Cloaked in Blood

by T. F. Walsh

  I pushed past the entrance to the courtyard. Torches lit the place, and snowflakes cascaded like a backdrop from a picturesque postcard. But this place was anything but a tourist attraction.

  Father and the sultan stood to the side, talking about goddess-knows-what. But at least they weren’t at each other’s throats.

  The moment Father spotted me, he waved me over, and the sultan vanished into the mass of wulfkin. Snow crunched underfoot as I approached him and scanned the area for Selena without success.

  “Marcin.” Father clapped a hand against my back. “Nice of you to finally join us. Thought you might be with your brother, showering him with more luxuries.”

  My hackles flared. It was too early for this bullshit.

  The whiff of coffee caught my attention—strong and nutty. Behind him, I noticed a long table with coffee-filled thermoses. I nodded to the youngster manning the stand.

  “Come. I’m about to call out participants in the venery. I need you by my side.” Father’s words dragged me back to the reality of being awakened at a ridiculous hour.

  I offered him a look, the one clearly protesting my necessity to be there. He’d do what he wanted anyway, so what difference would it make?

  He brushed past me and stood in front of the old stone well, waving a quick hand to someone behind me. The blare of the fuckin’ horn had me cringing again. Oh, that instrument was going to be twisted into a pretzel shape soon.

  The voices died, and when I spun around, my sight landed on Selena, at the edge of the group, shoulder to shoulder with her sister. The sultan stood guard nearby, along with several beefy men. I could only imagine how large those wulfkin were in their wolf form. They’d be a force to be reckoned with, but swiftness wouldn’t be a trait they offered with so much weight behind them.

  Selena met my stare—cold and empty. Maybe she wasn’t a morning person either. But regardless of her hair pulled into a messy ponytail and bloodshot eyes from an obvious lack of sleep, the pout of her full lips called to me, begging to be kissed.

  “Marcin,” a disembodied voice came from my side, and I snapped around.

  Coffee boy handed me a cup. Best sight in the world.

  “Thanks.” The heat instantly warmed the back of my throat along with my frozen fingers wrapped around the mug.

  “I appreciate everyone joining me so early this morning,” Father began, though it wasn’t as if he’d given anyone a choice with the blaring horn. “At the kind request of our guest, the great sultan, we are holding a venery to select two champions to prove the innocence of Enre and Daciana.” He turned and pulled the chain, raising the bucket out of the well.

  When prying off the lid, he said, “Sultan, if you’ll join me, please.”

  I took another gulp of coffee, making everything all right for a short while. Selena kept staring at me. What was going through her mind? Was she picturing herself kissing me, both of us naked and locked in each other’s arms, or quite the opposite and involving her sword? I preferred the first option. In all honestly, rekindling our relationship had played on my mind a lot since she’d arrived. My feelings for her still beat with ferocity, and my wolf reminded me about every moment we’d spent together, how much he missed her. But it seemed fate had other ideas. Maybe I was fooling myself to think anything was possible.

  “Alex,” Father’s voice climbed with the first name plucked out of the bucket, then handed the note to the sultan for confirmation. Alex was one of Father’s pack members, and I assumed he was a backup plan in case I didn’t make it. Father would do anything to claim that boon and stop the sultan from winning the prize.

  Father continued with the names; a dozen had passed, and with only eight positions left, a layer of sweat rolled down my back. I preferred handling my own problems and would hate to rely on anyone else winning the boon on my behalf.

  But surprisingly, no guards from the Turkish clan had been pulled yet either. Perhaps they were trying to be on their best behavior, and I guessed that entering might give the wrong impression. I’d encouraged my pack to enter as it offered them an opportunity to join a good old-fashioned hunt.

  When my name was finally called, I gulped down the coffee and set the mug down on the well behind me. Number eighteen. Better late than never.

  “Selena.” Father’s voice held an uncertain tone as he stared at the next note he read out.

