by Kamryn Hart
What could I do to stall? Did any of it matter? Would I survive long enough to recharge on the full moon? Would I be allowed to? Was the Mate Claim permanent? My werewolf education was sketchy at best.
I couldn’t wait much longer. I needed to somehow slip away from the prince, grab the parcel I left in that room with the maid, and sneak out of this place. Running and hiding was my only option, my only chance. I had to fade away into the night.
CHAPTER 7
SORISSA
I LET CHARLES DRAG me back through the open halls. My eyes wandered, looking for any possible escape routes. It didn’t look any better than the last time I came through. There were werewolf soldiers standing guard everywhere. I didn’t know for sure if I could outrun them or not, but it seemed I would have to put my speed to the test. I didn’t know the exact details of what Charles had in store for me, but I wasn’t going to play along. Not anymore.
Living here with how these werewolves treated me was a worse fate than death. I wanted no part of it, and I refused to be their prisoner.
My arm felt like it was on fire. I jerked back, trying to escape Charles’s grip, but all I did was wrench my arm worse. It was unfair that the base strength of males was so superior to mine. I could have used a trick of some sort to get free, like hitting a weak point, but I wasn’t very experienced in that kind of combat. Underhanded combat. I relied on strength just like these males seemed to. I did know basics. Eyes, neck, soft parts of the body were good to aim for. This dress and these heels hindered my movements, but I’d likely have to try it. It didn’t look like I was going to be lucky enough to find a break in the guards. When was the best time to act? Where and when would I have the best chance to escape? Yes, I would rather die than live here, but that didn’t mean I wanted to die.
When we passed the room my parcel was in, I asked, “Where are we going?”
“To my bedchamber,” he replied.
“To claim me?”
“Yes.”
“What does that entail?”
“It entails you being bonded to me for the rest of my life,” he said in a bored tone. “You’ll bear my cubs and bring wealth to the entire kingdom. It’s like my father said.”
“Don’t I get a say in this?” I asked, and I hated how my voice trembled with the question. I was angry, but I was also scared.
“No. Everyone’s convinced the last male vampire is dead. Werewolves are on top right now. Paws Peak will rise to the very top and become the High Kingdom. We’ll rule what’s left of the world. Then we’ll make sure the vampires are extinct. Once the war ends, we’ll start rebuilding the world, make the badlands livable again. You’re a key component in all of this. You’ll mother a new generation of powerful werewolves because you’re the Moonlight Child. When I claim you, the entire world will know of your return and that you belong to us, Lost Princess, and Wolf Bridge will have to see reason.”
“No!” I exclaimed. “I won’t let you claim me.”
“You don’t have a choice.” He pushed me forward, trapping me against a gray wall as he fumbled with a door to my left. “Guards, clear out so my new princess and I can have some privacy.”
The guards in the area bowed and began to leave without a word. Just like that. This was it. My chance was coming.
He wrapped his arm around my waist and squeezed when he got the door open. He lifted me off my feet and knocked the air out of my lungs at the same time. My vision was darkening around the edges; between Charles and the corset, I was barely able to take in any oxygen.
I sucked in a breath of air when he deposited me stomach first on his large bed. It was even bigger than the bed in the room my parcel was in, making it far less utilitarian. I felt tension at my back and heard ripping fabric as Charles laid into the yellow dress and the deadly corset. I could breathe normally again. I tried to take in big gulps of air to regain my strength quickly, but Charles pressed me into the bed, making it hard to move. I attempted to kick him, but my legs were locked in between him and the bed. I screamed, but he pressed my face down into the yellow duvet covering the mattress, muffling the sound. Then I felt a sharp pain explode between my neck and right shoulder.
This time my screams were involuntary. The pain got worse and worse as he sunk his teeth deep into my flesh. I had been bitten by a grizzly bear before, but this was somehow much worse. It was as if his teeth were iron heated in burning coals. Tears stung my eyes, and I dug my fingers into the bed, grabbing fistfuls of the soft fabric that promised luxury, but it was all a lie.
