Page 11 of A Fate of Wings

He lifted his cocky head. “As if you can do anything to me.”

I leaned over him and whispered, “If they let you go for trying to kill their queen, then I will come for you.” I straightened. “But knowing the sirens, they won’t let you go, nor will they let you live for long.”

Siren guards rushed forward and urged me away from the wolf. I held up my hands and backed up giving them room to do their jobs. I wasn’t the queen’s mate yet, and no one knew they fated her to me.

A siren guard grinned and said, “The length of his life will depend on how long we take to torture the truth out of him.”

The wolf shifter winced.

“You!” A woman screamed. “How dare you try to kill my sister?”

The woman was identical in looks to the queen. Of course, I’d noticed that earlier, but all my attention was on my mate. The queen walked beside her. Regal and elegant. Poised even after a murder attempt. There wasn’t so much as a muscle twitching on her. The other woman, though, shook. As she brushed past a guard, she slid a dagger from under her skirts and lunged forthe wolf shifter. She had the blade wedged in his heart before anyone could stop her.

The wolf howled in pain. She pulled the blade out and stabbed him again. Blood gushed like a broken dam down his chest, over the chains, and onto the dirt. He dropped unconscious as the guards wrapped their hands around the woman’s arms and hauled her back while extracting the knife from her hand.

“Melanie, what did you do?” the queen asked.

Her entire body trembled as she shook the guards off her. “I was protecting you.”

“The guards had contained him.”

The queen’s voice came out harsher than I’d ever heard it. She glared at her twin, but then her face softened, and she patted her bloody hand.

“Thank you for looking out for me, but I have guards to protect me.”

“They weren’t quick enough to stop the arrow,” Melanie said.

“Yes, you’re right.” The queen’s gaze snapped to me. “I suppose I should thank you, Beast, for disrupting the path of the arrow.”

“My pleasure, Your Majesty.” I dipped a bow.

“Your wings are quite impressive, and your portal power is something to be desired.” She spun and clicked her fingers. “Guards, take the wolf shifter for interrogations.”

They jerked on his chains. His wounds hissed. Tendrils of dark gray smoke twirled into the air and then his spilled blood burst into flames, engulfing his entire body. The guards jumped back and surrounded the queen. Others ran yelling for water. The wolf shifter’s body flared a bright red with the fire and in mere seconds he disintegrated into black ash.

“Blood magic,” I said. “Who would cast such a spell on him?”

“My guess is whoever sent him to murder me,” said the queen, her face a sudden white as she stared at the pile of ash.

It was the first time I’d seen her emotions slip. She stared at the spot as though she’d witnessed an impossible death, but there was more in the way she couldn’t look away. It was as though her mind worked to solve the problem. Our gazes met and locked. Steely determination shone back at me. My mate would annihilate whoever wanted her dead.

And so would I.

Chapter seven

Thea

The Autumn Court

An open attempt onmy life was unexpected, yet I’d sensed darkness coming for me for a long time. Even though I’d lunged to the side, if the Beast hadn’t knocked the course of the arrow, then it would have hit me. It may not have been a fatal blow, but the archer might have poisoned the tip. I’d whispered the order to Raelin to have the arrow tested, but those tests would take time to confirm my suspicion.

The horned beast lunging to save my life had sent a quiver of need through my body. There was an appeal to his hulking mass, the raw power in his wings, and the heated glimmer in his eyes. The look of murder on his face when he’d stood over the captured wolf shifter had almost made me tell him to end the traitor’s life just so I could witness his brute strength.

A deep exhale escaped my lungs. Guards flanked me on all sides as I made my way back to the castle. I should be able to relax inside those walls, but I suspected who sent the wolf shifter after my head. If I was right, then the castle wasn’t safe. The sooner I ended these trials and chose a mate the better. If any other hidden assassins were waiting as the contestants.

“Ailine,” I said.

She hurried closer to my side.