Page 72 of Fangs
A muscle jumped in his jaw as he studied my face. “Is that when you jumped in the river?”
I grimaced. “I did notjumpin. I was tryin’ to cross. It was my only chance to throw Wolf off.”
“Sable said you were in the river for four or five hours,” his voice was dark.
I shuddered, remembering how painful the icy cold had been. “I washed up on a tree but wasn’t strong enough to get out.”
He squeezed my hand a little tighter. “You could have died, Em.”
“I know,” I mumbled miserably. “I didn’t?—”
The door abruptly opening startled both of us. My heart leapt into overdrive as Wolf strode into the house, his eyes flashing. He scanned me and Mac on the floor by the woodstove with a thunderous look.
“Get out!” I snapped at him, releasing Mac’s hand to clutch his jacket tighter around me.
Behind him, Kai, Scar, and Lee stepped in, and I glared at all of them, horrified.
“Well, this is awkward,” Kai muttered.
“Get dressed, Ember,” Wolf ordered, his expression growing darker by the second. “We’re going back to Carth.”
12
The panic that surged through my body made me lightheaded, but immediately, Mac was on his feet, standing between me and Wolf, his gun in his hand.
“Like hell you are,” he said, and I thought I’d heard Mac angry before, but not like this. His voice was deceptively calm, almost like velvet, but there was a threat in it that made my stomach drop. I realized with a stab of terror Mac still thought I’d be burned alive. Well, maybe I would be. I had no idea what to believe anymore. Either way, Mac was ready to fight to the death in Madame’s empty house, and I needed to stop this.
Scar and Kai had their hands on their holstered guns, carefully watching Mac. Lee was hovering in the back, not reaching for a weapon but watching just as carefully. Wolf stood facing Mac, his expression so cold I barely recognized him.
“Get out of my way, Mac,” Wolf said in a quiet, menacing voice.
“You’re not taking her anywhere,” Mac growled.
“I’d rather not have to kill you, but I will.” Wolf’s voice got even quieter, and my heart stopped.
“Wolf!”
I was on my feet, lurching to get between them, but Mac caught my arm and jerked me behind him.
“They might not burn me alive,” I blurted out, panicked. “Wolf said they don’t do that.”
“What?” Scar demanded, her voice sharp.
“Burn alive?” Kai exclaimed at the same time.
Mac didn’t take his eyes off Wolf but spoke in my head,“What?”
“Allegedly, Dune told her I’d let the Ministry burn her alive if she told me about her powers,” Wolf said before I could explain.
Wolf’s crew all looked at me with varying degrees of shock and suspicion.
“Well, that’s a new one,” Kai said.
“He did,” I snapped. “I’m not lying!”
My brother met my eyes, but his gaze was hard. He looked at me like I was a stranger—a monster.
Several things happened all at once. Mac abruptly raised his gun, pointing it directly at my brother’s head, which made Kai and Scar both draw their weapons and train them on Mac, but he didn’t even seem to notice.
