Page 25 of Throne of the Wolf Queen

‘Ah, she’s hiding.’

My jaw clenched as the duke’s voice echoed against the high ceiling. ‘I should have hit the bitch harder. Find her.’

There were more footsteps. Damn. Danté had support. I refused to be discovered cowering and dragged out like a criminal, so, heaving in a deep breath, I stood.

‘There she is.’

I blinked, trying to work out what was happening. A guard stood before the closed door. The blurry form of Danté rested against the slab where Mama had lain. I reached in for my gift, only to be met with hollowness. A guard approached, and from the way he held out his hands instead of a sword, I faced an Anomaly. A chill slid along my skin. My power was locked down, but I wouldn’t be at their mercy. But as the Anomaly twisted his fingers and the breath expelled from my lungs, my options were limited. I crashed to the ground, clutching my burning chest, desperately attempting to heave some air into my barren lungs.

‘Enough.’ Danté strode forward as I gasped, coughing at the sudden icy chill cooling my lungs. He grabbed my hair, yanked me up. ‘How did you like waking up in here? All those cockroaches and spiders.’

My eyes watered as I glared at him.

‘Still a step up from the present company,’ I said, before a crippling cough caught me.

Danté sneered. ‘Always thinks she’s so clever.’ Despite the burning, I grinned back. ‘Always so fucking superior.’

I tutted. ‘The brains rotting in these corpses are superior to yours.’

‘Right now, I am in charge.’ Blotches of rage spread across his already ruddy cheeks.

‘Take these cuffs off and we’ll find out.’

Danté laughed.

‘I’m not that stupid,’ he said, crossing his broad arms and sneering.

‘I know quite a few people who require some proof.’

Danté’s fist swung up, a mere breath from my face. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of flinching. I clenched my jaw, stared at him, ignoring the swirls and enjoying the prickle of satisfaction at the anger etched onto his unusually dishevelled features.

‘What’s the point of all this, Danté?’

His shoulders relaxed and he took a step back, the self-satisfied smile returned.

‘You’ve avoided retribution for your crimes. That ends tonight.’

My pulse spiked. They’d wanted to execute me for Romero’s murder since I’d arrived in Drufaera.

‘Without a judge?’ I was impressed I got the words past my dry mouth.

Danté smirked. ‘With your simpering sister tucked into your pockets, Prince Oskar will never receive justice for the loss of his king, his father.’

‘Something else we have in common,’ I said, fighting the urge to quiver. ‘We really should spend more time together.’

Danté snorted and I locked eyes with the duke. ‘It’s far too late for that, wolf queen.’

The Anomaly stepped forward. A curse flew from my lips as he approached, raising his hands.

Danté rubbed the scraggly stubble on his jaw. ‘While you’re dying, we’ll remove Enfys from the throne.’ Fucker. I should have punched him. ‘Oskar was born to rule. Don’t forget, Romero chose him over your poor mama. Only one of them could be healed and what use was that woman? A cheater. A traitor.’

I couldn’t scream my answer as the Anomaly squeezed, and I gasped, blood rushing from my wrists as I tried to prise the cuffs off. I couldn’t even cry as I crashed to my knees, lifting my now veiled gaze as the hazy form of Danté strolled towards the door. Slumping to my side, my body screaming for air and my lungs ablaze, the world darkened once more.

CHAPTER 11

MATTHIAS

Still, they conceal their dark hearts in the shadows. Watch us with envy. Even with Raul punished and the execution of two hundred of their number, they refuse to crawl away. Their desperation to share the spoils of our Vyrium will destroy everything we’ve worked to curate. It’s vital every move of these rebels, traitors to the whole continent, this so-called Midnight Insurgence, is monitored, logged and analysed. Forget the new empress, it’s those damn rebels who remain our biggest threat.