Wolves and Roses

by Christina Bauer

  I lift my muzzle, showing off the pendant. “I wear this now. As long as I’m alive, you can’t call anyone else out to help you.”

  “So it would seem.” Jules sneers. “But you can’t change who carries a spell and not change some of the rules. I’m sure you noticed how I used wizard magic to take back my dagger.”

  The dagger. My fur stands on end. Jules did use magic to reclaim it. And we were able to change forms from wolf to humans, too.

  Jules raises his hand. Clouds of silver fairy dust appear around his fingers. “You needed to say the full incantation for the spell to take hold. Not that it will do you any good now.”

  A lead weight of dread settles into my stomach. Jules is going to cast another fairy spell on me. When it comes to me, there’s only one spell that Jules likes.

  Those stupid thorns.

  Jules lowers his hands, and the two bands of silver smoke stream out from his palms and head right at me. This time, one slams into my muzzle while the other hits my spine. Both instantly transform into more thorny branches, and these cords are the thickest ones yet, with heavy spikes that pierce my skin. I’m wrapped from snout to tail like a mummy. A cord even loops through my mouth to stop me from speaking.

  I shiver with panic. What made me think I could fight Jules, even as a wolf? I writhe under the thorny bindings, but this time, they’re super-tight. The branches don’t even give an inch.

  It’s over. I’ve lost.

  Jules limps closer until he looms over me. “This is the last time I’ll say this, Bryar Rose. You are a Sleeping Beauty template. Nothing more. And now, you will spend eternity as my obedient wife.”

  At these words, an odd sense of calm washes over me. I’ve spent my life being told who I am and what I can do. Now, I have precious seconds left to live. The last action I take on this earth will be as the person I want to become, not who I’ve been told I am.

  And who do I want to be? Someone with power.

  I’m desperate, so I try something I’ve never done before. I seek out that lockbox of power Colonel Mallory set into my soul. Minutes ago, I saw the colored lights of magic inside that container: shifter, wizard, and fairy.

  I need all of that power now.

  I picture the lockbox in my mind’s eye—it’s a square of dark wood that’s covered in runes. Colored light peeps out along the seams. My wolf was set free from there. More magic still lies inside.

  With all my focus, I order that container to break wide open. In my head, I see the box rattle on its hinges. Cracks form along the seams. Beams of silver, gold, and red light pulse through the thin cracks in its exterior. The lockbox in my soul rattles more fiercely than ever before.

  After that, it bursts open.

  The lid rips off. Light pours out. Strength enters my limbs. I shake off the thorny branches like they were tissue paper. A new kind of power licks across my fur, connecting me with energies that I never knew existed. Multicolored lights pulse around me in a cloud. Fresh energy courses through my soul.

  This is what has been locked up inside me all this time.

  It’s all three kinds of magic.

  Some small corner of my mind cries out that this situation is impossible. I’m regular Bryar Rose, that’s all. I shove those thoughts aside. Somehow these powers got inside me. At this point, it doesn’t really matter how it happened. All I know is that the magic is here, and I will use it.

  “You can’t wield this power,” says Jules. “Stop before you kill yourself.”

  His words smell rancid. On instinct, I know that he’s lying. “Think I can’t handle this power? Watch me.”

  I focus on the cloud of colored magic that encircles me. I imagine the energy flowing into the flagstones that cover the ground. As soon as the thought crosses my mind, the magic heeds my wishes and streams around Jules’ feet. The courtyard stones glow with a mixture of red, silver, and golden light.

  I bare my teeth and command the magic further. “Take him!”

  Branches lined with thorns burst out from under the glowing stones. For a moment, they hover upright, reminding me of a circle of massive rattlesnakes getting ready to strike.

  And they attack.

  The branches loop around Jules, wrapping him up like a mummy. It’s the same way I was confined just a few minutes ago. Jules no longer looks like a man but a humanoid cocoon of wooden thorns. Everything is silent for a few seconds. I stay on alert, knowing Jules may launch a counterstrike.

