seeing me in my Wolf form.

“I’m going for a walk,” I announced to no one in particular. I headed to the piles of shoes and yanked on my boots. When I’d shifted back into my human form, I’d put on light linen trousers and a matching sleeveless tunic. The pale cream outfit was the complete antithesis of how I preferred to dress, normally opting for thick black leather, but after feeling the panic of my body shutting down, I wasn’t going to risk it. Luckily, I fit into the clothes left behind by Mina and Malou, and the Rikeshi twins had always worn light billowy fabrics even in the depths of Taigos. Galen den’ Mora had stashes of random clothing hidden all around the place and I was grateful for the chaotic caching of supplies.

Maez muttered something, reaching for her boots.

I help up a hand to her. “I can go on my own. I don’t need an escort.”

“Your father and uncles could be right behind us.”

“My father would rather die than be parted from the dagger Nero gifted him for his fiftieth,” I countered, “which means they won’t be abandoning their weapons and shifting to chase after us. And these oxen are the only magical creature that can traversethe scorching heat without rest thatIknow of. So unless there’s a magical flying pony that you’re not telling me about, my father and uncles are far behind us.”

My logic didn’t seem to persuade Maez. “I still don’t really think wandering off in a foreign landscape is such a good idea.”

I threw my hands up, exasperated. “I’ll be fine.”

“Sweet Moon, would you stop being so stubborn?” Maez snapped. “You practically combusted today! Besides, I’m going to contact Briar. She needs to know about this run-in with your father.” Maez’s nostrils flared, her throat bobbing as she added, “And to tell her about the Evres situation.”

“You’re going to tell her?”

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