Page 47 of Throne of the Wolf Queen

He exhaled, his brown eyes piercing me, his lip curling.

‘Only two mortals have ever known.’ Another swig. Another grimace. ‘One knew the cost far too well. Kept her mouth shut. The other breathed his last the moment he uttered my name.’

The red sun flowed like a sacrifice over the shivering leaves. I should run. Escape. But this man? This Hawk was the only way I’d ever hold Matthias again. I’d either leave this clearing with him as my ally, or I’d join the dead hunters on the other side. I wanted my victory. I wanted Matthias.

I swallowed, steeling my spine. ‘What…’ I gripped Pab a bit tighter. ‘What are you?’

‘Wrong question, sweetheart.’ He turned, faced me fully, and I raised my chin as he let go of the blade, my breath hitching as it hovered in the air between us. ‘Not what. Who.’

‘The truth,’ I said, my jaw clenching as he barked out a laugh, turning away from me. ‘I want the truth, Hawk.’

He turned, a snarl on his face, and Pablo whimpered next to me, his head lowered.

‘You think I owe you the truth? I owe you nothing, Deviant.’ He placed a settling hand on Pablo’s head. ‘You dragged me into this damn mess when all I want is my… When I’ve spent more lifetimes than you can count trying to avoid getting involved with all your little dramas.’ He kicked a rock, and my breath caught as it shattered into dust.

‘But somehow you’re still here.’ I stood before him, my arms crossed, chin high. My patience for games had waned. ‘You saved me…’

‘And the wolf. I couldn’t… I couldn’t let you join Mercy. Not yet.’

A sob caught as Mama’s name left his lips and I searched his face for my own. Papa is dead, I reminded myself. ‘But you still saved me. You’re still with me and I know there’s more to you than this drunk sailor you’re so keen to portray. I’ll damn you to Vyrus till you tell me.’

He shook his head, a wry grin lighting up his face. ‘I can guarantee. He doesn’t give one shit about your threats.’

‘Evella then.’

His eyes darkened as my pulse thundered.

‘Do not utter her name around me.’

I swallowed the rising panic. ‘You’re from Obaithe then? It explains why you hide your blessing. Why you hate⁠—’

‘I do not hate her.’

I snorted, amazed at how my voice remained steady. ‘It’s clear you’re no mere mortal.’

He shook his head once more. ‘I am not blessed by her.’

‘You can’t abide her. You⁠—’

His gaze bore into me, my words faded. Was that pain flashing behind his eyes?

‘No. I don’t hate her. I love her. There has only ever been love for her within this fractured scrap of my heart.’

‘But.’ I furrowed my brows. Those from the Southern land of Obaithe despised Evella. They treated Anomalies as tainted as diafols. If he wasn’t from there? ‘If you claim to love her, why is there such a darkness to you when I say her name? Damn you, man. How can you not be blessed?’

The skin on my arms prickled as the flame-fuelled sun reflected in his eyes. His dark hair whipped wildly as shadows danced a macabre waltz across his face.

‘You’re the clever little Deviant.’

My breath caught as his features morphed. Morphed into the grotesque images Brothers had painted in The Chronicles. Faces that haunted me since I was a child, turning the pages of the Histories and Prophecies. ‘You tell me, sweetheart. Who am I?’

No. He… He couldn’t be… Disbelief gripped me, pleaded with me to deny the truth lurking in the lines of his face.

‘She’s why I’m here. The day she fractured my heart, I was bound to this festering hole. My powers depleted, waning with each circuit of the sun. I became one of you. I tried to understand her obsession. I thought it’d solve the rot between us. But all I found was a plague. Mortals. Petty, vile, greedy. Always so cruel to each other.’ He raised the bottle, took a long gulp before regarding it with appreciation. ‘This is the only good thing about your lot.’

‘Your name isn’t Hawk, is it?’ A broken laugh burst from my lips. The fleeting belief I’d had that this… this demon could be my papa.

His cruel mouth hooked up. Eyes dark and more ancient than time met mine. ‘You already know it, sweetheart.’ He cocked his head. ‘So let’s stop the game and see what fate has in store for you. Tell me who I am? Let’s see what happens, Sorrow Villente.’