Page 174 of Master of Storms
Ishtar gasped and panted, tripping clumsily through the snow. Freyja caught her arm as she nearly fell and the bloody linen dropped into the snow.
They’d never outrun them.
Not like this.
“Stop!” She pressed her back to Ishtar’s as three enormous white wolves stalked them through the trees.
Or no, not wolves.
Wolfish, perhaps.
Snowy-white, their eyes glowing green, and their lips curling back from their enormous teeth, they looked like they’d just found their next meal.
“Stay behind me,” she told Ishtar, shoving her sister-in-law behind her. She’d been working with her magic ever since she married Rurik, and even though their magics were not one and the same, she was far more powerful than she’d been when she met him—though her powers occasionally remained uncontrollable.
The creatures prowled toward them.
Freyja’s chest rose and fell.
“Be ready to run,” she whispered.
“We can’t run,” Ishtar replied. “Not from this. This was fated in the stars.”
Freyja shot her a sharp look. “Remember what we said about seeing the future? Sometimes it isnotreassuring.” She paused. “Will I ever see him again?”
“Who?”
“Rurik.”
“You will see him,” Ishtar started to explain, but it felt as though she was trying to consider how best to say it.
I will see him.
That had to be enough.
“Fine.” She picked up a heavy limb that had broken from one of the trees, and stepped toward the lead wolf. “Stay back!”
Horns shattered the stillness of the air.
Damn it.Her heart plummeted in her chest, but the creatures darted away.
Elves.
“This way!” she cried, turning to the left.
An arrow landed in front of them.
Freyja skidded to a halt, and Ishtar slammed into her. The thick snow and her skirts seemed to be hampering her, and while there was an air of grace to her, Ishtar always moved through the world as though unaware of it.
Freyja spun around to face their attackers.
Ishtar leaned against her heavily. Her glazed eyes were wide, but Freyja knew she was trying not to panic.
No portals.
No running.
Just her and her magic.
