“I’m here,” Gullie said. “Ready when you are.”
Shutting my eyes and swallowing hard, I took a deep breath, and howled as best I could. My voice was shrill, and light, but it carried all the way to the frozen peaks in the distance, bouncing here and there, echoing for miles. It was one hell of a sound, that was for certain, but when I opened my eyes, I was still standing at the top of the hill.
The fae gathered at the base of the hill and in the village were watching, but they weren’t laughing, at least.
“It’s not working,” I said.
“Try again,” Gullie said. “Deeper, this time.”
“Deeper? I already sound like an idiot.”
“Deeper. Do it!”
I groaned at her and shut my eyes again. This time, I whet my lips with my tongue, and when I took a deep breath, I held it in my lungs for a second before exhaling a second howl, this time in a lower pitch.
Again, the howl bounced off the mountains and ran off into the night, as if it was scared to be seen standing next to me. I couldn’t blame it. I still hadn’t activated the stones, and there were murmurs starting to push through the gathered fae. I could hear them, even from up here.
If I couldn’t get the stones to work, would they even wait the hour before killing all three of us?
“Gullie, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” I said, my voice trembling. “I’m scared.”
Gullie zipped a little closer to me. “Use that,” she whispered, “Use the emotion, and maybe get on your hands and knees. Think like a wolf.”
This is stupid, I thought, as I lowered myself onto my hands and knees. The dirt underneath me was cold and wet, and it quickly started turning my fingers numb. I dug my fingertips into it, feeling the earth beneath my hands, working it through my hands.
A pulse of warmth raced through me, filling my chest with soothing heat and making my skin prickle. This was new. Different. I felt nervous, anxious, like something was happening at the edge of my senses, something I wasn’t totally aware of.
“Gull?” I asked.
“What is it?” she said.
“I think… something’s happening.”
“Don’t speak; just feel. Let it out.”
I glanced at Mira and Mel at the bottom of the hill again before closing my eyes. This time when I drew in a deep breath, the air felt cooler, but it was also packed with aromas. I could smell the moisture in the water under my hands, the snow on the peaks, the very rocks themselves. I could smell the fruity alcohol brewing down in the village, the animals roasting on spits.
It was as if the world was opening up to me, slowly, and then all at once.
After a moment, I could hear the fingers of snowy dust as they picked up and rolled over the edge of the mountains around us. I could hear the crackling of the fire; I could even hear Praxis telling Ashera, “We should kill them now. This is another farce.”
“No, wait,” she said to him.
Anger filled me, then. Anger, and determination. This entire time I had been holding a breath in my lungs. When I let it out, it was in the form of a deep, long, wail of a howl that didn’t bounce off the mountains but harmonized with them.
It was as if there were four of me, each singing a different part of the same, beautiful melody in perfect unison. It was a howl that felt like it lasted minutes, even though only mere seconds had passed. I felt the wind shift, and change direction, ruffling my hair with a sudden jerk. My stomach lifted, then fell, and when I opened my eyes again, I wasn’t standing on the hill anymore.
I was in the woods, on my hands and knees… only my hands weren’t hands.
They were paws; large, white, wolf paws.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Oh shit. Oh shit. Shit!
“Dee…” Gullie trailed off, breathless, “What did you… do?”
“I don’t know!”
“Wait, you can talk?!”
“Holy shit, I’m talking!” I tried to stand, but my legs felt different, as did my hands, my face, my skin. Everything as different, everything was… wrong, but also absolutely right. Scanning the woods around me, I realized that I could see way better than I’d been able to the last time I was here. I could hear the flutter of birds, the chirping of bugs, and the hiss of the wind as it whispered between trees.
I felt strong, powerful, my senses were sharper than they had ever been, and I had freaking paws. I couldn’t see myself, but I didn’t have to look at myself to get an idea of what had just happened. I had transformed, just like those fae had. Somehow, I’d let go of my human skin—the body I’d had my entire life—and I’d taken on the body of this wolf.
