Page 8 of Wolf of Ashes
He draws to a rapid stop at my gesture.
If only I could see his eyes; I’m sure he’d be eyeing me cautiously now.
“Keeper of dark magic,” I say, greeting him. “I never dreamed I’d meet you.”
His lips part, as if I’ve surprised him. His voice is like a wraith’s, a shocked whisper. “You know what I am?”
“Of course,” I say. “My mother told me all about you. Everything thathermother told her. All the knowledge passed down through the generations from mother to child. All the way from the time of the Vandawolf.”
The keeper takes a step back from me, but his shoulders are suddenly hunched. “Vandawolf. That’s a name I haven’t heard for thousands of years.” He seems to rally quickly. “If you know what I am, then you know you shouldn’t be here.”
“Shouldn’t I?” I ask, finding my lips curving upward. “Isn’t this exactly where I should be? In a place of dark magic?”
He glides forward until we’re only a few paces apart and now it feels as if he can see me through the metal covering his eyes. “Not until you die.”
“Yes, that’s right,” I murmur. “It’s your burden to collect the magic from dark creatures when they perish. So that their untethered magic doesn’t roam free and cause chaos. Technically, I shouldn’t be able to step foot here until I die, at which time you will strip the magic from my bones.”
He gives me a nod, his lips drawing back from his teeth. “Technically.”
“Well, then, I must be here for a reason.” I lift my hand toward his face again, my tone becoming a challenge. “Perhaps I’m here to claim your crown.”
Now, he jolts backward.
I take a step forward, not letting him widen the gap between us.
That crown.
My mother told me all about it. It contains all of the dark magic the keeper has collected over thousands of years, a power like nothing else. Of course, he can’t use it himself. His only purpose is to collect the magic. The rules of his creation stop him from wielding the magic he tethers.
But if I had that crown, I could destroy my enemies. I could cut out their hearts and make them bleed. Death would be a mercy for them.
Growls are leaving my lips and behind me, the panthers are fanning out, as if they’re also preparing to attack.
“I forgive you for assuming I would fear you,” I say to the keeper. “But I got here somehow, and I’m not leaving without that crown.”
His answer is a snarl, but his voice sounds different now. Deeper, more guttural. “Why do you wish to take it?”
“I would use it to destroy my enemies and claim what’s mine.” My voice is vehement. “I will do anything to make them feel the pain they’ve caused me.”
He stops moving, his robe wafting around his black-clad legs. “Anything?”
“I will cut to the bone if I have to.” My lips draw back as I allow my claws to descend. “To get what isowedto me.”
My threatening stance seems to suddenly please him.
The corners of his lips rise. “Would you cut as deep as your own bones?”
I don’t hesitate. “If it means I would see my enemies suffer before I die—yes.”
“Oh, I’m not talking about death,” he says. “I’m talking about the power in your heart.”
Now I’m wary. “My heart?”
He suddenly closes the gap between us. I brace for attack and the panthers snarl a warning at him, and he stops inches away from me.
The power radiating from him is intoxicating and my head spins to be this close to him.
His voice lowers, a soft suggestion. “I propose we make a deal, you and I.”
