Page 196 of A Vow of Blood and Tears

“Want… what was… promised,” he panted, a shrill whine in his gravelly voice. His face was not so much wolf as monstrosity, the snout only half-formed, some of his teeth human and flat, others long and jagged.

He crouched in the remnants of the door, his breath heavy and bubbling.

Hakkon had taken the hammer, and my hands couldn’t grip a pen. I had no weapons. I remained still as Miro eyed me, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn’t feel the urge to hunt.

“He… lied.” Miro’s tongue, long and distorted, slithered out and lapped blood from his face. Each word emerged painfully, exhaled on his thick, mucus-roughened breaths.

I didn’t even dare to blink. Sweat dripped down my temples, coated my back—a cold fear sweat, every muscle in my body trembling uncontrollably.

He shuddered, drool oozing over those misshapen jaws and dripping to the floor. Miro rose on all fours, taking one painfulstep at a time, his head tilted so one of those bulging eyes was fixed on me.

He reared up, stumbling as he tried to walk like a man, a low, guttural groan tearing from his chest and moaning out into the world.

“Eat you,” he whined. “Eat you… take what’s mine.”

Snap. His jaws gnashed together, and I remained frozen, terror rooting my feet in place.

The window. Better to die from the fall than torn apart by this half-man, half-wolf thing. Better to die clean than shredded by teeth.

But I couldn’t move. Like the sight of the dead warg in the woods, the primordial roots of my brain screamed at me to remain still, overriding any desire to end it.

I brought my hands to my chest, resting them there. The pain of moving them cleared my mind.

When I took a step back, Miro snarled, a sound more like pain than anger.

That makes two of us, I thought,but you deserve it. You deserve it all.

He followed me, angling to cut me off from my only escape, lurching with every step. His stertorous panting filled the air between us, more saliva spilling over to leave silvery pools on the floor.

I was so close to the window, heart pounding so hard I tasted blood in my throat, and everything happened at once.

A thin, dark shadow unfurled itself from the shattered door, rising tall. Miro howled in agony, muscles bunching, and he lunged, jaws snapping wide open for my throat.

Thorn barreled into him with a crash, the sickening sounds of thorns piercing flesh, and Miro immediately turned on him, directing those warped teeth to the golem’s arm.

The thorns tore his mouth, shredding his tongue, and the warg screamed. Thorn wrapped his arms around Miro, squeezing tight, blood dripping between every point their bodies touched.

Miro screamed again, and gave one last burst of effort to get to me, breaking free of Thorn, claws scrabbling at the floor and leaving deep gouges as he half-crawled, half-lunged towards me.

I threw myself backwards, slamming into the wall with a sharp expulsion of breath, bright lights dancing in front of my eyes as the pain ricocheted through my hands once more—but I needn’t have.

Because Thorn, made with Bane’s blood, saved me.

The golem gripped Miro, dragging him back. He locked a spiny arm around the warg’s throat and squeezed, driving the needles through Miro’s throat.

He struggled backwards, the two of them lurching in a violent dance, and threw himself through the window, still wrapped around Miro.

They dropped away in silence, leaving me panting there in the empty quiet of the tower.

I gasped for breath, fighting off the urge to pass out, the blackened blooms before my eyes, arms quivering uncontrollably.

And when I had control of myself, I counted.

Many long heartbeats passed, but nothing came up the stairs. I shuffled to the window, closing my eyes for a brief moment before I looked down.

Miro’s twisted body lay far below, the one wide eye staring upwards now glazed and empty, his spine contorted in a way no living being could survive.

Thorn had shattered from the fall.

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