Turning around again, I watched the chaos—the bloodbath—unfolding right in front of me. There were three of these wolves. They weren’t all as large as the one that had been standing behind me, but they were all covered in dark fur, they were all vicious, and they were more than a match for the animals that were left.
I wasn’t sure what to do. I was frozen. Rooted to the spot.
Do I run?
Do I fight?
They were killing the Vrren, but did that mean they were friendly? No. Not at all. That wasn’t the sense I had gotten from the one that had sniffed me, not by a long shot. Once the Vrren had been taken care of, one of the wolves started trotting toward Mira, and that was when I finally regained control of my faculties.
“Leave her alone!” I screamed, my voice tearing through the quiet.
The largest of the wolves had its back to me. Slowly, it turned around, its mouth dripping with hot blood that steamed around its snout. The wolf dipped lower on its front paws, sprang back onto its hind legs, and in a flash of soft, blue light, the wolf was gone—replaced by a tall, incredibly muscular man with long, gunmetal grey hair that was dark at the roots, and brighter at the ends.
He had scars on his face, on his bare chest, and along his shoulders and arms. His features were sharp, and angular, his eyes were narrow, but they sparkled with primal intelligence. He wasn’t totally naked, either; he had some kind of black pants on, but no shoes. Like all the other fae I had seen so far, his ears were long and pointed, and just as it had been a moment ago, his mouth was still dripping with blood.
“What… what are you?” I asked.
“You,” he said, in a smooth, but menacing voice, “Will come with us.”
CHAPTER FOUR
One by one, the remaining fae changed shape, discarding their wolf forms and standing on two legs. It was extraordinary… the mere sight of it sent shivers down my spine. Despite all the magic I had seen, the wonder of Arcadia, the majesty that is Windhelm, this—this was something else. This took the cake, as they say.
I had grown up knowing magic existed, so to watch the fae wield magic as easily as they did, that had been impressive, but not surprising. Shapeshifters, though, I’d never seen one up close, and while the process of transformation was probably easy to them, to me, it was breathtaking.
Literally, the stuff of legend.
“Are you going to simply stand there?” the large, muscular man in front of me said. “Move.”
That’s right, I’ve been captured.
Again.
“Don’t hurt my friend,” I said.
The fae glanced across his shoulder. One of his friends, a woman, was standing near Mira. The other floated between the group, pacing, watching, perhaps ready to strike if I tried something stupid. I wasn’t going to. Not here.
“You,” he barked at Mira, “Can you walk?”
“I cannot,” she called out.
“Then you will freeze.”
I took a rapid step toward him. “Wait, you can’t—”
The large fae turned in the blink of an eye and caught me by the throat. His hand squeezed around my neck, and I felt myself rise at least a solid foot off the floor. Struggling with his hand was useless, he was a lot stronger than me, but I had two perfectly working feet, great aim, and supernatural strength.
I went for the groin.
The moment of contact was exquisite. The fae’s eyes widened, and he immediately dropped me so he could cradle his aching balls. He doubled over from the pain and started coughing. I took the opportunity to make a mad dash toward Mira, but I was quickly intercepted by the middle fae, the one who’d been watching me.
He tackled me to the ground lightning quick, and by the time I hit the snow, he had taken his wolf form. The wolf pinned me to the ground by my shoulders and snarled. His fur was sleek, and grey, and he easily weighed two hundred pounds.
“Get the fuck off me!” I roared, but the wolf instead bared his fangs and inched a little closer to my face. His teeth were red, and I could smell the Vrren blood on his breath.
“Enough!” Mira screamed, “She is the tath isia, and if you know what’s good for you, you will treat her with respect!”
“That is no white wolf,” said the woman, “How dare you speak those words in our presence, castle bitch? I’ll kill you both!”
“It’s true!” I yelled, “Look at my hand! I have the mark.”
I tried to show them the back of my hand, but I could barely move. As if he’d sensed this, the wolf gently eased the pressure around my right shoulder just enough that I could bring up my hand, but then it bit me, clamping hard around my wrist. I screamed as blood immediately began to trickle from the wound.
“Leave her alone!” Mira shrieked.
The wolf didn’t let go of my hand, but it also didn’t move, it didn’t grind its teeth, it didn’t drag me through the snow. It stayed still, almost like a statue. All the while, the first fae, the largest of them, had finally regained his composure and started walking over—even if his gait was a little funky.
Did that hurt? Aww, poor baby.
Asshole.
Insulting him in my mind made me feel better, took my attention away from the pain in my arm and the streaks of blood worming down toward my shoulder. The wolf and the large fae then swapped control of my wrist; the wolf releasing me, only for the other one to grab me. He clenched his hand tightly around my skin, slowing the flow of blood, but not halting it.
Carefully, he examined the back of my hand, then he looked at me. “Where did you get this?” he asked.
I was biting my lower lip, struggling against the pain. “It just happened,” I said through my teeth. “Now, if you’re done asserting your macho dominance, I’d like to get up now.”
The fae stared at me, his eyes hard and cold. “Struggle again, and we will let you both freeze in the woods.”
