Artemis stepped forward, his presence commanding, and his voice a dark rumble. “You cannot have my daughter, Rhodes.”
“Go to your mum,” Rhodes commanded, easing her away.
She went to argue, to stay and fight beside him.
“Do as I say!” Rhodes snapped and stepped in front of his wife, his stance fierce, leaving her no choice.
Reluctantly, she went to her mum.
Rhodes’s voice rang clear, the strength of it leaving no doubt he would have it his way. “Fawn is my wife, and she will remain my wife.”
“She is mine to protect,” Artemis thundered, his hand lifting as if the very forest bent to his will. “You are tainted, Rhodes of Clan MacBrair. Power drips from you like blood, and it will drown her if she remains by your side.”
“You think I would harm her?” Rhodes roared back, the ravens screaming overhead as if echoing his fury. “I would give my life to shield her. But I will not, will never, surrender her.”
The two men stood locked in defiance, fire and storm meeting in the silence of the clearing, while Fawn’s breath came quick and sharp, her heart torn between the two men she loved.
Artemis took another step forward, his silver hair catching the dim light like a crown, his voice striking the air like a lash. “You think strength alone makes you worthy? You wield power you cannot control, power that stains everything it touches. And you would bind my daughter to that?”
Rhodes’s chest rose and fell with fury, his fists clenching at his sides. “I wield what I must to protect her. To protect all who call my clan home.”
Artemis sneered, his gaze cutting like a blade. “Your pride blinds you. The power you cling to is not a shield, but a curse. It will consume you, and her with you.”
Rhodes’s eyes locked on Artemis. Heat surged through him, his vision narrowing to the man before him, the man who dared claim what was his.
When Rhodes spoke, his voice thundered like a storm breaking over the Highlands. “Bloody hell, I would fight the devil himself before I’d yield the woman I love.”
The ravens shrieked in unison, their wings beating the sky as though stirred by his fury.
Artemis stilled, his jaw tightening, then slowly nodded once, grim and knowing. “Then you just might have to.”
With that, he stepped away, moving to stand beside Theodora. His eyes never left Rhodes, the weight of his warning lingering like a shadow that reached deeper than the clearing itself.
From the shadows of the trees, a frail shape emerged, her cloak dragging over the snow.
Elune.
The ravens surged at once, swirling in a black storm above her, their cries deafening, the air thick with their restless wings.
Theodora’s voice cracked like a whip. “You had no right, Elune.”
The old woman’s head lifted, her eyes gleaming with iron resolve. “And you did? Choosing husbands for your daughters as if their hearts were yours to command?”
“Only if they accepted them,” Theodora shot back, her voice fierce, her cloak snapping with the wind that rose among the ravens.
Fawn’s heart twisted. Her feet moved of their own will, carrying her away from her parents straight into Rhodes’s waiting arms. His hold closed around her, solid, fierce, as though nothing could tear her away.
“As did I,” Elune said, her voice steady but edged with sorrow. “You know my grandson needed love if I was to save him. And you—unknowingly—gave him the power to unlock his warlock bloodline.”
“Grandson?” Rhodes and Fawn said together, their voices sharp with shock. “Warlock?”
Before either could draw another breath, laughter rolled through the clearing, low and cruel, curling like smoke through the trees. It was not Elune’s, nor Artemis’s, nor Theodora’s. It was something darker. Something evil.
The ravens broke apart, scattering toward the treetops as if fleeing the sound, leaving the clearing heavy with dread.
The clearing seemed to darken as the laughter quieted and a man stepped forward. Gone was the bent frame of the ragged old man who had begged for shelter. In his place stood a far different Cander, his body straightened, his eyes gleaming with cruel fire, his presence so heavy the very air thickened. He smiled—a smile that held nothing human.
Two massive wolfhounds padded out of the shadows behind him, their coats dark, their eyes burning with the same unnatural light. Their low growls rumbled through the clearing, lips curling to reveal teeth wet with foam.
