Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
My fingers slipped from the person’s sweaty skin, and the knife was suddenly freed, but their muscles still coiled in the struggle. It slashed through the empty air where Finley had just been. The person, slow to process her movements, followed through on their swing, still sluggish. The knife sliced through empty air until the blade slid into their neck. They ripped it out again in confusion. Blood spurted from the wound.
“No! Fuck.” Finley reached out to grab the knife and toss it away. Blood splashed across my face. She pushed her hand to the person’s neck to apply pressure to the wound.
A wolf tore around the corner like a phantom. It pushed into me, separating me from the fray. Another was right behind, teeth bared, striking for the person’s wrist and pinning it to the ground as blood pumped between Finley’s fingers.
“Stand down!” she yelled, moving to crouch over the injured person. “Back off. I’ve got it. Get some elixir. We don’t want them to bleed out. We need to question them.”
The wolf released the person’s weakly flailing hand. They feebly kicked at the ground.
“Fuck,” Finley ground out as blood seeped all around her fingers. “How the fuck did you make him stab himself?”
“What? No, I didn’t. He did that by accident!” I bleated, even though I hadn’t actually realized we had been trying to keep him alive.
“Some fucking accident,” she muttered, looking behind her and then back down at the man. “And making him slow?”
I winced, remembering what my goal had been. “I might’ve done that. I was trying to stall him until you got here.”
“Well . . .” She tilted her head and huffed out a laugh. “Looks like you managed that just fine.” She looked at his stilling feet. His hand went limp. “Dumb fucking luck,” she whispered. “You’re lethal even when it’s just dumb fucking luck.” She pulled her hand away, looked at the wound for a moment, and then sat back on her heels. “What the hell happened?”
I explained about the emberflies and the chase that followed as two more wolves showed up. I felt Weston through the bond, concerned but stoic, clearly concentrating on his job, sending people to check on me. He would not be pleased about this.
Finley sighed and pushed to standing before reaching down a bloody hand to help me up. I grimaced as I took it.
“You probably shouldn’t have given chase,” she said, her hands on her hips as she looked down at the body. “You don’t have enough training. Weston will scold you for it. For my part, I say that you did a good job here. At least we have an identity. We can look into him.”
“What if he was just watching you handle a drunk?” I asked in a small voice, realizing that I’d acted before logic had a chance to filter through. “I personally didn’t feel any danger.”
She glanced at me and then did a double take. In a moment, she shook her head.
“Come on. Let’s get you back to the wood and close to the bulk of the pack.” She walked me that way, her pace much faster than earlier. “You’re new to this kingdom, so maybe you don’t know this, but you do not run from dragons unless you know you’ll be chased if spotted. You certainly do not run from the dragon queen when you possess a knife unless you know your life is on the line. That’s just a recipe for a horrible death. If he was watching me, he wouldn’t have run from you. And he wouldn’t have run from you unless he didn’t want you to see his face.” She paused. “I do wonder why he waited for you, though. Maybe to render you ineffective so he could escape before I caught up to him.”
“Very likely.”
“Yeah. Idiot.” She scoffed. “He definitely does not know this kingdom.” She put out her hand to stop a wolf that was about to jog by. “No, you come with us. Aurelia needs to go back to the castle. She’s going to need a guard when she runs.”
He slowed and turned to fall in behind us as we left the edge of the town and headed toward the trees.
“You didn’t sense danger because he hadn’t originally planned on attacking you,” she said, peering into the trees up ahead before looking to both sides, assessing the danger.
It almost felt like she was hoping people came after us.
“That’s a guess, obviously, but it stands to reason, since he ran. They’re watching and reporting. Keeping an eye on you. Probably trying to learn the schedules—yours and the castle’s schedules of patrols, guards, etc.”
She stopped at the edge of the wood. A wolf stepped out of the trees, clearly waiting for us.
She nodded and then turned to me with a smirk. “We have the best alpha wolf in the world, and Granny has just shown us her cards twice. That’s all it will take, mark my words. Granny is outclassed. She won’t ever nail Weston’s schedules. She won’t ever find a hole in his planning after tonight, because there won’t be any. The only reason that person got close is because Weston hasn’t put his fortification plans into full effect. He’s been rolling it out in stages. That, and the fool hadn’t meant you harm. If he had, we both would’ve felt him long before you noticed him, and it would’ve been me who’d gotten there first.”