Standing next to the line that separated us from the dark forest, there was an imperceptible discomfort that was hard to deny.
“You’re with me,” Sebastian said to Gideon, who simply nodded at an invitation that most people would have declined. Then Sebastian turned to Ethan. “No matter how long I am in there, don’t come after me. Okay?”
Ethan shook his head. “I will give you an hour.”
“Ethan, don’t come after me,” he said firmly.
Ethan frowned at the request.
“Understand?” Sebastian asked.
After a long moment of silence, he still hadn’t answered. Steven often said the strength of the pack rested on the fact that it had two Alphas. Ethan was strong, resilient, and a true leader. Sometimes I wondered if he never challenged Sebastian because he didn’t think he would win or because he couldn’t lead as well. Sebastian waited patiently for Ethan to come to whatever terms he needed before he agreed. Reluctantly, Ethan nodded.
Gideon’s lips pressed gently against Abigail’s forehead. Gideon read from the scroll, slowly, having more difficulty with the language than his sister. The earth that separated Elysian from the dark forest waved in deep convulsions before it opened, forming a small tear in the fabric big enough for a single person to pass through, as with the opening leading into Elysian. Sebastian entered first, then Gideon slipped in just as it started to seal.
It closed with a suction, and the self-protective urge to reduce the chances of being swallowed up forced us to take several steps back. Ethan stood close to the barrier, eyeing it in anticipation. Eventually we both were standing near the spot where the rip had first occurred. The earth bulged in sporadic ripples, expanding and reaching out toward Ethan. He tensed as the waves stretched out further, grabbing out for him. He closed his eyes, taking rough, sharp breaths that were soon reduced to sharp gasps. Perspiration glistened along his brow, his lips quivered, and the muscles of his body clenched and relaxed spastically. Digging his heels into the ground, each step was heavy and labored as he stepped back. He lumbered until his back was against the large willow tree near us. Panting, he slumped against the tree until he was fastened to it. He then dragged himself around it until he was as far as he could get from the wall. The activity of the barrier stopped and came to a calm as he settled against the tree.
He wasn’t recovering. Pallid, his eyes withdrew into a glazed cloud. I touched his cheek, it was damp. “What’s the matter?”
“I need your help,” he gasped. His skin was icy and clammy. Sweat drenched his hair and matted it to his skin. Unfocused eyes tried to hold mine, but wavered often and periodically rolled back.
“What do you need?” I asked, clasping his face between my hands, but he was too far gone to focus.
“Help me change,” he said in a weak voice. He leaned further into the trunk as he struggled to take off his clothes. Frustrated that a simple task had become an extraordinary feat, he collapsed back against the tree. I helped him remove the rest of his clothing, ignoring Abigail’s curious gaze. Stronger were-animals could help with the change of a weaker were-animal. Ethan, who was dominant to me, now looked like if I touched him too hard he would keel over. When he slid to the ground, I crouched over him.
I wasn’t very proficient at changing myself. It often took too long, and by the time I finished, I was sometimes too exhausted to be of any use. He leaned into me, resting his head against my shoulder. I had never considered doing this and had no idea what to do. Placing my hand over his shoulder, as both he and Sebastian had done when they helped me change, I tried to change to my wolf in the hope that it would facilitate a change in him. It was getting harder to concentrate as Ethan’s fingers crushed into my skin. He started to change, and for the first time since I had met him, it wasn’t a smooth, controlled transition. The bones cracked, making a keening, crunching sound. Shrill screeches filled the air as soft tissue was pulled to its tensile point, barely holding the limbs together. Then there was the racketing sound of hair puncturing through the skin, which seemed to cause Ethan a great deal of pain. He winced and groaned through the whole process.
After several painstaking minutes, Ethan lay on the ground, panting in wolf form. Trembling, he moved just enough to drop his head into my lap. Stroking his fur gently, I looked back at the invisible wall that had now gone dormant.
Abigail started toward us. “He’s okay,” I said quickly.
