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BALTHAZAR LOOKED UP, trying to identify the source of the voice. “What, who's there?” he growled, searching the shadows and bushes for any sign of a face. I recognized the voice, of course. It was a voice I knew too well, and loved too well, not to recognize in a heartbeat. “Kian!” I whispered to myself, my heart full of joy. The three of us would be able to battle these wolves – I felt sure of it.
“Over here!” Kian's voice called out once more, and Balthazar's head whipped around, distracted. That moment was just enough time for Kian to let loose an arrow, and before the wolves realized the direction the voice was coming from, a single whizzing arrowhead pierced clean through the heart of one of the wolves. He fell to the ground with a thick thud.
“Attack!” cried Balthazar, but it was too late. A flurry of arrows was raining down on the wolves from a hundred different directions, and the wolves seemed torn whether to attack or go on the defense. They seemed, in the end, to choose a combination of both – the arrows hailed down, the wolves rushed ahead, and at once it seemed that there were hundreds of arrows and hundreds of wolves – a chaotic, screaming crowd of violence that neither pressed on nor moved away, but rather transformed the whole of this idyllic dale into a storm of terror.
I caught sight of Balthazar, evidently less brave than his bravado would have him appear. He was running away into the bushes, dodging and feinting arrows as he went. I wasn't going to let him get away without a fight. I ran towards him, feeling my fairy powers carrying my feet faster than any mortal run, rushing towards him until at last Balthazar was at my feet. I grabbed hold of his hair and held the knife to his throat. Instantly he transformed into a human once more.
“Listen to me, Black Wolf,” I said quickly. “Who hired you?” I stuck my dagger deep against his artery. “Who are you working for?”
Balthazar scoffed. “I'm not going to....”
I jerked his head back and pushed the dagger in deeper, drawing blood. Balthazar winced and yelped in pain. “Listen to me. I'm not afraid of the big bad wolf. And I'm not afraid of dying. I've already died once this week, and I'm not afraid of dying again. So I'm certainly not afraid of using this dagger.”
Balthazar remained defiantly silent.
“Was it Wort? Delano?” I yanked his hair. “The Pixies?”
“No, not the Pixies...” Balthazar forced out the words in strangled tones.
“Then who was it?”
No answer.
“Listen to me – I'm going to give you five seconds to answer this, and if you don't, I'm driving the dagger straight through your neck.”
“No...”
I jammed the dagger into Balthazar's shoulder, and his howl made it clear that he had been beaten.
“Fine, fine!” He panted. “It was Flynn – the Winter Knight!”
I stopped short. Flynn? I knew he was no friend of Kian's – he hated me, and wanted nothing more than to gain power in the Winter Court by serving as a high-ranking military general in the world – but I hadn't expected him to be at the root of all this evil.
I drove my knife straight into Balthazar's other shoulder. “This is for Logan's grandfather,” I said as he yelped. “And it's better than what you deserve. An eye for an eye? I thought you wolves were supposed to be above petty fairy qualities – like mercy or forgiveness? You yourself bragged about the brutality of the wolves, didn't you? Ready to see your theory in action?”
“No!” Balthazar gave a piteous squeal – like a puppy's plea. I sighed. I couldn't kill anyone in cold blood like this – no matter how clear it was that Balthazar deserved it.
“You don't deserve a quick death,” I muttered. I focused my magic and in an instant Balthazar was bound tight with fairy ropes, trussed to a nearby tree.
I rushed back to the glen where the battle had taken place. I gasped as I saw the carnage that had taken place – the bodies of at least fifteen men lay sprawled across the clearing, their throats ripped from their bodies. I knew they were werewolves – knew they meant to kill us – but nevertheless the sight was sickening. I forced myself to stare at the bodies, despite my nausea, fearing that Logan's body would be among those lying there....
“Breena!” A soft voice made me turn around. Logan was leaning against the tree, exhausted. As I approached him he collapsed into the earth.
“We have to get you healed!” I rushed over to him.
“I'll be fine,” he murmured, but I could see how much blood he'd lost. He wasn't immortal like me or Kian – I had to worry about him. “Where's Balthazar? He's dangerous...”
