Beneath a Midnight Moon - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,115
here and now, by her own sister’s hand.
Trembling violently, she turned toward Hardane, wanting to imprint his face on her mind so that she might carry the memory of it with her into eternity.
From the corner of her eye, she saw a narrow shaft of moonlight glint on the blade clutched in Selene’s hand.
“Wait!” Renick’s voice broke the ominous stillness. “I’ll give you one last chance to save her, Hardane. Only tell me the secret of Wolffan shape shifting, and I’ll let the woman live.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I give you my word.”
Hardane snorted disdainfully. “What good will your word be when I’m dead?”
“None, perhaps. On the other hand, it’s the only chance the woman has. Are you willing to take it, or will you let her die when you might have saved her?”
Hardane’s gaze swept over the ship as though he were considering the Interrogator’s offer. Renick’s crew was on deck, gathered in a loose half-circle behind him. Selene stood beside Kylene, her knuckles white around the haft of the knife, her eyes filled with impatience.
He heard a faint sound near the foredeck and knew it was now or never.
“Very well, Renick,” Hardane said quietly. “I’ll show you how it’s done.”
The words had barely left his lips when he transformed into the wolf.
The men who had been holding him fell back, mouths agape, as Hardane sprang forward.
With a growl, he hurled himself at Renick, his jaws closing around the man’s throat.
At that moment, Jared, Carrick, and thirty of Argone’s best warriors swarmed over the rail of the foredeck, their swords cutting a wide swath through Renick’s men.
With a cry of frustration, Selene whirled around, her arm raised, the knife in her hand poised to strike.
Kylene’s eyes widened with fear as she saw the dagger plunging toward her heart. And then, as if the world had suddenly slowed, she saw Selene stagger backward, a bright crimson stain blooming around the arrow that protruded from her breast.
Selene stared in horror at the arrow that had pierced her heart. The dagger fell from her hand, a hand that no longer had the strength to hold it.
“You,” she murmured, her voice thick with accusation as her gaze fastened on the face of the man who had killed her. “I thought you were dead.”
Tears welled in Carrick’s eyes as he ran forward, his arms wrapping around Selene as the life slowly ebbed from her body.
Kylene turned away, choking back the bile that rose in her throat, hardly aware that Jared was cutting her hands free, that the fighting was over. Renick’s men had been disarmed and were being herded below to the brig.
Arms folded protectively over her stomach, she looked around for Hardane, felt a fresh wave of nausea churn through her as she saw the wolf prowling the deck.
It took all her courage to look at the Interrogator’s body. She had expected to see a great deal of blood, had feared that Hardane, in his fury, had ripped out the man’s throat. Surprisingly, there was no blood to be seen, and she wondered if the Interrogator was, indeed, dead.
“Hardane.”
The wolf turned at the sound of her voice; then, with a wave of its tail, it disappeared into the shadows.
Kylene started to follow, and then she heard the sound of her father’s tears, saw him sitting on the deck with Selene’s body cradled in his arms.
She stared after Hardane for a moment; then, knowing he didn’t want to assume his own shape in front of his men, she knelt beside her father and put her arms around his shoulders, wondering, as she did so, if he would hate her for being the cause of Selene’s death.
Jared came to stand beside them. Not knowing what to say, he patted Kylene’s shoulder, then went to see if he could help with the wounded.
A moment later, Hardane lifted Kylene to her feet and drew her into his arms. “Are you all right, lady?”
“Fine.” Her gaze searched his eyes. “Are you?”
His arms tightened around her. “Aye.”
“Did you . . . is he . . . ?”
“Dead? No.”
In spite of all the Interrogator had done, in spite of what he’d meant to do, she was relieved to learn that Hardane hadn’t killed him.
“What will happen to him now?” she asked.
“He’ll hang.”
Kylene swallowed. “When?”
Hardane glanced over his shoulder to where three of his men were pulling Renick to his feet. “Now.”
With quiet efficiency, Renick’s hands were lashed behind his back; a rope was thrown over the yardarm.