“It is how I work.”
I laughed despite myself, the sound wet and shaky. “You’re ridiculous.”
His arms wrapped more securely around me, his hand stroking my hair. “Tomorrow will be fine. The portals will be accurate. The mission will succeed. And I will come home to you and Killian and apparently three cookies that I did not agree to.”
“He’s going to run this kingdom someday.”
“Gods help us all.” He chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest. “Sleep. Tomorrow we save the kingdom, but for that, we need to rest.”
I fell asleep like that, wrapped in his arms, his warmth surrounding me. Neither of us wanting to let go.
17
— • —
Mal
The portal opened at exactly midnight.
I stepped through first, my ten best guards following behind me. Stealth. Speed. Kill the king. Return home before Wen had time to worry herself sick. Simple enough plan. We’d practiced the formation, the approach, the retreat. Every man knew his role. I’d even managed to kiss my wife goodbye without her crying, which felt like its own small victory.
Except the moment my boots hit the forest floor and I took my first breath of Noctherion air, I knew we were completely and utterly fucked.
A woman stood directly in front of the portal. Young, dark-haired, positioned exactly where we’d planned to emerge. She wasn’t hiding and not even remotely surprised, just waiting like she’d been there for hours. Her eyes glowed faintly purplein the darkness, an unnatural luminescence that had nothing to do with wolf sight. Behind her, a man in royal colors with the Igryside crest embroidered on his jacket smiled at us like we’d arrived for a scheduled diplomatic visit rather than an assassination.
“Congratulations, Mira,” he said cheerfully, his tone as pleasant as if we were discussing the weather. “You were right. They DID use portal magic.”
A witch.The king’s secret weapon that Gregyor had warned us about. She’d sensed Wen opening the portal and had positioned herself here, feeling every fluctuation in the dimensional energy. We’d walked straight into a trap with our eyes wide open.
Wonderful. Exactly how I’d hoped this evening would go. I could already hear Wen saying “I told you so” in my head.
“Surround them!” the advisor shouted, his pleasant demeanor vanishing instantly.
Wolves poured out of the darkness from every direction like water breaking through a dam. Not forty-three like Gregyor’s intelligence had indicated. Closer to eighty, maybe more, their eyes glowing gold and silver in the moonlight. They moved with military precision, trained warriors taking tactical positions. We were surrounded within seconds, a tightening circle of teeth and claws closing in from all sides with nowhere to run.
The witch, Mira, stepped back with obvious satisfaction, her work done. She’d delivered us to the slaughter. I made a mental note to kill her later if I survived this. Which was looking increasingly unlikely by the second.
“So much for stealth,” Torin muttered beside me, his voice dry despite the absolutely dire situation.
“Any other observations?” I asked.
“We’re probably going to die.”
“Noted. Anything helpful?”
“The portal’s still open behind us.”
“That’s something.”
I shifted mid-stride, my wolf form tearing through my clothes. The transformation was instant, brutal, familiar. My perspective shifted as I dropped to four legs, the world sharpening into crystal clarity through wolf senses. My guards formed a defensive circle around the portal behind us, our only escape route. They knew without being told that protecting it was paramount. If we lost access to it, we were dead men walking.
But I had one goal, singular and absolute.
Kill the king.
I scanned the clearing with wolf vision and found him immediately. King Igrid. Older than I’d expected, his hair more gray than dark, standing well back from the fighting with smug amusement, like this was all entertainment arranged for his personal pleasure and our lives meant nothing.
“The Ravenor King,” he called out, his voice carrying easily. “How kind of you to deliver yourself to me.” His smile widened, vicious in the moonlight. “Soon I will have your portal makeras well. The woman who can open doorways between worlds. Imagine what I could do with such power.”
