Текст книги "The wolf king"

Автор книги: Lauren Palphreyman

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Текущая страница: 22 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

Chapter Fifty-Seven

The carriage hurtles across the landscape.

We’re followed by the sound of howling Wolves, and the roars of battle.

Sebastian settles on the bench in front of me and smooths down his breeches and dark tunic. He’s the picture of calm despite what is happening. His sword and daggers hang in his belt—deadly but unused as he leaves his army to fight for him.

He smiles.

“My sweet betrothed, it is time we had a chat, don’t you think?”

I straighten and smooth down my dress. I force myself to smile back sweetly, even though violence coats my tongue. “Yes, it is.”

“Did you spread your legs for him?” asks Sebastian—as though discussing the weather. “Their king.”

“Didn’t your wolf confirm I didn’t?”

He shrugs. “If he had voiced the truth, I’d have killed you both on the spot. I can’t marry you if my people know you’ve fucked a wolf. And if I can’t marry you, you are of no use to me. But I don’t believe you’ve been with those savages for this long, and not been touched by at least one of them. Let us be honest with one another, shall we? Was it their king that you fucked?” He arches an eyebrow. “Or was it the one from my kennels? The one you ran away with?”

My insides harden. He makes a tutting noise, his expression cold.

“Or did you think I didn’t know about that?” He smiles, his eyes dark. “You were seen, you know? Running away with him. Which one was it? Or did you open your legs for both of them? No matter. I’ll have them both killed before long. And before tonight is through, you’ll have my heir inside you and everyone will know you are mine alone.”

My blood runs cold, but I refuse to look away. The knife is heavy against my thigh, but I do not know how to reach for it without alerting Sebastian to its existence.

“Yes,” Sebastian continues. “Soon, this will all be just a bad memory. And you will learn to conduct yourself better in future as my wife, and lady of the Borderlands. Otherwise you may find yourself meeting the same fate as your mother.”

My insides turn to ice. “My mother died of illness.”

“No. She was murdered.” He laughs coldly. “Oh, didn’t you know?”

A battle rages inside me, as vicious as the one I can hear in the distance. The demand for answers fights the demand for blood. “What are you talking about?”

“Your father arranged it. A very. . . particular. . . poison.” The bright moonlight that streams through the carriage windows highlights the glee in his expression, and I know he is telling the truth.

I feel as if the world is shattering around me. My father was never kind to my mother. He viewed her as a possession rather than a person—just as he views me. The thought that he killed her makes me feel as if I’ve swallowed the Northland winds that rattle the carriage. They rage in my chest, and I can barely contain them.

For so many years I desired his approval. I stayed silent and obedient for him. I intended to give him information about the Wolves. I agreed to marry the monster that sits before me.

My mother told me that we always have a choice. But my whole life I have let others control my fate.

Tonight, that changes.

Adrenaline pumps through my body as we rattle along the wild terrain. I embrace it, and let it feed the violent beast that is stirring within me.

“I cannot believe you didn’t know,” says Sebastian.

If Callum was in this situation, I have no doubt he would end Sebastian in an instant. He would lurch forward and strangle him, sinking a dagger into his heart with ease.

I do not have his strength. Not physically.

I find myself wondering what Blake would do if faced with a larger opponent. He would find another way to defeat him—using his wit and his silken words and his aura of shadows. He somehow rose high in the Kingdom of Wolves, became an alpha, and whispered into the ear of the Wolf King—all while being an outsider.

I’m playing a game, little rabbit. And part of you wants to play too—just to see if you can beat me.

I slip on the mask I wore for many years—the mask of a dutiful princess, an obedient woman, a prize to be won—and I hope it hides the darkness that rises within.

“I am glad you saved me.” My voice is sweet as sugar and it makes me feel sick. “I was so afraid.”

Sebastian’s eyes flit to mine and narrow.

“I was kidnapped, but no one touched me. They said I had to be kept pure so they could trade me for that rock you gave them. And I wouldn’t have let them touch me, anyway. I would never let a wolf touch me.”

I put all my disgust at the man before me into the word.

“Is that so?” says Sebastian. “You didn’t let that beastly wolf from the kennels touch you?”

My insides scream. Wildness rattles against a cage in my chest. The thought that a monster such as Sebastian could call Callum beastly sets my insides aflame.

I let my mask cover my rage.

“I would never let him touch me,” I say. I lean forward and put my hand on his leg, inwardly flinching at the contact. “Let me prove it to you.”