But she continued towards us. “He’s fine, stay there.” The tone gripped her mid-step and she quickly reversed. I added a thank you, but the damage was done.
He moved closer and then drifted off to sleep. When he awoke, he didn’t move, lying stilled against my leg, his massive body rising and falling as he took deep, labored breaths.
The dark forest where the elves hid their creatures of destruction really wanted him. Why did it want the were-animal that had the ability to break protective fields and perform minor magic? He had stopped my heart by just touching me. He was something dark.
The moment we entered Elysian, the screen on my cell phone went blank so I had no idea how long we had been there. I suspected just a couple of hours, although it felt like nearly five. Gideon emerged first; his typical smug look of indifference had been replaced by shock and trauma. Dusting the dirt off his pants, it only caused it to blend more into the blood and dark liquid that covered it. As Abigail approached him, he tugged at his shirt, making a futile attempt to cover the long scratches on his leg and smeared blood on his pants. There were thin cuts running along his hand and forearm. Sebastian’s shirt was ripped, and deep claw marks ran along his shoulder and back. And a couple of puncture marks were indented in the top of his arm. No one was brave enough to approach him. On high alert and defensive, any wrong move and I am sure he would have attacked.
For a long moment he stood motionless, taking long, calming breaths, trying to find symbiosis between man and animal that would allow him to proceed. He was in a dangerous place and I didn’t know how to help him. Several moments passed before he seemed to embrace any part of humanity. His eyes were still a deep amber as flickers of brown fought their way to the surface. He didn’t seem surprised to see Ethan lying near the tree, but if he were, I would never have known. I never really knew what was going through his mind unless it was what he wanted. He approached Ethan slowly, wincing with the slightest movement. Fatigue now slanted his appearance, but he seemed more concerned about Ethan than himself.
Gideon’s gaze fell somewhere between intense trauma and apparent esteem as he watched Sebastian. The more time anyone spent around Sebastian, it was apparent why he was the Alpha. His carnality and dominance radiated and enclosed him like a graphite shell. But like so many, Gideon must have fallen victim to believing the stories about him were just whimsical embellishment. Sebastian was a beautiful monster and so were most of the were-animals. Often it was realized too late to do anything about it.
If we weren’t supposed to draw attention to ourselves on the way out, we failed. We trotted on the elven creatures at lightning speed across the plains with a wolf in tow. The moment we neared the wall separating us from Elysian, it opened wide, an unsubtle request to leave as a bastion formed blocking all but forward movement. We dismounted the our odd horses and they quickly ran away. We started out of Elysian. The moment Gideon, that last of us, slipped his leg onto the ground, the opening sealed.
CHAPTER 12
“Where is it?” Gavin asked, meeting us at the door with Dr. Jeremy on his heels.
Sebastian handed the jar to Dr. Jeremy, who eyed it with disbelief. “This?”
Sebastian nodded. “It will draw out the venom.”
“Then there has to be contact with her?” Dr. Jeremy asked, studying the jar closer, his lips pulling into a disapproving straight line at Sebastian’s affirmation.
Dr. Jeremy moved in slow motion as he prepared Kelly, cleaning her skin and explaining what had to be done. Kelly listened, nodding slowly. I doubt she cared; she just wante
d it to be over.
Please let it work. I said it over and over, a supplication to anyone that could help.
If this didn’t work, we didn’t have a lot of options or even another viable lead. We had already lost a day looking for this and more of the body would become paralyzed bit by bit. Dr. Jeremy held the container, and looked inside it, reluctant to proceed.
“Jeremy,” Sebastian urged in a low voice.
Dr. Jeremy nodded, but still didn’t move. When he finally did, it was slow burdened steps in her direction.
Gavin turned to Kelly. “Don’t look,” he said. With a gentle touch on her chin, he guided her attention to him and repeated his request. She nodded, took a deep breath and closed her eyes. But it was a promise that she was only able to keep for a few seconds. “Don’t look, okay?” he said again in a concerned whisper.