He yanked me upright by my wrist, and I shot to my feet. When he released me, I clamped down hard on my wrist with my other hand, trying to keep the blood from pouring freely out of the wound. The bite had been deep. For the brief moment that I’d looked it, my stomach had flipped upside down and inside out and made me nauseous.
I walked quickly over to Mira, who still wasn’t able to stand. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“I am fine,” she said, a little indignantly. “Your arm?”
“I need to get it wrapped up, but it’s fine for now. Can you stand?”
“No more easily than I could a moment ago.”
The big fae shoved me aside. “Move,” he growled.
I was about to tell him off for being so fucking rude, but then I saw he was picking Mira up and off the ground. Sure, he had throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and she didn’t look at all impressed at being carried around like that, but he’d helped, at least.
The female stepped up to me, her eyes like razorblades. “Start walking,” she hissed.
Frowning, I turned and followed the larger man. I didn’t speak for a long moment, not until I realized we were being taken off the road, and there was still no sign of Melina. “My other friend,” I said, “The one with the carriage... have you seen her?”
My words were met with no reply.
All three of our captors were silent, but I pressed on. “My name is Dahlia,” I said, trying to humanize myself; or was it fae-ize? I wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter. I needed to try and tug at their emotions, even if doing so was probably going to get me nowhere considering these were literally three of the coldest fae I had ever encountered.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“This is unnecessary,” Mira said. “They won’t talk to you, or to me.”
“Quiet,” said the fae that was carrying her.
“You…” I said to him, daring to tap him on the shoulder, “What’s your name?”
More silence, and then, “Toross,” he grunted. “Second Alpha.”
“Second? Who is the first?”
“You will be brought to her. No more talking.”
Mira cocked an eyebrow. I had wanted to press the whole Melina issue, but it was possible they hadn’t found her, or hadn’t even seen her. If that was true, then it was possible Mel was the only one who could rescue us from these people, whoever they were.
But I had a feeling that wasn’t going to be the case. Ollie had shown no signs of stopping, and even if Mel had, who was to say there weren’t more of these fae shifters out in the woods? They may have already caught her. They may have already killed her. I didn’t want to think about that, I couldn’t let panic drive my actions right now, but it the thought haunted my mind like a ghost all the same.
I was about to open my mouth to speak again when Mira shot me an angry look. I was pretty sure she meant to say, if I was to speak again, she would be the one to kill me if they didn’t. She’d gotten the point across with just her eyes, so I shut my mouth and waited.
None of us knew where they were taking us, but the night had well and truly fallen around us, and it was getting hard to see. If not for the woman poking me in the back every once in a while I wasn’t sure I would be able to walk in a straight line, not in this place. The trees seemed larger, thicker, darker, the shrubs were taller, and the snow seemed at least several inches deeper.
Even the waning gibbous moon had trouble piercing the canopy above us.
It was a good thing we’d been travelling along a road to get here. There was no way a carriage would’ve made it through the woods without one, although that also begged the question—who maintained the road? Was it magic? Was it Windhelm? Was it these fae?
Finally, the trees seemed to space out a little up ahead, allowing the light from the moon hanging above us to shine harder, and brighter. There wasn’t much to see in the clearing, although I did notice a couple of things.
First, the trees hadn’t been knocked down or cut off; it was a natural break in the trees. Second, the snow seemed to melt away and become water towards the heart of the clearing. And third, right in the center of the open space there were five piles of rocks stacked to about chest height. The stacks of rocks themselves were a couple of feet apart from each other, and roughly formed a circle.
Strangely, the closer I got to them, the warmer the air seemed to get.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“I said no talking,” Toross said.
Mira shook her head in disappointment. I shrugged. What was I supposed to do? I talked when I got nervous. Speaking of nerves, I hadn’t let go of my arm once this entire time; I’d kept my hand clamped around it like my life depended on it. It was probably a good thing, too, considering how bad the wound had looked. Despite my better judgment I dared to peek at it again. The rising ambient temperature was making it itch, and I was starting to worry.
I stopped in my tracks as I peeled my hand away from my wrist. The blood was there, dark, red, and sticky, but as I wiped it away, I noticed the skin underneath had completely healed. There were no teeth marks, no open wound, and no more pain, either. I flexed my right hand, watching the tendons on my wrist move back and forth.
“Okay, that’s officially no longer a coincidence,” I said, trying to keep my voice low.
The woman prodded me in the back. “Must I tell you to move once more?” she growled.
“Her arm,” the other one said—the one that had bitten me. Now that the chaos had settled, I noticed he was thinner than the others, smaller, younger, and not as muscular, but he walked just as tall. “It healed quickly.”
“Magic,” the woman scoffed.
“She did not summon any. I would have known.”
“Silence, all of you,” Toross grunted. He had reached the circle of five stones and was standing inside it.
I followed him, noticing instantly how the air truly was warmer here. Warmer, and possessed of a kind of strange hum, a vibration I could hear and feel. I looked over at Mira, who had just as confused an expression on her face as I had on mine. Still, she mouthed the words place of power, and I fell silent again, nodding.