His eyes darken, and something cold and hungry flashes behind them. Whatever beast resides beneath his skin stirs. I see it. I want to cower away from it. A wave of lust ripples from him, and my aura seems to curl in on itself, trying to get away.

I force myself to rise. I close the small space between us, and straddle his lap—my dress rising up my legs, and revulsion rising up my throat.

I will him to keep his eyes on mine, so he does not notice the now-exposed blade strapped to my thigh.

“We are to be man and wife soon,” I say softly, sweetly.

His gaze drags down my neck, my collarbone, my breasts—leaving a trail of cold in its wake. He licks his lips. My heartbeat pounds in my ears so hard that if he were a wolf, he would know my deception.

“Sebastian,” I whisper.

I remember being in Callum’s chambers, a silver letter opener in my hand, his hand rough and warm around mine.

Go for the throat, he told me.

In a sudden movement, I grab the knife. Before I can sink it through his pale flesh, he grabs my wrist. His other hand curls up into my hair, gripping tight.

I shriek—releasing the wildness in my soul—as I struggle against him. I try to push the blade against his neck. My scalp screams as Sebastian pulls my hair, and his fingers tighten around my wrist painfully.

He laughs. The sound is cold and dark, and his eyes flash with danger.

“Grew some teeth while you were with the Wolves, did you?” He bares my throat to him. He bends my wrist, hard, and the knife flies from my hand. “Not to worry. I’ve tamed many wild creatures in my time. I don’t like to be teased, Aurora. Especially not by little sluts like you. How about you show me what else you learned while you were being a whore to that Highfell beast?”

“Fuck you,” I hiss.

“Get on your knees.”

Fear and bile roll over me. The carriage blurs. I’m cold. Frozen.

“I said, get on your—”

Something hurtles into the side of the carriage, and the two of us are flung across the space. My shoulder slams painfully into the side as Sebastian’s body crashes into mine. For a moment, we’re a tangle of limbs and shattered glass and splintered wood. My head bashes against the ceiling, then the walls, as the carriage rolls.

It shudders to a halt on its side.

Everything is still.

I fight the adrenaline that’s making everything seem far away. I taste blood. My shoulder is crushed against one of the windows, and the carriage door is now above us. Long grass and jagged rocks splinter the glass. Sebastian stirs beside me, and there’s a crunching sound.

The knife has pierced the wood on the other side of his body. It glints in the moonlight that streams down. My pulse rages.

I lurch for it, shoving my knee into his crotch. He hisses, his eyelids flickering open.

Go for the throat.

In a swift movement, I slide the blade across Sebastian’s neck.

His eyes widen. He reaches for the wound as hot, red blood spills between his fingers.

“That is what I learned while being the whore to the Highfell Beast,” I snarl.

I expect to see horror on his face. Instead, his lips curve into a smile that mimics the slit across his throat.

“You. . . stupid. . . bitch. . .” he rasps as I lean over him. “Now you’ll. . . never know. . . the truth. Night. . . is . . . spreading. It will. . . take you all.”

A manic laugh bubbles from his lips with his last breath.

And then his body is still. Empty. Nothing but a grotesque and bloody statue of the monster he once was.

Disbelief crashes over me. I killed him. He’s really dead.

Shaking, I shove the door above me, and it flings open. I pull myself out of it, wood splintering my skin. Glass sprinkles off my dress when I stand. I think I am in shock, because everything feels far away. Cold adrenaline pumps through me, even though the danger has passed.

I stagger over the grass, almost tripping over the dismembered wheel of the carriage.

I’m in a clearing. The horses are gone. The man who was driving lies dead on the hill we rolled down. I’m alone.

The moon shines down on me, and the air has never tasted so sweet. It tastes like freedom. It tastes like a future I never dared to imagine. It tastes like hope.

I have just killed someone, and I’m sure I will feel something about that later. And yet, right now, I smile.

Until a growl rumbles through the night behind me.

I spin around.

A large brown wolf with markings on his legs stalks toward me, his muscles rippling with each thud of his paws. He bares his teeth.

I sigh, realizing what caused the carriage to roll over.

“James?” I say softly, soothingly. “It’s okay. It’s over. I killed him.”

His eyes flash with menace. I step back, frowning.

“James, what are you doing? You said. . .”

I sense the danger that emanates from him.

He is bigger, even, than Callum. The ground rumbles with every step he takes.

I do not know if he is angry I have robbed him of his kill, whether he wants to take something from Sebastian even after his death, or whether the wolf within him has taken over and just wants blood.

