Page 34 of The Wolf and the Chimera
I groaned again, and Ryder rubbed circles on my back.
“Do you want to go back to the couch?” he asked.
I nodded, and Ryder helped me to my feet. In the darkened bathroom, I rinsed my mouth out, but when I noticed my reflection, I gasped.
Like twin Suns, my eyes blazed with reddish light.
A feminine yawn echoed in my mind.
Nice to see you again, chimera.
Chapter Eleven
Ryder
Through the reflection of the bathroom mirror, Elle’s glowing red eyes met mine, and her face morphed. Her jaw extended to accommodate large, white teeth, and an inhuman smile stretched across her face. When she spoke, her voice rumbled with power.
“Hello there,” the sorceress purred.
Terror froze me in place. Elle’s eyes shined so brightly, they hurt to look at. Leathery wings sprouted from her shoulders and knocked me back a step. Magic buzzed in the air, and my wolf crawled under my skin. He was desperate to help his mate but unsure how to.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure how to help her either.
“Ellie,” I whispered, “you’ve gotta come back, okay? You can stop her.”
The sorceress threw her head back and cackled, then faced me. Arrogance and rage marred Elle’s lovely face.
“Do all wolves lie to their mates?” the sorceress asked.
Anger eclipsed my fear, and I snarled.
“What do you want?” I asked. “Why can’t you just leave her alone?”
“Leave her alone?” the sorceress repeated and scoffed. “She’smine.”
With that, Elle—the sorceress—pivoted and hit me square in the chest with her bat-like wing. The bony ridge of it dug into my skin and threw me against the wall. As I fellto the floor, pain radiated through my back, and my ears rang. Despite the wooziness of my head, I forced myself to my feet.
The sorceress strolled calmly toward the door of our room. Light danced off her skin like a visible aura. It shined through her wings, so their grayish color turned red and highlighted every vein that trekked across their expanse. Desperate to stop her, I lunged toward her, but, with a wave of her hand, light burst from the sorceress’s hand, and the magic sent me flying backward.
I crashed into the wall above the bed and landed on the mattress. As I blinked the light out of my eyes, the sorceress grinned smugly and threw open the door. She never saw the two werewolves there, dressed in hazmat suits, who thrust syringes into her delicate neck.
Before Elle’s unconscious body hit the ground, the werewolves hauled her out of the room. I shouted and tried to stand, but with my swirling vision and the unstable mattress, I wobbled. I forced myself off the giant bed and tumbled into the bookshelf with a grunt. Every ounce of my concentration focused on Elle’s lilac and sandalwood scent, which moved farther and farther away.
Keep moving,I thought.Just keep moving.
As I lurched out of the room and down the hall, the dizziness churning my stomach and the pounding in my head fell to the background. I reached the staircase and half-fell down it then took a right and stormed through a nearly identical hall.
Unlike the other halls in the estate, this one led to only one white-painted metal door. When I tried to open it, the handle refused. I clenched the handle with all my strength, but it must’ve been reinforced with magic because it didn’t budge. Elle’s scent grew fainter by the second, but I knew in my gut that she was beyond this door.
An animalistic roar climbed out of my throat.
“Ryder?” Kieran asked from behind me.
I faced my brother and pinned him against the wall. Theplaster cracked around his shoulders.
“Where. Is. She.”
He furrowed his brow. “Who? Elle?”
