Red and Her Wolf (Kingdom, #3)

Tap. Taptaptaptap. Taptap.

Danika nibbled her lip. She was much too exposed. What if the keeper had left? What if he’d been discovered? What if… Squeezing her eyes shut, she blocked out the incessant questions and tapped her foot.

He’d come.

A groove in the rock, little more than a jagged edge, shifted. A narrow pinprick of an opening soon grew into a hole large enough for her to pass through. Cool air emanated deep from within the earth, brushing past her face and making her break out in goose pimples.

“Who goes there?” A voice, hollow and deep, boomed from the cavernous depths.

“Goblin, it is I, Danika of the fae,” she said, proud that her voice did not quiver. Though the same could not be said for her knees.

“Danika,” the goblin growled, “tribute first.”

She clenched her teeth. Of course he wouldn’t care that she was exposed. That any moment Malvena might discover Mir’s whereabouts; which every moment she stood outside, threatened not only herself, but the whole of Kingdom.

None of that mattered though, because the stupid goblin must have tribute.

“Fine,” she muttered, yanking her wand from her sleeve and with a swish and flick produced a mound of rotten, stinking silver streaked fish. “There, you putrid, slimy toad. Now let me pass!”

“Proceed,” the disembodied voice poured through the hole, blasting her face with the fetid stench of decay.

Wrinkling her nose, she covered her mouth, and flitted inside, following a winding staircase down deep into the heart of the rock. There was no light. But there didn’t need to be. Danika knew the path well; she’d met Miriam here many times.

Her pulse rate decreased the deeper she went into the shelter of the earth. Quickly, she ran down the steps, smile growing wider with each step, until finally she spied the mirror.

Well, mirror wasn’t the right word. It was a looking glass of sorts, though in no way resembled a mirror. Long ago she’d learned to hide the amulet by altering its true form. If anyone, let alone the Ten, knew she still communicated with a shunned fairy, Danika’s life as she knew it would be over. She’d be thrown into the fiery dungeon and stripped of her wings.

She shuddered. She was rather partial to her wings. Thank you very much.

Still, the fear of reprisal didn’t stop her from her monthly check-ins with Mir. Glancing both ways--habits died hard--Danika rubbed her hand across the golden genie lamp.

Immediately an image flickered, and then a grim face stared back at her. “Oh, Mir,” Danika gasped, “what has happened to you?”

In the span of a month, Miriam had gone from looking fleshed out and rosy of cheek, to gaunt and withered. Her eyes were sunken in and rimmed in purple. Her hair was lackluster in color, differing shades of gray and brown. And though every fairy could change their true form, all fairies could see through the magic. This was Miriam, as she really looked.

“My friend. My friend,” Danika patted the cold metal screen. “Och…”

Miriam gave her a weak smile. “I’m tired, Dani. Aye, verra tired. No more, no less.”

“What has happened, my dear?”

Mir closed her eyes for a brief moment and rubbed her nose. “Times have gotten worse. Malvena,” she shook her head, “I donna ken how, but she’s found us. I’ve killed three wolves now already, not a fortnight ago.”

Danika tsked. “Does Violet know?”

“Nay,” Miriam shook her head, “I’ve been careful. I don’t think she’s seen one yet. But it’s only a matter of time. Her memories return clearer every day.”

Danika sighed. “Was that wise, Mir? Allowing her memories to return? What if you just kept her hidden longer?”

“How long?!” Miriam sneered, thin nose curling up. “We run, always the same thing. I’m tired, worn down. So is she. We cannot keep this up. But she is strong; I see the magic building in her. Soon she’ll be strong enough to hunt Malvena herself.”

Lips thinning, Danika rocked on her heels. “You know the Ten will not like this. Galeta said you were never to return. It--”

“Galeta knows nothing of the truth. Esmeralda saw it, years ago, she knows. It is time, Dani.” Miriam’s brows drew together sharply.

“Yes, but is this wise, dear one? Did we go about this the wrong way? Should we have told Violet everything? Maybe if we had…”

“Nay, my friend. She must discover the truths on her own, only then will she make the right choice. In the end, the choice is hers. The safety of Kingdom rests in the palms of her wee hands.”

A chill breeze caressed Danika’s cheek. She glanced up at the wet black rock, remembering that awful night of long ago. So many choices they’d made since then; keeping Ewan from her, never letting Violet know the truth, allowing her to believe a lie. Had they made the right choices?