A demon’s rival. Natalie Yacobson

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СКАЧАТЬ of the men’s hands. Or were they not knives, but claws?

      «I am the Queen of the wolves,» Jessica corrected. Samantha felt something furry pressed against her back. Was Jessica really wearing a mantle she hadn’t noticed?

      The full moon was just peeking through the cracked window. Isn’t it too late for the moon now? Samantha thought she’d been at the manor most of the night. But she guessed it’s still a long way from dawn, isn’t it?

      «The moon is our patron saint,» Jessica said in a sermonizing tone. Her companions laughed hoarsely. Their laughter turned to snarls. Samantha was wiping her eyes when she noticed the brown or gray fur growing on the skin of those gathered and their limbs turning into paws. Jessica was suddenly fluffy too, like a large wolf.

      Samantha struggled to get out of her clutches. Tickling herself was useless. Wolves in torn camisoles standing on their hind legs were no dream. In the large she-wolf that led them, Jessica could only be recognized by her dress and tiara.

      «Help me!» Samantha rushed to the door. She should have brought her carbine with her, but she’d left the weapon in the carriage. The horses wouldn’t come to rescue her, and the moon peeking through the windows favored only werewolves.

      «Get her!» Even in wolf form, Jessica spoke in a familiar contralto. «Dinner’s getting away!»

      Several wolves blocked the girl’s path. Samantha found herself at a dead end. She pressed her back against the tattered tapestry. If only there was a secret doorway in the wall now.

      One werewolf tore at Samantha’s dress with a paw. The fabric crunched, the sleeve ripped off. Samantha clutched her eyes in fear, and when she opened them a moment later, all the wolves recoiled. It appeared that the mole shining on her shoulder again had scared them away. Werewolves can’t be scared of a mole.

      «You can’t touch her!» Jessica said regretfully. – «Let’s all run into the woods! We’ll find another victim before morning!»

      The wolf pack raced toward the door, leaving new scratches on the already hopelessly ruined floor.

      Fairies’ instructions

      Samantha waited a moment. The wolves ran off. The horses they thankfully didn’t touch. An excited neighing could be heard outside. Apparently, werewolves only eat humans.

      The girl picked up the shreds left from her sleeve. Maybe as compensation for the torn dress, she could carry away the werewolf jewelry. There was jewelry and oddly shaped keys on the table. Samantha liked the gold-plated key with the heart-shaped head and slipped it into her pocket. It was not theft. It was compensation for emotional distress. She’s been scared to death in here!

      There was blood in the bottom of the cup Jessica was drinking from. She should have known it wasn’t red tea. Both green and pink tea are imported to Ivylor too rarely, and they are speculated in such a way that even aristocrats can’t always afford them. Overseas merchants are rare guests in the country. Rumor has it that some powerful spirit scares merchants away from the royal harbor, taking away their goods.

      Samantha descended the stairs, walked across the wolf-scratched floor, and stepped out into the courtyard. The neglected garden and the sculpture of the wolf goddess on the fountain began to frighten her.

      How could there be so much light in an abandoned manor at night to see everything? Samantha looked around for a lantern, but all that emerged from the thicket was an orange fairy with heat coming from it. Samantha recoiled. The fairy resembled a hovering flame. It was small in size, but it looked like a blazing sun. Being near her was like sitting down by a melted stove.

      «Who are you?» Samantha backed up and asked the question spontaneously, even though it was already clear that a fire fairy was hovering next to her.

      «I am a fire fairy, of course! Famma…,» the fairy raised her orange eyebrows in amazement. «And you’re a guest who leaves the manor alive? That’s unusual!»

      «Have there been other guests here before me?» Samantha marveled at the people walking the wolf’s nest themselves. She guessed it was not surprising if wolves could turn into aristocrats.

      The fire fairy nodded vigorously. Her entire body, wings, hair, and skin were glowing with orange light, making the fairy resemble a flying bonfire.

      «There were so many of them here! Kennels, woodsmen, woodcutters, masons, roofers, shopkeepers – all their bones are put into my fireplace so that I have something to burn,» boasted the fire fairy.

      It was to cover their tracks, you fool! Bones are evidence!»

      «Is it evidence?» The fairy frowned. She probably didn’t understand what the word meant. «The royal advisor was looking for some evidence here too.»

      «Was the royal advisor in this estate? And did nothing to keep us all safe from werewolves?» Samantha’s righteous anger flared up.

      «He threatened to wipe the manor and its inhabitants to powder if we continued to do whatever we wanted,» the fairy recalled.

      «So he has a conscience after all! That’s comforting! I’ve heard that the king’s counselor is completely unscrupulous. The travelers must be slandering him. Are you sure you heard everything?»

      «I was hiding in the chimney. I could hear every rustle in there.»

      Orange lights were coming off the turrets. They flew down and turned into new fire fairies.

      «These are my sisters!» Famma waved a flaming hand at them in greeting.

      Samantha was not happy about the fairies. It was getting as hot as a furnace next to them. She struggled to slip out of the tight ring of fire fairies that had flocked to the fountain.

      «We’re heating and lighting the castle!» They bragged. «Are you going to marry one of the werewolves?»

      «Gods forbid! What makes you think that?»

      «Otherwise you wouldn’t be left alone in the manor,» Famma concluded.

      «I’m leaving now,» Samantha picked up her lush skirts and ran for the exit. The fire fairies followed her in a swarm. Apparently they hadn’t had anyone to talk to for a long time. The werewolf masters were unlikely to talk to the fairies. They were tolerated in the manor only for fire and light.

      The wicket door was unlocked. Samantha ran to the horses. They were not too eager to see their mistress. Pegasus was peacefully nibbling on the grass. Naughty, Sleepyhead and Ardent stared at her with empty, lazy eyes.

      «Damn it!» Samantha cursed. «Those stupid geldings can’t be moved again!»

      The horses did not take offense at her angry words, but the fire fairies fluttered nearby and watched the scene bewildered. For some reason, the horses were not afraid of their fire. Apparently they weren’t afraid to get burned. Samantha noticed that the light touch of the fairies made dry twigs burst into flames and the fence soot.

      «I understood correctly that you were going to leave us,» Famma said disappointedly.

      «I must leave, or I’ll be nothing but bones when your landlords return!»

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