This white wolf.
I felt Gullie settle between my shoulders, at the base of my neck. I tried turning to look at her, but my neck wouldn’t bend that far. “Hey, what are you doing?” I asked.
“I’ve always wanted to ride something,” she said, “And you’re literally the biggest, prettiest, scariest white wolf I’ve ever seen, so I’m gonna ride you.”
“I’m really a wolf? This isn’t some weird fever dream? Did I hit my head on those rocks or something?”
“No, you really are a wolf, and it’s awesome. Now, are we gonna find that asshole or what? Giddy up!”
Spinning around sharply, I turned my nose to the ground and almost immediately picked up Jaleem’s scent. He was close. He hadn’t gone far.
“I don’t appreciate being told to giddy up,” I said, “I’m not a horse.”
“Whatever, let’s go!”
Gullie tugged on my fur, and I leapt into a fast run. I’d never run on all fours before. It wasn’t something that was supposed to come naturally, and yet, it came to me as easily as breathing. The wind whistled past my ears, ruffling my fur, the whiskers on my snout. I could feel the snow crunching under my paws, and the soft, wet dirt beneath it, and those new instincts I had?
They were well and truly in the driver’s seat, now. I was following the scent ahead of me as it weaved in, out, and around trees, leaping over obstacles and crawling under others, and doing without any real conscious thought. My instincts were pulling me along toward my goal, and all I had to do was… watch.
Watch for clues.
Watch for Jaleem.
Watch for danger.
The wolf-fae had gotten a solid head start, but I was certain I was catching up. I could see his pawprints in the snow, and I had a feeling mine were bigger, bolder. I flattened the impressions his paws left whenever I stepped into one, and that made me feel good about my chances about beating him once I’d finally reached him.
Because that was the other part of this trial.
Lay him low.
It wasn’t good enough for me to catch him. No. I also had to kick his ass, and that was fine with me. He’d bitten me twice, now, and yes, both injuries had healed. That didn’t mean they hadn’t hurt. It didn’t mean I was going to let them slide. I wanted to sink my own teeth into him, make him hurt for a change.
And that was different, too. I’d rarely wanted to seriously injure someone. That wasn’t like me. Then again, was I even like me anymore? Or was it a case that I wasn’t like her anymore? The old Dahlia, the one from Carnaby Street, from the Magic Box. Who even was she?
Who was I?
A twig snapped nearby, snatching my attention. Pausing, stiff as a statue, I sniffed the air. My hackles rose, as did the fur on my back. Gullie kept hold of me as best she could, but I knew she would only be in danger so long as she was near me, so I asked her to get off me and find a tree to perch on.
Without argument, Gullie took off and headed up into the trees, the soft green light of her magic fading once she’d settled on a branch.
The woods were dark around me, but I could still see pretty well despite the gloom. The colors of the forest had been completely drowned out, replaced by a spectrum of black to white, but there wasn’t color in this forest to begin with, so that didn’t bother me. What did bother me was the absolute silence, becaus
e there, lurking within the quiet, were the distant grumbles of the Veridian—that perpetual storm that existed just over the next mountain.
Always there, but always out of reach.
I hadn’t heard it for a while, but I could hear it now, loud and clear. The rumble of thunder, the whip of violent lightning arcs, the violent whoosh of high-speed winds and… something like a whisper. Barely present, not strong enough or loud enough for me to identify the voice or any of the words being carried over on the wind, but a voice all the same.
I had split my attention for barely an instant, when a dark wolf came charging out of the woods and attacked. It tried to sink its teeth into my neck, but I ducked under it and forced it to go tumbling to the ground. I didn’t have hands, but I had a snout, and teeth. I bared my fangs at the wolf and lunged, nipping and snapping at its hide as it tried to stand, searching for a spot to grab hold of, but he was slippery.
