Page 78 of Alpha Wolf's Arranged Bride
Azarian laughs, that strange, almost pretty sound. It strikes me as odd that under different circumstances, I might find the snake beautiful.
Maybe when it’s not trying to kill hundreds of people and level the forest.
Azarian reaches for me, and Rex tries to jump forward to get in his way, but stumbles. Power whips around me, and the strange sensations in my body get worse.
The glowing, ruby eyes fix on mine, and Azarian bends forward to look deeply into me. I feel mesmerized, falling into the glittering depths.
“Scarlett,” my uncle says in his human voice. He sounds surprised and somewhat disappointed.
I pull back from the contact just in time to see Azarian’s body incinerated from the inside out. It happens in less than a millisecond. One moment, he’s in front of me. Next, he’s ash drifting on the wind.
What just happened?
The snake hovers before me, the silver tongue flicking out as its form fades. The Old God looks into my eyes as it becomes insubstantial, and I feel the tingling in my body again. The strange, lovely laughter echoes through my head, and I know the snake and I are still connected.
It speaks to me one last time.
We’ll be seeing each other again soon, Scarlett…
It fades from view, and suddenly, I can move. My muscles tremble from being held still for so long, and Rex throws his arms around me.
“What the fuck just happened?” he yells.
“I don’t know,” I answer. “But I think the snake played us all.”
“Doesn’t it want to get free of the stone? Why would it kill Azarian, then?”
“Rex,” I say. “I think itisfree of the stone.”
“What?”
“It didn’t go back in. There was no quake.”
“So, where the fuck is it now?”
My hands tingle, and the sensation disturbs me so much, I almost cry.
“I don’t know!” I blurt out. “I don’t fucking know!”
“Of course not,” Rex says, hugging me tight. “That was a stupid question. Let’s just get the fuck out of here.”
“Yes, let’s,” I agree, letting Rex help me to my feet.
As I leave the circle, I feel lingering fear and doubt, but every step closer to the woods feels lighter, and I begin to feel like myself again.
I don’t know what happened to me in there… but I’m leaving it behind. Let it stay in the circle, and I’ll get on with my life.
As we step off the stone and I see Jarrod running towards us, I hear just the faintest hint of the snake’s beautiful, joyous laughter.
Chapter 26 - Rex
With short, painful steps, I struggle away from the stone with Scarlett. Even though the heat isn’t radiating off it anymore, the atmosphere still feels thick, and I can almost taste the blood that was spilled here today.
How many dead? This is going to be a horrible headcount. And for all we know, it isn’t over yet.
I tighten my arm around Scarlett, and she looks up at me with a tired smile. I have no idea what happened to her on the stone, but the only thing that matters is that she’s okay.
As we stumble onto the grass, I see Jarrod charging at us from the tree line. Close behind, Cody chases him down, followed by a couple of other Shadows.
