Noa
The great hall was worse than I’d imagined, echoing with the loneliness of a crypt, long forgotten. I shuddered at what felt like boney fingers crawling up my spine. Around the raised dais, thick shadows hovered, allowing only a glint of bronze—a slice of reflected light, warning me of the sacrificial fire bowl where Amal burned the alpha skins. Where she tried to destroy the wolves.
A stench like rotting meat bothered my nose, bare whiffs that had my head turning in different directions, tracking down the source. The reek bounced from every corner, followed by the sweet scent of candles—a sickening white lily scent, the symbol of purity, innocence, and beauty.
A tall candle sconce tipped, clattering to the stone floor, and as if to deny the scent, a broken candle rolled drunkenly.
Angel stared, not at the movement, but through the surrounding murkiness.
Slowly, I reached over my shoulder, readied an arrow. “What do you see?” My lips barely moved.
“What do you sense?” she answered back.
I sensed…
“Illusion.” Raising the bow, I sighted down the arrow shaft, searching for a wavering light. This hall disoriented, the way the witch cave had, with the Gemini Witches sitting on golden thrones and the torchiers guttering with shifting light.
Something was here.
An energy coiled beneath the floor like the penultimate predator, mesmerizing with a dread that had me glancing at Angel. She was placing one foot in front of the other, turning as she stared through the dulling light.
The energy shifted, moving from beneath the floor to the walls, a shadow seeking an outlet. I thought of the hybrids that had chased Njal through the tunnel beneath High Citadel. The shadows… a chill wind touched my face, ancient and dry. A scouring rasp that sent a tremor through me.
“Show yourself,” I ordered.
A brittle laugh echoed from the surrounding dark.
“Hybrid,” Angel warned.
Anger tingled against my palms, mixing with the sweat that slicked the bow. I resettled my grip. “What do you want?”
Not that I was interested. An answer would give his location away. And I still wasn’t sure how much of this was real, and what was an illusion cast by Amal. A lure to draw my attention away from the actual threat.
The laugh again, guttural as if the hybrid was no longer a man but entirely wolf.
Angel said, “To the left.”
I turned my head. The bow moved with me; the bowstring was tight against my cheek. My fingers curled with the delicate hold I’d learned decades ago. Let the bowstring sing to you, an instructor had advised.
But that advice fled as the hybrid emerged from the shadows, the way the moon emerges from behind thick clouds. There and not there until the very real wreck of black, wiry fur came into focus. The wolf was six feet tall, with long legs and a sunken stomach beneath the boney rib cage. Foul breath wrinkled my nose. Chipped, yellowed canines curved like scythes. The eyes were red—not bloodshot, not weary from lack of sleep. A vampire’s eyes. Glowing coals in a soulless dark.
He circled, maintaining a distance between us—a taunt? A strategy—because I could syphon? Drain the life from him if he got too close?
Angel stood at my back. “He draws your attention,” she whispered.
“While the attack comes from behind,” I said. “How many?”
“Enough to get the job done. They’re not here, yet.”
“Buying time?”
“Clock’s ticking,” she said. “Don’t hesitate.”
The bow creaked as I drew back. The bowstring cut into my fingertips. I aimed for the left eye—my tribute to Angel—although I doubted that she’d see it my way. But from where I stood, with the hybrid turning his head toward me, I had a clean shot. If I missed the eye, I’d hit close to the left ear. His throat. The mass of his body. A shot to any or all would slow the creature down long enough for Angel to strike.
Black lips curled upward, exposing pink gums. Slather pooled and dribbled from the matted black hair, spiking from the massive jaws.
He growled, a low threat, and something primal in me jerked with the urgent need to run, to throw aside the bow and find a door to slam, a hiding place where I’d be safe.
