by Taft, Nicole
“Did you kill anyone in that tent?”
“No. I was close, but then you told me to break the tent pole.”
I almost laughed. Turned out the most dangerous person in that tent was me, not Wolf. “I didn’t know you knew how to sword fight.”
“I don’t. I was just swinging it around as much as I could, hoping that maybe I’d hit something. I’m lucky he didn’t cut my head off.”
Dusk was heavy on us now, our little campfire a tiny light in the dark. I heaved a sigh. Wolf pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Come. You must eat something.”
We ate sliced lamb that Wolf had bought when he retrieved my pack. I wondered how he managed to buy things without people asking about the huge bloodstain on his back, but let it go. He’d been right about the lavawort making me crave uncooked meat. I savored every morsel of lamb even though we practically ate the meat raw. I licked the juices from my fingers. Having a warm meal in my stomach seemed to make everything a little better. I took a long drink from one of my water bottles.
“I’m glad you went back to get my pack,” I said, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Though I still can’t believe you did that.”
He grinned and patted the daypack. “I like these matches things.”
“Yeah, well, I have a lighter in there too somewhere. I should show you that.”
But I was too tired to move and Wolf was too tired to ask. I closed my eyes, warmed by the fire and the meal. Then I reached up to touch the wings on the necklace the witch had given me. They were polished and felt like they might have been made from pearls or glass. I didn’t know how a necklace was supposed to help though. My fingers tingled a little when they touched the wings.
I sighed. What if I had wings? Then I could fly. I could swoop down and grab Marianne and rescue her. I smiled to myself. Wouldn’t that be a treat. Then I could take her home and be on my way, soaring through the air all on my own, leaving everything behind. How glorious that would be.
A spot on my back tingled in the same way.
And what of Wolf? I opened my eyes to look at him. What did he need me for anyhow? Why did he keep saving my life? He kept saying it was because we were mates, but that had to be a load of bull. People didn’t just meet and fall in love. He was probably in this for Marianne. He needed me as a lure to get her. Once we rescued her, would he leave with her? Leave me all alone by myself in a forest where giants ate people and evil smoke werewolves ran the trails and people disappeared, never to be heard from again? A wolf might be loyal, but he was half human, and people left others to fend for themselves. Including their children.
“Caroline?”
I snapped to attention, dropping my hand from the necklace. The tingling disappeared.
“Huh?”
Wolf stared at me as if trying to figure something out. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Why?”
He poked at the fire. “I don’t know. You just looked…distant. Like you were,” he paused, trying to find the right words, “sinking into yourself really deep.”
“No,” I said casually. “Just thinking.”
The stars came out, diamond dust strewn in a deep blue sea. Patches of sky appeared and disappeared as the treetops slowly swayed in the wind. The moon hung in just the right spot between two trees, glowing brightly, a few more slivers of it added since the night before.
“Wolf?”
He busied himself with the fire, prodding a log to get more flames. “Hmm?”
I squirmed where I sat, not really wanting to ask the question, but somehow compelled to. “Marianne’s sister. She was killed by a wolf.” He stopped moving. “Was it you?”
He looked at me sharply, his eyes glittering in the firelight. “No.”
For several long moments neither of us spoke.
“How long ago did it happen?” he asked quietly.
“I’m not really sure. Not long ago, I don’t think.”
H grunted. “For the last four full moons, I was impounded.”
I guessed maybe that meant three or four months, if their time was anything like mine. I listened to the fire crackle and spark.
“Why did you ask me that?”
I shook my head a fraction. “I don’t know. When I first met you, you were chasing after her.” I shrugged and shook my head again as if to say, “How am I supposed to know anything around here?”
“That’s fair I suppose.”
“Besides, you said that ‘she’ wanted Marianne. Who is ‘she’ anyway?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “She’s the one that rescued me and the others from the Impound.” He paused for a moment, as though debating. Then he lifted one of his pant legs, revealing the gold band I’d spotted during the night while he spoke to a wolf pack. “She gave us new clothes and put these collars on us, to show we were a part of her pack.” He frowned. “But I don’t want to be forced to follow. I just want to be free.”
I thought about his pledge to me. “Am I forcing you to follow? Because you say I’m your mate?”
His frown disappeared. “No. I chose to follow you. A mate is not something that is predestined. A mate is,” he considered his words for a moment. “A mate is knowing that the other person is just right for you. It’s a very deep feeling. Easy for wolves to find. Harder for humans. You don’t understand how hard it is to sit here with you over there. But you need time to find it, and that’s what I’m giving you.”
I watched him for a few moments. The firelight danced on his face, illuminating his intense expression. It wasn’t hard to read the longing there. He was right—I didn’t understand that feeling, but I did know that he’d saved my life twice and was my only link to remote safety in this place. I at least owed him a little something.
I got up and walked around to his back, leaning over and putting my arms around him, making sure to keep my weight off of his sword wound.
“Caroline, what…?”
“Thank you,” I said, pressing my cheek against his, “for saving me from everything in this weird place.”
