Red and Her Wolf (9 page)

He threw open another door. A bathroom; and here the blood was thickest. Viscous, coating the inside of his mouth with iron so thick he gagged. Gods above, someone had died. That was the only thing that could account for so much blood.

Then he saw it, a ripple like a wave in a placid pool, in the very bottom corner of the small room. And the moment he spotted the ripple, he felt the undulation of fairy magic move against his chest like a gentle swell. But though he knew magic covered the truth, he could not see through the casting.

“Violet,” he roared, “I’ll not harm ye, lass.” Was his mate dying?
Dead?
He shuddered, unable to bear thought.

“Hush, now,” a strong female voice shushed him, then a face he could never forget scowled at him. “
Ye’ll
bring the wolves.”

“Shunned,” he warned, voice trembling with a rumble of violence seconds from erupting, “where is she?” His fingers clenched, unclenched, wanting desperately to smash his fist through something and watch the blood spill.

Miriam looked as if she wanted to say more, her lips thinned, and with a jerk of her head she pointed toward the living room. Immediately the mirage dropped, and the truth of what he’d smelled was now visible to the eye.

A trail of blood, black as night, saturated the carpets. Bloody handprints dotted the walls, as if someone had dragged themselves along.

Ewan jogged, it didn’t take him long before he saw her. He wanted to savor the moment, the first time in years he’d seen her, was within reaching distance of his mate, but he couldn’t. Her lips were blue, her skin lily white.

The blonde hair he’d remembered that curled so effortlessly around her
face,
now hung limp and crusted with blood. Her hand rested on her breast, not a muscle moved, her chest did not rise, and Ewan’s heart slid to his feet. Suddenly he felt too heavy for his body, but somehow he was able to make his way to her.

A macabre vision of loveliness formed in his eyes. Finally able to give into his weakness, he dropped to his knees, not knowing where to touch her. A strange sound kept flitting in his ear, an annoying moan he couldn’t place.

Gingerly, not wanting to further injure her, he hefted her slight weight into his arms. The moan grew louder, then voices sifted through his consciousness, but they were distorted--filtered through a long tunnel, low and hard to understand.

His hand was so dark against her pale, lovely face. Her neck was tilted at an odd angle, blonde hair rained down around her shoulders. The moaning grew louder, like the buzz of an angry wasp’s nest disturbed. He traced the curve of her sharp cheekbone, gently, reverently. Following the line to her nose, so straight and perfect, her heart shaped jaw.
Small, beautiful ears.
She had freckles. He’d never known that. Flattening his fingertips against her neck he waited.

There was no pulse.

Blue lips did not part to utter protest at her lover’s caress. She still looked as young and as angelic as he’d remembered, she’d aged not at all. Youth personified was his mate. Slowly, with measured ease, he slid his hand down the front of her still, cold body. Where was the wound? What had wrecked such devastation upon her? He smelled wolf, the stench of it lay thick in his nostrils--the musk of woods and upturned leaves, of bloody meat, and fatty marrow.

His hands slipped beneath her shirt. Maybe there was still time. Maybe the fairies could still heal her. Then his fingers found thick groves torn within her flesh, deep into the muscle. A sickening suction pulled at his digit and he shuddered, fire burned his throat. The sound cascaded all around him; the low moan was now an eruption of pain.

His chest heaved, his eyes swelled, and then he howled, pulling her beloved face into his chest.
Crying out to the night; pain pouring out through his song.

Hands clasped onto his shoulders. Small ones, they squeezed. “Ewan,”
Danika
began.

He hissed, jerking out of her reach, rushing to his feet; holding the lifeless body to his chest, as if he could somehow force his life’s essence into her.

“Ye did this!” He snarled, the wild in him coming to the forefront, obscuring his reason or sanity. Only knowing the pain consumed and burned and he needed to release it or risk dying from the agony of his shattered soul.

Human size again, her eyes were huge, filled with sadness and unshed tears. “We must leave here, Ewan. There is dark magic about, the crows have surely reported to their mistress.”

“I will not leave her.” His words were vicious, sharper than a sword.

Miriam stood in front of
Danika
, almost as if shielding her.

“Move away, Shunned,” he warned.

“Hear me, Ewan of the clan Black Foot,” her words trembled with a surge of raw power, it crackled through the air like a heavy ball of static. “She is nay dead, though she may appear it.”

Ewan wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. Afraid to breath, to believe, for fear it would turn out to be nothing more than a cruel joke, he whispered, “
what
do ye mean, nay dead?”

His tongue felt thick in his mouth; his throat in parched agony. Adrenaline flooded his brain, made him shake as his fingers dug into Violet’s still chest, praying with all his soul the fairy spoke true.

Miriam looked around as shadows danced in her eyes; a pulse darted in her throat. She was nervous, she reeked of it. “We’ve been found a few weeks ago now.
I’ve been killing the wolves and dumping their carcasses far from our home, hoping to keep the lass in the dark at least until I could arrange our departure.”
She closed her eyes, wringing her hands. “I’d thought I’d been so clever, keeping it from her. But she must have found out. She must have found one. She took him on, very nearly died. I’ve had to place her in a Sleeping Beauty spell. She is locked, frozen in time. In order for her to survive, we must return to Kingdom this night.”

