Despite the fact that we were marching into war, my heart gave a small flutter at his statement.
I got ahold of myself a second later. Now wasn’t the time to be acting like a young schoolgirl with a crush.
Now was the time to focus on keeping myself—and Noah—alive.
“Stop!” Marigold called out to the crowd.
On cue, the wolves stopped marching, turned around, and faced her. She was so short that I doubted most of them could see her, but they waited for her command anyway. As they looked toward her—toward us—there was one common thing I noticed in their eyes.
Hope.
“Remember—go for the vampires first!” Marigold called out to the pack. “Ignore the humans. The humans are insignificant, since it’s the vampires the Savior needs wiped from this land. From your land.”
Nods of approval scattered throughout the crowd, and the wolves shifted in place, clearly ready for battle.
“Are you ready to get your land back?” Marigold was screaming now, her hand raised to the air as she commanded her army. “Are you ready for your Savior to rise?”
A chorus of “yes” and “we’re ready” sounded from the crowd, many of them raising their fists to match Marigold’s stance.
“That’s what I thought.” She smiled in approval. “Now, it’s time to shift into your true selves. It’s time to take back what’s rightfully yours.”
The soldiers shifted into their wolf forms. One of them howled, followed by another and another, until their angry howls echoed across the mountain.
Noah shifted as well, letting out a howl of his own.
It wasn’t long until Marigold and I were the only ones left in human form.
“Go!” Marigold called, her eyes gleaming in excitement.
I shivered at the sight of how much glee she was getting from this.
“Have no mercy!” she continued. “And remember to leave no vampires alive!”
The wolves howled again, and then they ran toward the town to attack.
Marigold
I’d been fighting the demon for so long now.
No matter what I did—no matter how hard I tried to gain control—his hold on me was too strong.
Fighting him was exhausting.
I watched as he used my body to lead the wolves toward the palace to murder the vampires, and it was too much. I couldn’t continue on like this, as a puppet in my own body, observing the atrocities I was being forced to commit and being powerless to stop them.
The worst part was knowing that this was only the beginning.
There was so much death and despair to come. I couldn’t bear the thought of watching my own hand take so many lives.
It was time to face what I’d known all along—that fighting off Samael’s hold was impossible.
It was time to give in.
And so, I sank deep into my soul, fading into darkness and allowing him to take over completely.
Annika
The girls found Jacen and I some fresh clothing, and we’d just finished changing when we heard the cacophony of howls.
Fear rushed through my body. The wolves were here. And from their angry howls, they were ready for war.
“You need to take cover,” I told the girls. “Gather everyone else who stayed in the Tavern, and go somewhere safe.”
“Where?” Fear shined in Laura’s eyes, and she and the others watched me expectantly.
Her question gutted me, because I had no answer. Nowhere in the village would be safe from the wolves.
But they were scared enough as it was. I couldn’t tell them that.
Still, I had to say something.
“Close all the windows and lock all the doors.” I tried to sound confident, despite how much I feared for their lives. “Then bring everyone upstairs and stay as still and as quiet as you can.”
It wasn’t much—and I knew it wouldn’t be enough—but I still prayed they’d be okay.
“What are you going to do?” Jill asked.
“There are witches in the palace,” Jacen said. “We need to get to them and have one of them use a tracking spell to find Marigold.”
“Wait.” Jill focused on Jacen, her eyes apprehensive.
“What?” he asked.
“You don’t have a weapon,” she said. “You have two sheaths, but no weapon.”
I glanced at the empty sheaths—they’d used to hold the daggers he’d used to blind the sea creature. But the daggers had sunk along with the creature and the rest of the boat.
“There are plenty of weapons in the palace,” he said. “I’ll find more there.”
“Perhaps,” she said. “But just in case something happens…” She hurried over to a bed and reached under the mattress, pulling out a gleaming dagger. “Here.” She held it out to him. “This belonged to one of the girls who left. You should have it now.”
“Thank you.” Jacen accepted the dagger and placed it one of his sheaths. “I promise to repay this kindness.”
“Repay it by stopping the wolves.” Jill’s voice was strong as she re-joined the other girls. They looked terrified, but as much as I wanted to comfort them, we couldn’t stay here any longer.
“I’ll transport us to the palace,” I said, taking Jacen’s hands in mine.
He nodded for me to go ahead, and I closed my eyes, imagining the palace and thinking about how much I wanted to bring us there.
The ground dropped from under me, and my stomach fell. Just like last time, the floor reappeared beneath us in seconds.
I opened my eyes and found us back inside the attic of the Tavern.
“What?” I looked around in frustration. “I was picturing the palace.”
“Try again,” Jacen said.
I did, but this time, we didn’t even move.
“It’s not working.” I cursed myself for not having had more time to practice using my new abilities.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“I’m sure,” I said. “It’s like I’m anchored to this place in the Vale.”
“So I guess we’ll just have to get to the palace the old fashioned way.” He was standing by the window before I could blink.
“Which way do you mean?” I asked.
