Page 71 of The Princesses of Ruin
A gurgling noise comes from the mouth of the beast, and she shoots it once more.
“This really puts a damper on my plans for tonight,” she says as she holsters her gun.
Adrenaline still lines my veins, so I don’t laugh. I can’t. She’s hurt, but she wouldn’t be if I’d been a little faster, a little smarter. Now, she’s injuredandwe have no fur.
She places her good hand over the bloody scraps of her coat and soft pink magic flows into it. A groan rumbles through her scarf and her knees buckle. I catch her under her good arm and hold her steady as she works.
“Fuuuuck,” she growls, her hand trembling.
I need to distract her…
“So, you’re a high-blood magus?” I ask.
“Mmhmmfff,” she mumbles, her voice laced with pain.
“I’m not surprised you kept it from me, but I figured I would’ve tasted it.”
She turns her pain-contorted gaze on me with an air of a question.
I shrug. “I’ve heard that princess pussy is the best, is all.”
She barks out a laugh. “I’m not a princess.”
No, you’re a goddess.
“What are you, then?”
She throws her head back and sucks air between her clenched teeth. I guide us to the ground so I don’t have to worry about her slipping from my grasp.
“I’m the king’s niece.”
“By blood or marriage?”
“Blood. My father. His brother.” Her words come in quiet, disjointed breaths until—snap!“Fucking hells!”
She curls in on herself and pants heavily. Her hand trembles over the open spot on her coat, the flow of her magic cut off. I let her breathe for a while as my own system cools down from the battle, and I start to think.
We still need fur. There’s no way we can return without it.
“I’m going to check the body,” I say, releasing her.
“It went up like dry tinder. I doubt there’s anything left.”
I grunt, knowing her words are true but wishing they weren’t.
The wolf is a massive thing even when hairless. I swallow my fear and crouch down beside the charred, bloody mess. If nothing else, the fangs will be useful.
I pull a pair of pliers from my bag and extricate several of the shiny white bones from the monster’s mouth, dropping them into an empty pouch one by one. I inspect the creature’s ears, hoping maybe a tuft survived in the hollow there, but nothing. Down its neck to the chest where the arms are pinned, maybe abit…
No, just cracked flesh. I snip off several claws while I’m down here, then continue my perusal until I reach the abdomen. Breath catches in my chest as I stare at the engorged teats of the female wolf. Something in my chest aches as I realize not all hope is lost.
“Emillia…”
“You found some hair on its balls, then?” she asks, standing.
“She has pups.”
Chapter twenty-seven
