Page 2 of The Wolf and the Chimera
He cocked his head at me and sat on his haunches. Before I could take advantage of his foolish lapse in judgment, a black horse leaped in front of us. Magic that wasn’t my own rattled my bones, and I turned back. Through the open closet door, colors and light and shadows swirled. Like a moth to a flame, I took a step toward the potent magic, but the closet door slammed shut.
Now is not the time to explore the ripple,the woman chided,and that isnota horse.
Shush,I told her, though she was right. His golden eyes studied the world with human-like intelligence.
The creature was bloodied, and magic hummed in the air with each of his breaths. The non-horse’s riders—a young girl in filthy jeans and an adult man wearing a brown cowboy hat—were magic-wielders as well. Though their magic emitted a much weaker buzz, it lurked in their unnaturally bright eyes. As the brown-haired man slid off the horse, he sank to his knees and stared at his empty hands.
Now,the woman instructed.Leave now while they’re distracted.
I wanted to. Every fiber of my being loathed how the walls pressed in on me, and the rotten scent of dirt clogged my nostrils, but I couldn’t bring myself to walk away. As horror etched into the man’s features, a memory flashed.
It was the man’s face, but he’d been smiling kindly and patiently, not under the harsh lighting of the basement, but in the sunshine. I blinked, and the man was stricken once more.
The horse that wasn’t a horse whinnied, but it wasn’t a whimsical or boastful sound. Empathy cut through the haze of magic and panic that overwhelmed me.
Recognition danced on the edges of my thoughts. I knew the blue-eyed man and his sister—yes, that was his sister. As she joined her brother, tears poured down her pale face.
“Freya?” she whispered. “Freya’sgone?”
Red hair and a freckled face and sadness too heavy for someone her age—
The woman interrupted my thoughts.Leave before they trap you again.
My magic flared like a blaring alarm, and this time, I listened. I raced for the only exit—the staircase, but as I lunged up the steps, my leathery wings caught on the stone walls. Pain lanced down them and deep into my shoulders. I gasped. Panic sped my heart, and I tried again. The stone walls chipped, but I still couldn’t fit.
You must shift forms, you fool,the woman ordered.
Shift?I thought.I can shift?
A memory cracked through the fog of magic. In the memory, I stared at my reflection—myrealone—in the mirror of a cramped bathroom. I wasn’t a beast. I was a woman with full lips that were chapped from days on the sea, dark hair coiled into delicate box braids, and a light glistening of sweat on my furrowed brow—but a man spoke, and the memory evaporated.
“Elle.”
His deep, rough voice shook me. Amber eyes flashed in my mind, and I whirled. A man stood in place of the wolf. As I took in his dark, tousled hair and tan skin, one thought eclipsed everything, even the roaring magic.
Mine.
The woman cursed.He’s nothing to us—you need to shift into your human form, blind him, and get out of here—
“Elle,” he repeated. “I’m sorry for putting you in this situation, but you need to come back. Come back, okay?” His voice broke.
This man—Ryder—he cared for me. I could feel it in my bones. He was something to me, and I was something to him, so why did I feel this urgency to run?
Because he wants to use you,the woman explained.He wants you for your power, just like all the others. You need to—
I thought it wasn’tmypower?I shot back.
It won’t be anyone’s power if you’re entombed,she snapped.
He won’t entomb me,I argued.He saved me.
And I hated him for it.
In that moment, I was yanked into the past. I was back on the ship watching my parents die trying to save me. I had wanted nothing more than for my so-called earth-shattering magic to eviscerate my enemies, but like so many other times, I had been helpless. I hadn’t been able to fight off the wolves who’d come to fetch me for their Sovereign. I hadn’t been able to stop Ryder from making a silent deal with my mother to leave my parents to die to save me.
Don’t you see?the woman asked.He doesn’t care about you. He only cares about his wolfish claim on you.
Right,I thought,because he thinks I’m his mate.
