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It’s the strangest time to think about Lili, but she flashes across the forefront of my awareness just the same. I’m glad she isn’t here to see this, no matter how fierce she was during the fight in her territory. I would rather not give her the opportunity to prove how brave and deadly she can be. Just why I care, I don’t know, and right now, I don’t have the time to figure that out.
Strange. But over the stench of smoke and burned hair and flesh, I smell her. Lili. It must be because I was thinking about her—as it is, I’m too distracted. Still, my head snaps up, my eyes scanning the area around me. The scent grows stronger, and a sense of dread begins to stir in my chest. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t.
She is. Her white fur stands out like a beacon among so much blood and smoke. My wolf reacts without thinking, and I hurl myself toward her with only one goal in mind: her safety.
Something comes over me, something vicious, something cold and determined. While I was only fighting to protect myself and my men before this, now there’s something far more important than all of that combined at stake. Damn her for this. Why would she take this chance?
And why is it so important for me to reach her?
Not only to reach her. A witch stands in my way, and I claw at her throat, leaving her bleeding out before I leap over her prone body. There’s a scream to my left, and I look an instant before a wounded, bloodied witch attempts to attack. It seems, in the last moment, that she understands her mistake, but it’s too late. I’m on a rampage now, cutting through everything standing in my way, everything and anything stupid enough to get between me and the white wolf now fighting valiantly against a dwindling force.
But they aren’t dwindling quite enough for me to feel safe letting her take care of herself. Why the fuck do I care? All I know is every one of my wolves could die this very minute, but if she survived, the battle would be a success.
But why, why? Even as I shred and tear and kill, that question repeats with every rapid beat of my racing heart. Why?
Is it because…
Could it be…
That the bond she shared with Forrest was meant for me, instead?
The truth of that, the rightness of it, hits me all at once, and I throw back my head and howl. I don’t know what it means or what’s to be done about it, but I know she is mine to protect. Mine to save.
Mine to punish for being this stupid.
I’m only feet from her, prepared to drag her away from this by the scruff of her neck if need be, when suddenly, an arrow whizzes past close enough to stir my fur. An arrow? What the fuck are they bringing arrows here for? Forrest reaches the necromancer, who fired, landing on her shoulders and tearing her head from them in one quick, practiced motion. I howl again, savoring her destruction, before turning to Lili.
Lili, whose chest is now covered in blood that I realize doesn’t belong to one of her victims.
Lili, whose chest has been pierced by an arrow that narrowly missed me.
Lili, whose blue eyes dim as the life drains from them.
29
LILI
It feels like somebody lined my throat with sandpaper. I try to swallow and wince from the discomfort. What happened to me?
Where am I?
That seems like the more important question right about now. I don’t recognize the smell of this place. When I pry my eyes open, my vision is blurry—when it clears, though, there isn’t much more information for me to go on beyond a row of beds across from me, light streaming in from windows above them. It looks like a hospital set-up.
Why would I…
Oh. Right. Immediately, I lift my hand and touch my chest. There was an arrow in it. An arrow with a carving on the bolt. A symbol I’d never seen before and didn’t get much time to ponder before everything turned to pain. Every breath, every movement, every time I blinked my eyes.
Until it all went dark.
It isn’t dark anymore. It looks like a beautiful, sunny day outside. How long have I been here?
A familiar scent hits my senses, and I turn my head to the right to find Forrest smiling at me. My heart sinks a little as my eyes dart around, seeking his twin before I know what I’m doing. Right, because I need Wilde right now. Like I need the strain when I’m already so tired.
But there’s a deep truth at the center of my reaction, and I can’t deny it: I would rather have Wilde here with me. For whatever reason.