  I snapped to attention, my gaze sailing across the crowd to Selena.

  Her eyes widened, and if I hadn’t known she might have removed evidence from the weapons room last night, I might actually believe the sincere shock on her face. And to think that last night she acted all shy as if she hadn’t put her name into the bucket.

  “This is a mistake.” The sultan’s voice inflamed, sending the crowd into murmurs. “I do not give my permission for Selena to enter. She isn’t here to fight or participate in the venery.” His words darkened, his glare targeting Selena.

  She shook her head at her father in way that implied she had nothing to do with her name being in the ballot.

  “Sultan, clearly this handwriting is feminine. No one else put her name in.” Levin patted Boran’s arm, smirking a bit too obviously. “So she must participate. Those are the rules.”

  Boran’s nostrils flared, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

  Father plucked another name and read it out as if he hadn’t just openly caused tension between a daughter and her father. A case could be made for eavesdropping on that interesting conversation, but Selena’s words came back about her having trained as a fighter since a young age. She’d make a strong competitor.

  “Levin,” the sultan said, interrupting Father. “I can’t allow this to happen. First, I have to speak with my daughter, and then I will come see you.”

  Father said nothing, but watched as the corners of his mouth threatened to spread into a grin.

  The sultan snatched Selena’s elbow and dragged her inside, the door slamming shut behind them.

  I pitied Selena. My first reaction urged me to chase after them and force her father to back off. Who was I to get involved in their family squabbles? I had enough of my own to drown in, especially after last night and the nagging suspicion that Selena was somehow involved in the assassination attempt against me.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Selena

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Father shoved open the door to our suite, and I pulled my arm free from his grasp, rubbing the skin where his fingers had left vivid marks.

  I stormed inside the room, and the first streams of sunlight stretched over the forest horizon outside the window. Down in the courtyard, all the wulfkin stood around, more than likely gossiping about me. Then I spotted Zeki darting through the crowd toward a door. Where was he going in such a rush?

  “How could you?” Father’s voice barked.

  “I told you I didn’t put my name in the bucket.” I turned to face him. Sure, I had intended to put my name in the well, but Marcin interrupted me, and with the dagger incident, I’d completely forgotten. Obviously, someone wanted me to enter. The idea had sent a pestering shiver worming its way up the back of my legs. Wouldn’t be the first time the Hungarian clan tried to finish me off, but it seemed like a lot of trouble to bring us here, then kill me. Surely Levin would target the great sultan first.

  Aisha shut the door behind us.

  Father’s face reddened as he paced to the window and back, hands gripping his hips. “If we were back home, you wouldn’t see the light of day for months. Maybe I should tell Levin to lock you in his dungeons. That might keep you in check.” His glare held no hint of a joke.

  I struggled to swallow past the boulder in my throat.

  “You’re here to seal a mating ritual with Marcin.” Father’s voice reminded me that I might have to beat Marcin in the venery, and he might not take too kindly to that.

  He continued, “Not to act like a tomboy or give Levin any reason to consider us a threat to his family.”

&n
bsp; I huffed. “Baba, please. That’s not—”

  Father’s scowl robbed my words. “Someone tried to kill you last night. What if the killer is in the tournament and targets you?”

  My voice vanished when I tried to respond. Had the assassin put my name into the bucket? And is that why this person stole Father’s dagger—to frame our family? I refused to believe Father was behind the assassination attempt. Only a fool would use his or her own weapon to strike the enemy, especially since the dagger would be left behind at the scene. Everything Father did was to protect his pack and family, so killing Marcin would not gain him anything but a quicker war.

  I preferred to believe Marcin was responsible, especially since he genuinely seemed to have no problem with me entering the venery. Images from our past crept to the forefront of my mind—Marcin and me sneaking out of my house before dawn to run away and live as a couple forever. He brought chains in his backpack to tie us to trees during the full moon. We were still moonwulves back then, controlled by lunar events. At the time, I had gotten so angry at him for bringing them along that I refused to speak to him, but on our first night, it had saved our lives and stopped us from entering the city to gorge on humans. Was this another incident where he’d done something thinking it would help me?

