Page 14 of Throne of the Wolf Queen

I turned around a shelf, blinking away the shadows as Pablo leapt around the mariner, his tail wagging (wagging!) in the glow of⁠—

The light extinguished as the man’s head turned in my direction. It hadn’t been a lamp, but an orb he’d conjured in his hand. My breath hitched before a smile tugged the corner of my mouth. The fucker was an Anomaly. He’d kept that one hidden! I shook my head. It wasn’t something I could complain about with my history.

The wolf slipped under my fingers as the mariner spoke.

‘Still wandering without a guard?’ He sucked his teeth and I fought the urge to tug his beard. ‘Anyone would think you’ve got a soft spot for me.’

He bloody winked, and I swear a satisfied grin spread over his face, the scent of red wine rising in the air around him.

‘You realise the wine cellar is on the other side of the keep?’ I said guardedly.

‘Already found that.’

I sniffed. ‘Really? I would never have guessed?’

He snorted. ‘Well, I was searching for some bedtime reading, but it appears Romero wasn’t a big reader.’

‘Most of his books are kept in the main library.’

The mariner clicked his tongue and mumbled under his breath. His eyes scoured my features, and the familiar stab of anxiety dug into my chest. I had as much desire to get to know this man as I had to speak to Vyrus.

‘See something you like…?’ I trailed off. What was his name?

His smile widened. ‘You remind me of someone, sweetheart. Someone I knew in another lifetime.’

A chill prickled against my arms and I turned, thanking Evella as the wolf settled under my hand. The relief was short-lived as the mariner fell into step with me. I shivered. Every fibre of my being warned me to get away from him. But why? He’d come to my aid twice now. He’d had every opportunity to hurt me and yet I still breathed, so why couldn’t I bear to be near him?

I turned to ascend the spiralling steps to Skye’s quarters. They were too narrow for both of us, so Pablo followed behind as I clutched the frigid stone walls, testing the height of each uneven step. I tried to blank out the image of a boy and girl tearing up these very stairs, the heat of stolen bread warming our hands as we raced to my rooms. Every stone, wall and crack held a memory of the six years I’d spent with Matthias. He’d made my existence spark. And now…

Now, I trailed through the draughty keep with frozen fingers and a stranger at my back.

‘You and your sister.’

My body seized up as the mariner followed and I wondered if I should channel the queen within and dismiss him. Far too often, I’d felt the prickle of his attention during the voyage to Drufaera. Every time I’d looked up and met his gaze, he’d nodded and held my stare for a beat too long. ‘You’re Mercy’s girls, right? And the little turd?’

‘Quite frankly, I don’t get why it’s any of your business, but yes, Queen Mercy was our mother.’

‘Villentes.’ He sniffed, and I stopped, turning to lay my back against the wall.

‘And?’ I crossed my arms as though I could smother the embers of ire bursting within. ‘Do you have a deep interest in genealogy? Is that why you were in the library?’

He snorted before taking a long swig from his bottle. I grimaced as he wiped his beard with his sleeve.

‘You could say I’ve got a vested interest in the Villentes.’

I narrowed my gaze, my skin crawling as I recalled all those stares.

Part of me was desperate to find the others, the other burned with a desire to find out what his interest was.

Then his hand snapped out. Gripping the back of my neck, he thrust his face into my hair, sniffing deeply. My knee jerked up, slamming into his groin and he crumpled.

‘Damn woman…’

With my heart racing, I turned to the wolf, his amber eyes on mine. The wolf had never, not once, resisted the slightest urge to leap to my defence. And this man, this drunken, vile beast had just…

‘Vyrus’s balls, man,’ I cried tugging on the traitorous wolf as I left the mariner doubled over, clinging to the wall as he chuckled. ‘You just… you…’

‘My apologies, sweetheart.’ He barked out a harsh cough. ‘Your… perfume. Reminded me of someone. I meant no harm.’