Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #0.1–0.5, 1–7)

by Sarah J. Maas

Pain shuddered Aelin as she lay sprawled, panting, arms straining to hold her head and chest off the ground. It was not Cairn and the poker she stared at. But Fenrys, rising upward, his body rippling with tremors of pain, snout wrinkled in rage. Even Cairn halted. Looked toward the white wolf. “Stand down.” Fenrys snarled, deep and vicious. And still he struggled to his feet. Cairn pointed the poker at the rug. “Lie down. That is an order from your queen.” Fenrys spasmed, his hackles lifting. But he was standing. Standing. Despite the order, despite the blood oath’s commands. Get up. From far away, the words sounded. Cairn roared, “Lie down!” Fenrys’s head thrashed from side to side, his body bucking against invisible chains. Against an invisible oath. His dark eyes met Cairn’s. Blood began running from the wolf’s nostril. It’d kill him—to sever the oath. It would break his soul. His body would go soon after that. But Fenrys put one paw forward. His claws dug into the ground. Cairn’s face paled at that step. That impossible step. Fenrys’s eyes slid toward hers. Neither needed the silent code between them for the word she beheld in his gaze. The order and plea. Run. Cairn read the word, too. And he hissed, “Not with a shattered spine, she can’t,” before he brought the poker slamming down for Aelin’s back. With a roar, Fenrys leaped. And with it, he snapped the blood oath completely.