Page 10 of On Brutal Thrones

She launches herself into him while he’s still fighting Eswyth. One wolf he can handle even with the crystals draining his strength, but the second hits him with enough force to drive him backward. His body slams into the wall with a crack that echoes through the tunnel. Crystals dig into his back as Vale snaps for his throat and Eswyth crowds him from the other side. Thorian manages to get the sword between himself and Vale’s teeth, but there’s no room to swing it.

Talon rushes toward them, and I shove against Fenric’s chest. “Put me down.”

His arms only tighten. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Help Thorian!” I squirm harder, panic rising as Vale’s jaws snap inches from Thorian’s face. “Fenric, go!”

For one terrible second, he hesitates. His gaze jumps from me to Thorian, trapped between the two snarling wolves, before he finally lowers me to my feet. The instant he releases me, my legs threaten to fold beneath me. I catch myself against the wall, my palm scraping over cold crystal, and force myself to remain standing as Fenric races toward the others.

My entire body is trembling. My arms feel impossibly heavy, my muscles aching as though I spent yesterday dancing from dawn until midnight, and beneath all of it is a gnawing hunger that makes my stomach cramp. I want to sit down. I want food and sleep and for this fucking Trial to finally be over.

A snarl sounds behind me.

Every hair on my body rises as hot breath touches the back of my neck.

I turn, and a massive maw fills my vision.

A scream tears out of me as I scramble backward, my shoulders slamming into the wall hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs. Eswyth stalks toward me, blood streaking his muzzle and saliva shining between his bared teeth. Behind him, Thorian struggles to regain his footing after Eswyth slammed him into the wall and slipped past. Fenric and Talon are still occupied with Vale.

Eswyth’s body shudders and begins to change. Fur retreats as bones crack and reshape with sickening pops, his muzzle collapsing inward and paws becoming hands until a naked man stands before me, chest heaving.

His transformation stops at his hands. Long, curved claws remain where his fingernails should be, and before I can scramble away, he catches me by the arm and hauls me against him. His other hand rises, the sharp tip of a claw settling against the soft skin beneath my jaw.

“Back up,” Eswyth snarls.

Everything stops. I can still hear Vale panting, water dripping somewhere in the darkness, Fenric’s ragged breathing, but all of it seems impossibly far away beneath the pounding of my pulse. Thorian freezes a few steps away, his sword still raised. Fenric and Talon have already turned toward us, but neither dares move with Eswyth’s claw pressed against my throat.

Vale, still in shifter form, is pinned beneath Thorian and Fenric, her body twisted against the stone, but neither man seems to notice her anymore. Talon’s dagger lowers as his gaze fixes on Eswyth’s hand. Fenric goes so still that for one horrifying second, I wonder if this is what happens before a berserker loses control.

“Let her go,” Eswyth orders.

Nobody moves.

I swallow before I can stop myself. The claw moves with my throat, its point pricking my skin, and a tiny bead of blood slips warm beneath my collar.

Fenric makes a sound I’ve never heard from him before, low and rough enough to raise the hairs along my arms. Talon slowly raises his empty hand, his dagger hanging loose at his side, but Thorian doesn’t surrender. His eyes lock on the claw touching my throat, and his expression goes terrifyingly still.

“You’re dead, mutt.”

Eswyth tightens his grip and forces me another step forward. His claw moves with him, scraping against my skin, and every instinct tells me not to breathe too deeply.

“Let her go,” he says again.

Thorian’s gaze flicks down to Vale, still trapped beneath him and Fenric. The wolf snarls and twists, claws scraping frantically against the crystal floor as she tries to wrench herself free.

The demi-god releases her.

The wolf surges to her feet and bolts, paws scrambling for purchase on the slick crystal before she disappears into the tunnel. Talon takes off after her without a word, swallowed by the darkness seconds later, and fear jumps into my throat. Talon shouldn’t be chasing after her, but I’m also surprised Vale’s leaving Eswyth to battle us alone.

Eswyth must think the same thing. His attention flicks toward the tunnel, and his claws shift ever so slightly away from my throat.

It’s all the opening Thorian needs.

He moves so fast I barely see him cross the space between us. One second Eswyth’s arm is locked around me, his claws pressed beneath my jaw, and the next Thorian has one hand around his throat and the other clamped around his wrist.

Eswyth reacts on instinct, dragging his claws toward my throat.

With the infinitesimal amount of magic I have left, I throw it toward my skin, desperate to protect myself if Thorian isn’t fast enough. The sharp tips scrape across my neck, sending a flash of pain through me, but Thorian wrenches Eswyth’s wrist away before his claws can sink any deeper.