But his eyes promise death.

I release a half-laugh, almost manic, as hysteria bubbles inside me. I shake my head.

“No. You can’t do this. This cannot be the end.” My hand curls around the hilt of the bloody knife. “It can’t be.”

He growls, and I feel it vibrating through my soul.

“No.”

Yes, he seems to say.

I turn.

I run.

James crashes on top of me and the knife flies out of my grip. I scream as his teeth sink into my waist. He rolls me over, and hot blood pours from my body and paints his mouth crimson.

And I’m on fire. There is nothing but pain. Violence.

He snarls. He opens his jaw, exposing his sharp teeth.

I try to push him off me, but my body is heavy. So heavy. The life is draining out of me.

My vision blurs and I think of my mother. I wonder if I’ll see her again in the afterlife.

James is ripped from my body.

I blink as cold air bites into me. I can breathe again, but it hurts. Goddess, it hurts. A wolf snarls. I force my head to the side so I can see.

A large wolf, almost as big as James, is facing his king. His fur is tawny, and I catch the glint of forest-green in his eyes as the moon hits them.

“Callum,” I rasp.

The two Wolves growl as they circle one another.

Callum attacks.

He is as fierce, and feral, and vicious as I knew he could be. He tears into his brother’s throat, hurling him across the clearing as though he is a stuffed toy. James skids to a halt, unearthing grass and creating tracks in the mud.

The two launch through the air. They’re a blur of muscle and teeth. I cannot tell who is winning. I can barely see anything at all. Dots dance in front of my eyes and blood pools around me.

James slams Callum to the ground and sinks his teeth into Callum’s neck. Callum whimpers and the sound punctures my heart.

No.

The wind stirs around me.

No.

My body is weak, but I push myself up. I grip my side, and I force myself to stand. My legs tremble.

I move toward them and every step feels like I am pushing through syrup. My skin is clammy, and my hair sticks to my face. Blood pumps hot through my fingers.

I can’t let him kill Callum. My knees buckle and I fall, hard.

My eyes burn and Callum whines again.

I extend my arm, knowing I cannot reach him. Goddess, please.

There’s a flash of black fur.

The moon disappears behind the rolling Northlands clouds, plunging the land into darkness. When the black wolf crashes into James, the two of them shift into men and hurtle across the grass.

Callum shifts back too, and stumbles to his feet, his neck already healing. He turns to Blake, who has his hand curled around James’s neck. The scars on his muscular back are vivid even in the darkness.

“Get her out of here!” roars Blake. “Now!”

Callum bolts toward me.

He gathers me in his arms. I melt against his chest as I feel his warmth and smell his familiar scent.

I am going to die. But I am glad he is here with me.

Holding me closely, delicately, Callum looks at Blake once more. Confused. Or perhaps he is conflicted about leaving his savior alone with his physically stronger brother.

“Now!” roars Blake.

Callum turns, and he runs.

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Chapter Fifty-Eight

The air is thick with the scent of pine and darkness.

Somewhere, an animal is whimpering.

I push through the undergrowth toward it. Thorns snag my clothes, and brambles squish beneath my bare feet. I emerge into a moonlit clearing.

A wolf the color of moonlight lies in the center, but blood tarnishes her fur. She is injured. Her foot is caught in a trap.

She snarls as I approach, but I cannot leave her to die.

“Shh,” I whisper. “It’s going to be okay.”

I prize open the jaws of the trap, my fingers bleeding and slipping on the harsh metal teeth.

The wolf cries. She stumbles free, turning to face me.

For a moment, we stare at one another.

“Don’t go,” I say. “I need you.”

She turns. She flees.

“No!”

I’m plunged into darkness.

“Come back!”

The wind no longer whispers through the trees, and the moon is snuffed out. Shadows creep through the undergrowth, and slither through the grass like snakes.

“Don’t leave me!” I scream. “Please!”

I am lost.

I am empty.

I am alone.

The darkness swallows me.

But I hear a voice in the distance.

“Stay with me.”

***

“Stay with me, Princess. Please.”

Pain crashes through me. I force my eyelids to open but they are heavy.

Everything is blurry. There’s something soft beneath me. I scrunch my fingers and feel wet grass.

Callum’s face comes into focus.

His eyes are panicked and covered in a watery film. His dirty-blond hair is tangled, and there is blood on his neck and chest.

He’s leaning over me, and his hand is pressed into my side.

“Oh, Goddess.” His voice breaks. “I’m so sorry, Aurora. I’m so sorry. I never should have left you.”