He swallowed the bile that’d lodged tight in his throat. She was asleep. Hands shaking violently, he brought her face to his, kissing her lips softly. Knowing the kiss would not wake her, this wasn’t a fairy tale after all, but hope bloomed deep in his soul. She was alive, still here. He did not care if she hated him now, she wouldn’t later. Ewan would show her the depths of his love, his devotion, and passion. Together they’d overcome
Malvena
. The madness of losing her faded slowly away. This he could deal with.

“The
Ten
will know if we sail into Kingdom, Mir, you told me that before. Remember? How can we sneak in?”
Danika’s
words were rushed, full of fear.

Miriam smiled and hugged her friend softly.
“
Ssh
, now.
It matters not.”

“How can you say that?”

Ewan rubbed Violet’s back, reveling in his ability to touch her again. Hold her. He’d never let go, never again.

“I’ve been busy while I’ve been away,
Dani
.” Miriam’s old face and countenance transformed suddenly, she appeared younger now, and
more spry
as her hands flitted about wildly. “I’ve set up an underground network of spies and allies, they will usher us safely toward
Malvena’s
keep.” Miriam glanced at Ewan, the strange lavender eyes keen and sharp as she said, “we must split up. We cannot travel together.
Dani
and I will take one path, you with Violet…” she nodded, and reaching into her skirt pocket, extracted a rolled parchment, “will take another.”

He grabbed the tan roll from her hand, knowing it to be a map of some sort. Glancing at it quickly, he looked back at her.

“Read it, learn it, then burn it.” Her gaze bored into his, hot and demanding. “If anyone discovers this trail, we’re ruined.”

Danika
licked her lips and Ewan’s pulse thumped.

“We’ve one chance, Wolf.
One, to right the wrongs of a night long ago.
Can I trust
ye
to keep her safe?”

His nostrils flared, anger burned through his veins like a shot of poison. “None will harm her, I vow it.”

She exhaled; her small shoulders sagged with relief. “Good. Good.” Miriam grabbed
Danika
by the elbow, leading her away. “The moment the
lass passes
through into Kingdom, Sleeping Beauty’s spell will dissolve. Do not contact us for any reason, the map will lead ye. Stay to the course. I’ve got a tracker on Violet, but it’s not always reliable. Do
yer
best.” She shook her head. “Goddess
be
with ye, Wolf.”

Her words still quivered with worry. Ewan frowned. “I’ll guard her with my life, Shunned.”

Miriam’s mouth turned down. “Be wary of her, Ewan, she is not what you think.” With those cryptic words, she walked away.

Danika
hung back. She looked the same aged sprite he remembered, slightly pudgy, face filled with a goodly light, but there was tension now where there didn’t used to be. Perhaps she had tried to do best by him, but the wound was still too fresh, too raw to forgive and forget.

She nodded, as if she understood his thoughts. “I’ll open a portal for you both, it won’t last long. I smell the wolves all around us. Jinni,” she looked at the silent, nearly translucent ghost of a man. Dark eyes burned with some unnamed emotion. “You are not to accompany us. You must stay here in
Alaska
, go due north. Several miles out, there’ll be a flat clearing with a star in it. Wait there.”

The ghostly jaw worked from side to side.
“How long?”

“Until it’s time.”
Inhaling sharply, she nodded, and left.

Ewan had seconds. He turned to look at his friend, the only one of the bad 5 who’d ever treated him with an ounce of friendship. He held out his hand. “May the sun shine upon you, my
friend.
”

Morose eyes stared back at him. A cold shiver passed through him when Jinni’s hand phased through his own. Goose pimples rode the length of forearm. “And you, Wolf.”

With a nod, Ewan ran from the demons creeping closely on their heels.

Chapter 5

Ewan stood within the safe embrace of the spiraling tunnel, scanning unfamiliar surroundings. Night sang all around him, the whistle and whisper of the wind telling its secrets on the gentle breeze. Cicadas hummed, the bejeweled sky glinted so bright as to seem a sort of twilight.

Ewan hefted Violet higher in his arms, cradling her limp head against the firm beat of his heart, willing her to open her eyes. They hadn’t yet crossed the threshold into Kingdom, his heart thumped hard at the thought of finally getting to introduce
himself
; know her, have her know him. Cursing his clumsy human form, he scented the impossible stretch of dun colored sand dunes, trying in vain to detect friend from foe. He’d committed Miriam’s map to heart, surprised at the many stops they were to make before reaching
Malvena’s
keep, he’d had no flint to burn the scroll with, so he’d dropped it somewhere within the channel of light that’d transported them here.
 

Twin planets,
glowing
a hazy bluish-lavender, filled half the sky. Kingdom was massive, beyond imagining. Ewan had never left the comfort and safety of the western borders; this was eastern lands, Jinni’s territory. He could have used the ghost now, though Jinni would likely have thought Miriam crazy for bringing them here.

In the distance, beyond rolling hills, lights flickered and danced. That was the first of many stops for them. Gathering his courage close and Violet closer, he kissed her cold brow and stepped beyond the threshold.