Page 204 of Harbinger

Isidore’s throat slides, her eyes suddenly watery. “Not well. I don’t think any of us are.”

“Even Broderic?” I can’t hide my surprise after his behavior this morning. Not with his new fiancée and the clock ticking down toward a wedding.

“He gave all your things away. All the things Kieren left behind,” Isidore whispers, glancing around to make sure no one is near. “He wouldn’t let Andry keep anything.”

Somehow that doesn’t surprise me, considering Broderic is acting like I betrayed him. Like I had no right to come back here, especially for Kieren.

“I wish Kieren would have taken me with him,” Isidore admits, and my heart stops.

“That didn’t end well,” I say in a soft voice. She wasn’t there. She didn’t watch Kieren’s blood seep into the dirt.

Isidore toys with something in her pocket. “Maybe it would have ended differently if I’d been there.”

“You can ruin your life with maybes,” I warn her.

Her head drops, black hair spilling over her shoulders. She finally looks up with tears in her eyes. “He never told me.” She pulls her hand out of her pocket. Kieren’s letter is clenched in her fist. “If he had … I know Broderic would never allow it.”

“Void Broderic.” I wrap an arm around her as if I can shield her from this, even as my heart breaks, too.

She collapses against my shoulder. “I knew he cared. I think I might have, too.” Each word comes out as a sob. “But I was so, so stupid and silly …”

“I can’t stop thinking about everything he had left to do. To see. He had plans,” I say, holding her. So many plans. All gone.

She lifts her head from my shoulder, her cheeks wet. “I want to come to his Evensong, Arden. But Broderic won’t let me.”

I grit my teeth before muttering, “Void Broderic twice.”

Isidore lets out a shaky laugh, and we hug again. Leave it to our starsforsaken asshole of a brother to make us closer than we’ve been in years.

I’m about to step back when a low growl rolls through the trees, close enough that I swear the ground vibrates beneath my feet. Isidore stiffens in my arms, but I look toward the sound and find we’re only steps from the forest. My head snaps back to look at the watchtower, and I find trees.

“Shit.” We’ve wandered too far. The area is more like a small copse than the actual Cinderwald, the new trees planted at the edge bursting with spring buds, but my pulse hammers like it’s trying to warn me as another growl, deeper this time, answers me. Something is coming after us.

Isidore trembles violently, pulling away like she might bolt in blind panic.

“Don’t move,” I warn her. When the next growl rumbles through the trees, there’s no mistaking the direction. “When I say, run. Don’t stop until you see someone with a sword.”

Isidore nods frantically, though I’m not sure she actually hears me.

My eyes fix where a shifting shadow moves between the tree trunks, and a branch snaps, the sound like a bone splitting.

“Run,” I whisper and shove my sister in the direction of the outpost behind us, reaching for the sword sheathed at my back.

She stumbles, her eyes widening with fear as she sees where we are. I draw my blade, stepping between her and the belly of the forest. Two eyes glow blue in the dark, and the shadow of an enormous wolf steps out from the trees. Isidore screams and bolts toward the outpost, branches clawing at her dress as she pushes through them.

I plant my feet, raising the sword between the creature and my sister. The ground trembles as it pads slowly toward me, like it knows I can’t afford to run. Not if I want her to escape. Its shoulders nearly reach my waist, thick muscles rippling beneath its silver fur and curved horns sweeping back from its skull. The wolf is a lot bigger than the ones mounted on the wall at Miradores.

Panic shoots through me, but I push it away, gripping the hilt of my sword to steady myself.

“Easy,” I murmur, feeling ridiculous as the word leaves my mouth. But I don’t want to kill it.

If I even can …

The wolf’s ears flick forward like it understands me.

“That’s right,” I breathe. “I’m not a threat.”

A warning bell rings out through the yard, and the wolf hesitates. But I don’t lower my sword. For one reckless second, I see what I’m leaving behind me. Bishop’s rare smiles. Taliesin running his mouth with a grin. Vessica’s reluctant laughs. The way Hadrian snorts when I break him with a joke. How Shea and Breccan giggle, encouraged by Lenora. My life in Vennaro. The one I didn’t plan on having, full of so much joy. I took it for granted, and now I might lose it.