With a grimace that turns into a roar, the wolf flows through me. Golden fur grows, shimmering, adorned with pearls and vibrant coral instead of rotten seaweed. My body doubles in size, then triples, then quadruples. Rubble shivers off my back. I surge upward through the rock, bursting into the open air with a tremendous howl.
Dayton. Her voice whispers through my mind like a salve.You’re okay.
It’ll take a little more than an explosion to bring me down, baby,I assure her.Look after yourself. I’m coming for you.
I shake, one of my ears ringing. Thankfully, there’s light; crystals that grew along the walls still shine, even after thecollapse. There’s a small opening leading down to the war camp below. With the wolf’s nose, the sulfuric smell is overwhelming. What sort of technology do these horned bastards have to blow up an entire tunnel?
Rosalina needs me, but so do my men. I dig through the wreckage, sending up great plumes of dust. Out of the thirty soldiers I took with me, I find nine alive. I also uncover my twin blades and wiggle their straps over my head so they’re tight to my body. We came to negotiate. They killed twenty of us without a thought.
Rage riots through me, and a growl sounds through my chest. I look to my surviving troops. “Let’s show these spike-headed assholes who the fuck they’re messing with.”
With a howl, we charge forward. I lead the way, leaping out of the hole toward the war camp. A gust of Summer wind slows our landing, safely delivering me and my team to the ground.
Even though there’s only ten of us, we stand in formation, a formidable sight: the giant wolf and nine warriors of Summer and Winter.
“Avenge the fallen! Protect the innocent! Attack!” I roar. We charge into the camp.
Underfae soldiers rush us. Like the assassin, they move with unsettling grace. That bastard may have fucked me up last time, but I’m ready now. I charge the first one head-on, not even giving him a chance to engage me. With a swing of my massive snout, I knock him aside.
I see my target: the rows of siege weapons. If those make it out of here, they could pummel the walls of Frostfang into powder.
The trebuchet rises on wooden legs, its frame reinforced with black iron that gleams with frost. Ropes as thick as my arm twist tightly around its massive counterweight, a stone slab that sways ominously as if daring gravity to set it loose. The throwing armstretches upward like a crooked spear, and at its tip hangs a sling, large enough to hold a boulder.
Farron would probably do something fancy, like light the trebuchets on fire. Or Ez would know which pin to pull to make the whole thing collapse. But I’m not sophisticated like them. I’m going to turn this thing to pulp with my damned teeth.
I leap at the contraption, smashing my weight into it. It collapses to the ground with a crash. Grabbing the ropes with my teeth, I tear until the fibers snap, loosening the counterweight. I push my body against the throwing arm, driving it the opposite way. A whine squeezes out of me as I push and push and push. It only needs to snap and then this whole thing might as well be firewood?—
Something blinding and white-hot punches into my shoulder, ripping the air from my lungs and sending me tumbling away from the trebuchet. What the fuck was that? I shake my head and heave to my feet.
“Bad dog! That’s not for playing with, silly!” a high-pitched voice calls.
I blink through my hazy vision to see a woman. She’s green, but not like the creepy goblins and skeletons I’m used to fighting. This is a mossy green, with lighter skin and darker hair that gives way for two curved horns.
Damn, there’s not a lot left to the imagination. The spear she’s holding and the net coiled around her arm hide almost as much as her skintight clothing. A long, thin tail whips behind her.
I might have thought this strange fae was desirable years ago—in a terrifying, blast-my-face-off kind of way—before Rosie arrived and blew all my expectations of beauty out of the water.
The woman tilts her head. “I’m Priestess Aquila. What’s your name, dog?”
“Name’s Dayton. And you’re about to find out what happens when you mess with a prince of Castletree.”
“Oo, the puppy has teeth!” Her expression changes from playful to a delighted snarl. She holds her spear up, and a burst of blue lightning crackles on the tip. “You’re going to make a beautiful rug.”
With a growl, my shape changes, the visage of the wolf making way for the man. I sling my scabbards over my back and draw my twin blades. “You’re not getting one hair from my body?—”
She laughs, nearly doubling over.
“What?” A chill runs through me. I look down, realizing I’m butt naked besides my scabbards. “Hey, it’s cold in here.”
Her tongue sweeps out over her lips, and I see her two canines are sharply pointed. “You’ll make an even better rug now. I’ll skin you, then tan you, then oil you, then lay you right beside my bed so I can step on you every night. Wouldn’t you like that, gorgeous?”
“You are seriously fucked in the head.” Then, because I can’t stand to listen to another word, I charge.
She gives a girlish shrieking giggle, then twirls her spear, an ugly, twisted root of a thing with a jagged blade on the end encased in glowing crystals. “Dance for me, gorgeous.” She points the spear at me.
With a sharp hiss, a bolt of lightning shoots toward me. I leap out of the way but don’t stop running. Another jolt comes down at my bare feet, but I jump over it. I draw my swords, arcing them?—
She holds up her spear, blocking the attack. What? The hilt appears made of wood. My blades should have cut through it like butter. With a growl, I swing again, going for her legs. She twirls her spear, parrying. A smug smile crawls up her face. I backflip away from her to gain some room.