He smirked, looking more than ready to take on whatever this upcoming fight would throw at him. “We’ll run.”
He jumped out of the window, and I rushed over to it, following his lead.
Annika
The humans who remained in the village wandered into the streets in panic.
I wanted to stop them, tell them what I’d told the girls in the Tavern, and personally help get them to safety. But I didn’t have time for that. Instead, I yelled instructions as Jacen and I ran down the streets, hoping that as many of them as possible would hear me and listen.
Soon, we crossed from the human village to the vampire town. The streets were empty compared to the human village, and I wondered if more vampires had gone with Alexander than we’d initially thought.
More likely, their enhanced hearing had allowed them to hear my instructions that I’d been screaming in the village. Hopefully, they’d listened.
We ran a few streets up toward the palace, making sure to keep in the alleys. That was when we saw the first bodies. There were only a few of them, but it was a gruesome sight—mangled limbs, heads ripped off at the neck from the wolves’ teeth, and blood pooling on the streets.
Suddenly, I smelled the woodsy scent of wolf.
Both Jacen and I stopped in our tracks.
My hand was at my sword at the same time as the wolves appeared at both ends of the alley. There were only two of them, but they had us cornered.
Jacen and I stood with our backs together and weapons out, ready to fight.
“We’re not your enemies.” I stared down the wolf ahead of me, hoping to help them see reason before this turned ugly. The creature was still—although still on guard—so I continued. “My companion is a vampire, but I’m not. I’m an angel. And
I’m here to tell you that the witch named Marigold has tricked you. She told you that your Savior is coming to help you, but she’s lying. There is no Savior. She’s possessed by a demon named Samael who’s using you to help him open a Gate to Hell.”
The wolves growled—I took that to mean that they didn’t like what I had to say.
They ran toward us and were on us in seconds.
I took on one and Jacen took on the other. I wanted to turn around and make sure he was okay—after all, he only had one dagger to protect himself—but I had my own wolf to beat.
My wolf kept trying to jump around my sword to go for my neck, but I moved out of its path each time. The wolf was fast, but I was faster. I was also nimbler.
If we kept this up, I had no doubt that the wolf would soon tire and I’d be able to get in an easier blow.
“I don’t want to kill you!” I said between breaths. “Look at my eyes—they’re gold. I’m an angel. I’m telling you the truth.”
The wolf only growled and ran for me again, although there was less force behind its pounce.
I moved out of the way, but pain slashed across my arm—the wolf’s claw. I saw my golden blood in the corner of my eye. I wanted to reach for the wound, but I knew better than that—I had to stay on guard. Plus, it was already nearly healed.
The wolf circled me, studying me—more specifically, studying my eyes.
A whimper and the ploof of someone falling to the ground sounded from the other side of the alley.
The wolf I was fighting stopped in place, its eyes wide as it looked behind me.
I used the moment to tackle the wolf to the ground, my knife at its throat. A quick glance behind me showed that Jacen was safe—he’d thrown his dagger straight into the heart of the wolf he’d been fighting—but I turned back to the wolf I was holding down, not wanting to give it a chance to escape.
“I don’t want to kill you,” I repeated, slower and calmer this time. “But I need you to listen to me.”
The wolf shook underneath me. In our current position, I could see she was female, and she was clearly scared. She was making no move to fight back. It was almost like when Jacen had killed the wolf she’d been with, something had broken in her.
She glared at me, which I took to mean she was listening.
“I just want to find out where Marigold is,” I continued. “Like I said, she’s possessed by a demon named Samael, and to open the Hell Gate, Samael needs to be on a mountain soaked with the blood of supernaturals. He’s gotten into your minds—he used Marigold’s magic to plant the visions into your heads about your Savior—and he’s turned you against the vampires so you’ll do his dirty work for him. But the vampires and wolves need to work together to stop him. Samael can’t be allowed to open the Hell Gate. If he does… the demons will come to Earth and destroy it.”
Suddenly, the shape of the wolf blurred. Fur became skin, and she shifted into human form right under my grip.
Holding onto her was impossible.
Jacen whizzed around to the other side of her, his knife up and ready.
But she was vulnerable while shifting, and I pounced on her before the shift was complete. I grabbed onto her arm, using my weight to pin her back down to the ground.
I was looking straight into the terrified eyes of a blonde girl who looked to be around my age. I was also relieved to find that she was fully clothed in what appeared to be animal pelts—apparently wolves were able to keep their clothes on while shifting.
She squirmed, and I tightened my grip on her arm, refusing to let her go.
“Are you ready to tell me where Marigold is?” I kept my blade pressed to her neck, hoping to show her that I meant business.
She glanced behind me—presumably at the other wolf’s corpse—her eyes shining with tears. “If I do, will you let me live?” she asked.
“I will,” I said. “As long as you make a blood oath with me that once our conversation is over, you’ll leave the vampires’ land and will tell no one of our conversation until the end of this war.”
