‘Okay,’ he said, taking a step back, lowering his voice as a sudden shout echoed from outside. ‘We could kiss now. Weshouldkiss to make this legal, and I hope the day comes when I press my lips to yours, Sorrow Villente. But when that day comes, I know it’ll be because you want it too.’
I shook my head.Gilded words, Sorrow. The man was made of gilded words. I made a silent promise to never kiss him – husband or not – when agony cracked through my skull. I cried out, my forehead colliding with his shoulder.
‘Sorrow!’
I didn’t have time to think as the doors to the chapel flew open. The sky beyond was a mass of obsidian. I couldn’t make out the guards’ faces at the arched entrance, only the cursed words shouted in warning.
‘Fog!’ They cried. ‘It’s a rogue fog!’
My blood froze. I blinked as the pain ebbed, the muted words of the guards swimming though my head.
‘Are you certain it’s rogue?’ Asher could have been in a different room from how far away he sounded.
The horses, their eyes wide and nostrils flaring, were bolting, the guard replied, and I closed my eyes knowing the stampede wasn’t down to me. Apparently, the birds, the animals, even the insects had fled moments before. I barked out a strangled laugh. If Evella was sending a toxic fog on our wedding day, our union certainly didn’t bode well.
I’d spent a substantial amount of time studying climatology, focusing on rogue fog events during my time in the library, certain there must be a pattern. After reading a long-forgotten text that spoke of an Anomaly who’d identified bronze gases filtering through cracks in the planet’s crust, I wondered if the corrupt fog originated where hidden stores of Vyrium lay below us. It certainly explained the bronze streaks swirling through the poisonous clouds. They were incredibly difficult to study, and there was sparse information on the subject – mainly due to the fact they were lethal to anyone other than an Anomaly or diafol. The history books were filled with tales of entire villages being wiped out by rogue fogs.
And I’d chained Pablo to a damn tree. The fog wouldn’t hurt him. We’d walked out of a fog we’d stumbled across long after I discovered him as a half-dead cub. His dead mother’s tainted milk appeared to have blessed him with protection. But it might hold other horrors like diafols who’d rip him apart.
Matthias grabbed my hand as the guards barrelled in, slamming the door behind them.
‘Here,’ he said, hauling me backwards as the guards checked all the windows and helped the priest drag sandbags from a sidechamber. This can’t have been the first time the little chapel had faced the fog if they were so well prepared. ‘You’ll be safe here.’
‘Pablo!’ I turned to Matthias.
‘Fuck.’ His face paled. ‘Fuck. I’ll go. I’ll get him.’
‘The fog will kill you,’ I yelled.
Clenching his jaw, he stood before me. ‘And it won’t kill you? You’ve lost your gift, Sorrow. Your blessing. I’m not risking you again. Stay there.’
‘Matthias!’ I cried as he pushed aside guards and started hauling the sandbags from the door.
The damned fool always wanted to be the hero, regardless of the consequences.
‘What are you doing?’ Asher grabbed his king and dragged him away from the door. Matthias shoved him in the chest, but Asher held on. ‘The fog is here. Therogue fog. If you haven’t noticed, neither of us are Anomalies. It’s a death sentence, you damn fool.’
‘The wolf,’ Matthias screamed in his captain’s face. ‘Her wolf.’
Asher’s groan echoed.
‘We need an Anomaly.’
‘You mean like the one we sent ahead, Captain?’
A guard threw down another sandbag. They were taking too long. I wanted to scream my frustration. Instead, I turned towards the door leading out the back of the chapel. The guards hadn’t placed any bags there yet. I caught the tail end of a desperate whine, and my heart lurched at the thought of what creatures might stalk through the poisoned cloud. And he was chained up.I’dchained him. He wouldn’t stand a chance unless I released him.
Grabbing the door, I threw it open. The chilled air smashed into my lungs, tearing my breath as I slammed the door behind me. The muted echo of Matthias screaming my name was lostas I launched myself straight into the frozen onslaught of the vicious fog.
CHAPTER 10
The cruel experiments of Romero the first, 200 years ago, are well documented. How he took a collection of emerging Anomalies, split them into two groups. One received training, guidance. And the other? Left to fend for themselves with no way of regulating their gifts, they succumbed to the blight. Driven insane with ferocious migraines, not a single emerging Anomaly made it through adolescence without tearing themselves, and sometimes others, apart. This is why I give back. This is why I mentor.
— MRS GLESNI GRACE’S ADVICE FOR MENTORS: THIRD EDITION
The moment I stepped away from the safety of the chapel, I found myself lost in a void of swirling, desolate clouds. My breath caught as the frigid air assaulted my lungs, froze the tears welling in my eyes. Taking a step forward, I flinched, stumbled. My hand reached back for the door, for the sanctuary of Matthias. Through the silence, I heard a howl. Pitiful and angry.
Pablo.
