I shudder as I recall Bard’s words about killing them. Two ways, he said. “Break their crystals or kill their mate. Either way, it’s a death sentence.”
The knowledge twists my gut. Bard knows more about vólkins than the entire military, and that terrifies me. His power is vast, too vast. Bard isn’t just a captain, as I first thought. He’s the tsar’s shadow. That explains everything. The way he commands fear with a single glance, the knowledge he wields like a weapon.
I’m terrified to even think how much Idon’tknow.
I stumble over a twisted root and only just catch myself before I hit the ground. The crystal moves inside me with every step. How did they even get it? Vólkin crystals lose their power when the vólkin dies, becoming nothing more than dull stones. But this one still shines and even pulses from time to time.Someone made it possible. The thought churns in my stomach like acid.
I can’t stop. I can’t fail. If I don’t make it to Ávera, my Linnéa dies. They’ll kill her. A sound rips through the forest, and I freeze in place. It’s faint at first, but it grows louder as I pay more attention. A low growl echoes through the trees. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My body goes rigid as I turn. The sight of a massive bear, its eyes gleaming with hunger, makes my blood run cold.
My legs lock. My breaths are shallow. This is it. This is how I die.
The bear moves closer. Its massive paws sink into the mossy ground, and its growl deepens until it’s vibrating through the air.
Its eyes lock onto me, and I realize with horror that it’s drawn to the blood on my clothes. My scent has given me away. The bear takes another step, its breath visible in the cool air.Mama, help. Please help me.
I can’t think. I can’t breathe. The ground seems to tilt beneath me. My vision blurs as the bear gets closer still.
Another louder growl echoes through the trees. The bear whines and darts away. I flinch, raising my arms in an attempt to shield myself as my knees give out, and I collapse onto the ground. The crystal presses painfully against the inside of my gut, and I clench around it, desperate to keep it from slipping out.
I’m scared to breathe, my body is shaking uncontrollably. The bear is gone, but the heavy footsteps of whatever scared it off move closer. Each one makes the earth tremble beneath me. My head jerks toward the sound.
I try to stand, and a warm wetness spreads over my trousers. Shame burns through me as I realize what’s happened, but I’m too terrified to care.
A figure steps out of the fog.
A vólkin. Giant, dark gray vólkin, its green crystals glowing on its forehead. Its eyes lock onto mine, and I know this is it.
I’m dead.
“What an ugly human,” the vólkin sneers as he crouches down to look at me. His eyes shine in the dim light, and his breath is hot on my face.
A whimper escapes my lips, and to my utter mortification, I feel myself lose control again. My trousers cling to my inner thighs.
He grins, baring his deadly fangs. “Are you scared?”
Another vólkin, a few shades lighter than the first one, with black crystals, steps forward. His shadow looms over me as crows fly in all directions, crying as they dart away. “What’s this?” he asks. “Are all human males this ugly?”
The first vólkin snorts a chuckle, then his snout wrinkles. “And he reeks too. Filthy.”
I’m dead. I’m fucking dead.
Without warning, he grabs me by the collar of my tunic and yanks me off the ground as if I weigh nothing. My hands instinctively clutch at his wrist, but my fingers barely circle it. I desperately clench around the crystal hidden inside me.Please don’t fall.
The vólkin brings me closer, sniffing the air around me but careful not to touch me directly. I know how disgusting I must smell, bloodied and covered in piss. My skin crawls with humiliation. How much longer do I need to take this? Bard, his men, and now these vólkins. I can’t...
“Why do I smell vólkin on you?” His voice drops into a low, deep growl that sends a shiver down my spine.
“I-I...” The words get stuck, my brain too panicked to form a sentence.
“Speak.” His grip tightens, a warning. “Have you met a vólkin before? Why do you smell like one?”
“I... I met one once,” I manage to choke out.Shit, shit, shit. He smells the crystal.
His eyes widen slightly, his grip loosening just enough for me to gasp in some air. “You did? And how are you still alive?” There’s genuine surprise in his tone.
I force the words out, though my entire body shakes with fear. “Noël... Noël let me live.”
A sharp intake of breath from the other vólkin. “Her Majesty spared you?”
