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The arrow Lili clutched fell away. It hadn’t pierced her. Marek’s voice ruptured my frantic thoughts. ‘I once saw an arrow bounce off a garment she wove.’ My pulse raced, spurred by the sparkle blossoming in Lili’s eyes.

Lili twisted and cried, “Aghhhh!” Light fur grew along her skin, tearing her dress. I fell away as growing limbs flailed against the stone. An entire hall of guards watched in terrified awe. In seconds, a massive, snarling hound stood in the great hall.

When I was cursed, I’d lost everything. Lili knew of my suffering; I’d admitted the loneliness, the pain, and the unending hunger. I’d done everything in my power to assure she didn’t share my fate. It seemed my effort was wasted.

In the end, she’d eaten the fruit anyway.

“Shoot it!” a guard shrieked, while another aimed.

They pulled the trigger, but a gloved fist knocked the crossbow down.

The bolt went wild, striking a guard through the calf.

A hysteric, high-pitched scream left her throat as she cradled her leg.

Like splintering wood, a chorus of loud cracks drew all eyes to the far end of the hall.

Evette and Lottie were gone.

The room stopped, as if everyone inside were bewitched. Could it be? Had their eyes deceived them?

Indeed, it was no trick.

The great hall held three monstrous hounds.

To their detriment, a guard reached for their sword.

A hound, possessing only one eye, snatched them.

The guard’s body broke. It sent out a sickening crunch , like the bite of a crisp apple.

Smattered in a bib of blood, the hound reared and released an ear-splitting howl.

Stillness broken, arrows flew as the hounds unleashed themselves on the small army.

I wanted to change, even tried, but collapsed, half-fainting from the strain.

Through the smoky haze, I could barely make out the carnage.

While the dark hound with a grey streak—Evette—and Lili seemed keen on merely taunting the guards, the hound with one eye was particularly vicious.

She played with the guards, toying with them before leaping forward and nipping their heads clean off.

Respect, and no small amount of fear, graced me as I beheld Lottie in hound form.

In mere seconds, she’d torn limbs from no less than six guards.

She was a natural; it was hard to believe she hadn’t been born this way.

Regaining my footing, I stumbled toward Lili as the doors to the great hall exploded open.

They crashed against the stone, and a gust of frigid air threw splinters across the hall.

The force knocked the breath from me, and I squinted against the brutal wind.

A figure stood in the entrance, hair blowing in the gale.

Queen Aenor.

The room went dark.

Shrieks and snarls battered me. A hand slid inside mine, yanking me up.

Its owner was a mystery to me; even I couldn’t see in these manufactured shadows.

The stranger didn’t immediately stab me, so I allowed them to drag me away.

Click . The gentle sound of a door opening.

My mystery saviour shoved me into a tiny passage, barely illuminated by torches.

Tucking an ill-fitting shirt into her trousers, Evette grimaced.

A wet shimmer caught the light, blood covered her collar.

“Are you injured?” I asked.

“It’s not my blood.” Evette pulled a cloak on and pushed passed me. “Move.”

Digging in my heels, I cried, “Not without Lili!”

“Trust my girls!” Evette yanked me onward.

“They will come!” Ignoring her, I retreated.

Evette snatched my shirt. “You are the weakest thing in this castle!” Her eyes were fire, her canines sharp points as she roared, “You will not crawl back in there to be captured, only for my daughters to risk their lives freeing you a second time!”

Every fibre of my being disagreed. “I won’t leave her!”

With brute strength, Evette tossed me down the passage, I clutched the wall for support. “This is not a discussion!” She drew her sword and nodded on. “My daughters do not need you saving them!” With great effort, I straightened. Evette’s sword dug into my spine, encouraging me.

Lili had always claimed I was the deadliest beast in the Hollow.

In truth, I’d lost count of how many times she might have slain me.

How often had she loomed above me, prepared to do it, stopped only by her kind heart?

I begged that same heart led her back to me, even if she had to betray her very nature to do so.

Reluctantly, I began down the cramped path.

Soon, it widened, allowing me to stand straight.

I rounded a corner and moonlight appeared at the end.

Freedom. Yet it was dread, not relief, that rocked me.

Lili was back there, fighting for her life.

How could I get back to her without harming Evette?

She was strong now, stronger than me for certain.

A shadow crossed the moonlight.

“Hold it,” said a woman, the one so often at the advisor’s side.

“Bronwyn,” Evette slipped around me and raised her sword. “Step aside.” I wondered if I might flee, back to Lili—but rising concern for Evette kept me rooted.

“Captain!” Bronwyn cried. “The Hound killed your husband!”

Evette’s sword wavered, but she didn’t back down.

“The Hound might have landed the blow, but it was not this man’s fault.

” To hear those words, it was like I was freed from Marek’s control all over again.

“Please, Bronwyn.” Evette softened. “I just want to be with my children. Liliwen, Lottie, and Lysander.” She said their names, carefully and deliberately. “Surely, you can understand.”

Bronwyn didn’t move.

Realizing it wasn’t working, Evette lowered her sword and undid her cloak. The fracturing of bones echoed against the stones as she shifted. I side-stepped the sprawling limbs. Gobs of drool fell from the hound’s mouth. Its head craned against the ceiling, looming over Bronwyn.

Strangely…Bronwyn smiled at the snarling beast. She raised her hand, and a milky haze swirled in the hound’s eyes. The beast swayed, as if in a trance.

No!

This woman, Bronwyn—could she control beasts?

“You will remain here,” Bronwyn ordered.

I elbowed Evette—hard. “Change back!” But Evette was lost. She sat, like an oversized sheepdog. I snatched Evette’s dropped sword. The weight of the weapon was familiar, not so unlike my axe. Lunging at Bronwyn, I sliced.

The blade was sharp, the cut clean.

Bronwyn’s hand fell from her arm as easily as a leaf might be shaken from a tree.

A geyser of blood spurted from Bronwyn’s wrist and her shrieks filled the passage.

Evette shook her head, coming out of her trance.

As she shrunk back to herself, horror distorted her features.

Bronwyn clutched the bloodied stump, wailing in agony.

I snatched the cloak and wrapped it around Evette’s shoulders.

“Run!”

Together, we thundered into the night.

“This way!” Evette skirted rocks and hurtled down the mountainside. Sprinting, we didn’t slow until we reached a less-trodden path by the creek that serviced the castle. In a waiting wagon, Lysander smiled. Though his eyes grew solemn as they trailed the path behind us, toward the castle.

Where his sisters did not follow.

Evette collapsed against the wagon. With barely breath to utter it, she said, “They will come.” She climbed up next to Lysander. “We have a meeting place; we will go.”

“I—I can’t.” Every instinct commanded me back to Lili.

Evette and Lysander exchanged a look. Evette nodded, only slightly. Lysander frowned and gave me a sympathetic shrug. “Sorry, mate.” There was no time to ask why. Lysander’s fist connected with my jaw and my head snapped back so far, I saw the twinkling stars above.

Then darkness took me.