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The man they called the Lord of the Wolves was self-evidently not human if you knew what to look for, David decided. While he had the amber eyes of of a werewolf they were flecked with silver and his skin was unnaturally pale. He also had razor sharp claws similar to David’s own but he didn’t seem to be able to retract them. He was also pretty obviously related to Sabren even though he was taller than she was. They had the same hair and similar face shapes and noses. As soon as they entered the room he and Lucy looked around at them.

“Abi!” Maelin ran across the room when Philip and Daniel carried her into the room. Even so Lucy got there faster.

“Sit her on one of the stools,” she said quickly. “It’s going to take both of us to fix this.” She looked at Daniel. “Can you focus on stopping her bleeding out when we remove the sword while I concentrate on the rest of the healing.”

Daniel nodded tersely and laid a hand on Abigail’s shoulder. “Best do it quickly,” he said.
“I know.” She gently removed the dressing and looked at Philip. “Pull it out.”

Philip did as she said and Abigail gave a gurgling sob that sounded like an attempt at a scream and collapsed unconscious in David’s harm. Daniel and Lucy worked quickly and barely any blood seeped from the wound before it closed.

“She’s going to need rest and watching in case she goes into shock,” Lucy said. “But she should be okay now as long as we keep her under observation.” She stroked Abigail’s hair. “What did you do, you crazy girl?” She reached out and squeezed Daniel’s hand. “You’ve grown up into a fine healer. I’m so proud of you.”

“She threw herself between me and the Summer Warrior,” David said. “Then refused to let go of the sword.”

“Good girl, Abi,” Maelin said. He looked at the rest of them with a frown. “Damn! She took Laurel didn’t she?”

“Yes,” Sabren stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. “What the hell is going on, Maelin. It’s about time you explained.”

“I probably should,” he agreed. “But I have a truce gift for Philip and his pack first.”

“A truce gift?” Philip tilted his head at him. “I doubt you have anything my pack could want.”

“Possibly not,” Maelin said. “But I suspect that you’re wrong.” He raised his voice slightly. “You can come in now, Rae.”

Another door opened and another werewolf entered. She was dragging a vampire who was in a pretty terrible state due to the fact that he was hobbled by a stake through his ankles. David couldn’t help wondering who he was and the puzzled look on Philip’s face suggested he was thinking the same thing. Before either of them could ask, however, Emma gave a startled cry that revealed the answer.

“Em?” Philip said. “Is he the one who?”

“Yes!” she said. “That’s him, Uncle Philip.”

“He decided to move his twisted little game to Rinham,” Rachel said. “I wasn’t having that.”

Philip twitched an eyebrow. “Ah, so you’re the Rinham renegade pack leader? We thought there was one but you keep a low profile.”

Rachel laughed. “Yes, well, surprising as you might find it I never saw the point in being a sadist. At least not with targets who didn’t deserve it.” She shoved the vampire to the floor in front of them.
Philip eyed the vampire coldly before nodding. “Very well. I’ll accept this since it seems we need to talk to you much as I would rather not.”

“Tell us about Laurel,” Michael said. “Why do you want her dead? What has she ever done to you?”

“Nothing,” he said. “It’s the only way I’ve found to stop my mother doing something worse to her.” He flinched as if something had struck him and froze for a moment before suddenly rounding on Sabren. “And you! Do you know what you’ve done to that poor girl?” He slipped into another language and David got the feeling he was swearing at her. After a moment Lucy laid a hand on his arm and murmured something to him. He shut up, took a breath and nodded.

“No, I don’t know because every time I try to ask you you start raving like this,” Sabren snapped. “Every time, even before we became enemies.”

“Yeah, anyone would think it wasn’t natural, wouldn’t they?” The ghost of Anna’s mother manifested, sitting on one of the barstools. “Like I don’t know, someone put a curse on him to stop him talking about it to anyone who didn’t know. Someone like his mother maybe.”

“Oh Lord! Of course!” Lucy hit herself in the forehead with the heel of her hand. “That never occurred to me but she could well do that, couldn’t she? A blood curse would be almost foolproof.”

“Don’t worry, Lu. It never occurred to me either, but it does explain why every time I try it’s like a bomb going off in my mind.” He sat down and rubbed his temples. “You tell them please, Lu.”

“Lucy?” Philip said. “I think you’d better.”

“I know,” she said. “You aren’t going to want to believe it.” She looked over at Sabren. “You neither. You know Gwen killed your father, right?”

“And my mother because she tried to stop her.”

“Do you know why she killed him?”

Sabren shook her head. “No, but I know that mother was awfully sickened by it and laid a doom on her sword to ensure her successor had to try and kill Gwen.”

“That’s not actually what that doom does,” Maelin said absently. “It would bind him to kill Maddan not Gwen.”

“That makes no sense,” Sabren said. “Maddan’s harmless and pretty well powerless.”

“Maddan?” David asked.

“The Winter King,” Lucy said. “He’s their brother. He should have died back then but she’s been keeping him alive and using the worst kind of magic to do it.”

“Worst…” Sabren said faintly. “S-she hollowed father to stop Maddan dying?”

“And she gave you to those monsters in return for the spell to do it even though we were at war with them and they were the ones who nearly killed him,” Maelin said.

“I’ll fucking kill her,” Sabren said. Bloody tears ran down her face and she clenched her fists. “I was already going to kill her but I’ll find a way to do it more than once. Maddan… Maddan would never have consented to this.”

“He didn’t, when he found out he ordered Elsed to kill him to stop her,” Lucy said.

“But what has this got to do with Laurel?” Michael asked. “What does…” He stopped and swayed on his feet. “Oh God, no.”

“Okay, did I just miss something,” David said because Liam, Kate and Morna all looked deathly serious as well.

“Maybe,” Liam said. “I hope we’re wrong, but I don’t think we are. That girl is the summer queen?”

“Potentially yes,” Maelin said. “But mother has the crown locked away behind layered wards that will stop anyone reaching it, but even if she didn’t it won’t stop that accursed magic hollowing out the girl’s soul and force feeding it to Maddan. Do you know how many potential Summer monarchs died screaming before I gave up trying to save them and started killing them. If the spell fails to find a target often enough Madden will die and my mother’s power will be broken.”

“When?” Liam said. “Hollowing spells require certain conditions before they can take hold. How long do we have?”

“Two days,” Maelin said. “But even if you manage to rescue her the spell will hunt her down.”

“Oh I gathered that,” Liam said dryly. “That’s why we’re going to go after Maddan instead.”

“I don’t think that’s possible,”Sabren said. “Mother has the Winter Palace locked up with Maddan inside.”

“But she can’t keep David out,” Liam said. “Not if he accepts the sword anyway. And he should be able to bring others with him.” He tutted thoughtfully. “If we attack the summer palace in some obvious manner at the same time it should act as a distraction and give the smaller group a chance to get through.”

“It might work,” Maelin conceded. “We certainly have nothing to lose by trying it. Of course it does rather require Philip and his pack to be able to work with me temporarily and they have no reason to do so. But as to the Winter Blade…” He closed his eyes and held out his hands. A shining sword appeared between them. It was a fairly slender blade that appeared to be made of milky ice that glowed from within. “He can have it if he wants to accept it but he should bear the doom in mind.” It floated over to David and hovered in front of him.

“It sounds like I’m going to have to try and kill him anyway,” David said. He eyed the blade thoughtfully. “And I don’t stand a chance of surviving this without it.” He gritted his teeth and reached out and grasped the hilt before anyone could stop him. Nothing happened for a moment and then the world went white.

 

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