A Crown of Blood

Chapter 16

Foreboding dried my throat when Damon marched onto the path, his shoulders stiff, the air charged with thick, primal power. The relative safety of the Compound gripped my bones like a magnet and I hesitated, wracking my brain for a way to talk myself out of this.

To Change. To let the wolf out—to risk the monster—to risk losing control of my actions and fuck everything up—

What if this was a trap?

No one could hear my screaming so far out into the forest.

The tight fabric of his jacket shifted with the strain of his muscled back. His black hair curled at the nape of his neck, longer now, making him more roughish and rugged against the landscape. I wondered why his wolf was silver; made a mental note despite my frenzied fear to find the library to see if there were more documents about the lineage.

Priorities, right?

When he felt my footsteps falter at the mouth of the trail, the alpha's cold restraint seemed to splinter, and he twisted in my direction, his ire sharpening between us like barbed wire and steel.

"Halina," he said in a low voice. "Keep moving."

Primal, wolfish instinct prickled the back of my neck, and I obeyed his command. Silence stretched with the miles we trekked into the remotest parts of the hills. The air was frosty and dry, tightening my skin, the buttery sunlight glowing across muted shades of brown, green, and gray. It was a beautiful day for murder. The thought made me want to vomit and laugh at the same time.

If circumstances were different, I expected that the further we went into the dark wood, the lighter I'd feel. This was the palace where wolf magic and witch magic converged. Instead, the heaviness parched my throat and labored my breath, and I had the very real fear that I might spontaneously combust.

That would save you and the world a lot of trouble, wouldn't it?

I cursed under my breath. I'd rather be the world's biggest nuisance than nothing but dust. But for the love of all gods and goddesses above, this silence was maddening.

"You're even more terrifying when you're quiet," I said when I could no longer handle it. We'd been walking for at least an hour and the tension only seemed to be getting worse.

"I'm glad to hear you're afraid of me, Little Wolf," Damon ground out.

This was not the time for flirty remarks, eyelash flutters, and games. Swallowing the dryness in my throat, I struggled with my demise. "Are you going to kill me?"

Damon stilled. The woodland creatures who'd been tapping against the growing blanket of leaves in preparation for the cold stilled. Even the breeze ground to a halt, as though in baited breath. Damon turned to face me with agonizing slowness and the air in my lungs halted.

The thick canopy of leaves darkened the shadows on his features, and his eyes blazed silver in the dim light to turn him into a monster of the darkness. "Do you have a reason for me to kill you, Halina?" he asked, his voice dripping with ice. The red light of my magic pulsed like a slow beating heart and I recalled tales of wolves devouring lost souls in the wood.

Instinct told me to run. My magic ran cold in my veins.

Danger. I was in grave danger.

"I'm a hybrid," I started carefully. "And I looked where I shouldn't."

A predatory glint flashed in his eyes as he stalked forward, all lethal lines and muscle and power, and towered over me. "Do you think I would waste two weeks of my life to feed, house, and train you if all I intended to do was kill you, Little Wolf?"