Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #2) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,146

around his shoulder at the pack of dire wolves. “Fuck me! They’re dead, too. Don’t kill them again.”

“Why the fuck not?” he snarled.

“Because they multiply when they’re dead. You can either chant them away or force the dire wolves to heed orders, but you can’t cut them! They multiply to increase their power against whoever hurt them,” I groaned, dropping my head. “This idea of yours to heal me? It fucking sucks balls, jerk.”

Chapter Forty-Nine

I screamed out a warning as one of the dire wolves lunged toward Knox. His blade swung, severing the giant wolf into two large, decayed portions. The other wolves growled, spittle running from their blackened teeth while huge dark eyes tracked our movement.

We all stepped closer to the pool, knowing they couldn’t enter because of the magic within it. The drawback to this plan was that the wolves would have the upper hand by trapping us in the pool. That and they wouldn’t need to leave ever, which left us still having to escape them.

The wolves appeared as rotting corpses with matted hair clinging to their bones. The putrid scent of rotting meat filled the air thickly.

It forced my stomach to roil with the need to expel what little was there. Huge black fangs protruded from their mouths, while dark, deadly magic filled their eyes, slithering through the clearing.

Magic wrapped around us, and I shook my head at the wrongness of it. Dark magic that didn’t come from the wolves choked us with the vileness and taint of it on my flesh.

My blood thundered through my veins, pounding loudly in my ears while the wolves prowled closer, slowly lowering their heads while keeping us within sight. They were predators, preparing to savage their prey.

We were that prey.

Just freaking great. Couldn’t I get a break for five minutes? Was that really asking too damn much?

Every step they took closer, forced us toward the crystalline blue water. The men held their blades up, taking defensive positions, the wolves prowling forward, uncaring of the threatening swords. Knox turned, glaring at me over his shoulder like I’d conjured them from thin air. I held up my arms, proving I still wore the cuffs on my wrist.

Knox’s body rippled with raw, pulsing power, forcing me to step further away from him. He held the sheer authority at the moment as his power in the clearing mixed with the high voltage of his men. It was stifling, sending shivers of unease rushing down my spine.

Knox’s men created a crescent moon formation in front of the pool, with Greer and me behind them. I held my breath when Knox swung once more, and the wolves lunged into the air toward the men.

Knox moved fluidly with purpose. Every swing of his blade was like a dance, slicing through the wolves with fluidity and strength. He landed the first blow, severing the bones of three enormous wolves into six pieces.

I shook my head, watching the corpses multiply, rising almost instantly. Sucking my lip between my teeth, I peered down to find Greer holding my hand. My eyes slid to him, and he turned even whiter, if at all possible.

“Really?” I muttered.

“I don’t do dead dogs, Peasant.”

I expelled a breath and grimaced at the irony of Greer’s statement. Frowning, I silently watched the men swinging their swords in deft precision, dismembering the already dead wolves.

Knox and his men refused to hear me or listen to my previous warning, and every wolf they severed in half rose with another at its side.

This was going to suck, big time.

“Knox, free me,” I demanded, holding up my wrists.

He spun around, staring at me as a wolf leaped toward his back, but he sent his sword backward, severing it into two pieces without even looking at it.

Knox shook his head with a wicked grin marring his thinning mouth, his eyes flashing with anger as if he blamed me for this. He hissed from between clenched teeth.

“I don’t think so, witch,” he growled harshly. “Call off your dogs.”

“They’re not my dogs! They’re dead!” I snapped and fought the urge to kick him in his balls for the sheer audacity of his accusation.

“They’re fucking dire wolves, which are your family’s familiars!”

“They’re Hecate’s familiars, not the bloodline, jackass!”

“Call them off, now!”

“You call them off!” I snarled, crossing my arms over my chest to glare at him.

Knox spun, slicing through the wolves that lunged at his back. His men continued cutting them up, creating a mass of dire wolves that snapped deadly fangs at