The Vein He Opened

Chapter 4 Delusions of a Fool

Elara doubled over with a rough, ugly scream.

She hit the floor on both knees. Black blood ran from the corner of her mouth and stained her white ceremonial dress. With the Winterheart bound to me again, whatever she had been stealing from the pack could no longer reach her.

Above us, the runes around the domed ceiling blinked out. Stone shifted under my boots. Dust fell from the beams as the outer barrier lost its borrowed power.

Derrick pushed himself off the altar steps. He did not look at Elara.

"Is this what you wanted, Serena?" He spread his arms toward the frightened crowd. "A performance? You brought that beast into our sacred hall because you thought it would make me want you more?"

He laughed, though no one joined him. "You're jealous of Elara. That's all this is. You allied with my enemy to frighten me."

Even with the crystal shining in Kael's hand and Elara bleeding on the floor, Derrick had found a way to make the room about himself.

"It's over," I said.

"I decide when it's over! Send him away. Come back to the altar, fix the barrier, and do your duty."

A startled cry came from the nursery benches.

Old Lyra held a pup who had barely drawn breath that morning. The child's eyes had opened. Color moved beneath its pale fur, and its next breath came without the wet rattle everyone had learned to fear.

Lyra touched the pup's cheek, then looked across the hall at Elara.

Other parents checked the children in their arms. One pup began to cry from hunger. Another sat up. The change moved through the nursery as quickly as Elara's strength drained away.

Accusing voices started near the benches.

Kael rose and offered me his hand. "We should leave."

I took it. His palm was warm around mine.

Derrick started forward. "You are taking her nowhere."

Two Shadow guards caught him before he reached us. They locked his arms behind him while he kicked at their shins.

"Unhand me! I am the Alpha!"

A third guard lifted Elara from the floor. Black blood dripped from her chin while she called Derrick's name. He was too busy shouting orders to answer.

The guards hauled both of them from the aisle and cleared our path.

Kael and I crossed the Great Hall together. The wolves who had mocked me that morning moved aside. A few reached toward me, then thought better of it when Kael's guards turned their heads.

I did not say goodbye.

The Shadow Forest fortress had been cut into dark mountain rock. Earth-fire warmed its passages, and smoke from the lower forges clung to the stone. Its iron gates closed behind our party with enough force to shake snow from the arch.

That night, I changed out of my ceremonial furs and stood before the hearth in Kael's private chamber. The plain dark tunic felt better against my skin than white silk ever had.

The door closed behind me.

Kael had removed his armor. Without the black plates and sword belt, he still took up most of the doorway. He came toward me without speaking.

I held my ground until the backs of my legs met the fur-covered bed.

He planted one hand on either side of me. Pine smoke and oiled steel clung to him from the journey. His mouth stopped close to mine, waiting.

"Now," he said, "there is no one else."