Page 101 of Forged By Heart and Claws
“We crawl toward the back and use the shelves and the thrones as cover. Then...” I stopped myself. I couldn’t say the rest out loud, but I unsheathed my sword. Ember would object to me making a death run.
If I could get directly behind Colm, I could charge him and take him down with my own blade. Maybe the wolves would follow us and create a distraction, or maybe they’d rip us to pieces. I didn’t give a fuck.
Ember nodded, her jaw set.
I slid to the ground, heart thundering, and began to move on all fours along the edge of the wall. Ember followed, quiet as a mouse. She remained in human form so we could communicate since I couldn’t pack link with her anymore.
The low growl of a wolf reached my ears. I glanced back to find more than a dozen of them were halfway into the groom’s chamber now. Most had glowing red eyes, but there were a few orange-eyed and yellow-eyed ones in the back. Their massive bodies moved forward on silent paws, smoke curling off their flanks like mist in the dark. One snapped its jaws with a sickeningclackof bone meeting bone. Another growled low, the sound vibrating through the stone beneath us.
On the dais, a servant in dark gray robes stepped forward, head bowed, and presented a jeweled goblet to Colm.
The scent of spiced wine drifted through the chamber, tainted with something bitter.
Colm turned to face Calla Lily and said, “To the one person who has never faltered in the face of adversity. The one who has proven herself, time and again, worthy of queenship. The one who has never failed me and whom I’ll never fail.”
He brought the goblet to Calla Lily’s lips, and she lifted her chin, eyes shining, and placed her hands around his, parting her lips to drink.
Ember and I crept forward, inch by agonizing inch, the cold stone seeping through my tunic. My elbows scraped the floor as I dragged myself along, ignoring the sting. The dread inside me pressed against my ribs like a stone slab, but I didn’t stop.
Running would trigger the shadow wolves' predatory instincts. We couldn’t draw their attention. We’d never reach Vad.
We made it to the open floor just in front of the dais, where we were barely hidden behind a low, decorative railing. Stillabout twenty feet from Colm and the opportunity to stab him to death.
Ember glanced over her shoulder and tensed.
I followed her gaze.
The shadow wolves were coming. Hunting us. The largest of them stepped from the groom’s room into the Ceremonial Hall, head lowered, a low growl rolling up its throat, accompanied by the faintclick, click, clickof claws on stone.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose.
The far doors to the Ceremonial Hall crashed open. Metal slammed against metal, and shouts rang out, echoing through the hall. Startled gasps rippled through the assembled guests, and several surged to their feet. A woman in midnight blue screamed and clutched her companion’s arm.
I flattened myself against the marble floor, bile rising in my throat.
Colm turned sharply toward the double doors. His smile tightened, no longer serene. “Honored guests, please,” he said, lifting his voice above the rising noise. “Do not be alarmed. This…disturbancewas anticipated. The odious Captain Finbar and his band of traitors have chosen this moment to reveal themselves. But rest assured, they will be dealt with swiftly and without mercy.”
He looked over the crowd, smooth as ever. “We know each of Finbar’s points of attack.”
“You’re so clever,” Calla Lily purred, staring at him like he’d hung the stars and promised to make her a gift of them.
She lifted the goblet toward him. “To the one person who has never faltered in the face of adversity. The one who has proven himself, time and again, worthy of kingship. The one who has never failed me and whom I will never fail.”
Colm smiled, placed his hands over hers, and drank.
My focus snapped back to Vad.
The dagger in his chest gleamed under the flickering light, a sick reminder of what Colm had already stolen from me. Ember and I crawled faster, using the chaos of the crashing doors and distant battle cries to our advantage. The cold stone bit into my palms with every drag forward, but I barely felt it over the pounding of my heart.
A softclickfrom across the dais made me pause. My gaze darted toward the bride’s side door, where Thalen’s silver-white head poked through. When he spotted us, relief softened his expression… until his gaze locked on something behind me. Horror twisted his face.
I whipped my head around to see that shadow wolves had moved onto the dais with their teeth bared and their hackles raised.
Something massive slammed into the ceremonial hall’s main doors, stone cracking and metal shrieking, followed by anothercrashof metal colliding with the door.
The wolves snapped their heads toward the noise like they'd been triggered. The yellow-eyed ones in the back began pacing and snarling, froth building at their jaws.
Then, as if some unheard command set them free, the wolves attacked. The one nearest to me raced forward.