The prince moved the skirt of the dress and caressed my thigh as he pressed every hard edge of his body into me. He rolled his hips against my butt. I winced as the buckle of a belt or some other hard metal on his crisp outfit jabbed into my sensitive flesh. Then his weight lifted, slightly. There was a clink and swish of fabric. I knew this was my chance. I used all of my strength to push off the bed, and I kicked. I kicked him right in between the legs with a well-placed and pointed heel. He let out a high-pitched wail as he crumpled to the ground.
I wasted no time shaking off those hindering shoes, hopped off the bed, and ran. The yellow dress I wore was in tatters and falling around me. I ripped off what got in my way as I reached the door and fled the room. Charles growled at me and screamed, “Bitch, get back here! Guards!”
I slammed the door to stall for time. The hall was clear because of Charles’s previous command. I picked the direction I was fairly certain would lead me back to the room where Babaga’s parcel was hidden.
Hot blood dripped from my neck. The torn skirt of the yellow dress caught under my feet, and I almost tripped. I ripped more fabric away, revealing the puffy white underclothes covering my thighs. I felt sluggish, and my feet almost turned me back around. There was this tugging feeling that stemmed from that bite, like the farther I got away from Charles, the worse it hurt. Or like I was a runaway marionette tied to a string that wouldn’t stop tugging. I ignored the painful tugging and pressed forward.
The room my parcel was in wasn’t far. I didn’t run into any soldiers and was able to slip in unseen. No one was inside. The room was dark and empty. I navigated the dark with my hands outstretched, found the bed, and reclaimed my parcel. It was untouched, just how I left it.
With my parcel in hand, I snuck to the door and opened it a crack. I didn’t see anyone, but I could hear the distant echoes of werewolves on the move throughout the large halls.
I exited the room and ran. My feet slapped against the polished floor, producing my own distinct echo. It rang in my ears louder and louder with each step I took. I was about to round a corner, but then I saw soldiers farther down. I looked behind me and caught a glimpse of Charles. His hazel eyes were gleaming, and he let loose an angry howl.
I was trapped.
CHAPTER 8
TODD
IT WAS CHILLY OUTSIDE but stuffy inside the roader. Caspian set up a camouflage tarp that worked great with the trees we were hidden in. They were already greener than the last time we had been here a week ago, providing better coverage. Paws Peak couldn’t see us, and we couldn’t see them, but I was close enough to connect to the four spires, one actually. Now I just had to hack into their system.
Sweat beaded on my forehead. I wiped it away with the back of my hand and stared at the glowing screen of my pactputer. I returned my hand to the detachable keyboard and typed in a few more lines of code. I said I could get inside, and I could, but I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I hadn’t done it before. I practiced for it, using the information we gathered last time we were here, but practice was always different from the real thing. I was getting close, though. The last step was to plague the spires, and the entire Paws Peak system, with my virus.
That was why I was sweating. My virus was also untested. I didn’t think there was any better time to test it, but the Lost Princess was a big deal to everyone else. I knew she should be a big deal to me too. She was, in a way, but I didn’t really want to acknowledge her existence or w
hat it meant for the rest of us. Namely, me and my tech.
Things were going fine before she popped up out of nowhere. I was working on my tech, improving it in peace, and now the whole world was probably going to get destroyed before I even realized half of my potential. I was well on my way to revolutionizing technology, and it was all for nothing. I didn’t care if generations after me got to use it or not, but I did want to live for at least an average werewolf lifespan of three hundred years, creating and discovering. With the Lost Princess found, all I could see in my near future was the end of the world. For that, I decided I hated her.
I didn’t care about “saving” the princess. I cared about my virus working and doing its job.
