Red and Her Wolf (4 page)

Miriam nodded, never glancing
Danika’s
way. “She’s always going on about the reformation of the bad boys. The big bad wolf is as bad as they come, no? Give him to her.”

“I cannot be given to anyone,” Ewan thundered, nude body twitching with barely suppressed rage.

“Mir,”
Dani
squeaked again. “Are you mad? Shut up, now. I couldn’t possibly hope to hide him from
Malvena’s
spies.”

“Have you ever switched forms in front of the Black fairy, Ewan?” Miriam asked, still ignoring
Danika’s
protestations.

Galeta
and Esmeralda peered on in thoughtful silence.
Danika
jumped when a bolt of Jana’s power rushed past her bare legs, singing the hair off, and making her yelp from the immediate flare of pain.

In all the commotion of secrets exposed she’d forgotten the power bubbling like brew behind her. The cottage was in grave danger of imploding, and yet--she looked around--no one else seemed to notice.

“We should leave. Quickly,”
Danika
whispered.

“Nay,” Ewan said with a swift shake of his head, drowning out
Danika’s
words, “I’m much more dangerous in wolf form.”

Danika’s
pulse fluttered.

“
Galeta
,” Miriam turned back to the ghostly image of their Mistress, “it is perfect.
Danika
can keep him hidden, if he keeps his nose clean.”

Galeta
nodded. “And the red wolf, what of him?”

“I’ll supply him with new memories.” Esmeralda stepped in, laying a silencing hand on Mir’s shoulder. “I’ll make it so that he believes he killed not only Jana, but the black as well.”

Galeta
narrowed her eyes.
“And the
Heartsong
?
She must not be discovered again.”

“Give her to me.”

An echoing laugh filled with both shock and disgust fell from
Galeta’s
pearl pink lips.
“To you?
Miriam.
The Shunned.”

Danika
inhaled sharply at Miriam’s new name. No longer was she Miriam the Delighted. The air shivered with ribbons of static as Kingdom responded to
Galeta’s
authority. Miriam’s lavender eyes grew huge in her face, and shone with unshed tears. But she nodded bravely.
“Aye.
To me.
I’ll take her someplace safe. Someplace
Malvena
will never find her. I’ll teach her all she needs to know, make her strong enough to return and set it right.”

Flying to her friend’s side,
Danika
gripped Mir’s arm, and gave it a gentle squeeze. Miriam patted her hand and nodded.

“Yes.” Esmeralda nodded.
“Yes, just so.”

“Nay!”
Ewan roared.

But this was clearly a day when no one meant to listen to another.

“Then it is settled,”
Galeta
nodded, “the girl must never again be found. Which means you can never return to fairy. You’re an outcast.
A ghost.
Nothing.”

The last word settled into
Danika’s
heart like a dirk. The head mistress’ image disappeared from within the mercurial portal.

Esmeralda turned. “You do understand what you’ve done, Miriam?”

Heart clenching,
Danika
looked at her friend. “Take it back, Mir. Don’t do this. You can’t. You mustn’t. I cannot lose you forever.”

Miriam nodded. “Aye, I do,” she said, ignoring
Danika’s
pleas.

Then the room erupted into chaos. The ground rumbled, Jana exploded, and the power that’d begun seeping from within now shot like a streak toward
Danika
.

“
Finis
!”
Miriam held up her hand, the undulating sphere of green stopped mere inches from
Dani’s
body. “Ye are not for her,” she whispered to the ball.

Sweat poured free down
Danika’s
neck, her entire frame shook. She’d been chosen to be a
Ten
. She was powerful.

Then she frowned. Why had Miriam sent it away?

The ball gathered into a tighter knot and then blasted itself into Esmeralda who shrieked, the sound like a banshee’s wail as flames licked at her flesh, consuming her in a net of sparkling green radiance.

“She’s dying!”
Danika
cried, rushing to retrieve her wand, ready to extinguish the flames. But Mir stilled her.

Within moments it was over. Esmeralda slumped on the ground, panting and breathing heavy. Clumps of ivy slithered from her pores, covering her body in a lush and living drapery. It took a second for her to stand. Her hair curled in becoming waves down to her waist, ivy threading throughout. It moved as a snake, sliding slowly down her neck, sheathing her body down to her legs. Her eyes were no longer green, they were black as night.

She nodded toward Miriam. A silent exchange passed between them.

Esmeralda opened her broad monarch stained wings and flitted first to the red wolf, passing her wand lightly along the length of his body. Pops and snaps sounded as his bones shifted, reformed, and became whole again. She then turned toward Violet and made to touch her forehead.

“No,
Ese
,” Miriam shook her head. “She is mine. I will strip her of the memories myself.”

Ese
turned with a sad smile.
“As you wish, Miriam.”

A scent of lavender and sage traveled in the new Green’s wake as she flew past them. Then she turned, and looking directly at Miriam, whispered, “I will not forget.” With those cryptic words, she left.

