Page 14 of Rule of Wolves

“Fjerda is on the march. Tamar, you’ll need to get word to David and our Fabrikators, and I’ll send a flyer to our contacts in the west as well.”

“The missiles aren’t usable yet,” said Tamar.

“No,” said Nikolai. “But the Fjerdans aren’t going to wait.” He turned to Zoya. “Hiram Schenck is in Os Kervo. You know what to do. We have only one chance to get this right.”

“Are we ready?” Tolya asked.

“Hardly,” said Tamar. “But we’ll give them hell anyway.”

The demon in Nikolai roused at the thought. War was like fire—sudden, hungry, and easiest to stop before it had taken hold. He would do all he could to contain this blaze. He feared for his country and for himself. He’d be a fool not to. But some part of him, maybe the privateer, maybe the demon, maybe the prince who had clawed his way to the throne, was itching for a fight.

“Think of it as throwing a party,” he said, giving his reins a snap. “When the guests show up, you find out who your real friends are.”

4

NINA

NINA WOKE TO HANNE at her bedside, shaking her arm. Her heart pounded in her chest and she realized her sheets were soaked with sweat. Had she been talking in her sleep? She’d been dreaming of the ice, of Matthias’ wolf. Trassel had been eating from her hand, but when she looked closer, she saw that his white muzzle was covered in blood and that he was feasting on a corpse.

“Someone’s here,” Hanne said. “Someone from the convent.”

Nina sat up, the night air cooling the perspiration on her body. She was instantly awake, and now the thunder in her heart had nothing to do with a muzzy dream. Hanne had been a student at the convent in Gäfvalle, where she and Nina had uncovered Brum’s horrific scheme involving the Springmaidens and a nearby military fort. They’d put a stop to it and rescued the Grisha they could, and Nina had sent the Wellmother to her death with no regrets.

“Who is it?” she whispered, wrapping herself in a high-necked wool robe and cinching it tight. She pushed her feet into her slippers. At least the floors of the White Island were heated.

“I don’t know. My mother sent for both of us.”

“Sweet Djel, put a robe on. Aren’t you freezing?” Hanne was dressed in nothing but her cotton nightgown, the light of the oil lamp in her hand gleaming off the ruddy stubble on her shorn head.

“I’m too terrified to be cold,” said Hanne, and they bustled through the dressing room that connected Nina’s smaller chamber to Hanne’s bedroom.

The fort at Gäfvalle had been destroyed in an explosion Nina’s team had set, and in the chaos that followed, Hanne and Nina had been able to plead innocence in the whole affair. Jarl Brum had no idea who Nina really was or that she had been responsible for destroying his laboratory and his program of torture. He had welcomed Mila Jandersdat into his household believing, quite accurately, that she had helped his daughter save his life. Of course, he didn’t know that if she’d had her way, Nina would have put an end to him once and for all.

At the time, Hanne and Nina had believed they’d gotten away with all of it. Maybe they hadn’t. When the dust had cleared, maybe someone from the convent had put together some part of their ruse. Maybe the Springmaidens had found the drüskelle uniform Hanne had stolen. Maybe someone had seen Hanne and Nina dragging Jarl Brum’s unconscious body out of the wagon.

“Here,” Nina said, holding out Hanne’s robe so that she could shrug into it. In the Fjerdan way, it was made of plain slate-gray wool but lined with luscious fur, as if anything that might hint at luxury or comfort should be hidden.

“What do we do?” Hanne asked. She was shivering.

Nina turned her around and tied the sash on her robe. “We let them do the talking.”

“You don’t have to play lady’s maid to me,” said Hanne. “Not when we’re in private.”

“I don’t mind.” Hanne’s eyes looked like molten copper in this light. Nina made herself focus on tying the sash into a neat bow. “We present the picture of innocence and virtue, find out what they know, deny everything. If it comes down to it, I was the ruthless spy who entangled you in my web.”

“You need to stop reading novels.”

“Or you need to read more of them. Your hands are ice cold.”

“All of me is cold.”

“That’s the fear.” Nina cupped Hanne’s hands, rubbing heat into them. “Use your power to slow your pulse a bit, ease your breathing.”

“Hanne?” Ylva’s voice came from down the hall.

“Coming, Mama! Just getting dressed!” She lowered her voice. “Nina, I made my own choices. I’m not letting you take the fall for me.”

“And I’m not letting you get hurt because you got wrapped up in my trickery.”