Page 4 of Throne of the Wolf Queen

I fell to the ground. Rolled. Screamed as flames devoured the hall. My boots melted, blistering my skin. Pab whined. I lunged away from him, terrified he’d been burned. Squeals and screams from the rodents echoed around the hall as I searched for my second fiery assassin.

The world fractured in a frenzy of amber and heat, pain and fury. I slammed one hand against my flaming hem, grasped the wolf with the other, his front paws batting the fires, eyes wide.

As I patted out the last embers with my blistering palm, a flash of crimson caught my eye. Pab limped forward, blocking me from the other assassin stalking forwards, tossing a hazy flame from one hand to the other. I fought back pained tears, accidentally slamming into the still-bleeding corpse behind me. My anger fuelled the violet ribbons coiling around my lungs.

‘Bitch,’ the fire Anomaly growled as Pab took a shuddering step.

‘You called?’ I rasped through my aching throat. She laughed, a dry, harsh crack. The wolf’s whine tore my chest as he stumbled. I wouldn’t even bother asking him to flee. Our bonds were beyond severing.

The female assassin knelt down, her features lost behind the curls of smoke and my shattered vision. Purple threads skittered from my trembling fingers, pouring into the corpse. My breath hitched as I sensed their glee.

Her companion, dead, tattered and rent, rose slowly behind me. The fire Anomaly recoiled. Visions from unfamiliar memories swarmed my mind. A group of guards, huddled in a dark hull, cards in their hands and hate in their hearts, planning the death of Queen Sorrow. My head lolled as the fierce pain in my legs battled the threads for my attention. I threw all my pain, bitterness and anger into my power. The once-deceased, half-eaten assailant lunged past me, his boot crashing down on my leg, and I screamed as he slammed into his comrade.

I forced my purple ribbons back to me as flames erupted through the wrestling fire Anomalies. My attackers sparked off each other. Embers burst, flesh bubbled and the two exploded like the flames of Vyrus. My body crashed against the flagstone floor, pain burrowing into every fibre of my being. The keep no longer slept. Shouts erupted nearby as flames danced violently across the hall. I raised my head, desperate to make sense of the chaos, while the wolf dug his teeth into the back of my dress, dragging me away.

Through the tears and smoke, my heart split as I understood his urgency. The two flaming forms, beings who should be dead, crashed towards us. The violet ribbons quivered within my core. They shouldn’t be moving. I’d called my power back to me. They couldn’t⁠—

I cried as they turned, flames erupting over a keep guard, fighting their way towards us.

The purple ribbons squirmed within. The damn gift had deviated once more. Just as they had when⁠—

‘Sorrow!’

Enfys called my name and for a moment it was just us two sisters, screaming as their mama tore through pale flesh, grey fingers shredding blonde hair. I was nothing but desperation, agony and suffering as she roared my name once more.

Guards, who were surely loyal to my sister, called out as the wolf tugged once more.

The would-be assassins – black shadows writhing within a fiery mass – stumbled forward, the guards powerless against their inferno.

Their cries muddied Asher’s cool commands. The escape route was blocked by the burning assassins. Enfys called out again. The flames were tearing across the room. They’d destroy the keep. They’d destroy everyone.

A gush of water splashed on my skirts, a fleeting reprieve from the burning. The Anomalies crashed to the floor, the flames fading as guards finally swarmed them, stamping out the remaining embers. A figure, tall and broad, approached. My eyes watered at the sickening stench of burnt flesh as I craned my neck and the blurry form tossed another bucket of chilled water over the smoking Anomalies. I blew out a long breath, blinking as I sought to know whoever had the speed to grab buckets of water, ready to give them my thanks. My shaky gaze caught on Asher, my smile fading as I saw whose hand he shook.

‘Him,’ I hissed as Enfys’s hands cupped my face.

‘Pab… Pablo,’ I floundered, trying to locate my wolf before my sister spent every last ember of her healing gift on me.

‘You first,’ Enfys said, laying her cool forehead against mine. No. I was certain Pablo was hurt and shoved her away. Panting, I lay against the cobbles, the smoke still thick in my throat. My sister muttered under her breath, but moved to Pablo. I exhaled a long breath as he snorted.

‘My thanks,’ Asher said as I leaned up on my elbows watching him shake the tanned hand of the man whose ship we’d commandeered when we’d fled Asmar.

Fled my husband.

The sailor shook his head of dark, shaggy, shoulder-length hair and ran a hand through his unruly beard. Pablo bounded over as he slapped Asher on the shoulder and turned his brown eyes my way. A smile, stiff and awkward, played across my tense face. I blinked, trying my hardest to make him out. The sailor must have been, what, forty? Thirty? Ancient as the keep I’d almost burned to the ground? I was unable to get a grasp on his age. I could never be sure if it were a trick of my eyes, or the fact I couldn’t bear looking at him, a reminder of our escape from the man I loved… though even I had to admit he was a handsome creature. As Pablo jumped up, his eyes closing with satisfaction as the sailor scratched behind his ear, I could only be certain of one thing.

The damn man set my teeth on edge.

‘Can’t let your queen burn.’ My cheeks flushed as he set his gaze on me – again. He raised a bottle in a mock salute. ‘Not until I get my reward from Asmar anyway.’

Asher laughed, his onyx coils swaying as he refused the bottle. The constantly inebriated mariner had spent the entire voyage staring at either Enfys or me. Yet, everyone adored him. Even the damned wolf who whined as he halted his scratching.

Asher turned to Enfys, inclining his chin my way.

‘Is she all right?’ A weak smile played on my lips as Asher gripped my hand. I squeezed back.

‘She’s fine,’ I said, wincing at his harsh glare.

‘Good. Now, I can kill you myself.’