From Blood and Ash(93)

Delano eyed me as he fished out a key from his tunic pocket and unhooked the shackles. They slipped, clanging off the hard-packed ground.

Naill turned away first, his head cranking toward the entrance, and then Delano followed suit. And there I was, my eyes fastened to the sword attached to Delano’s waist, and my hands unbound.

“Shit,” Naill said, and that drew my attention.

Delano let out a low rumble of warning that made my skin crawl. “What the fuck are you doing down here, Jericho?”

My breath caught as I saw the tall form drift out of the shadows.

“Taking a stroll,” he said.

“Bullshit,” Naill spat. “You’re down here by yourself. You’re here for her.”

I tensed as Jericho looked over at me. “You’re wrong,” he said. “And you’re right.”

Footsteps came from the entrance, and I heard Delano curse again.

“I am here for her,” Jericho said. “But I’m not alone.”

No, he wasn’t. There were six men with him, all staying close to the shadows.

“You’re being incredibly stupid,” Naill pointed out, blocking the door.

Jericho stared at me through the bars. “Perhaps.”

“I know you think you’re owed your pound of flesh. She cut you.”

“Twice,” I chimed in.

Delano sent me a look that said I wasn’t helping.

Jericho sneered. “Don’t forget the hand.” He lifted his left arm. “There’s that.”

“That’s on you,” Delano answered. “Not her.”

“Yeah, well, can’t take it out on the Prince, now can I?” Jericho said, and I frowned, having thought it had been Hawke who’d taken his hand.

“Do you understand he will have your head if you harm her? All of your heads?” Delano said. “He said no one is to hurt her. You try to do what you want to do, all of you will die. Is that what you want, Rolf? Ivan?” He rattled off the names of those who were hidden. “He will see this as a betrayal, but you still have a chance to walk away from this with your lives. You won’t if any of you take a step forward.”

None of them moved to leave.

One advanced, an older man with brown eyes. “She’s the fucking Maiden, Delano. She was raised as an Ascended, by the damn Queen herself, practically. The Ascended took my son in the middle of the godsdamn night.”

“But she did not take your son,” Naill replied.

“I get that the Prince wants to use her to free his brother, but you and I both know, Malik is most likely dead,” Jericho tossed out. “And if he’s not, it probably isn’t a good thing. He’s got to be so fucked up by now that he has no idea who he is.”

“But if we send her back to the bloodsucking Royals, we send one hell of a powerful message,” another argued. “It will shake them. We need that advantage.”

“And we want it,” the one who was called Rolf said. “You have to. Those bastards killed your whole den, Delano. Your mother. Your father. Your sisters weren’t so lucky. They waited a while before they killed them—”

“I know exactly what was done to my family,” snarled Delano, and I felt my stomach twist. “But that does not change the fact that I will not allow you to hurt her.”

“She was standing next to Duke and Duchess Teerman,” a voice came, sending a chill down my spine. “She stood there when they told my wife and I that our son was to be given to the gods. She just stood there and did nothing.”

I stumbled back a step when the man who spoke stepped out of the shadows. It was Mr. Tulis. So jarred by his appearance, I couldn’t do anything but stare at him.

He looked at me then, with hatred in his eyes. “You cannot tell me you didn’t know what they were doing. You cannot tell me that you had no idea what happened to our children!” he shouted. “What was happening to the people who went to bed and never woke up? You had to know what they were.”

I opened my mouth, and the only thing I could say was, “Is your son with you now?”

“The Ascended will never get their hands on Tobias,” he vowed. “We will not lose another to them.”

Rattled as my gift came alive, I was barely able to pay attention to what Delano said. “And you would betray the Prince, who aided your family in escape? Who made sure that your child could grow and thrive?”

Mr. Tulis didn’t take his eyes off me. “I would do anything to feel the blood of the Ascended flowing on my hands.”

“I’m not an Ascended,” I whispered.

“No,” he sneered, brandishing a knife. “You’re just their whole future.”

I wanted to tell him that I planned to go to the Queen on their behalf, but I didn’t get the chance. Not that it would’ve made a difference. Not with that kind of loathing radiating out from him.

