We were so close, only to run out of time in the end.
The Wolf hit the door with just enough room to slide out, lowering his head to dart beneath the opening. But instead of going through, he slammed his broad shoulders into the bottom edge, splaying his feet to brace himself in the opening. Panting, he locked his legs against the frame and heaved up against the inevitable push of the door, and amazingly, the huge stone rectangle ground to a halt. Wraiths crowded around him, grabbing his legs and fur, leaping onto his back. He snarled and snapped at them, but didn’t move from his position in the doorway, and the ghostly figures could not budge him.
Slashing at wraiths, I reached the doorway first and whirled around, waiting for Puck and Ariel a. Wraiths followed them, clawing and grabbing. One snagged Ariel a by the hair, yanking her back, but Puck’s dagger sliced down, cutting through its hand and pushing Ariel a on. She stumbled into me, and I caught her before she could fall.
“Puck—” She gasped, turning in my arms.
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“I’m fine, Ari!” Puck howled, leaping back from the crowding wraiths.
“Just go!”
I nodded and released her. “Go,” I repeated, echoing Puck. “We’re right behind you.”
She rolled beneath the door, barely avoiding a banshee that lurched out of the f loor. I stabbed the wraith through the head and glanced at Puck.
He was backing down the corridor, stabbing at hands and dodging the fingers that grabbed for him.
“Geez, you guys. I know I’m popular and all, but seriously, you’re a bit too co-dependent for me. I’m going to need you to step away from my personal bubble.” A wispy vine-woman curled ivy tendrils around his arm, and he sliced through them with his dagger. “No! Bad wraith! No touchie!”
“Will you get over here?” I shouted, stabbing a redcap clinging to my leg.
Puck gave a final swipe with his dagger and lunged toward the door, scrambling through the opening. I turned to help the Wolf.
He was covered in wraiths, so many that I could barely see him through the ghostly figures. And more were f loating up, rising out of the f loor and coming through the walls, trying to drag us back into the room. An ogre lunged through the wall from behind, reaching for my arm, and I twisted away.
“Don’t worry about me,” the Wolf snarled. “Just go!” 233/387
I sliced through a ghostly sidhe knight that reminded me faintly of Rowan. He dissolved instantly but began reforming as soon as my blade passed through his body. “I’m not leaving you here to die.”
“Foolish prince!” The Wolf glared back at me, baring his fangs. “This is your story. You must reach the end of it. This is why I came—to ensure the story would go on.” He snapped at a goblin near his face, and the thing erupted into a misty cloud. “The wraiths cannot leave the temple, it seems, but they are not letting me through, either. Go now, while there is still time!”
“Ash!” Puck called from the other side of the door. “Come on, ice-boy, what are you waiting for?”
I gave the Wolf one last glance, then dove through the opening, rolling to my feet on the other side. The wraiths wailed, crowding beneath the door, reaching out for us, but they could not get past the threshold.
The Wolf panted, shaking from the strain of holding the door and the dozens of bodies that tugged and yanked at him. “Get going, prince,” he growled, looking me in the eye. “You cannot help me now. Finish your quest, complete the story, and don’t forget to mention me when you pass it on. That was our bargain.” I stared at the Wolf, my mind churning, trying to think of a way to help him. But the Wolf was right; there was nothing we could do. Raising my sword, I gave him a solemn salute. “I won’t forget what you’ve done.”
“Pah!” The Wolf, despite the strain, bared his teeth in a disdainful laugh. “You think this will kill me, boy? You should know better than that. Nothing in this pitiful gauntlet can harm me. Nothing.” 234/387
I seriously doubted that. The Wolf was strong, and he was immortal, but he could be killed. He could die, same as anything else.
“Now, go,” he told us, a hint of irritation creeping into his voice. “I’m getting tired of watching you gape like a herd of startled deer. I will hold the door for your return, assuming we will have to come back the same way. Nothing will move me until we are done here for good.”
“How very…doglike,” said Grimalkin, appearing beside Ariel a, gazing at the Wolf in disdain. “Brave. Loyal. And ultimately stupid.” The Wolf panted, baring his teeth. “You wouldn’t understand, cat,” he growled, curling a lip in his own show of contempt. “Your kind knows nothing of loyalty.”