Page 79 of The Howling
I need them, I need her, like I need life itself.
“She gave me this.” Wynter holds up a sparkling jewel on a chain.
It’s something I recall but only vaguely, as if it doesn’t matter much.
“It’s pretty, but not as gorgeous as you.” I brush my lips over hers, my cock instantly hard for her, which no doubt she is aware of.
“You don’t know what it is?”
“Should I?”
“It’s the Styne of Golorum.”
“That sounds interesting.”
“Wrong answer,” Lord Soulis bellows, breaking into my reunion with my Wynter.
I lift my lips, revealing in my fangs. We have some unfinished business. I look around at the Reivers who have crept from every nook and cranny.
“I have fought the Reivers, I have fought the Faerie, I have taken souls for the Reaper. What makes you think I care what answers I give?”
“If you are in control of the stone, you control the Yeavering. And if you want your mate to live, you’ll hand her and the stone over before giving yourself to me.”
Wynter looks up at me, pressed hard against my chest.
“We’re surrounded, Reavely,” she says quietly. “I have a plan. I’m going to offer to marry him in return for your freedom.”
My heart seems to stop in my chest.
“But you are mine.” The words are ripped from me.
“I will always be yours, but you mean too much for me to let him keep you under his control. I want you free of everything, Reavely. Once you’re free, I’ll figure something out.”
Her sweet face is upturned to mine. I swipe a thumb over her cheek where a tear hovers.
“You don’t need to do any such thing, my little deer. I will prevail. I always will.”
I see my mother immediately behind my mate. Her translucent form is even paler than usual. She nods at me, and I know my Wynter is protected.
Turns out there will be a battle to end all battles here today.
The battle for my mate and my family. Out of the corner of my eye, I see HIM.
The Reaper is here too.
He’s here to witness the battle, as he is for all battles. Stood on the edges, not interfering, only watching.
Watching me reap the souls.
The very last he will ever have from the Barghest because I will break this curse. I will be with my Wynter, no matter what.
WYNTER
The room crackles with magic, the stench of it growing stronger as Reavely glances away from me and over at the Faerie Lord.
Soulis isn’t happy. He’s abandoned his glamour altogether and the demon within is evident, down to the scales over his skin, flashing a dirty red/green colour. His eyes are completely black and his mouth filled with crooked fangs.
My heart beats a little faster, not with fear but with the possibility that we are going to challenge the Faerie and this time they might lose. Although being surrounded by all the Reivers, as the grey hairy creatures are known, is disconcerting.