  Multicolored lights flash out between the breaks in the branches. Jules breaks free. This time, he’s back to his wolf form. He howls, and his voice sounds like a hundred werewolves calling at once. I let out a low snarl. I saw this happen before, when Jules first fought Knox. He said it took him some magic to get all the souls inside him under control. Why would Jules need to get them under control again?

  A ghostly version of a wolf appears by Jules’ side. It’s grey with deep black pits for eyes. Another appears. Then a third.

  That’s when I realize the truth. Jules isn’t getting the other wolves inside him under control. He’s setting them loose. All the spirits that Jules has consumed over the years…they’re now being released to fight me. And I can’t leave the courtyard until the battle is done.

  A hundred spirit wolves stand around Jules. Then ghostly witches and wizards appear. All of them wear dark cloaks and angry faces. Spirits of fairies fill the skies, their wings unfurled and unmoving. They stare at me with hollowed-out eyes.

  Wolf-Jules tenses his muscles. “Attack!”

  Thousands of angry spirits fly at me at once. The wolves chomp onto my legs. The fairies tear at my ears and rip at my tail. The witches and wizards carry daggers that they plunge into my chest. I scan my limbs, looking for the damage. There is none. My body is whole. That reality doesn’t stop their attacks from hurting, just as if each one were really happening.

  And that’s when I realize what they’re doing.

  They’re tearing apart my soul.

  Jules stalks closer, his paws clacking against the stone ground. “Hurts, doesn’t it? Not pleasant to have your spirit destroyed. You should have settled for giving me your body.”

  I crumple onto my knees. The pain is like nothing I’ve ever felt. A thousand bites, slices, and tears overwhelm me at once.

  I turn my focus inward, back to that lockbox of power. It’s still there and strong.

  Jules is wrong. They didn’t destroy my soul.

  Arching my neck, I let loose the mother of all howls. The sound is deafening. The forest shakes. Windows in the hotel crash inward. Colored lights surround me. The flashes of brightness expand. Soon a shifting cloud of red, gold, and silver brightness covers the courtyard. The spirits hover in place, their hollow eyes locked on me. I’m not sure what those gazes mean, but they look surprisingly like hope.

  There’s one figure who isn’t frozen by the mist. Jules returns to his human form, his hands balled into fists. “I’ll kill you, Bryar Rose.”

  Rage heats my bloodstream. This man is evil, through and through. All of a sudden, it’s crystal clear what this has always been about. My power. It’s why Jules wanted to consume my abilities in the first place. It’s why Colonel Mallory hid my powers with this lockbox and Slumber Beast spell. It’s why my aunties pretended I was human and weak. There’s no doubt in my mind. The source of all my pain has been Jules. And I’m not the only one he’s hurt. These many tortured souls hover around me now, and I know they’re asking for release.

  The worst of all his crimes is that Jules killed Knox. I pace at the courtyard floor, my wolf body rippling with fury. I turn to face Jules head on. “This is over. Now.”

  The lights flare more brightly than ever before. All the spirits in the clouds fade away, smiling as they vanish. That’s not what happens to Jules, though. He’s still in human form as the colored lights enter his body. Brightness erupts under skin and turns into fire. The flames engulf him. Within seconds, Jules is nothing but a small pile of ashes. With
him, the colored lights vanish as well.

  Jules is dead. Did I really kill him with magic?

  I suppose I did. But what does that mean? I shake my head. The answer to that question lies in the Book of Magic. Until it’s fully translated, there isn’t much I can do. I already know what my abilities bring, and it’s nothing good. From my aunties to Philpot, my otherworldly gifts have only attracted trouble. Even worse, those I love are getting targeted too.

  I make a solemn vow.

  Until I fully understand my magic, I will never speak of it to another soul. No one saw what happened today. No one needs to know. Besides, I have more important things to worry about right now, like getting out of here with Knox’s body.

  Behind me, Knox moans softly. Every nerve ending in my body goes on alert. He’s still alive? I quickly return to my human form, which means I’m totally naked. Fortunately, Jules’ old military coat lies nearby, so I quickly put it on and kneel beside Wolf-Knox. “You’re alive.” I kiss the top of his head. “I’ll get you out of here. Don’t worry.” I scan his wounds. No improvement.

