Page 61 of Veiled Fate
He cursed, slamming a fist into the side of the barge, wood cracking under the blow. But he didn’t try to come back for me.
Muddy sand squished under my paws, and I flung myself ashore just as Lycaonus came at me, water spraying from his fur as he darted in.
I batted him aside, rolling out of the way, but my paw slipped as mud gave way in the shallows.
The Alpha was on me in a heartbeat, his jaws around my neck, teeth sinking in, breaking the skin.
It was over.
In the distance, Clive and the others sailed to freedom.
I had done it. I had saved them.
Lycaonus dragged me from the shallows, drawing more blood as his teeth sawed through my neck with the movement.
Now, it was time to pay the price. I closed my eyes and waited for it to end.
Chapter Thirty
The killing blow didn’t come. Not right away. The Alpha held me in his jaws, poised to crush my throat at any second, all the while staring down the barge as it moved away.
He was gloating. That realization irritated me more than anything else, given how incredibly unnecessary it was. Just kill me and get it over with.
Then I could play dead, come back, heal, and chase after Clive, Gare, and the others.
That was the hope, though I was gambling on the fact that news of my newfound immortality hadn’t made its way to Lycaonus yet. If it had, then I would be in big trouble. The fact that he hadn’t yet torn my throat out was not a good sign, but it didn’t necessarily mean he knew.
Heavy breathing and the clank of metal armor announced the arrival of the guards. Too little, too late, but they were there nonetheless, making my chances of escape even slimmer.
Twisting my head, ignoring the pain the movement wrought from my neck, I managed to see one of Lycaonus’ eyes.
A reflection of death stared back at me, a promise he intended to keep. The jaws clamped tighter, and I howled in renewed agony as fresh blood poured down my neck, coating his lower jaw along the way.
The pain was too much, and my world went black.
I had passed out, mercifully, so that I didn’t have to endure feeling his teeth crunch through fur, pelt, cartilage, and more as he tore my throat from my body in a welter of blood and gore. I’d seen it done. I’d done it. I knew what came next.
If I’m passed out, why am I still thinking?
The darkness slowly faded, replacing itself with the same image of a ledge on a mountain that I’d visited before. Only that time, the ghostly outline of a woman greeted me. I didn’t have to find her.
“Thanks for the help,” I said. “I really could have used it back there. I’m sure Lycaonus will take no chances, so he’ll probably burn my body, too, to ensure I don’t recover. Then you’ll have your way, and this bit of you will be free. So, lucky you.”
The image didn’t move. It just hovered a few feet off the ground.
“You mustn’t let him,” Fate said.
I put my hands on my hips and gave her my best “are you frickin’ kidding me?” look.
“Now, how am I supposed to do that? I—weare trapped in the bastard's jaws. I try to resist, he kills me. I don’t resist, he kills me. I don’t really see a middle ground here, do you? What do you want me to do, negotiate with him? I don’t have anything to give him. Besides, I thought youwantedto be free?”
“Lycaonus has too much control over me,” Fate said. “He has learned how to use my powers more than any of the other Binders. He will strip the shard from you and bind it to himself.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” I said, much subdued.
“It would be the end,” Fate agreed, her mouth still never moving.
Could she at least blink? That would be less creepy.