“You’re here.” My words are weak and they’re carried away on the breeze.

“I’m here.” A tear rolls down his face. I want to reach for him, to brush it away, but he is too far away. My body is too heavy. He touches my cheek. “I’m here.”

I smile.

He makes a sound in his throat, a sob. “You’re going to be okay.”

And I know then that he thinks I’m going to die.

There’s something important I want to tell him, but my brain is fuzzy. I cannot find the words.

My eyelids flicker. The world dulls.

“Stay with me, Princess. You have to fight this. Please—”

Callum stiffens and looks over his shoulder. A second later, someone crashes to their knees beside him.

“Move aside.” A sharp male voice cuts through the darkness.

Callum keeps his hand on the bite, but shifts slightly. He takes one of my hands, and his fingers curl tightly around mine as if he can stop me from falling away.

“Can you save her?” Callum’s voice is small. Afraid.

Even though I’m so far away right now, I know that his voice should not sound that way. He is strong and certain—a warrior. He does not fear anything.

“I don’t know.” Blake’s face swims into focus.

He is a monstrous vision. His neck and chest are crimson with blood, and there’s mud caked in his hair. His expression is serious, and that, too, seems wrong.

Where is the mockery? Where is the smirk on his lips?

I close my eyes.

He taps my cheek. “Look at me.”

My eyelids are seared shut. I do not want to look at him, anyway.

“I should have known you were too weak,” says Blake. “Or perhaps it is not weakness, perhaps you are simply too ashamed to face me. Do you remember when you slapped me, little rabbit? Back in my chambers? I was on my knees before you. Do you know what I think? I think you were angry with me because you were imagining riding my face. And you liked it.”

My eyes flicker open. Shock and irritation ripple through me.

“What the fuck—” snarls Callum.

“Quiet,” snaps Blake. “Do you remember when I betrayed you, little rabbit? Had you strung up in the dungeons?”

Callum’s growl vibrates through me, but I keep my eyes fixed on Blake’s. The stars shimmer in and out of focus above him.

“I used you to get what I wanted. I made you a pawn in my games. I took you away from Callum, and had him locked up, too. I enjoyed seeing you like that, you know? Bound and chained. Defenseless. Helpless. I could have done all manner of things to you. All manner of perverse things. Would you have liked that, Aurora?”

Anger flares inside me, hot and wild and putrid. It pushes up my throat like a venomous snake, and a hiss escapes my lips. It hurts. Goddess, it hurts.

I whimper, and my eyelids flicker shut.

“Gods, Aurora!” Blake slams his hand into the ground by my head. I don’t even flinch. “Get angry! Get angry with me!”

“That’s enough, Blake!” says Callum. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but find another way. Get some herbs. Stitch her up. Just do it. Fix her!” The plea in his voice breaks my heart.

“She’s been bitten, Callum! The only way she survives this is if she stops suppressing it!”

“Suppressing what?”

“Her wolf!” Blake’s exasperated voice cuts through the darkness that is settling over me.

Callum falls silent for a moment. “What the fuck are you talking about? She’s not a wolf.”

“Of course she is, you fool. She’s a half-wolf, like me. And James’s bite will either force her wolf to fight back, or it’ll dominate it and kill her.” He slaps my cheek again. “Look at me. I’m not finished with you yet.”

I roll my head away, unable to make sense of anything they’re saying.

“Aurora! Damn it!” snaps Blake.

He grabs my chin.

Life is spilling out of me. I can feel my soul leaving my body, turning me back into the husk I was for so many years. Darkness fills my chest, and I’m cold. So cold.

Even Callum’s hand around mine offers no warmth anymore.

My cheeks are wet, and I wonder if I’m crying, or whether it’s blood.

Frantic male voices fill the air but they don’t make sense.

“Just do it,” Callum snarls.

“Fuck. It’s not. . . it’s not medicine. It’s something I read.”

“She’s not—”

“She is a wolf!”

I try to focus on the men kneeling beside me. I try to focus on what they’re talking about. It’s something to do with me. Something important.

“What is it?” says Callum, his voice dark.

“I think I can share my. . . life force with her. If she’s a wolf.”

“I should do it,” says Callum.

“No. It has to be. . . I. . . I don’t have time to teach you. Just. . . get out of the way.”

“Blake—” Callum’s voice is low. Warning.

“Get out of the way!” Blake’s voice is all wrong. Angry. Feral. Forceful.

He shifts over me and I can almost feel his warmth.

