36. CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 36

KALYLL

Melting into shadows, I slithered over the ground, dodging Varamede’s attack. The bolt hit the ground, sent a spray of dirt into the air, and set a nearby tree on fire.

“Where did he go?” Cardian demanded. “There!”

Varamede released another bolt of lightning. This time, getting away was far easier as I was already nothing but shadows. I didn’t know if such an attack could harm me in this state, but I wasn’t going to risk finding out.

“Get him!” Cardian ordered.

Another bolt exploded a few inches behind me. A dry shrub ignited with a whoosh.

Heading in Varamede’s direction, I zigzagged along the ground.

“You’re too slow,” Cardian barked, his horse backing away and rearing its head.

I sensed anger from the thunderlord, but not toward me… toward Cardian. It couldn’t be easy receiving orders from someone so useless. But he had chosen this path, and in so doing, he’d meddled with the wrong person. The moment he attacked my mate, he signed his death sentence.

My shadowy form slid over the ground at a prodigious speed. Varamede tried to back away as he shot multiple bursts of lightning at the ground, filling the air with dust and the smell of ozone.

When I was a couple of feet from him, he finally realized his powers were nothing against me in this form. Whirling on his heel, he ran, but it was a useless attempt. I was much faster, and when I reached him—my shadows coalescing around his feet—I dismissed the darkness and invited the beast.

I rose from the ground, the shadows forming an insubstantial body that quickly solidified. Releasing a powerful roar, I reached out with a clawed hand and took hold of Varamede’s shoulder. Yanking him back, I slammed him against the ground and pounced on him. His eyes went wide as I opened my maw and let out a second roar.

My hand tightened around his neck, claws digging into his flesh. In response, he electrified his entire body, doing his best to repel me. As the current hit me, my limbs spasmed, but it wasn’t to his advantage. Instead, my hold grew tighter, and warm blood spilled from his neck as my claws punctured an artery. He opened his mouth, making a gurgling sound, feet thrashing behind me.

My teeth were clenched of their own accord, and I bore down on him even as his electric power coursed through me, singeing my hair, and filling the air with its burnt scent. As the thunderlord’s life dimmed from his eyes, I was vaguely aware of hooves pounding the ground in retreat.

By degrees, Varamede’s power diminished as did my body spasms. We remained locked for a few more beats until he went utterly still and his power released me. My tensed muscles and joints unhinged. I rolled off him and hit the ground.

I stared at the quickly darkening sky through a gap between the thick leaves overhead. The beast’s senses were sharper than my own, and the sound of Cardian’s retreating horse still pounded in my ears.

—Get up! A deep voice, Wölfe’s voice, echoed in my head. Go after him.

I rolled over and got on hands and knees. I had morphed into a shape close to my own, but to reach him I would be better served by a proper wolf.

Lunging into the air, I took off after my brother. As I sailed forward, I morphed once more. Large paws hit the ground running, my sensitive ears pointed at the retreating sounds. As trees rushed by, I passed a couple of hunters from Mythorne’s party. Thinking it good sport to kill the biggest beast, they gave chase.

Arrows zinged by me and embedded themselves in the ground. I weaved through the trees to make their job harder, all the while focused on my target. I could see Cardian now. He was forty yards ahead, glancing back over his shoulder as he mercilessly beat his horse with his crop, demanding more speed.

—There is no beast fast enough that can save you from me, little brother.

My claws tore the ground, sending chunks flying back. A spear thwacked mere inches from me and stabbed a patch of grass. I veered left around a thick tree with low branches. One of the riders behind me didn’t think much of my path choice, never considering that I was a creature capable of making intelligent decisions. Too late, he realized his mistake. A quick glance over my shoulder showed me the male attempting to duck and failing. A branch knocked him clean off his horse, and as he fell, his head smashed against a rock with a satisfying crunch.

I was closer to Cardian now, and I could see the desperation on his face every time he glanced back. He knew who was after him, and the reckoning that was coming his way.

No, we will not kill him.

—He deserves to die.

Death will be too swift a punishment.

—You will not trick me into offering him any sort of mercy but that which my teeth and claws can offer.

