Page 240 of Fangs
“Yeah. He brought me to Zana. They both worked for Madame. They gave me to the Voiceless because the God of Death promised to make them gods if they turned me in.”
“Is that… possible?” Wolf sounded hesitant.
I shrugged. “I dunno.”
A log popped in the fire, sending a spray of orange sparks, and I waited.
“What did the Voiceless do to you?” His voice was rough with emotion.
There it was. “Where do you want me to start?”
“At the beginning, I guess?”
So I told him, the words falling from my lips, rocks tumbling down a hill. I told him about Roe, the rite of correction, and the ways the Voiceless had tried to break me and get me to submit. He had to get up and pace for a while, but he didn’t punch any more trees. Once he returned, I told him about Sax trying to help us and then about Zana and her powers. That led to me backtracking to explain why Hawk went crazy, but then I faltered.
“Did you find Sky’s body?”
“Yeah,” Wolf answered, his tone softer than I expected. “I’m so sorry, Em.”
“She had fire powers,” I stared at the flickering flames of the fire, remembering how she’dbecomea living flame.
“That explains a few things.”
Explaining how Sky saved my life, and then I failed to save hers was harder to get out, but I did it. A stab of guilt and grief pierced through the numbness. I should’ve been able to heal her. I knew Icould. Icouldmake golden light explode out of me and heal everyone it touched. Why did I?—
“What happened after the Voiceless brought you back… after Sax?” Wolf prodded.
I took a shaky breath and told him about Roe getting away, Talmar’s rage, and my escape attempts, but then the words became more difficult to get out.
“They strapped me down and… and branded me again. I passed out… and then I woke up to… they… they were…” I tried to hide my shaking hands in my lap.
Wolf radiated pure fury the same way the fire radiated heat. “Did they rape you?”
I sucked in a breath through my nose and let it shakily out through my mouth. “He said he was invoking the God of Death into his body so he could touch me. He said if I didn’t submit, he’d letallof them…” I broke off, trembling. Beside me, Wolf was bristling with violence, and I struggled to finish. “He was going to, but… I don’t think… I don’t know what happened. I woke up and… the Voiceless… they were…”
I hunched forward, curling inward, as the horrible realization dawned on me. I killed the Voicelesswithmy healing powers. I’d somehow twisted it into something dark and deadly—the onegoodthing about me that helped, healed, and brought life. I thought hurting Sam while healing myself was the worst thing I could do, but this?
“Did you kill them with your powers?” Wolf asked, and he still felt coiled tight as a spring, but his voice was strangely calm.
Was he looking for the final evidence that I needed to be dragged back to Carth? Everything Menace had told me suddenly flashed through my head. I hadn’t killed Dune, but Wolf didn’t know about Menace, so how would I even explain? I had no proof of Menace either, and Wolf would probably think I was lying…again.
“Emmy?”
“I… I don’t know…”
“I hope you did.”
I looked up at him, startled by his low, savage tone. He watched me with a mix of turbulent emotions, but he almost lookedproud.
“What?”
“I hope you killed them with your powers,” he repeated, holding my gaze. “You defended yourself, and I’m fuckin’ glad those monsters are dead.”
I stared at him.
“What are you thinkin’, right now?” he finally asked.
I had no idea what to say. I had a million thoughts crashing through my head, but my mind was somehow empty at the same time.