Dr. Jeremy’s shoulders slouched as he proceeded, exhaling a long measured breath. He looked at the small creature again before finding the ability to unleash something that had once resided in the dark forest on his protégé.
He placed it onto her legs and we waited. The minutes crawled by and we continued to wait for the little critter to decide whether or not he was going to get off his creepy-crawly ass and do something. Instead, it lay there for a few more minutes as though he was sunbathing in the heat of her skin.
Kelly’s curiosity once again bested her and she was looking back at her leg. With his fingertip on her chin, Gavin guided her face back towards him. “Eyes up here, young lady,” he said with a grin. For a long time her gaze stayed fixed on his. But as each minute passed, she struggled to stay engaged.
It finally moved. First the pale blue creature sidewinded along the length of her leg, then stopped near the top, and like a leech it bored into her. Blood spilled as it waddled deeper in and out, then it inched further up her leg and did
it again. It was a good thing she couldn’t feel anything.
Gavin’s hand was flat against Kelly’s face blocking her view, pressing her face into his chest. He frowned as the creature continued to burrow itself into her. We had one of the strongest witches on this side of the country at our disposal, two elemental elves, and the finest doctor in the world, and we were reduced to using a magical leech to treat Kelly.
As the thing continued to slog up her leg, dipping in and out of it, leaving pools of blood in her path, Kelly screamed—it was bloodcurdling. She could feel it now. Dr. Jeremy looked relieved but we couldn’t stop it until it was finished. Another agony-filled scream pulsed through the room as she sobbed uncontrollably into Gavin’s shirt, her nails clenching into his back. Her right leg snapped up and attempted to kick it off. Dr. Jeremy grabbed her leg to stop her and held it to allow the little leech to finish. Each time she wailed, Dr. Jeremy winced.
“How much longer?” Gavin asked. It seemed like an hour, although I knew it was just minutes. But hearing Kelly’s tortured cries and knowing there wasn’t anything we could do about it was a personal hell.
“I don’t know, this is my first time too,” Dr. Jeremy lashed back. He exhaled and stepped back, tightening his arms around his chest. The long breath he managed to take calmed him, but he still kept his distance, probably ensuring that he didn’t stop the creature. Would we have to start over and subject her to this torture again?
He couldn’t give her anything for the pain because he wouldn’t have known if it worked.
“Maybe she should take a break,” Gideon suggested softly. Still shell-shocked from his adventure to the dark forest, it was the first time he had spoken. I thought he and his sister were trying to melt into the background, eventually leaving unnoticed after Sebastian forbade them to leave. Dr. Jeremy’s finger pressed on the belly of the leech, holding it in place.
Kelly sobbed uncontrollably, unable to focus; Gavin held her face between his hands and waited until her eyes eventually connected with his. “Do we need to stop?”
She tried to speak through the sobs. He rested his hands on her shoulder as she heaved erratically. Her head dropped, and she couldn’t stop crying. Her usual unshakeable persona was nowhere to be found. “Look at me,” he commanded softly. Forcing her head up, she just couldn’t compose herself. Gavin waited patiently. “Kelly.” His tone was harsh enough to force her attention back to him. He leaned into her. “I need you to answer me,” he said in a firm, gentle voice. “Do we need to stop?”
She closed her eyes, bit down on her lips, as she gulped down the last sobs. “No. Go on,” crackled her weak voice.
He smiled and she struggled to return it, but a subdued grimace was all she could offer.
“Continue,” Gavin said.
Dr. Jeremy hesitated, studying her, and just when her breathing was normal again, he released it. The parasite continued, burrowing its way through her, drawing out the venom. Dr. Jeremy was the one that finally broke: he started to grab the creature as it resurfaced, but it was finished. Lying flat against her skin, barely able to blend against the backdrop of the legs, it remained immobile.
She pressed closer into Gavin, clinging to him. His shirt was stained with her tears as he calmingly rubbed her back. Dr. Jeremy quickly collected the creature.
“You okay?” he asked, his full lips twisted into a grin.