  “Selena, are you even listening?” Father’s sharp tone cut through my thoughts.

  “Sorry.”

  “I said, you’re not participating. That’s final.”

  “It’s not fair.” Since I had been selected to participate, it irritated me to be told I couldn’t enter.

  “Nothing’s fair in life, but we all make sacrifices for those we love.” His gray eyebrows lowered.

  Yeah, I’m making all the sacrifices. I glanced over at Aisha, who had her phone on her lap, tapping away, and I fully understood father’s warning. Go against him, and the deal with protecting Aisha was off.

  “When I was young,” he continued, “I left everything to marry your mother. Now look at our empire and how far we’ve come.”

  I didn’t have it in me to ask him how happy he really was, considering he spent most days and nights with his council and rarely had time for Mother or us. The only reason my mom knew we were going to Hungary was because I’d told her. Father had been too busy to mention it. I shook those thoughts away. No use opening up old wounds.

  Last night’s events steamrolled through my mind, and I had no reason to hold back my finding from Father now. If I’d told him last night, he wouldn’t have been so convincing with Levin when arguing our side was innocent.

  “I have something to show you.” Once across the room, I dug a hand into my bag near the fireplace and plucked out a wad of tissues.

  Father stood a few paces from me as I peeled back the paper.

  His nose creased. “What are you doing with my dagger?”

  Even Aisha strained to glance over our way.

  “This is what was shot at Marcin and me last night. I found it in the fireplace mantle. I took it before anyone saw.”

  His shaky hand reached over.

  “Careful, the tip has poison on it. I smelled the bitter scent on it.”

  Father’s furrowed brow hooded his eyes as he pinched the dagger by the hilt and lifted it to his nose. His cheeks went pale.

  “I don’t recognize the poison.” His back was stiff, and he set the dagger back into the tissues, rewrapping it. He took the bundle from me. “You did well to take it. Goddess, if they found this, Levin would have us butchered on the spot.”

  “So this wasn’t your doing? You didn’t try to assassinate Marcin?” I asked.

  His head jerked up, worry lines deepening around the corners of his mouth. “And put us all in mortal danger? I brought the daggers in case things got out of hand.”

  “Then we were set up.”

  He nodded, though his eyes were miles away. “I will speak with the guards.”

  “Didn’t the Hungarian servants take our bags to our room the moment we arrived?” Aisha padded closer.

  Father turned to her, not saying a word. His face paled further. He crossed the room in a sprint and dashed into his bedroom.

  Aisha and I followed him to a large duffle bag sitting on the king-sized poster bed covered in creamy silk covers. He retrieved short swords and several knives. Then he plucked out a black briefcase-style box and opened it. Inside was a line of silver daggers with the family emblem carved on them. Two empty slots stared back at me as if they were pistols to my temple.

  “By the goddess,” Father’s words were barely a whisper. “There’s still one missing.”

  My stomach churned, and if I’d eaten breakfast, it would have been projecting out right about then.

  Father and I exchanged glances. If Father wasn’t involved, whoever took the daggers wasn’t interested in killing me directly. They were targeting Marcin to frame us.

  As far as I was concerned, Levin had to be at the bottom of this, despite last night’s act. He had lied all those years ago about his wulfkin shooting an arrow into my shoulder. Why not now?

  I slouched on the edge of the bed. Surely, Levin wouldn’t kill his son to frame us.

  I couldn’t stop the panic threading my chest. We were going to be murdered, and those back home wouldn’t see it coming.

  “We’re in so much shit,” I managed to say, barely louder than a whisper.

  “Baba, take us home.” Aisha’s plea quivered, and she approached Father as a small child would do when frightened.