I could almost feel the metallic taste of blood in my mouth as Wölfe yearned to clasp his jaws around Cardian’s neck. But there was no use in arguing. Words would not sway my darker side.

The twang of an arrow sounded behind me. I dodged to the right, avoiding it. It bounced against a tree and fell into a bush.

When the tail of Cardian’s horse tickled my maw, I leaped, ramming my weight against the animal’s hindquarters and knocking it off kilter. The horse cried out as it tumbled to the ground, sending its rider soaring through the air. As soon as my brother slammed against the roots of a tree I was on him.

The remaining pursuer brought his steed to a stop and nocked an arrow. My head jerked in his direction, and I met his gaze as I slowly morphed into a half-Fae creature. He gasped at the sight of me and hesitated for only a moment, then aimed again.

“You will stay out of this if you know what’s good for you,” I said in a voice that sounded like rocks tumbling inside a collapsing cave.

Cardian whimpered beneath me, and the male thought better of it. Putting the arrow back in its quiver, he urged his horse back the way he’d come and quickly disappeared, leaving me to deal with the biggest weasel I’d ever known. I had no doubt the rider would soon be back with others, but I didn’t need long to deal with this coward.

“You won’t get away with this.” Cardian’s voice trembled as he spoke.

“It doesn’t sound as if you believe yourself,” I rumbled in his face.

My clawed hand wrapped around his neck, slowly tightening.

He kicked with all his strength, but my own brute force made his attempt appear childlike. When he realized the futility of his efforts, he changed tactics.

“You would kill your own brother?” His voice was pleading now, and his eyes full of the sickening tears he used to deliver when he was a child and found himself in need of sympathy.

“And why not? You would have killed me. The only difference is that I will do it with my own hands, and you instead sent Mythorne’s son to do it, and then Varamede.”

My grip around his neck tightened until my sharp claws drew blood. Something wet and warm spread between his legs and the stench of urine filled the air. Oddly enough, it was my disgust for his pathetic existence that gave me the strength to overcome my dark side.

I released him. He went limp with relief.

“You are not worth the air you breathe,” I spat. “Death would be such an easy way out for you, which is all your life has ever been. Instead, you will spend the rest of your days in a prison cell, making good use of your hands.”

At that, he frowned, but I didn’t elaborate. He would find out his fate soon enough. He would not be idle. He would have to work for his meals and the luxury of a clean cell.

But I’d wasted enough time with him. I had to find Daniella, except I couldn’t leave Cardian like this. I had to make sure he didn’t get away.

Grabbing the lapels of his jackets, claws tearing into the fabric, I hoisted him up, then towed him up the tree. I climbed using only one hand, pushing with my clawed feet, tearing off chunks of bark as I went. When I reached the top, and the branches started bending toward the ground with our weight, I let him go.

“You’d better hold on, little brother. Move too much and the branch might break.” I started climbing down.

He hugged the branch, wrapping his arms and legs around it. “You can’t leave me here.”

“I can do whatever I want with you,” I growled back. “You’re only alive because Mother wouldn’t wish me to feel remorse for murdering my own blood. Though I’m not so sure I would feel any, so don’t tempt me or I might change my mind.”

Practically sliding down the length of the tree, barely using my claws to slow down my descent, I made it back to the ground. As I turned, I heard hooves headed in my direction. The rider back with reinforcements, I was sure.

Well, I wasn’t going to stay here for them, and I wasn’t worried about them helping Cardian. He was too far up. Besides, I doubted Mythorne’s court would have any sympathy for him, though they might be entertained by the sight.

I leaped over a row of bushes and started in the direction that the Unseelie King had taken Daniella.

“It was right here,” I heard the rider who had chased me tell the others. “We should fan out and find it. We can’t allow foul shadowdrifters in our land.”

“Oh, thank Erilena!” Cardian exclaimed from up the tree. “Someone help me get down, please.”

I smirked and kept going, making sure to remain hidden from view, treading silently over the underbrush.

But in the next instant, the need for stealth became a luxury. A cry rent the air.

It was Daniella!

I shifted into a wolf and ran at full pelt.