“Forget. Forget what? What has happened?”
Danika
could barely understand anything of the night. Where was her timid friend? Who was this new fairy, commanding such powerful creatures around? Even
Galeta
had eventually given in to her.

Miriam closed her eyes. “I’m leaving,
Danika
. I must take the
Heartsong
far from here.”

“No!” Ewan roared again, and rushed to the still frozen side of the huddled mass draped in red. “Leave her in peace. Give her to me, to heal, to love. I will protect her.”

“Ye will get yourself killed,” Miriam snarled. “Ye will do as I say. Ye will go with
Danika
,
ye will stay in human form for fifty years. Fifty years. No less. After that time it will be safe to resume wolf form,
Malvena
will no longer care if
ye’re
discovered to be amongst the living.”

“Mir,”
Danika
pleaded, grabbing hold of her friend’s arm. “Please, what has happened to you? Was it that vision you had in the forest?”

It felt like her entire life had just been turned on its head. This was her friend, from the moment of their birth underneath a moonlit rose garden, they’d been inseparable. Why would Miriam leave?
Forever, no less.
This couldn’t be happening. Surely they could find a place to hide them within Kingdom, a place
Galeta
would never think to look. “Tell me, Mir. Please.”

Miriam shook her head. “I ken what
ye’re
thinking, sister.
Galeta
has a track on me. There is no place to hide in Kingdom. I wish I could tell ye all, but I
canna
. Not now. I will, I swear it.
But not yet.
She must be safe. Time is quickly fleeing. Take him and go,
Dani
. I’ll find
ye
again.”

A distant rustling sound alerted them to the presence of something.

Even in human form, Ewan growled. He had Violet in his arms--she was still frozen as death--keeping her close to his heart.

“Go, blast ye!” Miriam cried, and then cast a net of magic around
Danika
and Ewan, throwing them through dimensions just as the pounding of feet poured through the thatched cottage.

Ewan’s howl was a melancholy tune as he reached fruitlessly for the mate stripped violently from his arms.

Chapter 1

Present Day,
Alaska

“Aunt, M, I’m going,” Violet called over her shoulder.

A spry woman, looking no older than middle age with salt and pepper hair, stuck her head out of the kitchen door. Clearing her throat, she wiped her hands on a blue rag and padded on bare feet into the living room. “Where to, honey? Isn’t it kind of dark?”

Her aunt eyed the window, nothing but black and stars as far as the eye could see--the occasional tree breaking up the monotony of a monochromatic world.

Violet sighed, giving her aunt the same smile she always did. After five hundred mortal years it no longer bothered
Vi
that her aunt was always such a worry wart. “It’s always dark here, you know that. But not to worry, I think the dancing lights will be out soon. I’ll have plenty of light.” She winked, cleaning a pear on her winter jacket and took a huge bite of the sweet fruit. Juices dripped down her chin before she could wipe it up.

“Aurora Borealis,
Vi
, and don’t laugh.” Her aunt pursed her lips. “
There’s wolves
, bears, wolverines--”

Violet rolled her eyes and hand mimed talking. “Oh, c’mon now, I think I can handle myself just fine.” She patted her jacket, reveling in the familiar hardness of the six inch blade. “But,” she crossed her heart, “I promise to be safe.”

Her Aunt meant well, truth was, this had become more of a routine than anything else. Violet loved her space and her aunt knew it. There was something about the outdoors, of walking alone through the trees, and inhaling the sharp sting of the cold winter night (actually day, it literally was dark in the middle of the day this far past the equator), that made her feel alive. Violet hated confinement of any sort.

No longer tasting the fruit, she tucked it into her pocket. It would freeze within minutes outside.

Miriam walked up to Violet, her unusually colored eyes so different than Violet’s own. She traced Violet’s cheek, a sad smile on her face. The glow from the lit fireplace shaded her aunt’s face, making her seem in that moment distant and faraway.

“Be safe, my love.” Her aunt embraced her in a rough hug, squeezing tight, and Violet frowned, patting her back gently.

Lately her aunt had been acting weird.
Different.
More touchy.
Violet’s lips thinned.

With a small shake, her aunt nodded. “Okay, then. Dinner’s at six.”

Violet snorted. “I’ll follow the shadows.”

Miriam chuckled. “It’s all your favorites. Roast beef, new potatoes, and peach cobbler.”

“Wow. I feel so honored.” Violet sniffed, stomach grumbling as the scent of rosemary and thyme in
a beefy
brine tickled her nose. “Sounds like a last meal.”

Miriam’s smile was frozen in place. “Be on time, Vi.”

Violet frowned. “I will.”

“Good.”

Violet left, closing the door softly behind her. Shutting out the soft blues and pastels of their decorated home, walking deep into the woods, uncaring of the howls echoing long in the distance. She shrugged deeper into her parka, taking deep breaths, letting the cold pierce her lungs like a blade.