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14
The wolves followed them out of the forest and into Venhaus like a creeping shadow. Jaromir kept his distance, watching them warily from the corner of his eye and his hackles raised even in human form. So soon after shifting back, his clothes itched. His first set had shredded when he shifted, and he was determined not to damage this one, but his skin was irritated and raw. His magic twisted sharply through his chest, too, reminding him it was there.
Maia kept glancing at him, as if she could sense it, but she didn't press. Plus, she sat astride one of the massive, three-headed wolves, riding like the princess she was. She looked like something out of a saints tale and Jaro had to keep reminding himself theyallwere.
"It's not far from here," Bryon said in a rough voice, running a hand over his bald head when he glanced back at them. "I remember that tree."
"There are thousands of trees," Maia pointed out with a huff.
She was tired; they werealltired after a day of walking through the forest and out the other side into the edges of Venhaus. They'd need to rest before they could do anything to help Vawn. They'd be no good in this state.
"Let's stop for a few minutes and eat," Azrail suggested, flicking a lock of dark hair from his face and sweeping his gaze over all of them, checking they were alright.
"We can eat when we get to Calvo, right?" Maia countered, her eyes bright with something close to obsession. She wouldn't stop until they found where Vawn had been taken and saved the man. Jaro's chest swelled with affection for his mate—for her generous heart and her fierceness.
She gave Azrail a pleading look that would have made Jaro weak, and sure enough Az sighed and nodded. "But as soon as we get there. No later."
Maia flashed a grateful smile, bending low over her wolf and yelping when its left head twisted to lick her with a giant tongue. Jaro's jaguar growled at the insolence, but these creatures were all animals, not beastkind. It was the only thing that stopped him actually snarling.
Jaro attempted to inch closer to his mate as they crossed a sparse moorland interrupted by the odd tree and a large, mossy hill. The wolves closed ranks around her and kept him out, like a cavalry protecting their queen. Jaro's expression flattened in annoyance; he was used to being able to touch Maia whenever he wanted. Whenever he needed.
Mud was still clumped in his hair, dirtying his skin, and he couldn't forget the feeling of being buried, clawing at the dirt with jaguar claws before he shifted in a flash and frantically ripped at the earth with fingers. Whenever he’d made progress, more dirt had pressed in around him, keeping him buried.
"There," Bryon grunted, nodding at the top of the hill. "We'll be able to see the town from there. This is where I lost Vawn's scent. It's faded now, but there was a thread of it two days ago—enough to know he'd been here and vanished."
"And you said there were shields around the area?" Ark asked, the guard's eyes narrowed as he ran calculations. Jaro envied his mind for strategy. He had his own cleverness, but he could never quite figure out how rulers' minds worked, or how generals put their plans together.
Bryon nodded in response, looking uncomfortable to be questioned. Or maybe spoken to in general.
"Up," Maia guided her wolf towards the hill with a gentle pat on his side. Around her, the other wolves pressed closer, forming a protective wall of claws and teeth.
"Do you get the sense our mate's been stolen?" Azrail asked as he came up alongside Jaro. Amusement danced in his sapphire eyes, not quite covering the shadow left over from spreading himself through the Forest of Skies. The forest Maia's crucifixion had stained like her injured wing had stained her soul.
As the saint of spring and all life ... what would happen when her poisoning grew even worse? Would the whole world fade with her?
Jaro nodded absently, worry eating him up.
"Hey." Az caught his arm gently, giving him a look heavy with understanding. "Talk to me if you need to, okay?"
"Okay," Jaro agreed, pulling a breath deep into his lungs. His tongue tingled with the taste of burning wood and bonfires, cutting a deep furrow across his brow. "If I need to, I'll talk. Ifyoudo the same," he added pointedly, following Maia and her wolven entourage up the hill.
Azrail sighed at having been captured in a bargain, but he nodded. "Deal."
Jaro smiled, sticking his hand out and shaking Azrail's to seal the bargain.
"Saints," Kheir choked out, a few paces ahead of them. There was something haunted and afraid in the sound; Jaro quickened his pace, Azrail matching it beside him.
"Oh," Jaro breathed when he crested the hill and saw what waited at the bottom of it: not a cluttered, sprawling town, but a charred wasteland.
Calvo had been razed to ruins.