The wolf backed away and started to circle me, watching me from a short distance away. He was panting, his hot breath coming out of his snout in puffs of steam. He was goading me, testing me, doing the exact same thing Mira had taught me to do to my opponents—sizing them up. But he wasn’t talking.
I growled at him. “What are you waiting for?” I asked, and the wolf stopped in its tracks, his ears perked up.
He snarled, bearing his fangs and lowering his head. He looked like he was ready to strike, but he hadn’t. He was keeping his distance, and I couldn’t understand why.
I made a move toward him, as if I was going to lunge, and the wolf backed up another couple of steps, still snarling, still growling. His face was all teeth and anger, but his posture was defensive. He didn’t want to attack, maybe because he knew I was stronger than him, or maybe that was just what he wanted me to think.
It was totally possible he was playing mind-games with me.
“We don’t have to fight,” I said, “Look, I did the wolf thing. I’m like you. Can we just go back, now?”
The wolf arched its back and started yipping, making quick bursts of sound that… I somehow understood. It wasn’t speech, not really; not the way I had come to understand it. But it was some form of communication that I was able to pick up and process.
He could hear me, he knew I was talking, but he was afraid. Jaleem didn’t know how I was able to do what I was doing. He thought I was going to kill him.
I shook my head. “I’m not going to kill you,” I said, “I didn’t come here to kill anyone. I just don’t want you and your people to kill my friends. We need help.”
Lies was the impression I got from his sudden shift in posture. When he snarled now, it was somehow angrier, and more intense, with lots of tongue. He didn’t believe me. Jaleem thought I was going to kill not only him, but all his people.
“What?! I wouldn’t!”
You are the death of us, he growled, and then he came for me, forcing me to defend myself. He was fast and smaller than I was, which made for an interesting change considering I was usually the tiny one. I tried to avoid his bites, his nips, his snaps, but it was difficult to keep him away from me, and then when I did finally find an opportunity to bite him, he had already moved somewhere else.
As Jaleem clamped down on one of my hind legs, forcing me to yelp with pain, I realized instincts were driving the car, but they alone weren’t going to get me through a fight. I wanted to use my hands, grip a dagger, make use of those opposable thumbs I had. But this form called for a completely different kind of skill if I wanted to handle it well, and I didn’t have that skill yet.
I yanked my foot out of his mouth and pulled away from him, but the sudden surge of pain made it difficult to kept myself upright. Maybe if I shifted forms again, if I turned into a human, I’d have more of a chance. Don’t be stupid—he’d eat you. That’s what Gullie would’ve said in response. Just heal like before.
It was hard to concentrate on the pain with a snarling wolf circling around me again, but I tried it anyway. While keeping Jaleem in my sights, I focused my attention on the wound, on the pain, and tried my best to squash it, to remove it, to erase it. Slowly, the pain eased, but the wolf wasn’t going to give me a chance to finish the job.
He lunged again, all teeth and claws and hair. This time, I didn’t try to get out of his way. I put my weight on my hind legs, and I threw myself at him, aiming for his throat. I needed to learn how to use my power and size to my advantage, and there was no better way to learn than right here, and right now.
With my front paws I was able to keep him from biting me, and as we tumbled to the ground, I sank my teeth into his throat, pinning him against the snow. I could taste blood in my mouth. I knew I had pierced the skin, but I didn’t want to go too deep—I didn’t want to kill him. I wanted to keep him there until he calmed down.
But Jaleem had other plans.
He stuck his hind legs into my stomach and started kicking and scratching until I was forced to let him go or let him tear into my underbelly. The wolf slipped out from under me and went scampering into the dark, running at full speed to try to get away from me.
“I’m not trying to kill you!” I yelled, but he was gone. I had his scent, of course. With his blood in my mouth, I could almost see the trail he’d left as he sped off into the night, but there was something else in the air, something I had just picked up at the edge of my senses. More blood, but not his, and not mine.
Someone else.
Gullie floated down from the tree. “What are you waiting for?” she asked, “Go after him!”
