Page 147 of The Wolf and the Chimera
She brought her shaking hand to her open mouth. Lyall fixed his glacial eyes on her.
“Get the twins,” he ordered with deadly quiet. “Tell them to prepare for transport.”
The she-wolf didn’t hesitate to flee the room. Lyall studied me as if he could discern what hid beneath my flesh and bone. As his covetous gaze slithered across my skin, I struggled to keep my hands from shaking. My grip on the silver dagger was sweaty.
“Ask it,” he said. “Ask how I becamemore.”
I swallowed but did not stand down. I didn’t ask his stupid question out of fear my voice would shake. Deathly quick, Lyall lunged and shoved the bed against the far wall with a crack. I lurched away from him, and he grinned.
“Feeling shy?” he asked. “That’s okay, my sweet Elle. I’ll show you.”
Without taking his eyes off me, Lyall reached behind him and grabbed the tube still glowing with my power. He popped it free from the container, and the silver flap lining it automatically closed. Confused and stricken by my growing dread, I watched as he lifted the tube of magic and—
And drank the golden light within.
His skin took on an unnatural glow, and his eyes shone, like sunlight upon harsh ocean waves. The light brown scar of his wound flared with light and vanished entirely.
Out of all the terrible things I had witnessed, I had never seen anything so grotesque. Beneath my panic, however, I felt like a fool. If Lyall had injected the twins with my power, ofcourse, he would’ve taken some for himself.
Judging by the speed with which he healed, he had taken even more.
Faster than anyone should be able to move—fast as light—he lunged for me. I blocked him with the dagger, but where it nicked his skin, his flesh knitted itself back together. Lyall laughed like a madman.
“Silver only harms wolves,” he chided, “and thanks to you, I am no longer a mere wolf.”
Dominance and magic—my magic—rolled off him in waves. With those deadly claws, he swiped for me. Though he drew blood, he didn’t go for the kill shot.
He was toying with me.
Instinct and training guided my movements, but the thick skirts of my gown restricted my speed. I wanted to cut the damned things off, but Lyall attacked with unfettered swiftness.
My chimera was with me, looking over my shoulder and urging me to move, as punches, kicks, and swipes of his claws came at me with dizzying force.
I blocked and avoided some of his blows, but many—toomany—landed.
With one brutal jab to my wrist, Lyall knocked the dagger out of my hand. The weapon clattered against the far wall, and I lunged for it. Lyall intercepted me and knocked me against the bed. As I righted myself, his gaze shot to the obsidian container behind him. With his focus still on the container of my power, he crouched, not to attack but…
To defend.
An idea sparked to life.
I needed to knock him off-guard, but I had only trained in combat for a few months. I was no match for the Sovereign.
Words, however, had always been my weapon of choice.
“Does it make you feel good,” I asked, “to have to usemymagic to beat me?”
He growled. “Does it feel good being on a monster’sleash?”
He slashed my ribs, then my arm. Adrenaline pumping in my veins, I hardly registered the pain.
“I don’t know,” I countered. “Why don’t you ask your pack?”
I blocked the blow Lyall aimed for my sternum, but he landed a brutal kick to my thigh.
This godsdamned dress.
“Everything I do,” he spat, “is for my pack, for my people, for myfamily.”
