30 Nights

29

LILY

"What the hell, Lily?" Edric says, staring at the wolves sitting down around me. I have seen him angry, happy, lustful, even a little scared but he looks at me totally confused. I would normally enjoy this moment, but I'm aware that the remains of Maria's body are just a few feet away.

Edric takes a step towards me, and one of the wolves leans up and lets out a low growl.

"Hey," I say, "shush, please don't hurt him." The wolf sinks back down but it is still growling.

"I have never seen anything like this," Edric says. "They are guarding you, these are the Samil's wolves and they only guard them like this."

As he inches closer to me, I can see blood all over him.

"Are you hurt, Edric? There's so much blood on you."

"Claudius is dead."

My stomach drops ten feet. "Dead? You didn't, please tell me you didn't -?"

"I killed him. He set these wolves loose on my lands, he wanted to kill you, something in me snapped. And it's done."

I feel myself starting to shake. This was bad, I knew it was even if Edric was trying to be matter of fact about it.

"It's the Samil, you said they were untouchable. You were, well, I thought all the vampires everywhere were scared of them. What are we going to do?"

"No-one has ever killed a Samil before, and now I have. You are standing here with their guard dogs around you. One step at a time, Lily. We will find a way out of this. Why don't you start by telling me how you have tamed a pack of wolves?"

I walk slowly towards him, watching carefully to see what the wolves do. They shift their positions, and I hear their growls. I bend down and touch one very slowly. It lets me. I know, and I don't know how I know, but they are not going to hurt me. There is something between us, and I don't know what it is.

"I climbed up that tree when I heard the wolves coming this way. I watched as Max threw Maria at them so he could escape, and I closed my eyes as they ripped her apart," I shut my eyes, feeling the tears there. This was no time for tears though, we need to make a plan to escape.

"Lily, come here," he says softly. I take the last few steps and close the gap between us. His arms are around me, holding me tightly, and the wolves close around us in a circle. "I will look after you now," he says, bending down and gently kissing my lips. "These games are over. I'm done with it, I'm never letting you out of my sight again."

"I was so scared, Edric. I was starting to feel weak up in the tree. I'd run so fast, and I feel so hungry and thirsty all the time. I was wondering how long I could stay up in the branches, and whether the wolves would go. I could see them looking up at me. It was the strangest thing, they made these noises, like whimpers and cries. I started to climb down a little. I can't explain it, I just felt drawn to them. As I tried to get lower, a branch snapped and I slipped, falling down on the floor. I just stood there looking at them. I thought I was dead. I wanted to run but I stood there like a dumb animal. They didn't attack me, and instead, they sat down around me." Edric is looking down at me and at the wolves around me, shaking his head in amazement.

"Aren't they the most beautiful animals you've ever seen? Look at their white fur, aren't wolves normally brown or something? These look like they have stepped out of the snow."

"I can't say wolves are my favourite things, Lily. The Samil have always had packs of white wolves. I know they breed and raise their own wolves, training them to be the perfect packs of guards against both humans and vampires. I've never been this close to a wolf before that I haven't been killing." Edric bends down a little, staring closely at the wolf nearest to us.