Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The air was ice cold, and the trees were thick all around them. Zarya’s breath plumed, adrenaline already beginning to surge down her spine. Arkon gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Let’s try not to get separated when the fighting starts," he whispered to her.

"I have no intention of leaving your side. Those bastards killed my sister. If one of them gets anywhere near you, I’ll unmake them," she growled, the wolf inside of her rising at the promise of blood.

Arkon’s smile was a flash of wicked white in the gloom. "Stop talking like that, or you’ll get fucked up against the nearest tree."

Zarya thought about it, opened her mouth, but Arkon quickly put his hand over it. "Don’t even think about it."

He was close enough that she could feel his warmth radiating out of him. She rested her forehead against the gentle groove of his chest and breathed in his smokey sugar smell. They hadn’t had a chance to really be alone in the past day.

After they had tea and then dinner with Zahir and Ezra, Arkon had gone to update the doge on their plans. Zarya had fallen asleep waiting for him to return.

Their day had been taken up with organizing the group of djinn who would come with them and mobilizing a legion of soldiers based at Rogotin to journey inland to help assist survivors and deal with any Varangian soldiers that were guarding the death camp. They had all teleported outside of the camp as soon as the sun had fallen.

They had barely had a chance to breathe, let alone for them to have a moment together.

Zarya didn’t know how other people navigated their way through burgeoning emotions. She was feeling things that she’d never experienced before, things that had always been trapped behind ice. Over the years, they had melted a little every time she felt Arkon’s magic. Being in his physical presence had shattered that ice wall completely.

She was raw and unsure of everything that surged through her every time she looked at him. It was too complicated for her to put into words.

Arkon’s hand stroked over her tangle of curls. "Are you ready for this, little wolf?"

Zarya lifted her head. "More than ready."

Arkon’s lips brushed against hers, a too brief, barely there touch. It settled the restless part of her and helped her focus on the present. "Let’s go."

"Everyone is in position, and we are ready to move in," Zahir said, joining them. The usually brightly dressed djinn was wearing the browns and greens of the forest. His eyes were shimmering with bronze power ready to be unleashed.

"Excellent. We will see you when the fun begins," Arkon replied.

Zahir patted Zarya on the shoulder. "Make sure he doesn’t blow anything up before we get in there."

"I’ll try," she said, her heart giving a squeeze at the familiarity in the touch.

Zarya and Arkon hiked through the trees and to the muddy main road.

"Are you sure you want to go in through the front door?" she asked.

The camp’s large fences had come into view, guards patrolling with torches and dogs stalked around the perimeters.

"It will be the quickest way to find any of the people running the place. If we go in there too aggressively, they will try and get away. We can’t have them running off to warn anyone," Arkon replied and pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. "It also gives me a chance to put these on you."

Zarya held out her wrists to him. "All you needed to do is ask nicely."

"I’ll keep that in mind for later," he said with a look so naughty, her pussy clenched. "I think you might like that idea, Wolf Mage. Your pulse just picked up."

"It’s anticipation of the fight," she lied.

Arkon locked the cuffs around her and straightened his cap. "How do I look?"

"Like trouble in a stolen Varangian uniform."

"Perfect. Let’s go, prisoner," he said and put a hand on her shoulder to position her in front of him. "Try not to grin like you’re enjoying yourself."

Zarya schooled her features to be defeated and non-threatening. All the years masking her true face were paying off.

They walked up to the gates, and the lights from the guard tower immediately swung to them. Guards were on them before they could move.

"What are you doing here, soldier?" one of the guards demanded.

Arkon shielded his face against the light. "I’m here to deliver the Wolf Mage to the man in charge."

"The Wolf Mage! Our saint is back in Kyiv," the other guard snarled back.

"This is a matter above your pay grade. Tell the boss I have her, and if he wants her, he had better drag his ass out here with the biggest bag of money he has," Arkon growled. He lifted Zarya’s chin. "Look at her. You’ve seen the pictures. She’s running from the empire, and I won’t allow it."

The guards looked at each other before one gave the signal and the gates opened. "Come inside. Business shouldn’t be discussed out in the open."