“I took care of him. He's tied up to a tree – he'll bleed to death, or one of his wolf cronies will turn on him, no doubt.”
Logan choked out a laugh.
“Where's Kian?” I looked around, seeing no sign of Kian among the dead or the living.
Logan gave no response.
“Kian?” My cries echoed through the woods, but there was no response.
Logan sighed, coughing out his words. “He was shooting arrows from the trees,” he whispered. “Then he swooped down from the trees with his silver sword and began fighting off the wolves one by one. He was valiant, but there were so many wolves....I think they took him, Breena...I couldn't see what happened; these two wolves jumped on me, I could barely fight them off.”
My heart sank. If Kian had been taken, we were all in danger. But right now I had to focus on getting Logan well.
“I'm going to heal you now,” I said.
“But you're not a Wolf!” Logan protested softly.
“These combined powers had better be good for something,” I shut him up, summoning all my healing powers into my palms. Let me heal Logan. My friend. My love. Please. I could feel my fingertips beginning to warm and glow: I pressed them to his wounds and instantly they began healing, one wound after another vanishing – the skin growing over like new.
At last it was done and I rolled off Logan, exhausted. He was looking up at me with palpable awe. “You did it!” Logan smiled. “I've never seen powers like that, Breena! You've finally become a full fairy – stronger than any full fairy! You can heal anyone – Winter, Summer, or Wolf Fey.” He laughed with joy. “My grandfather was right! He always said that fairy magic would save us! Wolves can distrust the Fey – but my grandfather believed only an alliance with them would help us to restore our former power.” He clasped me in his arms. “You say that your magic interacted with Kian's proves that he's your intended?” He gave me a searching look. “But I say that your magic on me proves you're the subject of the prophecy! It's got to be you, Breena!”
I sighed. How could I be both Kian's intended and the subject of Logan's prophecy? I couldn't deny Logan right now, especially given the joy in his voice and all he'd suffered, but I felt myself pulled violently in two opposite directions! How could I love these two men – so different, but both so noble and good – at the same time? And how could I be destined for both of them?
I sighed. “We have to find Kian,” I said, choosing not to answer Logan's protestations of love right now.
At the sound of his name, I heard a voice – weak and faint, but unmistakable – coming through the back of my mind. Breena! It was Kian. He sounded frail and exhausted; I could sense his pain.
Where are you? I looked around wildly, as if hoping to see Kian before me.
The wolves managed to overpower me. Kian's voice grew weaker. They wounded me and carried me off. They haven't done too much yet, but they've taken me to this cave!
Kian!
But he'd vanished now – too weak to communicate.
I sat up. “Logan, Kian says they've taken him to a cave. Do you know where that could be?”
Logan furrowed his brow. “Balthazar has a cave,” he said. “He uses it as its main lair.”
“Balthazar said he was paid off to attack me – that Flynn hired him in order to make sure I was never found. Apparently he found out I was still alive – but wanted to make sure I didn't stay that way. He hated Summer – hated Kian for falling for a Summer Princess. He knew that rising through the ranks of the military was the only way for him to gain power in the kingdom, and he couldn't do that if there was peace.”
“So Balthazar is on the side of the Winter Court,” spat Logan.
“No,” I said. “He's like the Pixies – he doesn't care who wins as long as he gets the spoils. In any case, Flynn can't be considered part of the Winter Court: Kian banished him. Kian didn't want anyone getting in the way of peace.”
“And Flynn didn't want anyone getting in the way of Flynn.” Logan rolled his eyes.
“We have to help Kian!” I pulled at Logan's sleeve. “I know this is the last thing you want, but...”
“He saved my life,” said Logan softly. “In the battle – he risked his own life to save mine. He has done so before. Whatever my personal feelings are, Kian is a brave man. We owe him that much, I understand.”
“Thank you.” I squeezed Kian's hand.
“I know where Balthazar's cave is,” said Logan. “I'll take you there. Not as a favor to you – it's not like that this time. I want to help Kian too. We both care about you and we both care about peace. And I know we all need each other now.”
He touched my nose lightly. “But if we're going to reach the Wolf Kingdom soon, we'll have to get a move on.”
He transformed into a wolf once more, barking for me to get on. I straddled his back and we rode on once more into the night.