“Fine.” She narrowed her eyes. “But only if you make a blood oath promising that everything you told me about Marigold and our Savior is the truth.”
“Deal.” The decision was easy—I was being honest with her, so I had no issue making the oath.
“Wait,” she said, and I pressed my lips together, growing frustrated. Every moment we spent here was more time Marigold and the wolves had to slaughter the vampires.
I stared her down again, my silence a cue for her to continue.
“You said you’re an angel,” she said. “Do blood oaths even apply to angels?”
I wanted to tell her yes, but the truth was, I didn’t know.
“They applied to me when I was a Nephilim—before I was turned into a full angel,” I said. “That’s all I know.”
“I won’t go against my pack for a blood oath that you don’t even know will count,” she said, and then she tilted her head slightly toward Jacen. “I want him to make the oath instead. The one who murdered my sister.”
“This is war,” Jacen said sharply. “I’m sorry for killing your sister. But if I hadn’t, she would have killed me.”
“And I would kill you for it if I didn’t believe your girlfriend was telling the truth.” The knife at her neck forced her to look at me as she spoke, but I could hear the venom and hatred clearly enough in her tone to know that she meant it. “Your eyes could have been contacts, but I’ve never seen golden blood before.”
I glanced down at where she’d scratched me—sure enough, my blood was smeared on my now-healed arm.
“I’ll make the blood oath.” Jacen stalked over to us and slashed his palm with his knife. Then he reached for the wolf-girl’s other arm—the one I wasn’t using to hold her down—and slashed her palm. He held her hand with his—blood against blood—and said, “I promise that everything Annika has told you regarding the demons and your Savior was the truth. In return, do you swear to truthfully tell us where to find Marigold, and then to leave the vampires’ land and tell no one of what happened here until the war is over?”
“I swear,” she said.
Jacen pulled his hand out of hers and stood up.
Both of their wounds were healed. The blood oath was complete.
I let up the pressure on the knife at her throat, although I didn’t pull away completely. My instinct told me to trust the girl, but I couldn’t risk anything until she followed through with her end of the oath.
“Marigold’s holding back beyond the fighting,” she said. “She’s at the top of the tallest mountain peak inside the Vale, right outside a caved in cavern.”
“The Crystal Cavern,” I realized.
“Yes.” The girl nodded. “That’s what she called it.”
“How many guards does she have with her?” Jacen asked.
“Only two,” she answered. “She said there was no reason anyone would think to go there, and she wanted to send as many wolves into town as possible. We’re supposed to go to her once every last vampire is dead.”
“And the humans?” I asked.
“She doesn’t care about the humans,” she said. “We’re supposed to ignore them until the vampires are taken care of. Then, if any of the humans cause trouble, we’re to kill them afterward.”
I breathed a sigh of relief that the humans who’d listened to my advice might end up being okay.
Well… they’d be okay if we stopped Marigold from opening the Hell Gate.
“Thank you for trusting me and helping me.” I lifted my knife from the girl’s neck, confident that she was no longer a threat. “What’s your name?”
“Catie.” The girl—Catie—stood up and reached for her neck as if checking to make sure she was still alive.
“Go,” Jacen told her. “We’re going to do everything we can to stop Marigold, but if we fail and the Hell Gate opens…” He paused, and Catie nodded, apparently not needing to hear any more.
She look
ed over at her sister one last time and kneeled down next to her fallen corpse. Her sister remained in wolf form—the form she’d been in when she’d died. “I’ll come back for you,” she promised.
Then she stood up, a cry escaping her throat before she turned around and ran out of town.
Karina
While most of the pack was attacking the vampire town, I led Noah and a group of thirty wolves around the edge of the boundary and toward the back of the palace. The sun had fully risen by now, and it was burning down upon my skin. I needed to get inside before I became too weak to fight.
The windows in the palace were made of hurricane-proof glass—they were impossible to shatter, even by supernaturals. But I’d left the window to the quarters where I’d stayed during Prince Jacen’s selection unlocked.
I was praying that the staff hadn’t noticed and re-locked it between then and now.
While staying in the palace in the Vale, I’d been amazed by how easy it had been to sneak in and out at my will. The vampires of the Vale were so confident in their witch’s ability to maintain the boundary, and so sure of the peace treaty they had with the wolves, that they hadn’t bothered to make the palace as secure as possible.
Unlike the fort-like castle in the Carpathian Kingdom, the palace in the Vale had been built for beauty, not for war.
“Once the path is clear, I’ll throw the rope,” I told Noah.
He was in his wolf form—as were the others—but he nodded in acknowledgment.
I made sure my backpack was secured in place. Then I jumped up to the window that had been my quarters, situated myself on the sill, and pushed on the glass.
It didn’t budge.
“Shit,” I said, banging my fists against the glass. It wouldn’t shatter—the glass was too strong—but it helped get out my frustration.
I banged on it a few more times, screaming profanities and ready to give up and jump back down to join the wolves.
The Vampire Wish: The Complete Series (Dark World) Page 66