“Do you smell that?” I asked.
“Smell what?”
“Blood.”
I kept sniffing the air, trying to get a fix on it until I found where it was coming from—and I couldn’t believe it. It was weak, and distant, but urgent enough that I immediately broke out into a run to chase it down. That smell, I would’ve recognized it anywhere because I had been fantasizing about it ever since I left the castle.
More than that, I felt like it hadn’t left my side over the past couple of days. Even though I could never figure out where it was coming from, it almost felt like I was always around it, always near it. Always near him. But that didn’t make any sense, because we were nowhere near him. We didn’t even know where he was.
I had a hunch he had made tracks for the Veridian, but I really had no way of knowing.
And yet, his scent was here, in the woods… but it was mingled with blood. His blood. He’s hurt. I didn’t know how, or why. I didn’t know who had hurt him, but wherever he was, he was bleeding. I had to get to him, and I had to get to him quickly, so I put my head down and kept running, dashing, sprinting through the woods, following the scent that was starting to grow stronger by the second.
Then I found him.
I came to a scrambling halt near him. He was on his front in the snow, there was blood all around him, and a trail of it heading deeper into the forest. I couldn’t find his weapon, or a backpack, or a carriage. He was alone, unarmed, face down on the ground, and he wasn’t moving.
Hurrying over to him, I sniffed around his neck, his head. I could hear his pulse, and I could tell his body was warm, but I didn’t know the extent of his injuries. There was something else, too; something gripped in his hand. A piece of fabric stained with blood, his knuckles were white from the effort of holding onto it. I recognized it instantly, even before the scent filled my nostrils.
My own scent.
It was a piece of my snowflake dress, the part he had torn off back at the palace. What was he doing with it in his hand instead of a weapon?
“D-Dahlia…” he groaned.
I turned around and came over to his face again. His eyes were closed, but he’d just spoken. I knew he had. “I’m here,” I whispered, nuzzling my snout under nis neck. “Can you stand?”
“I… I…” he fell against the snow, exhausted, unconscious.
“Dammit…” I cursed, looking around. I had to get him back to the moon children, but number one, I
didn’t know how to shift back into my human form to carry him. Number two, I probably wasn’t strong enough to carry him in my human form anyway. Number three, I was probably naked in my human form for all I knew. And number four, I had a human form and a wolf form, now.
What the fuck?
“Sit on my back, Gullie,” I said, “I’m gonna have to drag him back to the portal.”
“Drag him? Are you sure?” she asked.
“I don’t have a choice. He’ll die out here.”
I gingerly gripped onto his clothes with my teeth and started pulling him through the snow. I had no sense of how long it might take to get him to where I needed to go. I could only hope he would hold on until then.
CHAPTER EIGHT
With a howl that shook the snow off nearby trees I activated the portal to the moon children’s village, and they were all waiting for me once I’d arrived. Some were in their wolf forms, their hackles raised, their teeth bared. The rest stood behind the wolves, making sure I couldn’t leave the hilltop.
At the front of the pack was Ashera, wearing a harsh scowl. Slightly behind her, Praxis had hold of Melina, seemed to be holding a bunch of clothes in her hands; the same clothes I’d been wearing before I transformed. That meant I really was naked under all this fur.
Toross still had Mira over his shoulder, but his angle allowed her to see what was going on without having to be constantly told. Though unharmed, both women looked more like captives now than they had before I’d left.
The Alpha’s scowl then turned to confusion. I realized how this looked. I had left the village by myself, and I had returned with a body in my mouth, and a pixie riding on my back. The secret was out; Gullie’s secret.
“What is this?” she asked.
“I can explain,” I said.
“Holy crap, you can talk?” Mel asked.
Praxis tightened his hold around her shoulders. “Quiet, woman.”
“Tell me to quiet one more time, and you’ll regret it, man.”
“You can’t talk to her like that,” Mira yelled.
Marked (The Coldest Fae Book 3) Page 5