"I agree entirely," Arkon replied, shoving Zarya forward. "Walk, traitor."

The other guard followed them, his expression looking a little lost. Zarya spotted the prayer beads around his wrist and held in her flinch. The medallion on it was one of hers.

He’s here overseeing people dying every day, she reminded herself. It didn’t matter that he was one of her devotees. Zarya looked away from him before her anger got the best of her. They needed the people running the camp, not the lackeys. He disappeared inside the locked steel doors leading into one of the three compounds buildings.

There was a strange buzzing around Zarya that was making her skin itch, like a low-level hum of poisonous magic.

"Do you feel that?" she whispered to Arkon. She didn’t have to elaborate. He gave her a short nod, the muscles in his jaw feathering.

Whatever the warding was, it was strong enough to keep the imprisoned magic users from busting out of their cells on their own. It wouldn’t be strong enough to stop her or Arkon. Zarya tried to keep the vicious smile from her face.

The doors to the building opened again, and a tall blond-haired man wearing a gray cloak came out. The hair rose on the back of Zarya’s neck, her intuition and inner wolf telling her that he was an abomination and had to die. She swallowed the bile creeping up her throat. She couldn’t remember his name but had seen him before at one of the rare public dinners she had attended. He had been a simple soldier then, and he had a brother.

"Twins," she whispered to Arkon, hoping he would understand.

"Well, Zarya, I never thought I would see the day when you would be in dampening cuffs," the bone mage said. He looked her over, the scar on his face tugging his lip in a permanent sneer.

"I never thought I would see the day that the emperor would lower himself to use filthy bone mages to do his dirty work," Zarya snapped, her anger surging. Her head rocked back with the force of a punch that crashed into her.

"I can’t wait to taste you, bitch," the bone mage snarled.

Arkon’s power lashed out so quick and hot that it scorched her lungs. The bone mage didn’t have time to react as ropes of fire bound him.

"Gregor! Plan B!" the bone mage shouted before Arkon’s power tore him apart.

Zarya flicked off the cuffs around her wrists as guards poured into the courtyard. She gripped the magical threads that bound the gate and tore it off its hinges. It flew through the air, smashing into a group of guards, the force of it splattering them across the gray buildings. Bronze light was sweeping along the fence lines, pulling the posts up like they were nothing more than toothpicks stuck in mud.

"We need to find whoever the fuck Gregor is," Arkon said. His sword was already drawn and bloody.

"Watch my back," Zarya replied and pulled on the spell that called to her wolf form. She wasn’t a true shifter; the ability had come from her Vanir blood. She could have been able to change into a falcon or a deer like some of her sisters, but there had always been a wolf inside of her. The ability just gave it form.

"I’ll follow you," Arkon said, knocking a guard into the path of Asim, one of Zahir’s djinn. The barbed flail in the guard’s hand turned to feathers, and Asim picked the guard up by the throat. "Where are the prisoners?"

"Beneath...us..." the guard heaved, clawing at Asim’s hand. The djinn nodded, tossed the guard in the air, and moved on, leaving the remains of the guard to float down as feathers on the muddy ground. "We will take care of the prisoners. Find the other mage, Grand Sorcerer."

Zarya flattened her ears and attacked the guards outside of the larger building. It was single storied with a small tower.

She could feel Arkon behind her, his sword dancing and magic burning. She crashed into the biggest guard, her large paws knocking him to the ground. Her fangs gripped his arm and tore it off before she ripped his screaming throat out. She moved on to the door and scratched at it. She could smell the repugnant scent of another blood mage close by.

"I got it," Arkon said, blowing the door in with his magic. Zarya leaped through first, the scent of her prey growing stronger. Her hackles rose as she realized what the building was. Shelves upon shelves were filled with jars, blood, bones, and other parts floating inside of them.

"Gesú Cristo," Arkon whispered.

Zarya growled and forced her wolf down, shifting until she was a woman once again. She was naked and streaked in blood.

Arkon pulled off his coat and wrapped it around her. "Let’s find this fucker."