“If we don’t, we will all end up like her,” Marlowe hisses. Outside, the wolves grow louder, their voices too close for comfort.
Our window of escape is closing fast.
“Don’t go without me, please! I beg you,” the prisoner girl pleads.
“If we bring her with us, Zeus will be angry,” Stellan says.
I scoff. Fuck Zeus. We don’t cater to him.
“Who are you to Zeus?” I ask the girl.
“My name is Sama.”
“She is Ravi’s sister,” Stellan supplies.
I flinch. If she’s Ravi’s sister, she’s also Leigh’s family.
The tent flap opens, and we all brace for action. But it’s Brigid.
“Are you all trying to get caught? The time to go was five fucking minutes ago,” she seethes.
I peer behind her to where there are still no guards, and the sense of dread roiling inside me expands. Something isn’t right.
“Ugh, fine, but if this goes wrong, I’ll say I told you so.” Marlowe groans. She hurries to Sama, who recoils as if afraid Marlowe will strike her, but instead, she works on melting her restraints. At the glimpse of the old Marlowe, I smile on instinct, then stifle it. That person is gone.
“Thank you,” Sama says.
“Thank me when we are miles from here.”
We slip beneath the rear flap of the prisoner tent and cautiously make our way toward the exit, putting distance between ourselves and the commotion caused by the fire behind us. Our goal is to reach the car undetected. I hold my breath, not trusting myself to not make a sound.
“No, this way. Fewer wolves guard the western exit.” Sama tugs Brigid’s hand in the opposite direction of the car.
Another entrance comes into view, and for a moment, I believe we’ve made it. But the sound of howls at my back shatters that illusion. More howls and barks follow, a chilling chorus, making Jorina stiffen in my arms. I hurry after the others, but even with my help, Jorina is too slow.
“Leave me,” the queen says. “I am jeopardizing your safety.”
“No.” Leigh would never forgive me if I left her grandmother behind. I would never forgive myself.
“There they are!” someone in the wolf army yells.
Sama’s yelp pierces the air, sending a jolt of adrenaline through my veins. With a desperate tug, she yanks Brigid forward, propelling them several feet ahead of us. “It’s Zeus,” Sama cries out. “You need to hurry!”
Sama waves her hand in a swift, fluid motion, and tendrils of shadow, like a phantom fog, swirl around the two girls, enveloping them in a veil of darkness. The shadows dance and twist, obscuring their forms from view.
Meanwhile, the wolves’ predatory gazes remain fixed on the rest of us, their eyes gleaming with a hungry intensity.
Stellan and Gianna run side by side, and I study Gi’s face—the fear in my friend’s eyes.
We won’t all make it.
“Stellan,” I croak. He looks at me, and it takes every ounce of willpower to trust him after what he did to betray us in the first place by putting his faith in the enemy, but I need his help if we want Gi and Jorina to make it out of here safely. “Take the queen.”
Stellan’s gaze lingers behind us. “You are the only person strong enough to carry her,” I explain. He nods, then takes Leigh’s grandmother from me.
“No,” Gianna growls. “We all go, or none of us do.”
The wolves get closer, their howls growing louder with each passing second. If they don’t go now, all of us will be taken as prisoners.
