Page 36 of Wilds of Wonder
She scowled, her thick white-blond eyebrows drawing together, and I imagined how many times over the years she’d made that same face from underneath her hood. “You know what I’m talking about: you stole Spirit Sky’s bolt, and we want it back.”
I shot her a smile. “Finders keepers and all that. You know the rules.”
She stepped forward, the hood of her white fur cloak falling back, revealing white-blond hair that matched her eyebrows, wavy and short and grazing her shoulders. Her icy-blue eyes bore into me. “The rules don’t apply to this particular situation.”
“What rules?” the tall man asked, scratching his head, his gaze volleying between us.
“But you know, I do agree, actually.” Emory tapped her chin. “I think finders keepers is an excellent idea.”
Before I could guess what in the bloody fire that meant, she wasjumping forward, snow flurries erupting from her palms and whirling around me in a storm, clouding my vision, scraping against my skin.
The weight lightened in my satchel, and I stuck out my hands as fire flared in my palms. The storm died down, and I wiped the flakes from my eyes and cheeks as she and her friends were already running away—with my bolt.
Fuck no. I wouldn’t let the white rabbit get away with this. Not when it was my only way to saveAnnalee.
“This isn’t a game, little rabbit!” I called after her. “I’m not competing against you. Not this time. I need that bolt.”
“Well, so do I,” she called over her shoulder. “And you damn well know why.”
Because she’d told me. Confided in me. And I’d betrayed that trust.
I gritted my teeth and bolted after them, thrusting out my hands and shooting balls of fire through the cave. One caught on the tall, lanky man’s green cloak.
But the shorter woman with the bun opened her hand and water appeared over the fire, putting it out.
“You just ruined a very nice cloak,” the man shouted over his shoulder.
“Did I?” I yelled back. “Give me the bolt and I’ll replace it.”
“No deal,” Emory said, bolt sizzling in her hand. “And if you come closer, I’ll smite you right off the ground.”
I snorted. “I’d like to see you try, little rabbit.”
She scoffed as they continued running for the opening of the cave. If they escaped into the mountains, they could go in any direction, and I could lose them for good. I didn’t have that kind of time. I’d already wasted so much precious time preparing for this damn journey. Too much time.
Emory and her companions skidded to an abrupt stop, and I didn’t even have time to think about why. My gaze stayed trained on that bolt. It was within reach. I could grab it, create some kind of distraction, and slip away. They wouldn’t be able to follow where I was going. Wouldn’t be able to track me once I got there. I’d be well and truly gone.
I reached for it, slipping it from Emory’s grasp, but she didn’t even seem to notice, her feet frozen to the ground.
A low growl sounded from the entrance to the cave, and I looked up to see a wolf standing there, legs bent in a crouch, teeth bared, saliva dripping in fat splotches to the ground.
The white wolf. It turned out I didn’t even have to find the creature for the queen. It had found me.
Emory whipped around, eyes wild. “Use the bolt. Now!”
I clutched it tighter to my chest. “I’m not going to use this weapon without knowing its full power. I need time to study it, to better understand it. What if I use it and it kills us all?”
The plan was to eventually use it, but she didn’t need to know that.
A fury blazed in her eyes as she stepped closer. “Fine. It looks like the wolf is hungry. Do you want to volunteer to be its meal?” She paused. “Better yet, you don’t even need to volunteer. I’ll let the wolf know he can have you.”
The tall, lanky man tugged at his coiled black hair. “In case you two didn’t notice, there is a wolf ready to devour us all, so maybe you can save this argument for later.”
I rolled my eyes and crouched down, pressing my hand to the ground. A line of fire sizzled straight toward the wolf. It yelped as the fire singed its paw, then it snapped its jaws and let out a roar that shook the cave. The beast was huge. Bigger than any wolf I’d ever seen.
Emory put a finger to her chin. “Oh, excellent. Now you’ve angered it even more.”
I tipped my head at her. “I don’t see you using your magic.”
