Page 28 of Burn Bright
And I remembered what I'd heard of wolvren. They were kin to selkies, and became wolf only when they zipped themselves inside their furs. To steal a wolvren's fur was to doom him to a half-life. He must have kept it rolled in hispack.
I could almost feel the heat of the fur, as if something warmed it from within. Magic, maybe. "Thankyou."
He merely rubbed his hands by the flames. "We need you to find the firebird, hence we need you alive. I wouldn't just give my fur toanyone."
And for the first time, I was certain he'd lied tome.
* * *
I don't knowwhat wokeme.
But between one blink and the next, my vision slowly focused, and there were a pair of eyes staring at me from thewoods.
I sat up with a sharp intake of breath. There was no sign of Casimir, and the fire burned as heartily as it ever had. Scrambling for the knife in my pack, my hand curled around the hilt and then I faced the creature in thetrees.
"Your iron cannot hurt me here, child." The old woman in the velvet cloak stepped out of thewoods.
"You," Isaid.
Cas? Where was he?The last I could remember, he'd offered to take the firstwatch.
"He's not here," said the old woman, reading my intentions. She walked through the fire, and I took a step back as its flames parted around her. "This is notreal."
"I'm dreaming?" It certainly felt real. The knife hilt in my hand was solid, and the snow beneath my bare feet feltcold.
But as I looked around, I realized there were no shadows cast here. And the flames felt distant, as though a pane of glass separated me from the heat. "Who areyou?"
Her bare feet whispered over the snow, melting little footprints in it. She pressed a hand to a mighty oak, stroking it as one would stroke a cat. "They called me Galina. Once upon a time." She glanced back, her silvery tangled and snarled down her back. "Are you coming child? I can only tell you more if you follow me away from here. Your wolf-man is caught between two worlds. He might sense me and wake to thedream."
Leaving the safety of the fire seemed less than prudent, but... I was already in her power it seemed. How could I escape from a world sheruled?
"You will not be harmed," she said, seeming to sense my reticence. "May Vashta strike me down if youare."
"You said the last time we met you'd tell me what you meant about waiting for me to come here," I pointed out. "I'm not going anywhere until you tellme."
Her smile dawned, bright and cruel. "So I did. And I am bound by my word." Her gaze drifted to the fire. "I see you have the feather your father wasgiven."
Given?"He foundit."
"Did he?" Another smile. "A long time ago we met, he and I. He was lost in the woods, near starving, bleeding, and hunted by a pack of draugur. I saved hislife."
"Why?" A life saved meant a debtowed.
"Because I saw his future and I needed him to live it." Galina's eyes glittered black in the firelight, the flames reflecting back off her pupils. "I allowed him to keep the feather he'd found, as a reminder of the price he owedme."
"Whatprice?"
"A child," she whispered. "A daughter, one ofthree."
Instantly, I held the knife toward her, my nostrilsflaring.
"Oh, child." She rolled her eyes. "I cannot take what is not freely given. I only wished to meet you, to see if you would be a worthy successor. He agreed to only that. I don't see the entire future, only possibilities.Youare a possibility. And I've been waiting for you for nearly twentyyears."
What?"You want me to be a witch? Likeyou?"
"I want you to be mysuccessor."
"Then here is my answer:no."