I entered a new line of code and watched the pieces snap into place. I was in. I glanced over my shoulder at Caspian. Unlike Rodrick and Aerre, readying our weapons and checking our supplies in the back of the roader, he was intent on watching me. He was looking at the pactputer screen with a grin on his face, his teeth a stark white compared to his black skin. Could he read into my code? Did he know I was inside a spire and therefore connected to the entire system? Anytime my Phantom Fangs teammates made expressions and didn’t use words, I questioned what they meant. Even when they did use words, I often questioned what they meant. Unlike machines and tech, they were hard to pin down because they could lie and feel emotion.
“You close?” Caspian asked. He didn’t know. I read him wrong.
“I’m in,” I informed. “I can loop their visual feed so you three can go in unnoticed.”
“You’re brilliant, you know that?”
In fact, I did, but I learned agreeing with things like that or saying things like that didn’t make decent relationships. The only kind of relationships I wanted were those that amounted to me not being bothered any more than necessary. Emotions were an annoyance I tried to ignore.
“One problem,” I said as I studied my screen. “The Paws Peak system is taxing my virus. I’m not going to have control for long. You’ll have to be quick before it’s overwhelmed and Paws Peak discovers our presence.”
“Great. How long?” Caspian asked.
“An hour tops, but I’d halve that to be safe.” I searched through and saved information from the enemy system while I was linked up to it. It was a good idea to harvest as much information as I could during the time limit. One day I might be able to control the Paws Peak system for good if I understood it better. And, right now, Phantom Fangs needed a map. Paws Peak wasn’t small.
“Intelibands on and ready to go?” I asked.
“Ready,” Caspian, Rodrick, and Aerre replied in unison.
“I’m downloading a generic map of the kingdom and a detailed map of the castle. Done and uploading. Should be accessible any second now.”
“Got it,” Caspian said.
I watched as my teammates each drew up the map as a 3D hologram from the handy piece of tech I developed to wear easily on the wrist. Intelibands weren’t as powerful as my pactputer. They didn’t have the power to do anything on their own. My pactputer was their central hub, but they were handy sources of information as long as I kept them updated and relevant to the task at hand.
“Commsbuds check,” I said and waited as my teammates inserted the pebble-sized tech into one of their ears. I pressed my own commsbud into my ear, activating a temporary audio feed that would transmit to the commsbuds linked to mine—thanks to my pactputer again.
“Testing.”
“Received.”
We were good on my end, so I returned my attention to my pactputer screen as my teammates suited up in dark, bulletproof combat gear and equipped themselves with tactical belts, packs, and weapons.
It was ironic. The Paws Peak system wasn’t half as sophisticated as the one I modified and practically rebuilt in Wolf Bridge. I figured attaching my virus to one spire would be enough, and it mostly was. Paws Peak didn’t have a central hub. Everything I did revolved around a single, powerful source that reached out its digital brainwaves to digital limbs. In Wolf Bridge, that was the Heart. Paws Peak had a weaker system because the four spires had to communicate and take on tasks equally. I was offsetting the balance because my little virus wasn’t prepared to stretch itself between all four spires. One spire dealt with surveillance, and that was the one I commandeered since it was the only one I needed for this mission.
Maybe I could make adjustments to my virus and assimilate the towers into one control center. I’d work on it, but I’d also operate under the assumption that the alarms were going to sound on us before too long because part of the problem was my pactputer. The tech field it emitted was as strong as it was going to get. If I could have packed up the Heart and brought it here, this would have been a different story.
“We’re lucky the castle is built so close to the east side of the wall,” Aerre commented. “Shouldn’t have to do much navigating through the kingdom towns. Who knows how long that would take. Now, if only we’ll be lucky enough to get to the princess before she’s claimed.”
“Stop bitching, Aerre,” Rodrick said.
“Don’t wait on me,” I said quickly. “I’m good.”
“Then we’re heading out,” Caspian concluded.