I hugged him, and he turned his face to rub his forehead against my temple. His lips brushed my cheek. I suddenly wanted to tear off the necklace, to throw it away. I didn’t want to fly. I hated heights. I wanted to be here. But when I released Wolf, the desire disappeared and I left it alone. Instead, I picked the softest looking spot by the fire and lay down. Before I fell asleep, the leaves crunched behind me and Wolf lay down, his chest warm against my back. I didn’t move away.
The next morning I awoke nestled against Wolf with my fingers curled into the lapels of his jacket. His arms were wrapped around me and his chin rested on top of my head. I didn’t remember falling asleep quite so entangled with him, but I was nice and warm so for once I wasn’t going to complain. His breathing was deep and even, and I felt bad about waking him up but we needed to get going. I reached up to touch his face. The stubble along his jaw was rough against my hand and his skin felt warmer than I’d expected it to in the chill of the morning.
“Wolf?”
He awoke and looked down at me with gold in his eyes. “Good morning, Caroline.” He turned his face to kiss my palm. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes,” I said, surprised to realize it after all that had happened yesterday.
“I’m glad. Especially since you started off with a nightmare.”
“I did?”
“Oh yes.”
Suddenly I was very aware of how close his face was to mine. I couldn’t help it and glanced at his mouth. There was no denying that the kiss we’d shared the other day had left me breathless—I’d just tried not to think about it. And yesterday he’d put himself between me and a sword. One of his hands slid up to cup the back of my neck while the other tightened at my hip.
“Be careful,” Wolf said, his voice low and serious.
I snapped back to attention. “What?”
“I don’t want you starting something you can’t finish.”
I let out a nervous laugh and pulled away from him to get to my feet. “Then I guess we better get moving.” I picked up my daypack and dusted it off with more effort than necessary.
We trekked along the path as it gently flowed up, down, and around the forest hills and vales. When the road forked, Wolf would pause for just a moment before picking the right path, following Marianne’s scent to wherever the creature had taken her. Wolf had said it was magic, something that wolves didn’t play with. That didn’t make me feel any better.
I touched the wings at my neck. We might have to fight again. Battle that thing in order to free Marianne. Would this turn into a huge ordeal? Would we have to fight more than just one magic entity? How could we fight magic with magic? I’d killed before, would I be able to do it again? And what about when I went home? How would everyone like that? Knowing I’d killed somebody? I bet that would catch their attention.
My fingers stroked the glossy wings. I stared at the back of Wolf’s head. What if I died? Wolf couldn’t save me all the time. Would anyone notice I’d died? Could I even believe what Wolf said about magic and wolves? How did I know that wasn’t a lie? My Wolf, a good-looking, upstanding liar?
“Why should I trust you?”
Several feet ahead, Wolf stopped and turned slowly.
“What?”
“I said why should I trust you?”
His expression didn’t change. “I gave you the most solemn promise a wolf can give.”
“How am I supposed to know that? I know nothing about this place, and I’ve been just going on your word the entire time. I probably should have listened to Marianne, but I thought she was delusional.”
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Caroline…”
“No.” I backed up a few steps. “You stay away from me. You’re working for someone and you won’t say who. You were after Marianne and more than once by what she told me.” I kept touching the wings on the necklace. My skin tingled beneath them and the same tingle began to grow on my back. “You said you were impounded for eating sheep—how am I supposed to know that’s all you did? Running around with a knife, and you point it in my face and then claim that you love me? Do you know how twisted all of that is?”
He moved forward, his head cocked. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with me?” I yelled. “How do I know you won’t go back on your word? How do I know you won’t take her when we find her? How do I know that you won’t run off and leave me alone? You’ll just abandon me here in this forest and leave me to fend for myself?”
The tingling grew stronger now. I kept my fingers on the wings. I didn’t need his help. He was only half-wolf, which meant he was half-human too. I could do this on my own. No one even knew I was gone in my world. Eventually they might look, and if I died here, they would go on looking forever.
“What do you have in your eyes?” he asked, ignoring me like everyone else.
I could do this. I could do something great, or I would die trying. Wasn’t that how everyone wanted to die? Bravely? Doing something special, amazing, so that all the world, or at least a great many people knew their name?
Wolf gasped. “That old witch! What did she do to you? What did she do?”
I closed my eyes. Just go away. Leave me alone. Let me do this on my own.
Suddenly I flew up, great white wings pumping at my back, the forest falling away under me.
“Caroline, come back! This is that witch’s doing!”
The forest drew small, a mess of green far below. The clouds flew past as I went up and up and up, my wings strong, the air currents flowing under the feathers. I dipped down and sailed west toward the sea, a tiny curve of blue in the distance. I could find Marianne like this. Soar over the forest path until I reached the ocean. I could find her, rescue her, and carry her off to where she needed to be. Then I could fly, fly away forever, leaving everyone behind to wonder what happened to me, and they would be so sorry for all the years they missed and all the times I was left behind. The only things I would miss would be my wolves.
Chapter 7
I didn’t know how long I flew. It felt so glorious to have the wind on my face and the clouds through my fingertips. Was I supposed to be looking for something? I let the thought go. Being in the sky was so amazing. Peaceful. No one for miles upon miles.