  I check the pockets of Jules’ coat, hoping to find a cell phone or car key. There’s nothing. I scan the old hotel. Maybe there are some sheets in there or a cot that I could use to roll Knox to safety. It’s not much of a plan, but it could work.

  Suddenly, hundreds of Denarii come pouring out of the hotel and onto the courtyard. They’re in different kinds of dress. Some modern. Some in togas. Others wear ratty wigs and tattered long coats. All of them are filthy. They have the sunken-in cheekbones and gray skin that you’d expect from a pack of zombies.

  These are Jules’ Denarii. They couldn’t leave the hotel before because I was still alive and the spell was in action.

  Well, Jules must definitely be dead now, because a whole zombie army is coming for us. To add insult to injury, Blanche is leading the group. She holds a kitchen cleaver in her right hand and has bloodlust in her eyes. Clearly, she still wants a bite of me. Actually, looking at her greedy face, I think she wants more than just one bite.

  Closing my eyes, I focus on the lockbox of magic inside my soul. I opened it before; I can do it again. I order the container to release its power.

  Nothing happens.

  “Come on!” I try again, but it’s the same result. Zero magic. I can still feel the energy inside me, but I can’t make it come out. And the Denarii are closing in.

  Guess I’ll have to go with Plan B.

  I pick up Jules’ dagger from the flagstones. Somehow in all the craziness, this one thing survived. It’s not much, but it’s what I’ve got. I move into a battle stance. All my lessons in self-defense tick through my mind. I can take down five or ten of these guys, easy. After that, I’ll wing it. This is a bizarre situation, after all. Who knows what’s possible? A voice sounds in my head.

  “Protect our mate.” From the bottom of my soul, I know my wolf is speaking to me in my mind.

  I reply. “I will.”

  As the Denarii close in, I have a grim but satisfying thought. And if I should fail here, at least I’ll go down at my alpha’s side.

  No, at my mate’s side.

  This isn’t the ending to any fairy tale template, but I’m not sure I want to follow someone else’s path anymore.

  This time, the choice is mine.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Knox

  Damn, every part of my body hurts.

  I force my eyes open a crack. What I see is almost more painful. Bry stands before me in some kind of military jacket. Her body is covered in scratches. A long knife is gripped in her fist.

  And hundreds of Denarii are racing right for us.

  But that doesn’t make any sense. The only way the Denarii in the hotel could be released is if Jules or Bry were dead. And I’m certainly breathing, which means Bryar Rose must have taken down Jules. I passed out after the dick jammed a knife in my ribs.

  “Strong mate. Strong cubs.”

  Leave it to my inner wolf to focus on cubs at this moment.

  I try to get back on all fours, but with two back legs broken, even trying to set some weight on them kills me. I grit my teeth. There must be enough shifter healing left in me so that I can die on my feet by my mate. I groan and push up onto my front paws. After that, I freeze.

  A strange shadow just passed through the shadows from the rising moon.

  I smile. I’ve only seen shadows like that once before. It’s a dragon.

  Colonel Mallory is here.

  A cool sense of relief moves through me. We’ve got some serious help in this fight. Now that a path was cut through the forest, it must have weakened the magic enough to let Colonel Mallory through. And dragons can do a lot of damage. Maybe not take down an entire army of the undead solo, but I’ll take all the help I can get.

  A low hum echoes above my head. That’s the dragon’s fire starter. Seconds later, a shaft of flames cuts a circle around Bry and me. The Denarii howl and hang back. They don’t run away, though.

  Their mistake.

  Bry shields her eyes and watches Colonel Mallory swoop across the sky. He’s a massive black dragon with red spikes along his spine. Another hum sounds before he blasts a wide path through the thorn forest. Looks like they did more than weaken the magic there; they figured out how to blow it away.

  Bry firms up her grip on the dagger and stares at the Denarii army. They now stand in a circle around us. With Colonel Mallory’s dragon off frying the forest, they’ve started to inch in closer.

  “What’s Colonel Mallory doing?” asks Bry. “We need him here.”

