Page 65 of The Forbidden Wolf King
Walk them!I wasn’t sure I could do that. Already I could feel them fighting me. It was like someone pushing back at me physically. Holding on to the power, I envisioned them walking forward and both of the guards lurched onward, knocking into Kailani and causing her to yelp.
A few people glanced in our direction and we smiled nervously. The guards looked like they had sticks up their butts, walking in a jerky abnormal pattern.
Raife rushed to the side of one guard and linked his arms through to steady him and Kailani did the same with the other. This did not look natural and any passersby would think they were drunk.
“Sorry,” I whispered as we all made our way away from the front of the building to the side where there was no one watching. We were shaded by the structure now and completely hidden by the fence.
The guards’ eyes were wide and I felt slightly bad that I was controlling them this way, but knowing they could be guarding a building my brother was in, I got over that guilt quickly.
Kailani looked at me and then cracked one of the guards over the head with a small rock she’d been hiding behind her back. He crumpled to the ground and then she repeated the action with the next one. Raife appraised his wife with pride and then they both made quick work of tying the guards’ hands behind their backs.
“Okay, we don’t have much time. Let’s check inside and if Oslo’s not there … they will have him in the dungeon,” Kailani said.
I frowned. “The raid just happened last night: what if they are still traveling back on foot?”
Axil got the news just after it happened and Fallenmoore was at least a day’s journey on foot—
“They have flyers. Humans with metal wings. I’m sure they flew him here as he’s a high-value target,” she said and I swallowed hard, not wanting to believe they already had my little brother and might be experimenting on him.
Keys in hand, Kailani ran for the side door and unlocked it. She seemed like she knew her way around this building and I was grateful. Raife and I slipped inside after her and I noticed we were in an open hallway lined with closed doors. The elf queen ducked into a room to the right and emerged wearing a white coat.
“Head down, patient,” she told me and handed Raife the other coat and a clipboard.
Oh. Right. I would act like a patient in this … whatever it was. A place they stole our magic? The thought gave me the shivers, but it was good thinking if we were caught.
I heard a few voices up ahead and Kailani hooked her hand under my elbow as I held my arms behind my back in a mock cuffed fashion. Then she marched us forward with confidence. This woman was full of more courage than I’d given her credit for when I’d first met her. I’d mistaken her kindness as a submissive weakness. I was wrong. And I was so grateful she was here with me now because I was feeling anything but confident.
We entered a main room where two others in lab coats were making hot tea and chatting easily. Kailani walked past them and they barely glanced in our direction. Only when we entered another hallway did one of them call after us.
“Hey, where are you taking that patient?” the woman questioned.
Kailani froze, not looking back. “Do you know which room Oslo Swiftwater is in? The little wolf boy from Fallenmoore?” she asked over her shoulder.
My heart hammered in my chest at her bold question.
“Who?” the woman in the lab coat called out. “We don’t have any wolves right now.”
That was a relief and also a worry. Where was he?
“Hey, who are you?” the woman demanded and I spun round, throwing my magic over her and her male counterpart and freezing them both mid stride.
“He’s not here,” I whined as Raife and Kailani subdued and tied up the two physicians.
Kailani looked worried. “Then there is only one other place he would be. I have to get you into the castle.”
She motioned that we head back the way we came and my heart fell. I wanted him to be here. I wanted this to be easy.
We stepped outside to where the two unconscious guards were. Kailani stripped down to her undergarments and put on the guard’s uniform. Raife did as well, tucking his hair into a bun and shoving it deep into his hat.
“What’s your plan, my love?” he asked her, strapping his bow over his back.
She looked up at him. “We arrest her, bring her in and say we have captured the wolf queen.”
Raife’s face fell. “They could kill her. Or strip her magic.”
Kailani swallowed. “I know, but it’s the only way I know how to get her inside. The palace is heavily guarded, we will be lucky if we are not recognized and caught while handing her over.”
“Do it,” I commanded. I didn’t care what happened to me, I just needed to be with my brother.