The three Phantom Fangs members opened and slammed doors shut again as they exited the roader. I rubbed my ears as they popped. It was like getting sealed away into an airless, noiseless bag. When the team was near, there was an imbalance of noise, peaks and drops. When it was me, the roader, and my tech, it was the ambiance of a consistent dull, mechanical thrum.
I stared out a portion of a window that wasn’t covered by the camouflage tarp. Phantom Fangs was quickly disappearing into new foliage. Soon, they were out of sight. This strange sensation filled my chest as if my heart had dropped from its designated spot. I didn’t like watching their back, but I hated it most when they were completely out of sight. I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t understand my own emotions because I tried to ignore them.
Turning my attention back to my pactputer screen, I focused on my agenda: keep Phantom Fangs safe from prying eyes and therefore rescue the Lost Princess of Howling Sky. That, I could do.
CHAPTER 9
SORISSA
THERE HAD TO BE a way to escape. I didn’t want to get captured again when I had been free for mere minutes. There were werewolf soldiers in front of me, and Charles was behind me. I spotted a shadowed nook I had almost overlooked. It wasn’t a dead end like I would have thought at a glance. It was the beginning of a narrow staircase. I ran for it.
“Bitch, get back here!” Charles bellowed. “I will make you submit. I’ll make you beg for me.”
His voice bounced off the polished walls of the hall but quickly silenced as I descended the spiraling staircase. My fingers brushed across gritty stones that didn’t match the rest of the castle. There was a distinct musty smell that assaulted my nose. When I reached the bottom, a labyrinth of catacombs was waiting for me. I picked a random direction and ran. I knew I was still being followed, but the sounds were muffled down here, less abrasive. The floor was a dampener of dirt and decaying stone. I took a right and ran into the rusty bars of old cells and almost dropped Babaga’s parcel. I startled when I came face to face with an emaciated female. Her hair was wild and ratted. Her eyes were bloodshot.
“You lost?” she hissed.
I scrambled backward just to hit another cell.
“I think she’s lost,” a voice from behind me said.
I yelped in surprise and looked behind me to see another female. They weren’t werewolf. They weren’t human. Their scent tickled my nose and made my hackles rise involuntarily. They laughed at me and licked their lips, showing sharp and pointed teeth like daggers: vampires.
Another female screeched from down the winding corridor. Their skin was varying shades of gray as if they lost all pigment. They were nothing but skin and bones and their eyes bulged. They were like living corpses, not the proud, beautiful creatures I read about
in… I berated myself for always going back to fairytales. They had no place in this world.
“I-I need help,” I admitted, not that I was sure these vampires could do anything to help me or that they’d want to.
The vampires in the cells across from each other cackled in unison.
“A werewolf asking for our help. That’s a first. Are you the reason the guards are down here for the first time in a week? Your dress is in a sorry state.”
“I’m not one of them,” I said vehemently.
That area between my neck and right shoulder pulsed angrily like a throbbing vein about to explode. I pressed my hand to the sore spot and winced. Warm blood coated my fingers and my body flushed with heat. It was tugging at me again, urging me to go back in the direction I came—urging me to return to the prince. What had he done to me? I shook my head and ignored the absurd thought.
“I’ll break you out,” I offered. I could have really used some temporary allies.
The vampires screeched and giggled. I wished they’d keep it down. I was pretty sure I could hear footsteps coming this way.
“Perhaps you could free us with your moonlight form, werea, but then we’d kill you for everything your species has done to ours.”
“I’m not one of them,” I said, exasperated.
“All werewolves are the same.”
Giving up, I said, “Never mind. I’ll figure this out on my own.”
The vampires continued their cackling as I ran, determined to lose my pursuers.
“Run, little werea,” the vampires sang. “Run.”
I was lost.
My feet were cut and bleeding from all the running combined with the unforgiving rocks jutting out of the dungeon ground. I fell back against a grabby rock wall and sat down. The tattered dress I wore was barely covering me, doing little to protect me from the chill. It was filthy. No one would have ever known it was once a bright yellow.