Page 101 of Fated to the Frost King

Then I moved onto what I could find about the marriage ceremony.

My book on skathryns had been set to the side, but Batty pushed it in front of me now. I set it back aside, earning an offended trill from the tiny creature on my shoulder.

“I will read it,” I assured her. “Just not in the middle of…”

I trailed off, the reminder of Batty’s presence making me realize which animal wasn’t yet present.

I opened the doors and stepped into the freezing evening air, the cold biting through my sleeves like teeth. The sky had darkened to a bruised gray, and the wind carried the kind of stillness that felt wrong.

I scanned the horizon.

No movement. No shadows bounding down the northern road.

Snow stretched out across the courtyard in an unbroken sheet, soft and untouched. Too untouched.

I adjusted the book in my arms and pushed open the foyer door, half-expecting to hear claws on stone or the soft huff of breath behind me.

But the entryway was empty. I let out a whistle, though I wasn’t sure exactly why. I had never had a need to summon Lumen before because he was always just…there.

Sure enough, there was no answering howl. No familiar silhouette through the snow.

Draven had said the wolves would return by morning, but morning had long since passed.

A chill crept down my spine that had nothing to do with the cold.

They should have been back by now.

Something was wrong.

Chapter 34

Everly

It was another tense day before the wolves returned.

Nevara, Soren, and I were in the courtyard when the familiar howling of a pack of wolves split through the air. I had only a few moments to feel relief before the guards began shouting down from the walls.

Nevara stiffened, her expression shuttering. She had been so closed off since our time in the library, but now she looked as if she were bracing herself for something truly terrible.

Instinct had me grabbing the dagger at my thigh as I raced toward the wall. I took the stairs two at a time up to the walkway overlooking the grounds below, my heartbeat thundering with each step.

Another howl went out, another shout, and this time I could hear the pain in the voice.

I didn’t have to search for long before seeing where the noise was coming from. Ordinary fae were limping toward the gates, flanked by Draven’s wolves. Villagers, by the looks of them. They were covered in blood, their clothing in tatters. I scanned the wolves to find them in a similar state. All four of them had blood clumping in their fur, and coating their maws?—

I counted again, only four. There was no sign of Lumen at all.

“What in the ash-driven hells happened to them?” Soren muttered.

I hadn’t even realized he’d joined me. Nevara, too, was standing next to him, her face cast in a sickly sheen.

I shook my head mutely, still scanning the road for my wolf. The guards hovered at the gate uncertainly, like they weren’t sure whether to let the villagers in. Would the wards even allow us to?

I turned to Nevara, waiting for her to speak.

She stared blankly ahead. Not like she was having a vision. Like she was ignoring me intentionally.

Right. Because she was waiting for me to act. Because I was the queen.

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