Prologue
Present day...
Rain pelts my face and a branch whips across my cheek as I sprint blindly through the pitch blackened West Forest. The one we’ve been repeatedly told to stay out of. It’s not forbidden, per-se, just strongly advised that we keep... out... for our own good. Even so, I truly have no other choice. Joi has been taken, and the only chance I have at getting her back is through the West Forest. I thought about going around, but there’s not enough time, that would take hours. I don’t have hours. I don’t even know if I have minutes. I was given a deadline, and I’m cutting it terrifyingly too close.
Blood trickles down the side of my face where the branch cut into me, mixing with the rain on my skin. I wipe at it and turn my head to the right when I hear the first of the howling cries in the distance. They know I’m here. The creatures that occupy the forest know that I am here. I pump my arms and legs, willing my feet to move faster, even though I know it’s pointless. I know there’s no outrunning what inhabits this dark place. I can hear Joi scream. I’m getting closer. She’s still alive. Faster. You have to move faster.
I bust through a patch of small pine trees and into the clearing. I know exactly where I am. And there she is. Down on her knees, her fingers digging into the wrist of a hand that’s tangled in her hair, gripping it at the roots. A smirk pulls at the man’s lips as he steps up behind her to place his other hand under her chin.
“Joi...” I breathe. My chest heaves from running, and I nearly fall to my own knees at the sight of her. As easily as my sister can annoy me, I can’t bring myself to allow anyone to hurt her. She’s likely the reason we are here in the first place, and yet again I find myself coming to her rescue. “You let her go.” I take a step toward the middle of the clearing, toward Joi and whoever this grisly man is that has his hands on her.
“I see you outran the hounds. How disappointing.” He tilts his head to the side.
I hear twigs snapping and leaves crunching behind me… all around me. I glance around the clearing and see that men have emerged from the trees, surrounding us completely. His men. His hounds. His pack. Werewolves... the air reeks of wet dog on this rain filled night. I notice a few of them are slightly winded, but nowhere close to the burning pain that my lungs are feeling at the moment.
“I said, let her go.” I take another step forward, but he stops me in my tracks. No, not the one that’s currently dangling Joi’s life in his fingers, not the one that I thought was running the show. It’s the one standing on the other side of the clearing. It’s… him. He know’s things about me, things I’ve told him. Things I’ve trusted him with. Look where that’s gotten me... look where that has gotten Joi. “You...” I step to the side so I can see him more clearly. “All this time... what did you do?” I look frantically from him to Joi, shaking my head in disbelief. “Why?”
“I think you know why.” He steps up to the other side of Joi. She whimpers when his knuckles brush against her cheek. “We need a princess for the sacrifice.” His voice is rough and sadistic.
“Don’t touch her,” I seethe, taking another step forward. I don’t turn to see who, but someone steps up behind me and takes hold of my elbow, stopping me from getting any closer. Has he told them what he knows about me? Do they all know? “I trusted you...” tears are welling and sliding down my cheek, and I swear I see his jaw tighten for just a moment. But it must be a trick of the lighting, because he doesn’t hesitate to flick his wrist at the man that’s standing next to him. He doesn’t even flinch when that bear of a man grips Joi’s head and snaps it to the side, severing her spinal cord.
Severing her life.
In the blink of an eye, her limp body falls to the wet soil, and the immediate hallowing of my chest pulls my knees to the earth along with her. Whoever had been holding onto my arm, lets go of me. The only sounds I hear is my heart hammering in my ears, and a set of heavy boots stepping around me.