“Don’t do this,” Delano warned, unsheathing his sword.

“He’ll get over it,” Jericho said. “And if we have to kill you two to make sure he never finds out, then so be it. It’s your grave. Not mine.”

Everything happened so fast.

Rolf pushed Mr. Tulis back as Naill struck like a coiled viper, grabbing the larger man by the chest. Naill sank his teeth into his neck, tearing, ripping—

A man crashed into Naill, pulling him free from Rolf, who stumbled into the bars. Blood poured, and the man laughed. “You bit me.” He threw his arms out as his back bowed, cracked. “You actually bit me,” he said, the last of his words turning to gravel as his knees bent. He snarled, going down on all fours.

Naill kicked the man off, baring his fangs in a hiss that sounded so cat-like that I thought of the predator I’d seen in the cage all those years ago.

The cave cat that Hawke always reminded me of.

Naill flew at the man, taking him to the ground as Delano turned to me. “Kill any of them that get close to you.” He threw his sword at me, and I caught it in surprise as he turned back to those gathering at the cell door.

Delano shifted, splitting his shirt up his back as he fell forward, his lengthening hands smacking against the ground as white fur sprouted in a blinding flash over his mammoth form.

In a heartbeat, a massive wolven stood beside me just as others appeared in the hall.

“It’s a party,” Jericho said, and whatever hope I had that they were going to help ended right there. He winked at me. “You’re popular.”

“And I have two hands,” I retorted.

The smirk faded from his face.

Rolf came into the enclosure, and Delano crashed into him. They rolled across the cell, a ball of brown and white fur. Delano gained the upper hand, snapping his teeth inches from Rolf’s.

Naill snatched up one of the men in a run. He turned, slamming the man into the bars with such force that it cracked the iron. That man went down, and he didn’t get back up.

The Atlantian turned, reaching for one of the others who’d slipped past into the cell. One quick glance at the eyes—neither ice-blue nor golden amber—told me that I was squaring off with a mortal. The one who’d spoken first.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said.

“That’s okay,” he said, holding a wicked sickle-shaped sword. “But I want to hurt you.”

He charged forward with a cry, and it was all too easy to step aside. I spun, bringing the hilt of the sword down on the back of his head, knocking him out. Maybe doing a little more damage. I didn’t want to acknowledge that his words had affected me so greatly that I hadn’t delivered a purposely fatal blow.

What came through next wasn’t mortal. It was a large, brindle-colored wolven. Lips peeled back, vibrating with its snarl as it bared huge teeth.

“Fuck,” I whispered.

The wolven launched itself at me. I jumped back, swinging out. The edge of the sword nicked the side of the creature as he hit the wall and immediately jumped off. I spun in a panic, arcing out with the sword. It caught the massive beast in the stomach this time. Yanking on the sword, it wouldn’t budge as the wolven yipped and swiped out. I let go of the sword, but I wasn’t quick enough. Claws caught the front of my tunic, just below the neck. Cloth tore, and a sharp, stinging pain shot down my entire front.

Staggering back, I looked down to see half my shirt gaping open, and red dotting my exposed skin.

Naill rushed forward. “The sickle sword!” he yelled. “Get the—”

A man brought some kind of club down on the back of his head. Naill’s entire body spasmed as his eyes rolled back. He went down as I dove for the sickle sword.

There was a yelp as I rose. It was Delano. Blood matted his white fur, and I prayed it was Rolf’s.

Delano staggered to the side, and I knew then that it was not. It was Delano’s. One of his legs collapsed under him, and he went down as Rolf prowled toward him, shaking his large head.

I didn’t know why I did what I did next. I needed to focus on the others who were determined to murder me, but I shot forward, swinging the sickle sword down along the back of the wolven’s neck. The blade was so sharp that it sliced through sinew and bone like a knife through butter.

Rolf didn’t even yelp. There’d been no time for that.

And there had been no time to avoid the blow that landed in the middle of my back, knocking me to the ground. My back burned, but I held onto the sword, breathing through the fire that seemed to have ignited—