  He shook his head. “The moment the assassin uses the second dagger and strikes Marcin, Levin will declare war. Even if it happens after we leave, he could easily claim my guards returned to finish the job, especially if we abruptly end the mating.” His shoulders hunched forward as he spun the gold ring on his finger in a hypnotic motion. “We stay.”

  “We have to tell Marcin.” The idea had inherent problems, but was it up to us to keep such information from him? I couldn’t live if I did nothing and he got hurt.

  “Are you insane?” Father asked. “You can’t tell Marcin or anyone about this. Do you both hear me? He’ll tell Levin, and we’ll be dead. We can’t trust them. You leave this to me.”

  “Marcin is the only person on the Hungarian side we can probably trust. I’ve got an in with him. I should use this to protect us.”

  Father shook his head. “You heard Levin last night. He’s putting extra guards to watch over his son. We all keep our mouths shut about this. Understood?” His voice rumbled.

  I didn’t agree one bit, but going against Father could get us all in mortal danger if this got out to Levin.

  “Then we need to find the missing dagger.” Aisha sat on the bed, the mattress bouncing beneath me.

  “And how do we do that when we have no suspects?” Father asked.

  Maybe Aisha was onto something. “Simple,” I said. “I’ll have a private dinner tonight with Marcin and try to discover who his enemies are.” A saner person would have taken slow steps to get Marcin on her side, get him to share. However, there was no time to play coy with the venery starting tomorrow. “It’s as good a place to start as any. Until then, I’ll try to spend as much time with him as possible and insist guards follow me for protection.”

  Father strode to the window. “Except for the venery.”

  I huffed. “Well then, there’s only one solution. I remain in the challenge. How hard can it be? It’s a venery, meaning we’ll be hunting down some kind of animal.”

  Father faced me, the light of morning sunshine behind him giving him an orange glow, softening the worry lines beneath his eyes. “You’re not entering.”

  I climbed off the bed and approached him. “The assassin isn’t after me, but I can be an extra eye on Marcin, tracking other participants in the venery. If he’s shot, we’re all dead. And it’s too late to get our guards to enter. But I’m already in.”

  Aisha was by my side, an arm wrapped around my waist, drawing me into her. “Besides, Selena is kick-ass when it come
s to fighting.”

  Father’s mouth opened, but no words came out at first. He scratched his ear. “We don’t even know why or how your name ended up in the bucket. Someone’s trying to trap you.”

  “Or they just wanted Selena to have a bit of fun,” Aisha said.

  I spun around toward her, watching her back away, a hand clasped to her mouth. “What did you do?”

  “Aisha.” Father’s voice flared, and his whole face shook, hands clenched to his side. “You had no right. You—”

  “I ... I wanted Selena to kick some Hungarian butt before the mating ritual. Zeki told me about the bucket when I wasn’t invited to dinner, so I made a quick detour. I’m sorry. I didn’t know this would happen.”

  “Do you know what you’ve done? The position you’ve put us in?” Father marched closer, but I jutted out an arm to stop him. After last night’s screaming match, Father had grabbed his belt, but when I jumped in to defend Aisha, he had pulled away. Good thing because I wasn’t sure I could ever raise my hand to my father, even if he was gripping a weapon against me.

  “Selena, I’m sorry. I was hoping you’d think it was Marcin, and it might help you two bond. You were inseparable back in Turkey, and I know you still love him. I just want you to be happy.” Tears glossed her eyes.

  “You’re so silly sometimes.” I moved closer and took her into my arms, her head cradled against my neck.

  “Moon Goddess, what have I done wrong to deserve an imbecile for a daughter?” Father stormed around the room. “As if we don’t have enough problems. If we don’t find the culprit who took my daggers, none of us will be going home.”

  The silence was deafening. Entering the tournament would have been fun, especially to have a female represent Daciana, but now the danger radar had just hit the moon.

  A sudden knock had us shooting each other concerned looks.

  Father flinched and headed out of the bedroom. He opened the door.