Page 88 of Wolf of Ashes
My chest aches for a moment and then it’s gone. Gone with the power in my heart.
Still, my tears defy the absence of feeling, slowly becoming tears of rage.
My family. Taken away from me.
It’s past midnight. Later today, I’ll begin my path into the inner circle. A first mission for Vanguard that must succeed if I’m going to achieve vengeance.
Gritting my teeth, I roll the scroll back up and tuck it beneath my bra strap, making sure my shirt is also tucked in. I can’t risk losing the scroll on the way back to the apartment.
Stepping away from the statue, I call softly for Anarchy, who leads me back into the shadows at the side of the path.
But there I pause, causing Anarchy to stop and turn back to me.
Across the way, the homeless woman has remained huddled beside the tree, but now she’s shivering.
It isn’t freezing, but it’s the coldest time of night and without my jacket, I’d be shivering too.
I hover on the balls of my feet before I make a decision.
“Anarchy, stay hidden.”
The panther gives a soft snarl and stays in the shadows, where her body disappears from sight.
I pull off my boots and my jacket, bundling them in my arms, and then I approach the human very carefully, watching in case she makes any sudden moves.
I get within a few feet of her before she becomes aware of me.
She startles and her faded eyes widen, but all she does is wrench the paper bag closer to her chest. “Don’t take my family.”
She smells like piss and alcohol—the same sort of liquor that was on the tables when I met Vanguard and Jonah—but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve to be warm.
“Your family isn’t in that bag.” I give a snarl as I stoop to her. “Hold still if you don’t want to get hurt.”
As quickly as I can, I shove each of the boots onto her feet. They’re a good fit. Then I push the jacket over her like a blanket. As a last thought, I pull off my beanie and yank it over her head, pulling it down over her wrinkled forehead.
She stares up at me with frightened eyes.
“Be warm,” I order her with a dark scowl. Then, as an afterthought, I bend closer to her and look directly into her eyes over the tops of my sunglasses. I know full well she’ll see my golden eyes.
She’s frozen as she stares back at me.
“Tell anyone where you got this clothing, and I’ll come back and kill you,” I growl. “Do you understand?”
She blinks at me.
It’s the best I’m going to get.
I hurry to my feet, pull the sunglasses back into place, and sprint back to Anarchy in the shadows. I’m not worried about my bare feet. The callouses on them will protect them.
We creep home as fast as we can.
When I step back into the apartment, I’ve barely had the chance to lock the door when Diavolo appears behind me in a literal cloud of rage, looking very much like the keeper of dark magic that he is.
Dark mist swirls across his blue-eyed form and the ring on his finger gleams so darkly that it’s more painful to my eyes than the streetlight was.
I place the sunglasses on the little table by the door as he advances on me. Somehow, he manages to cut across the space diagonally so that he ends up between Anarchy and me. “Where were you?”
Anarchy growls at his back, but I incline my head toward the other side of the room, indicating she should go there. There’s no need for her to get involved in this.
