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The wolf was snuffling at Kitty—like he was getting to know her—and Kitty had flattened out her back and stopped hissing. She was even nuzzling him back.
When Kitty suddenly turned into smoke, Sofia realized that the wolf was partially transparent. Not a real wolf, but a ghost or an apparition. It explained its unnatural color. In her panic, she hadn’t noticed. Had Kitty changed to be more like the wolf?
Fear still vibrated along her nerve endings, but confusion was quickly replacing it. A crazy thought jumped into her head. But no, this couldn’t be Malcolm. Wulvers turned into wolves. She’d never heard of golden apparitions.
The wolf sat down, front legs stretched out so that it was low enough that Kitty could sniff his neck and head. Purring, Kitty put her ghostly front paws on the wolf’s big shoulder and began to knead. Like a weird cat massage. Sofia glanced at the wolf’s face.
It looked… happy?
This was too weird. Menace still thrummed in the air, but it wasn’t the wolf, she now realized. It was just the place. The wolf was something different.
What the hell was going on?
Suddenly, the wolf gave Kitty one big lick—which made her hiss in annoyance—then stood and approached Sofia. She tensed, but wasn’t as terrified as she had been before Kitty had decided the wolf wasn’t a threat.
The wolf sniffed her, then rubbed his head against her hip. When the big animal pressed its side against her front, an image blasted into her mind.
Malcolm, leaning back against a wall of skulls. He was in a room that looked identical to hers. It was an eerie sight—such a vital, handsome man surrounded by grinning death.
The vision faded when a voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Sofia? What took so long?”
Sofia jerked. Malcolm’s voice was in her head. And there was a feeling of connection. As if they were touching.
“Malcolm?” she asked.
“Yes. Are you all right? Why did it take my wolf so long to reach you?”
“Your wolf?” She’d been right. It was him. But how?
“Part of my soul. The wulver side. I’m locked in this skull dungeon, but I sent it to you.”
Of course. He wasn’t a normal, full-blood wulver.
“Are you all right?” he demanded.
“Fine, besides being trapped in here. How are we speaking like this?”
“My wolf connects us. If he stops touching you, the connection breaks.”
“All right. Do you have any idea how to get out of here? Can you aetherwalk?”
“I can’t. I already tried. The cell dampens my other magic as well.”
“But not the wolf?”
“It’s not magic in the way they think of it. It’s just my soul. They didn’t block me from moving, so my wolf is free to move as well. But we’re trapped here until they let us out.”
Sofia nodded and began to pace, her mind racing. This was bad. In all the history of her line, she’d never heard of anything like this happening. Were they destroying her village even now?
No. No, they couldn’t be. They’d give her another chance. She was good at hunting tributes. She could bring them the best magical antiquities, most powerful amulets, and rarest potions. They’d want to keep that gravy train going.
But they’d reap so much power by destroying her village.
“They aren’t destroying your village.” Malcolm’s voice broke through her reverie.
“How do you know? How did you even know that’s what I was thinking? You can’t read my mind, right?”
