Page 60 of Wolf of Ashes
Truth be told, I’m a little in awe.
As for Jonah, who has remained a step behind Vanguard and has kept both the panthers and us in his sights… Every time I look at him, it’s like reaching out across the distance and taking hold of pure energy. Where the keeper’s power is vast and massive, Jonah’s is compact and intense.
The female panther looks up at me at that very moment and licks her lips as if she would relish tasting both Vanguard’s and Jonah’s blood.
I remind myself who I am and every ounce of uncertainty leaves my body.
After all, what delightful adversaries now stand opposite me.
Vanguard’s response is soft. “But you see, there’s a flaw in your understanding of this situation.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“I didn’t create the death trap. My sister did. Right after we had a disagreement.”
That little tidbit of information piques my interest. Maybe his sister—my father’s second general—had a problem with what happened to my father.
Vanguard takes a step forward, only to be met by multiple growls. I’m a little impressed when he doesn’t appear remotely alarmed by the panthers.
He gestures to the corridor behind us. “My sister originally created that door and passageway for her and me to use whenever we liked. It provided quick and easy access into this room. I would regularly pass through it—not when others could see me, of course, so as not to give its existence away. But then, one day, I made a mistake that hurt her very badly.”
He takes another step forward and meets more growls—and again ignores them.
“To punish me, she poured all of her power into a spell she cast over the door and the corridor, so that the next time I stepped through it, I’d be killed.”
He points to the scar on his face. “This is a reminder that family will always try to end you.”
“Ouch,” I whisper dramatically. “She must really hate you.”
“She did,” he says. “Maybe she still does. I honestly don’t know since I haven’t seen her since.”
I’m suddenly a little concerned that Vanguard is telling us all about his family troubles. To a point, I guess he wants us to be aware of how much he distrusts us, but this extra information feels… too personal.
“Why do I get the feeling you wouldn’t tell us any of this if you thought we were going to walk away from this encounter alive?” I ask.
Vanguard arches his eyebrows at me, and as if to disprove my suspicion, he holds up his left hand while very slowly removing the sword from his back, pulling the strap and scabbard over his head and placing the sheathed weapon on the nearest table.
His gesture has the appearance of a sign of peace, but somehow, it feels like an act of war.
My claws are two seconds away from emerging and my teeth are aching to sharpen. Beside me, Diavolo has once again reached for his fake wand.
I watch carefully as, opposite us, Vanguard calmly proceeds to remove his jacket, which he drops over the back of a chair. Followed by his shirt.
Meanwhile, Jonah flips open his lighter, triggers the flame, and then clacks it shut again.
Vanguard looks up between undoing shirt buttons to shake his head at me. He may as well be waggling his finger. “The fact that you can see the door is concern enough. The additional fact that you survived passing through it is much more worrisome.”
Well, fuck.I imagine he’d really worry if he knew we breezed on through the corridor without any problems at all.
But right now, it’s what’s under his shirt that concerns me.
His chest and arms are covered in tattoos from his collarbone to his waist. Countless snakes appear to swarm across his skin, all of them inked in black. I recognize some as cobras from the distinctive scales stretching out on either side of their heads, but I don’t know what species the other snake tattoos may replicate. Nothing harmless, that’s for sure.
They look so fucking real that I could swear they’re moving.
“Of course, I take your point,” Vanguard says as he turns back to us. “Why be enemies when we can be allies?”
Damn, what is it with that smile he’s wearing?