He rests his forearm on one side of my face, putting his hand on my cheek as I try to roll my head away. He pushes his forehead against mine, and he whispers something in a language I do not know. I cannot tell if it’s a chant, or a prayer, or a plea. All I know is my pulse is slow, and the air is cold, and my body is draining of life.

And I’m tired. So tired.

If I had the strength to pray, I’d tell the Goddess I’ll choose to live differently, if I survive this. I’ll live my life fully. I’ll dare to hope and dream and want. I’ll stand up for myself and for others. I’ll learn to fight. I’ll make my own stories, rather than be the side character in the stories of kings. I’ll never be shackled again.

And I’ll love. I’ll love wholly and unreservedly. I’ll love until I am bursting with it.

My breathing slows. The night swims around me, dark and full of shadow. My soul aches. My eyelids close. Someone is shouting. Someone is whispering.

Everything is cold.

And then, silence.

I’m back in that forest, in the cavernous dark.

The branches don’t whisper, and the undergrowth is still. There is nothing but thick unrelenting darkness.

And I don’t want this.

I want to live.

A wisp of light flits toward me.

I frown as I reach for it.

My eyes jolt open at the same time as Blake’s. His lips part, and he exhales.

“Yes.” The muscles in his forearm clench. “That’s it. Take it.”

I grab onto it, whatever it is, and I feel. . . life.

It is dark, and smoky, and warm. I pull it toward me, and Blake slips. A low sound scrapes against his throat as he prevents himself from crushing me.

“That’s it.” He swallows. “Take it.”

The scent of the night fills my lungs. I smell dark forests, and musty parchment, and flickering candlelight.

I breathe it in. I pull it closer. Blake’s arm shudders, and his fist curls into the earth.

The sound of dripping water echoes in my ears. I taste mildew on the back of my tongue. Thunder rumbles, or perhaps it is the sound building in Blake’s chest.

I need it. I want it.

My fingers sink into the wet earth, and I pull harder.

My back arches as the wind builds around us.

I see a glint of silver. A surgical knife. I see shackles, and chains and blood. There is so much blood. Someone, somewhere is screaming. Is it me? Is it someone else?

I don’t care. I just want more.

Images flicker before me. There’s a woman shouting. A rabbit runs across a dark room. There’s the cracking of a whip. The taste of lightning. A thousand stars light an endless sky.

I smell poison, blood, and darkness.

“Fuck, Aurora.” Blake is breathing hard, and his eyes are bright.

And I’m walking through a forest.

Or perhaps I am in the church in the King’s City. Only, branches have burst through the stained-glass windows. Vines curl around the stone columns, and weeds break the mosaiced floor. It is dark, as if someone has blocked out the sun.

A low growl rumbles through the space and shakes the altar. It is coming from the dark mouth of the crypt, where shadows trickle out like smoke.

My footsteps echo as I walk toward it.

Eyes glint in the darkness.

There is something down there, and it snarls.

“There you are,” whispers Blake.

My gaze latches onto his. The sky is vast behind him. The wind ruffles his hair.

More.

Blake hisses through his teeth, and his body shudders. I feel him trying to retreat, and I hook my arm around his neck and pull him down. He makes a low sound in his throat, his muscles tensing beneath my fingers.

“That’s enough.” Callum’s panicked voice sounds far away.

Blake presses his forehead against mine. The wolf is in his eyes.

“That’s enough!”

Blake is ripped away from me. I exhale, and my breath twists into the Northlands sky. I am soft. Weightless. I tip my head back into the grass. I feel weak, but whole. Blood no longer pumps out of my body. The pain has faded. I touch my side with a heavy hand, and it’s sore but there is no wound.

Callum’s face crashes into focus.

“Callum?” I whisper.

“I’m here.” He smiles softly, and a tear rolls down his muddy cheek. “I’m here. You’re going to be okay.”

He scoops me into his arms, and holds me against his chest. I sigh again, his warmth cocooning me.

I’m going to be okay.

“My castle’s a few miles from here.” Blake’s voice sounds odd. He clears his throat. “We’ll go there.”

Callum looks over my shoulder, and nods. His gaze drops, and his expression darkens. “Get a hold of yourself.”

Blake’s expression hardens.

“Fuck off, Callum.” He stalks across the shadowy landscape. “You’ve got no fucking idea. . .” His voice is swallowed by the wind.

Callum exhales, then pulls me closer.

“Let’s get you somewhere warm,” he says, before heading after Blake. “You’re safe now.”

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