Suddenly I dropped several feet. Panic erupted in my chest. I looked to my wings. They were losing feathers. Fast. I aimed for the ground. I had to land or at least get low enough that by the time the feathers were gone, I wouldn’t be hurt. I wanted to cry. Why were my wings falling apart? I wanted to have them forever.
The patch of forest below was dark; much too dark during the middle of the day. The trees looked like their leaves were black, and a dark mist rolled along the ground where bare bracken tumbled. I tried to bank right, aiming for a greener, sunnier part of the forest, when a screech shattered the air around me. Above me, three creatures with black wings circled, and then dove.
I tried to flap my beautiful wings, but they were too weak, too featherless to do anything more. One of the creatures struck me hard from behind, sharp talons clawing at my pack, trying to find flesh. I tried to struggle out of the pack, but my wings were in the way. A second creature struck at me. It snatched up my arm and I screamed as its claws bit deep. The third screeched and flew around me, under me. It looked up and for a moment I was able to clearly see what had attacked.
Harpies.
Ugly women with sagging breasts, wings for arms and powerful bird-like claws for feet. I kicked out at her, but she easily flew out of reach, shrieking at me with a mouth full of pointed teeth. Feathers drifted down in a shower of white now. The two harpies holding me flew toward a dead tree, black and gnarled, reaching toward the sky in its last throes of death. I jerked and shouted in their grasp. I didn’t care how far the ground was now. I didn’t want to end up on that tree. My wings were gone and my daypack was being shredded to pieces.
I twisted around to the harpy holding my arm and managed to get my mouth around her leg. I bit down as hard as I could. She shrieked and jerked. A dark liquid seeped into my mouth, the smell of rot invaded my nostrils. I gagged and spat it out. She only dug in her talons deeper, drawing another scream from me, and then they dumped me onto the tree.
The branch was wide enough for me to lie on, but I clung to it anyway. My arm dripped blood to the ground far below me. Too far. At least thirty feet. Far enough that jumping could mean a broken leg. The punctures in my upper arm throbbed, pain radiating from my shoulder to my elbow. The harpies landed around me, grinning around their ugly beak noses and hunching their heads down like vultures.
“We have not had a pretty one in a while,” said one. Her voice rasped like gravel on gravel, as if she hadn’t spoken in a long time. She had blood on her talons; she’d been the one to grab my arm.
“Certainly we have not,” said the one behind me. “What shall we do to her, my sisters?”
“Eat her!” screeched the third.
“No,” cried the first. She lifted her talon and licked my blood from it. She spat and made a face which made her even uglier like a shrunken head. “She is much too sweet yet. She will have to stay here for a time until properly ripened.”
What the hell did that mean? My head felt fuzzy. I wanted to fly, but couldn’t. I wanted to get out of here, but had no idea how. Climbing down the tree could be possible, but not with the harpies around. I winced and pressed my forehead against the blackened bark. One of the harpies cackled.
“See? Look at her. Already despair is setting in. I say she has a day or two before she submits, and then we can pick her apart, piece by piece.”
Why did everything around here want to eat me? First Wolf, then the giants, and now harpies. Except Wolf hadn’t really wanted to eat me at all. Why had I left Wolf? Why did I think I could survive in this place on my own? I wanted to fly again. I touched the wings on the necklace, but nothing happened. Would I d
ie here, eaten by harpies?
No. I lifted my head to glare at the one with my blood on her talons. I was not going to be eaten alive by harpies. At least, not without a fight. I’d go down breaking wings, tearing out feathers, and gouging eyes. I abruptly pushed myself up and spit into her face.
I went down again immediately as she screeched in surprise and anger, flapping her wings and flinging her head back and forth. I cried out almost as loudly, digging my fingernails into the tree branch out of pain. My arm was slick with blood. I prayed she hadn’t punctured anything vital, or I wouldn’t have to worry about being eaten alive. I’d die of blood loss first. The idea made me even angrier, and I kicked out at the harpy behind me. Bad idea. I missed, and she shrieked and scratched at my legs. Her talons sank into my calf, pushing me over the branch. I screamed again and hung on for dear life, dangling over the dark ground far below. Then I heard a low growl and glanced down. Something on all fours, black, with a long tail paced beneath me. A pair of vibrant green eyes looked up.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, fear spiking through me. I strained to pull myself back up, but my injured arm hurt too much, the wounds too deep. I started to slip.
“No, no,” said the harpy behind me. She fluttered over and hauled me back up by my backpack. I secretly thanked the powers that be that she hadn’t done it by some other body part. She plunked me down on the branch again.
“You are staying right here until you are ready,” she said.
The three of them cackled again and flew off to parts unknown. The clouds overhead seemed tainted by an inky blackness, making them look smoky and evil. The creature pacing below stopped to lap up something from the ground. My blood. It dripped from my fingertips and slowly soaked into my hiking sock from my leg. I closed my eyes. I never wanted to be here. I just wanted to help a little girl get back home. Not even Wolf could find me now. I didn’t know how far I’d gone, but I’d traveled by air. But what did that matter? He knew Marianne’s scent. He’d go after her instead. He was bound to.
