58

Corinne smiled faintly as if she could read my thoughts. “I know, wolf,” she said. “You’ll have your human form back soon enough. You know I can’t risk you running off while we’re in Shianga, though. If the wolf king is still alive, I might need a little bargaining tool.”

She fastened the clasps of her own armor, the same fine silver as mine, though hers was ornately engraved with a carving of a many-branched tree. She looked so different than the woman I’d spent those weeks with in the cavern—now she was a warrior queen. She removed the muzzle. I gnashed my teeth and shook my head, relieved to have it off. The blacksmith glanced at her, clearly nervous, but I wasn’t about to ruin my chances of making it back to the realm by launching a foolish attack now.

She didn’t know if Elias was alive or not. My heart beat into my throat. I was terrified to face what awaited me in Shianga—terrified to be turned into a war-beast at the queen’s side—but the thought of seeing Elias propelled my spirit forward. I’d gone from being a pawn in Draunar’s game to Corinne’s. But once I was in Shianga—once I was in my own realm, I’d break free. I’d find Elias.

I’d make this right, whatever it took.

Corinne led the way out of the open back entrance. The castle opened directly to a sturdy stone bridge that led into the lake, and then terminated into nothingness. It was a bridge to nowhere in the center of the lake.

I walked at her side, nerves burning through me as we approached the end of the bridge. Behind us, the Fae soldiers marched in step, their boots pounding heavily. Corinne held up her hand, and the soldiers stopped. A heavy silence descended, and all I could hear was the gentle lap of the lake water against the columns of the bridge.

“Now,” Corinne said, low, “onward to take what is mine.”

She held out her hand. The lake below began to churn, building into a swirling whirlpool. I stepped back nervously. The wind picked up, dancing through my fur and making me shiver. Corinne’s silver hair whipped around her face. The water in the whirlpool rushed and sped up, and then with a shimmer of power, a portal rose from the shape like a shadow. It raised up, appearing as a round, churning doorway at the end of the bridge. I couldn’t see anything through it. It appeared just like the whirlpool, except instead of water churning, it was bright Fae magic.

Corinne whistled once, a long, low sound like a birdsong, and behind her the soldiers shouted in unison and thumped their fists against their breastplates.

Her power over me tightened as we stepped through the portal.

This time, there was no sensation of falling, no endless travel. The darkness swept over me, and three steps later, there was moonlight shining on my face. Turned out portal travel was easier for her when she had access to all the power of Faerie. My eyes adjusted to the darkness.

I couldn’t hold back the low whine that sounded from my throat. My ears lay back flat against my head. I couldn’t stand the sight in front of me, but even with my tail low between my legs, all I could do was move forward.

The portal had opened directly into the front gardens of the Shiangan palace. The moon shone full and high overhead, but no wolves howled at its presence. The gardens were quiet. Few plants still stood, the beds had been burned or destroyed. The palace stood in front of us, but it was dirtied and damaged, with turrets fallen and immense holes blasted into its sides. What was once well-tended grass in the gardens was now wet mud sucking at my paws. Mud—and worse.

There were wolves in Shianga, but none of them were howling, because they were left in motionless heaps on the ground. Bodies were stacked in low piles, both wolf and man, adorned in the dark colors of Nightfall. Left on the grounds like corpses at a slaughterhouse. I couldn’t bear to look at them, at the way the moonlight danced over their motionless flanks, nor could I escape the rancid smell of rotting blood.

My heart shattered. Pain roared through me, making my blood pound in my ears. All I wanted was to throw my head back and sound out my despair, my hate, to let any remaining wolves know they were not alone. I wanted to break loose of Corinne’s hold and leave all of this behind, flee, find Elias where ever he was. Our kingdom needed him now more than ever.

I needed him.

Corinne’s hold was still too strong though. I couldn’t shake her magic.

“Draunar!” Corinne roared. Her voice echoed through the still night, ringing off the dilapidated sides of the palace. “Draunar, come out and face me!”

The immense doors to the palace swung open.

Draunar stepped out into the gardens, flanked by exhausted-looking soldiers in battered leather. Draunar himself was dressed in gold armor, bloodstained and slightly askance, like he’d just pulled it on in a hurry. His expression darkened as he bared his teeth.

“Corinne,” he said, low and poisonous. “You’ve returned.”

“For you,” she snarled. “I’ve come to take what is mine.”

“I’d like to see you try,” he hissed back. “You’ll be back where you belong momentarily. You and the stupid she-wolf.”

He leveled his green eyes at me and then spit off to the side, a gesture so disrespectful I snarled at him.

Draunar laughed, and then shifted. His dragon burst forth, snarling, wings spread and claws out. The soldiers at his side followed his lead, changing into their own draconic shapes. He launched forward, roaring, and Corinne sidestepped him easily. The soldiers behind us spread out, circling the other dragons, while Corinne withdrew a long, thin sword strapped to her back and brandished it at Draunar.