Page 1 of Prey of the Lycan Queen
Chapter One
Time seems to stand still in this damp dungeon, and it feels like the stone walls are closing in on me. My chest is tight as I pace back and forth, the flickering torchlight casting eerie shadows on the walls. Zeke sits in a corner, nursing his injuries, his face a mask of pain and anger.
Decades ago, Father had the steel bars infused with water hemlock and wolfsbane. You’d think it would have worn off by now, but my hands are bloody and badly blistered from the contact. All three of us are burned to pieces from trying to pry the bars apart.
Lyon stares vacantly at the remains of the curse on the blackened walls. A curse I have committed to memory—not that it has done me any good over the years. However, Lyon is trapped in the confines of his mind, staring at it like he can figure out the curse if he reads the broken lines enough.
The guards are useless because our commands to be set free won’t override our father’s authority. We did try. One guard even passed out from resisting our commands, and he’s still bleeding from his ears on the cold concrete. He’s the youngest guard here, and since he resisted our commands, his healing will be painfully slow.
Heavy footsteps echo through the corridor, and Malachi appears, his eyes wild with fear and urgency. He’s been running; that much is clear. He glances around as the guards turn to see the intruder. Gnash growls from beside me, and his fur brushes my leg. For a few tense seconds, the guards stare at him warily. “Stand down,” Malachi snarls.
“They can’t. My father commanded them,” I tell him. Malachi curses and shakes his head while the guards nervously look at each other.
“Forgive me,” Malachi whispers, and without hesitation, he launches into action.
His movements are swift and precise, and considering he trained these men, it doesn’t surprise me how fast he uses their own moves against them. He plays them like a fiddle, taking them down one by one as he moves effortlessly.
A spinning kick sends one guard crashing into the wall just as another guard dives over his fallen allies. Malachi snatches the vampire midair and flips him over his shoulder onto the hard stone floor. In a matter of seconds, the guards are sprawled across the corridor unconscious—except for one.
Breathing heavily, Malachi grabs the collar of the last guard, Elias. “Where’s the key?” he demands, his face only inches away from the guard’s face.
Elias, bloodied and bruised, manages to wheeze out, “King Theron . . . He has it.” With a furious growl, Malachi delivers a knockout punch to his face, sending him to the floor in a heap.
Turning to us, I can see his face etched with panic. “We need to get you out of here. Your father has lost his damn mind!”
My heart pounds as I step forward, gripping the bars between us. “What’s happened? Where is she?” I demand, my voice laced with the same terror coursing through my body. My bloody palms heat against the poisoned iron.
Malachi hesitates, his eyes full of worry. “In the town square,” he finally answers.
Zeke moves to stand beside me. “The town square?” he asks.
Malachi nods, glancing up at the bars and the rusted hinges.
“Malachi! What’s going on?” I demand.
He pauses. “History is about to repeat itself if I don’t get you out of here,” Malachi states, touching the bars and hissing as he jerks his hands back.
My fists tighten around the bars as fresh blood seeps from between my fingers. Gritting my teeth, I ignore the pain and focus all my strength on bending the steel. My need to save Zirah overrides everything else.
Zeke pushes me aside and grips one bar with both hands, nodding at me to keep going. The agonizing heat melts the skin on my palms all the way to the bone, causing a feral roar to rip from my throat as I pull harder.
My hands begin to slip, but the smell of burning flesh only drives me to pull harder. Zeke’s eyes glaze over with a faraway look, his knuckles whiten, and the pool of blood between us steadily grows wider.
Finally, the bars creak and bend, and seeing the gap, Gnash leaps through it instantly, followed by Hunter and Shadow. Gnash hesitates, almost as if he is waiting for us, but the gap is too small. It is a tight fit for them to escape through.
“Get to your master,” I command Gnash. “And kill anyone that gets in your way, friend or foe,” I tell him. He whines but obeys, darting up the basement steps before tearing off out of the dungeon.
“Quick!” I tell Zeke, whose hands are a bloody mess. Sweat coats him, and his arms are burned from leaning on the bars.
Lyon shoves Zeke out of the way, half his skin remaining on the bar as his hands tear away from it. Lyon and I use our combined strength to bend the bars farther apart. The strain on our muscles and the burning sensation of the poisonous metal is almost unbearable.
But we pry them apart just enough to slip through the gap. Before my feet hit the stairs, I stop and turn toward Malachi. “Go!” he urges. I nod once and take off up the stairs.
My heart races as my brothers and I sprint through the dark, narrow streets, our legs pumping with adrenaline as we catch up with our wolves, Gnash, Hunter, and Shadow.
As we burst into the town square clearing, we’re met with a frenzied, chaotic scene. The crowd is packed tight, their faces twisted with a mixture of hatred, fear, and excitement. Their shouts and jeers are deafening, creating a noise that grates my nerves and fuels my anger.
We push through the mass of bodies in desperation, fighting to reach the center of the square. The sight that greets us when we finally break through is horrifying.
