Free Wolves in the Shadows (The Wolf Clan Chronicles) by Sharon McLaughlin Page B

sight.  Elizabeth’s eyes were stung by the thick black and yellow smoke that billowed out from the darkness.  She watched in horrified fascination as the bodies that had lain dead under Lord Reginald’s feet began to stand up and follow their master.  Proud looking vampires with rent armor and notched swords, their faces pale and bloodless, fierce looking wolves with their fur matted in blood, bizarre half-wolf half-man creatures with gaping wounds, steely eyed men with blood stained weapons of all description.  They all rose and went down into the earth. 
    From the abyss a terrible voice was calling to them all.  Elizabeth felt herself being drawn towards the darkness under the earth, but she turned and saw on the shadowy shape of a huge wolf appear in the distance.  It was growing rapidly as if approached at impossible speed.  As the last of the bodies disappeared from sight, the wolf leapt down into the chasm.  The earth shook again, and the walls of the abyss slammed shut with a deafening clash. 
    Elizabeth felt certain that her head would burst.  She was suddenly buried deep beneath the earth, trapped in eternal night.  She could hear moaning and cries of agony all around her in the darkness that pressed against her.  There was no escape from this pit of despair.  She closed her eyes and waited for death to take her. 
    Romulus, enough.” 
    Elizabeth could hear Lord Reginald’s voice as if from a great distance. 
    “Elizabeth, open your eyes.” 
    She could feel Marcus shaking her.  She shook her head.  How could she face the darkness that she knew awaited her? 
    “Open your eyes,” Marcus echoed his father’s words. 
    A slash of light ripped through the darkness. 
    Elizabeth’s eyes flew open.  She gasped for breath. 
    “Just breathe,” Marcus said.  “You’ll be okay. 
    Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.  The pain in her temples subsided into a dull throbbing. 
    Romulus whined and put his head on her knee. 
    “I warned you, Romulus,” Marcus’ voice shook with anger.  “You had no right to show her that.” 
    The Romulus growled in response. 
    “How?” Elizabeth managed to choke out at last.  “And why?”               
    The pain in her temples began to intensify as she looked into the wolf’s eyes.  They were still blazing with that horrible blue fire. 
    “Get out of my head!” she yelled without thinking.  She felt as if some kind of energy had suddenly burst from her body sending ripples of heat in all directions. 
    Romulus yelped, and his eyes flickered back to their usual hue. 
    The pain was gone completely.  Elizabeth blinked in astonishment. 
    Lord Reginald and Sir Marcus exchanged surprised glances and then stared at her.  It was clear that they were as confused as she was. 
    “I’m sorry, Romulus,” Elizabeth said softly, unable to bear the awkward silence. 
    “I don’t know what just happened,” she said as she gave the wolf a tentative pat on the head.  “I just can’t have you messing around inside my head like that.” 
    Romulus licked her hand with his rough tongue and whined as if in apology.  For a brief moment, Elizabeth thought that there was something almost like fear in his eyes.  But the moment passed quickly, and he curled up on the floor at her feet and laid his head between his paws. 
    “Romulus is deeply sorry, young Elizabeth,” Lord Reginald said.  “He was just overexcited.” 
    “Overexcited?” Elizabeth had trouble keeping her voice from squeaking.  “I don’t understand what just happened!  Are you ever going to tell me what the hell he is and how he can do that?”
    Lord Reginald seemed older than ever as he spoke.  “Romulus has been my faithful companion since I entered the gates of the abyss.”  He sighed and shook his head sadly before he continued.  “I cannot say exactly who or what he is beyond that.  He was born in the darkness besides me, and he