Red and Her Wolf (Kingdom, #3)

Lips twisting, he looked over his shoulders, studying the unnatural calm of the woods. The witch wouldn’t come tonight; he’d not smelled her rot and Violet needed him.

Sitting, he crossed his ankles, and studied her. She didn’t blink.

“Who am I?”

Needing to touch her, to comfort her anyway he could, he grabbed her hand. Expecting she’d yank it away and hiss at him, she flinched, but didn’t pull back.

“Yer the Heartsong.”

Gathering a corner of her hem, she dabbed at her eyes. “But what is that? Can you help me? Can you tell me the truth?”

For just a moment he understood why everyone had lied to her, because he was tempted to tell her nonsense himself. Perhaps to spare her feelings, or just because he was a coward and didn’t want to face anymore of her hate. He sighed, and tenderly rubbed her knuckles, amazed she let him.

“I don’t know all of it,” he began, and her eyes grew hopeful, “but yer the result of fairy magic.”

“Grandmother told me I was born of fairy magic, that it made me kind and gentle.... and…” she frowned when he shook his head.

“Jana was a liar, lass.”

She looked away. “I keep forgetting. That.”

She looked so fragile, weak. Her face eternally youthful, it would be so easy to see the package and forget that beneath the large blue eyes and innocent smile lurked madness and death. He’d witnessed it for himself last night.

“Do ye ken who the Ten are?”

“The high fairy council?” she asked, and he nodded.

“Aye. They were too powerful, and Kingdom feared that unless they weakened themselves, one could become bloated with greed and a thirst for power.”

Her breathing grew shallow, slow, as if she feared moving or in any way distracting him from talking.

Continuing to toy with the soft flesh between her thumb and finger, he talked. “They agreed to bleed off the darkness. All of them, even the Black Malvena. The night of the purification ritual, they all gathered beneath a large moon on a grassy plain. But Malvena dinna come.”

“Why?” she whispered.

He looked at the tree, absently noting the rough texture of the gingerbread bark. His stomach groaned, gut twisted in knots with hunger. “Because two days prior, her daughter Rose had died and a seed was born in that dark heart. Reanimation. Bringing the dead back to life.”

“Isn’t that forbidden?”

“Aye. It is. And the only way to do it is to use dark sorcery. But on her own, she is nay strong enough. The other nine dinna bother with her, they proceeded on with the purification and dumped their darkness within the land.”

Her eyes looked sad and haunted. “That’s when I was born. I wasn’t born of light at all. I’m evil.”

He grasped her chin, not allowing her to break eye contact with him. “I killed, maimed, and tortured. I’m a wolf. Not born to be evil, and yet, I was.”

Red glanced away and he sighed.

“Just because yer born a certain way, doesna mean that is who ye are.”

“Maybe it does.” She pulled her hand back and jerked his thumb off her chin. “Why have you brought me to the witch’s woods?”

What should he say? Yer aunt told me to come here so that ye can kill the witch by sucking out her soul? But I swear to ya, yer nay evil, lassie. Bloody hell, he hated the fairies at this moment.

“Tell me the truth, please. I can handle it. I just can’t handle anymore lies.”

Bathed in moonlight, she looked ethereal and lovely. Maybe this was how he’d get her to trust him, truth at all cost, even if the telling of it pained him to do so.

“She called ye a soul sucker.”

Her face scrunched. “A what?”

Ewan shrugged. “I don’t know, Red. That was all she said.”

“So I suck out souls? That’s my magic?”

“One of.”

Grabbing her stomach, she leaned forward. “I think I’m gonna be sick.” Her face looked splotchy and pale. “I only thought I could heal. Jana told me I couldn’t do magic. I never…”

“She lied, about everything. Jana was a wicked, evil woman. Doona try and make sense of anything ye knew before, especially when the truth is so much different.

“Also…” he rubbed her head, tucking her hair behind her face in case she expelled the meager contents of her stomach. “If yer going to puke, try not to puke on the candy. Ye might alert the witch to our presence.”

“What?” She laughed, and instantly the sickly pallor on her face lightened. “Oh gods, this isn’t funny. None of this is.”

Then she laughed even harder, the musical tinkle of her melodic voice made his lips twitch in return. It took a moment for her to get herself under control.

“Thanks, Ewan, I needed that.”

Everything inside him stopped. She’d used his name, but this time it’d sounded hopeful, alive, and the sound of it was almost as good as tender caress. Heat nestled in his gut, filled his loins. He scooted back, hiding the evidence of his desire, knowing she wasn’t ready for him yet. Nudity never bothered him, it simply was the way of the wolf, but he wished for some clothing now, if only to make her comfortable.