Page 128 of Devoured

Gently, I pick Officer Warren up from the floor and lift him in my arms. “Lead the way.”

Evander shrugs, dragging the other bodies behind him. He’s tied them together with torn fabric in a macabre sort of leash. They’re unconscious, at least. Maybe he knocked them out first. “I see Daddy Dearest isn’t in our lineup.”

“No, he’s not.”

Evander hums to himself. “Cora won’t like that.”

“I don’t give a shit what Cora likes.”

“Touché.”

Evander unlocks the door to a police SUV and stuffs the bodies in the back and trunk, while I place Officer Warren on the passenger seat and buckle him in.

“Where are you going to sit?” Evander asks, raising one of those thick chestnut brows. He turns the keys, and the engine starts with a roar. I don’t care to ask if he knows how to drive or where he’s going. He’ll either get there, or he won’t.

“I’m not riding with you. I’m running.”

“Kitten—”

“Don’t call me that.”

His nostrils flare as he sighs loudly. “You better keep up with me.”

“I will.” And I do.

As Evander speeds toward the castle, I sprint through the trees with preternatural speed, beating him to the fort by a full minute. I can’t bring myself to sit still. To stop moving for a second. And when I finally do, when I pause near the portal entrance to wait for Evander, my grief and guilt and regret consume me.

“Today is a new day. Anything is possible.”

But it isn’t for me. Not anymore.

43

VANESSA

CORA HAS REDECORATED AGAIN.

The walls in the throne room gleam a thousand reflections at once, paneled with mirrors that stretch from the floor to the ceiling. Over the ceiling. No matter where I look, I cannot avoid myself. I cannot avoid the man slumped in my arms. I carry Officer Warren over polished black floors and toward the dais with my chin held high.

The Wolf Queen stands behind the throne, her claws curled around the tall back, and narrows her vicious black gaze on me. All the while, Evander drags his leash of Bitten humans behind him. He whistles too, until the queen cuts him a sharp glare, and he abruptly stops. Silence echoes through the otherwise empty room.

No—not quite empty.

I’ve been so busy trying to ignore my own reflection that I miss the girl with auburn hair cowering beside the queen. Arielle doesn’t meet my eyes; she stares straight at the floor. Although that doesn’t necessarily mean she isn’t listening to my every thought. Fantastic. I clear my throat. With as much confidence as I can muster, I force my posture straight and my voice smooth. “Well?” I say. “We’re back. We did what you asked.”

Cora’s brow twitches. The only sign that she heard me.

Evander swaggers to my side, throwing his leash of torn, bloodstained fabric on the floor. “Five victims.” Then he blinks and corrects himself. “Five very strong future courtiers.”

I don’t look away from the queen. Even as Officer Warren grows leaden in my grasp, his body rumbling with heavy snores. The worst of the transformation has yet to claim him. If he’s lucky enough to survive it, he’ll be tortured for days. He’ll never speak to his daughter again.

I carefully set him on the first step of the dais, resting his head on the stone. “Are we dismissed?”

Cora doesn’t speak. She stares at us, probably wanting us to squirm and panic under her gaze. But what else can she do to me? What else do I have to fear?

The silence shatters as she walks around to the front of her throne. Her boots thud on the floor. “I do not see your father in this pack.”

Unease spills through my veins. “He wasn’t at the department.”