Page 132 of The Wolf and the Chimera
“Helena,” Anassa chided, “you’re supposed to be studying with your tutors.”
“They have nothing more important to teach me than what I could learn on the battlefield,” she countered.
My chest tightened at the thought of her in the path of the gods’ wrath. Helena’s father crouched beside her.
“You are the future leader of your people,” he chided. “You must stay here—stay safe—to keep our pride intact.”
The girl sighed. “Fine, but it’s pointless anyway. I have centuries before Anassa steps down.”
Anassa stiffened, and the man’s smile became forced.
Tears pricked my eyes.
It didn’t matter where the girl went during the battle—they were all going to die.
Poor, pitiful chimeras,the sorceress crooned.I’m happy you’re letting your beast derail you from saving ourlivesto watch this jargon.
Dimly, I was aware of needles prodding my skin and people’s rushed whispers. Lyall was undoubtedly draining my power.
And yet my chimera wants me to see this.
Instead of listening to the panic that threatened to swallow me whole or the vitriol the sorceress spat, I listened to myself.
With a mental shove, I cast the sorceress out of my mind, and the ground beneath my feet shook. Lights and shadows swirled, and I was transported out of the throne room and into the night.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ryder
With enough force to draw blood, clawed hands grasped my arms and hauled me forward. The coppery scent of my blood rivaled the lingering stench of wolfsbane. Pain laced down my neck and into my back from how my head sagged out of my control. With herculean effort, I caught glimpses of white tiles, but nothing else. Nothing useful.
I needed to act—I needed to get to Elle—but whatever drugs those wolves had given me rendered me useless. Even my thoughts were sluggish.
“Stop,” a feminine voice ordered. A familiar scent filled my nostrils, but its identity floated just beyond my grasp. “You are to follow me.”
“Lady Kalli,” one of the wolves holding me murmured, “I thought he was to be placed in a holding room.”
Mom.
For a heartbeat, I thought everything might be okay.
“No.” Mom’s voice shook. “No, after what his mate did, I am ready to carry out the procedure. Kieran is waiting in the operating room.”
Slower than I could stand, reality set back in, and I cursed my drug-addled, foolish thoughts. The woman whose scent I recognized was not my mom.
She was Lyall’s puppet.
“Of course,” the guard to my left said. “Of course, Lady.”
As the wolves dragged me onward, I tried to speak. I tried to beg her to change her mind, to curse her for her cruelty, to damn her for stealing my power for her favorite son.
And Kieran…had he agreed to this too?
Had every moment between me and my brother been a lie?
I told myself it didn’t matter. I told myself I didn’t need any of them anyway, that I only needed to find Elle, but something in my chest was cracking. Through the fog of drugs and wolfsbane, my heart splintered.
A door whooshed opened, and the wolves holding me lurched.
