I cursed the uneven ground and swore. Could a girl with already limited vision find anything in this world of milky blindness?
But I knew the key to finding Pablo lay within. Lurked beneath my skin. Crawled like a predator through my veins, while every day I was forced to suppress it. But I had to find him. I had to unfurl this damned gift.
Clenching my fists, I closed my eyes, focusing on the dim thread of Evella’s ‘blessing’. The warring cords within battled. A violet thread compelled me to release it, tired of its eternal confinement, while another burrowed deeper, ignoring my demand to find the wolf. I’d learned my gifts had no desire to be subservient. As I’d avoided formal training – my pitiful craft honed through the pages of text books – the threads resisted. I swore, grappling stubborn fragments of silver, forcing them to locate Pablo. It careened wildly out of me, and I hissed away the pain. For a few heartbeats, it stuttered, searching, before, unwillingly, it sensed the wolf. There. There he was, to the east.
As I turned I slammed into the damp wall of the chapel, scraping my arm. I pressed my fingers to the frigid wood, searching for the edge. Picturing the scene beyond, I recalled the hazy forms of Matthias, his captain. A vain attempt to orientate myself.
A disjointed howl echoed, and my gift grasped hold. I blew out a long breath. Dead ahead. My gift twisted in a frantic jerk, sensing his terror.
I’m on my way.Could he even hear me? Did my scent carry through this cloying mist? I had no idea, but I had to reach him.
The toxic tendrils of fog, clammy and grasping, clawed at me. My frigid body shuddered as the fog seemed to solidify and close in.I bit back a cry as the sensation of fingernails, sharp and cold, tore at my nape.
A haunting creak halted my progress, and I swore. Was that the damn door opening? Please, I begged Evella, provide Asher the strength to hold Matthias back – rogue fogs never spared the unblessed.
I wouldn’t turn back. Matthias may have returned on this misguided mission to save me, but Pablo had been the one keeping me warm on the coldest nights since I’d hidden him as a half-dead cub under my shawl four years ago. His mother and litter mates were strewn across the ground, poisoned by the decaying diafol she’d eaten, while he weakly suckled her tainted milk. The wolf remained at my side when I’d sat frozen on my bed the first night in the Tower, his chin on my knee. He hadn’t abandoned me, even when I pushed him, screamed at him to go. I had no doubt that he’d follow me into the swell of the lava, rather than give up his chosen place by my side.
So unlike Matthias.
‘Pablo!’ I screamed. My cry ricocheted off the foggy clouds, the echoes assaulting my ears.
Two more hesitant steps and the tug on the thread overwhelmed me. I heaved in the cold air, shocking my lungs and clearing my mind. One more step forward and I stumbled, falling into the warmth of the wolf. He shoved his snout into my neck; a warm rough tongue raked down my cheek. I buried my face into his pelt, breathing in his scent of musky rich earth. Threading my fingers through the coarseness of his fur, I exhaled hard as I found the chain. After a quick fumble through my pocket, I grasped the key and released him.
I gripped his back and rose up. But the wolf snapped at my dress.
‘Pablo?’ I cried as he tugged me down. ‘We need to get to the chapel.’ I was halfway up, when the damned wolf’s paw slammed into the side of my head, forcing me to the ground again. He growled, low and wary, his body taut.
A scream. A wail, brimming with pain and agony, swooped through the shifting clouds surrounding us. The blood thrumming through my veins chilled. Pab lay over me, his body covering mine, as what could only have been a diafol cried again. The ground rocked with each thunderous step of the beast.
I buried my head further into Pablo’s thick pelt, my eyes jammed shut. This was it. The moment I’d breathe my last. My mind chanted apologies to Pab, and my heart dropped as the creature roared. Had it moved on? The fog meant I’d only know the diafol was close as its jaws ripped me apart. The wolf’s hot, quick breaths misted across the back of my neck.
And then in the next heartbeat, the fog lifted.
All that was left was a chill, freezing the beads of sweat along my spine. The first hesitant trill of a blackbird broke the silence. The wind murmured through the creaking trees. Pablo’s snout nuzzled into my neck, as though testing me for signs of life.
‘I’m still with you, Pab.’ I swallowed around the lump in my throat.
We clung to each other, panic slowly ebbing, when the unmistakable groan of the wooden chapel doors opening broke the eerie calm. I sank further into the ground as Matthias screamed my name.
My limp body refused to cooperate. I should at least sit. But as a set of boots tearing up the ground thundered through my ears, I found it easier to give in to the exhaustion. Having a huge wolf lying across me wasn’t helping, either.
‘Sorrow!’ My new husband’s voice cracked as he reached me. Another pair of boots skidded to halt.
‘It’s too late,’ Asher pleaded. ‘She can’t have survived. I’m sorry. Matthias I’m?—’
I winced, almost feeling the pain in Matthias’s knees as he crashed next to me. Pablo snorted, obviously enjoying his revenge. I imagined the scene. The ever-loyal wolf laying downhis life to protect his human. No unblessed mortal had ever come unscathed from an attack of rogue fog. I knew I had an awful lot of explaining to do. There was no way I’d be able to keep my gift a secret after this.
Matthias grabbed Pablo, grunting as the considerable weight of the wolf shifted on my chest, cursing as Pab snapped his jaws.
I lifted my head, the light assaulting my vision, and bit down on my lip as I watched a swirling Matthias face to face with a snarling Pablo.
‘I knew there was something off about that wolf,’ his captain said as Matthias clenched his jaw, locks of unruly dark hair spilling over his eyes.
‘Do not insult Pablo in my presence,’ I said, pushing myself up. ‘He has every right to be pissed.’
‘Sorrow?’
I sat and let Matthias help me with gentle, trembling hands. A burst of sunlight scattered through the canopy above, and I convinced myself his pale lips and ashen skin were a result of the frigid cold. His gaze tore over my body. Apart from a small scratch to my knee, there wasn’t a mark on me.