  The Denarii move even closer. There are women in long gowns, men in top hats, and even a few Roman soldiers. They all look like hell warmed over. Literally.

  I force myself to fully stand. Pain spikes through my back limbs, making it hard to think. What I could really use is Alec and one of his healing spells. It doesn’t look like that’s happening anytime soon, though. I raise my head and howl.

  “I’ll kill you if you step closer.” It’s a total lie, but the Denarii don’t know that.

  “And I’ve got your back.” Bry’s words send a welcome jolt of warmth through me. I can picture her beside me, wearing that ridiculous military jacket that hangs down to her knees, gripping a small dagger against hundreds of walking mummies. She’s perfect.

  My wolf pipes up inside my head. “Protect mate.”

  “I’m trying, buddy.”

  The Denarii move even closer. They growl and reach for us. It’s like something out of a bad zombie movie, only this is real. Moving as one unit, they leap at us. Teeth bite into my fur; hands claw at my back. Bry lets out a battle yell.

  That’s when the stones of the courtyard start vibrating beneath us.

  Someone’s coming.

  The moment one of the Denarii touch Bry, I lose my damn mind. Adrenaline pumps through my system. Maybe a little magic, too. I leap into battle and sink my claws into the Denarii, tearing them off her.

  That’s when the pack arrives.

  Thousands of werewolves crest over the horizon of the now burned-down forest. So that’s what Colonel Mallory was up to—clearing a path for a werewolf army. Azizi leads the charge and looks happy as I’ve ever seen him. He’s wanted me to become alpha of alphas for ages. If I live through this, I’ll owe all these wolves anything, and alpha of alphas is what they want. At this moment, I’m so happy to see them, nothing else matters.

  The horde of werewolves pours onto the courtyard and tears into the Denarii. The undead who were attacking me and Bry get torn to shreds. For the first time in hours, I take in a relieved breath. My body decides to call it quits on me, though. I hit a massive adrenaline crash and collapse onto the ground. Bryar Rose kneels beside me.

  Azizi trots closer. “Guard Bryar Rose! Destroy the Denarii!” Dozens of wolves fan out around Bry and me, creating a protective circle. It’s one of the best things I’ve seen in years.

  With sure steps, Azizi approaches me. There’
s the mother of all smug grins on his face. “We saved you.”

  “Close. If you see Alec, send him my way.”

  Az turns to Bry. “You must be Knox’s mate.”

  I wince. I’m almost dead, but this conversation makes me shudder. How can Azizi be pushing the mate thing right now? Bry just shifted for the first time.

  “My mate?” Bry grins. “My wolf thinks so; that’s for certain.”

  My brows lift. Her wolf thinks so? This is about the best news I’ve heard in forever.

  Alec steps into our circle. “I see I have to save your lazy ass again, Knox.” Per usual, he looks perfect in some kind of modified black body armor. I’m sure the stuff is tricked out with more pockets than you’d believe.

  Alec is here at last. I could kiss him, too. The bastard.

  I’d say something smartass to Alec about showing up late, but I’m just too happy to see him. Plus, my back legs hurt like you wouldn’t believe.

  Bry folds her arms over her chest and glares at Alec. “Save his lazy ass? Stop being sarcastic and help him. He’s really hurt.”

  Alec kneels beside me. Sure enough, he zips open the top of his black body armor and checks the hidden pockets. He takes way too long fishing around for my taste. “Hmm.” Alec eyes my wounds. “You look like you’re healing up just fine.”

  Bry Rose leans over me. “You are getting better. You weren’t before.”

  Alec gives me a sly look. “Got any good news lately?”

  “Zip it and heal me. My back legs are broken.” Alec knows damn well that mated pairs get a boost in all kinds of power, including healing. He’s just being a dick. “Fix me fast before you have to re-break my legs again.”

  “Fine. Baby.” Alec kneels before me and raises his fist. Red light shines inside his palm. A chill surrounds me as the magic sets in. My bones straighten and mend. Open wounds close up on their own. Within a few seconds, I’m back to my regular self.

  “Thanks, man.”

  “Any time.”

  Bry scans the courtyard. “Where is Elle? Is she with you?”