The other two fae joined us in the circle. A moment later, they fell to their knees, got onto all fours, and took their wolf forms. I still couldn’t get over how impressive it looked, how smooth the transformation was, how silent, and mystical. Without so much as a nod to each other, the wolves tipped their snouts up and howled at the moon, their cries long and deep.
I became aware almost immediately that the wind had suddenly changed direction. It had been blowing my hair one way a moment ago, and a phantom gust had come and pushed my hair the other way. Faerie lights then started rising from the stacks of rocks; soft, blue, and glittering, they rose from the ground and steadily climbed into the air, each creating a little stream of light that disappeared into the night sky.
I followed them with my eyes, watching as the beams converged above our heads seemingly meeting directly under the moon itself. My stomach churned, my chest felt light for an instant, and when I lowered my eyes, I realized we weren’t surrounded by forest anymore.
A hill rolled away from us and into a valley between the mountains; a valley filled with light, and life, and huts with little chimneys puffing soft white clouds into the air. People moved within it, shapes, shadows going about their business in the relative safety provided by the sharp cliffs on either side of the village.
Above them, the gibbous moon shone bright and beautiful, providing ample light by which to see it all.
“What… the hell…” I said, the words falling from my mouth on the back of a breathless sigh. One of the wolves at my feet growled at me. I put my hands up. “Yes, move, alright. I’m going.”
CHAPTER FIVE
With Mira still slung over his shoulder, Toross led us away from a stone circle identical to the one in the forest. The stones stood at the top of the hill, on a small flat outcropping just large enough to accommodate them. On some nearby rocks I noticed several wolf head skulls had been propped up, all of them adorned with bits of hand-made jewelry and surrounded by freshly cut flowers.
Still, the air itself hummed with magic, with a vibration that was both strange, but also somehow familiar. I was sure I’d never felt this exact vibration before, and yet it seemed to harmonize with my… soul. Like that makes any sense, Dahlia. You’ve been kidnapped again, get it together.
“Can someone tell me what this place is?” I asked.
None of them spoke.
Toross was the only fae out of his wolf form. The other two had chosen to keep walking on all fours, flanking me, like I was going to make another daring escape attempt. I didn’t know where I was, there was nowhere else to run, and I had no idea how to activate that portal—or whatever it was.
Once again, I had been brought to a place from which I couldn’t escape, but at least it was pretty out here. Despite the frozen peaks surrounding the valley, the air down here was warm and the ground wasn’t covered in frigid snow. There were even flowers to be picked and plucked. This place had a cozy vibe to it that made me think of home.
You know, if my home was filled with angry, nasty wolf-fae people.
I followed Toross down the hill, noticing once we started reaching the huts and tents that there was a sweet, smoky aroma playing in the air. My mouth watered and my stomach rumbled. It smelled like a barbecue, like an animal was being roasted on a spit somewhere, but I couldn’t see it. I also thought I could smell apples, warm apples, and maybe bread?
The first villager I came across was a man wearing only pants, boots, and a loose, dark shirt. He, and the woman and the child in the tent behind him, watched us as we walked through. All three of them had the pointed ears and angular features I had come to expect from the fae, but it was the child that stood out to me the most.
He couldn’t have been older than seven, or eight—in human years, at least. With wide, blue eyes, and from behind his mother’s back, he watched me as I was marched past him. I had never seen a fae child before. I hadn’t had any
proof that they even existed, until now.
When our eyes met, the child backed up, went around his mother’s back, and emerged from the other side as a wolf pup with his ears and snout low to the ground. The father stepped slightly out of his tent and snarled, bearing his large, sharpened teeth.
“What are you looking at?” he asked through his teeth.
“Nothing,” I said, turning my eyes away. “Sorry.”
“Keep your eyes to the ground,” Toross said as we walked, “They do not like outsiders.”
“Noted,” I said, lowering my eyes.
It would’ve been good to have known that before they’d brought me down here, but I didn’t think any of these fae particularly cared whether I got along with the villagers. They had been pretty keen to let Mira freeze out in the woods, after all. I was eager to know what they wanted with us, but I had a feeling I wasn’t far from finding out.
Going deeper into the village, we naturally drew more attention. I tried to keep my eyes down, but that didn’t stop me from sensing the presence of watchers. They were all here, studying us as we were marched through their home. We were strangers, Mira and I. Captives.
I started to wonder if the sweet, smoky scent I had detected a moment ago wasn’t another fae cooking on the spit. Some poor soul that had run afoul of these wolves and gotten tangled up with them. I mean, they were wolves after all. Who was to say they weren’t cannibals, too?
Don’t let your mind do crazy things.
Stay in the moment.
Think.
Of course, think about what, exactly? Escape. No, we had covered that. Rescue? Unlikely, considering we could be anywhere in Arcadia by now. So, barring rescue and escape, what was left? A whole lot of nothing, although if we were lucky, we could get eaten—so there was that to look forward to, at least.
The fae marched us through this village of huts and tents all the way to the largest of them all. It looked like four large tents had been meshed together to create a mega tent, which was likely where the Alpha lived. There were more wolf head skulls propped up by the entrance to the tent, this time along with weapons and shields instead of flowers and trinkets.
Marked (The Coldest Fae Book 3) Page 3
