Page 74 of The Night Burning

There was one easy way for me to win the challenge: to let my Shadow Wolf take over. But would that be fair? Would that count? It had counted with Conri because he had been a bastard and I had been the rightful heir.

I hadn’t made up my mind yet.

The thirty-minute drive was quiet and tense. We arrived at the roadside inn and it was unsettling to see so many cars in the parking lot. We parked the truck, climbed out, and Dom came to meet us.

“Most wolves are already in their rooms,” he reported. “I’ve got two adjacent rooms for the sick wolves. Jay said he’ll get a mattress and sleep with them.” He offered me a key. “This is yours.” Then he turned to Tyren. “And you’re with me. Come on.”

“Wait,” I said. I glanced at the number on the key, then handed the key to Raika. “Why don’t you take Tyren up? I have some things to talk to Dom about.”

Raika frowned but nodded. She probably knew I wasn’t hiding anything from her. I was doing this for Tyren.

Dom grabbed his key and offered it to Tyren, but Tyren crossed his arms and didn’t take it. It hadn’t been three weeks since we had been reunited, but he had shown me his moody teenage side only a couple of times. This was one of them.

“Tyren,” I started.

“What?” he barked. “I’m supposed to just go to the room and sleep as if nothing was happening? I know you. You’ll leave for your challenge in the middle of the night and you won’t even say goodbye to me. And who knows, maybe it really is goodbye this time? What if—?”

I pulled him to me and embraced him tight. “I get that you’re mad at me, at everything that is happening, but you have to try keeping a good head about your shoulders.” He pushed against me, but I held on tight. “It’s true, I might not come back from the challenge, and if I don’t, I’ll need you to be strong. For Minsi, for Raika, for everyone.” A ball got stuck in my throat. “And remember that no matter what, I love you.”

Tyren’s body slackened against mine and he finally embraced me too. A sob rose from his chest, but he silenced it. “Just … come back. Okay? Come back.”

“I will,” I told him, finally knowing what I would do. To hell with Delco. I would fight Nortrix and I would do anything in my power to win. I couldn’t guarantee the outcome, though. I glanced at Raika, and she averted her gaze and wiped at her eyes. “Now go with Raika. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Nodding, Tyren stepped back. He held my gaze for a long beat, then turned and let Raika guide him away.

Dom stepped closer to me, but he remained quiet, knowing that if we talked now, chances were Raika and Tyren would hear. Once they entered one of the rooms, Dom looked at me, his brow furrowed. “What is it?”

“The challenge is at midnight.”

“What?” He picked up his phone and checked the time. “But that’s … too soon.”

Didn’t I know it? “Where’s Vallin?”

“Patrolling the area around the inn, making sure no Whitecrest wolf or other threats are around.”

I nodded. “You and Vallin have to come with me to the challenge, as witnesses. I’ll ask Killian to have some of his vampires keep an eye on the inn while we are gone.” I was going to text Killian and ask him and Lavinia to accompany Raika back into Nightshade. I didn’t want her in town alone. “I need to talk to Raika, so meet me down here in an hour.”

“What if Tyren sees me leaving?”

“Tell him it’s your turn to patrol.”

Dom nodded.

We headed into the inn together. Dom showed me to the room where Jay was with Minsi and the other wolves, then he left for his room.

I knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” Jay asked, his voice low. Careful.

“It’s me,” I said.

The door flew open and Jay gestured for me to come in. I walked into the bedroom and took it in—a large rectangle with two queen beds and a sleeper sofa, and a door opened to the adjacent room, the exact same layout as this one, only mirrored. Each sick wolf took one of the beds or a sleeper sofa, and Minsi was alone in a queen bed too large for her. Lucille was on the bed to her right.

I sat at the edge of Minsi’s bed and touched her frail, darkened hand. Was it too soon to wish she was already recovering? That they all were?

“How are they?”

Jay sighed. “Th-the same. Though two of them seemed to wake up about an hour ago. They asked for water, said their fingers burned, their head hurt, and then fell back asleep.”