“Piece of cake.” Her voice was low and rough. She was still panting, eyes red and glistening with unshed tears. She sucked in her bottom lip, which was red and raw from her biting on them.
“It looked like a cakewalk,” he joked.
His thumb swept gently over her face, wiping away the remainder of her tears as he waited for Dr. Jeremy, who moved quickly, to clean the exit wounds left by the creature. It was hard to be gentle and quick, and he seemed to work at hiding the marks before she could see them because they looked worse once the blood was removed. He quickly slathered on a cream he pulled from the cabinet and spread it over the marks before bandaging them.
She winced. Gavin leaned in closer to her, his head relaxing against hers as he brushed her coarse ringlets that were now drenched with sweat from her face. His lips rested just inches from hers. For a brief moment he lost himself, inching closer to her. He was about to kiss her when he moved back with a powerful jerk. It didn’t seem like he could gain the distance he needed between them. Busying himself with helping Dr. Jeremy, Gavin wrapped her legs; he kept his head down. Her brow furrowed in confusion and faltered into disappointment as she kept looking in Gavin’s direction, waiting patiently for him to look at her again. He only glanced up once he was finished wrapping her leg. “Jeremy will take great care of you,” Gavin said before leaving. She kept looking at the door long after he disappeared from it.
Kelly’s legs weren’t ready for the quick thrust of weight placed on them as she attempted to stand, and they gave. Sebastian moved quickly to help steady her, but she pushed his hand away and used the bed to pull herself up and stabilize. She stood for several minutes before she hopped back on the bed looking as though she had filled in for Atlas and now the world wasn’t hanging heavy on her shoulders
“How does it feel?” Jeremy asked.
“Good,” she said. “I’m okay.”
Fifteen minutes later, Abigail fidgeted, ready to leave while Gideon skulked in the corner where he had stayed the whole time, quietly observing everything.
Gideon only stayed around long enough to say goodbye to Kelly. I guess I expected more than just a wave of his hands and an indolent thanks as he left.
Abigail watched him leave. “I think he knows,” she said with a frown. “He needed to know,” she said. She looked to me and Sebastian nodded graciously to us. She kissed Winter lightly on the cheek, and then pressed her forehead against hers. “Thank you so much for your help. I don’t know what I would have done without it.”
“Of course,” Winter said, but she seemed distant. As though she accepted that this was the end. This hadn’t rekindled their relationship.
Abigail backed away, just a couple of feet from the door when Sebast
ian asked, “When did you decide to try to kill your brother?”
Abigail jerked her head back as though she had been slapped. “What?”
“Please, we both can do without the performance and the pseudo-ignorance. When did you decide you were going to try to kill your brother? When did you realize it wasn’t as well thought-out as you anticipated?”
Abigail’s face was blank, her lilac eyes devoid of anything readable. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Winter’s eyes widened as she stared at Sebastian, who glanced in her direction, giving her a moment of consideration.
“You murdered your own people to keep up this deception,” he added.
“I did no such thing! I didn’t have anything to do with that, but I saw an opportunity and I took it.” Abigail turned to Winter, who was flushed, her mouth slightly parted. Her face gave away her various thoughts although she seemed to have lost the ability to express them. It was when the anger manifested that she lunged at Abigail. Sebastian moved in time to grab her around the waist and keep her at bay. Winter struggled at first, but soon relaxed against his vice-like steel grip into a calm.
Sebastian held Winter securely against him, speaking to her in a soothing, low voice. After several moments, Winter had settled into quiescent state, and he released her. The anger was gone, replaced by a bitter indifference directed solely at Abigail. I wondered if the opposite of love was indifference, instead of hate.
Abigail appealed to her. “Winter, it was only a matter of time before it was done to him. I controlled the situation and made it work to our advantage. It doesn’t diminish the love for my people, but proves the depths of it. My brother should be the leader. He has the potential to restore us to what we were. How can you not understand that? It wasn’t my intention to hurt you. You have to believe me.”
I didn’t believe a thing that came out of her mouth and Winter didn’t seem to either. Once you attempt to kill your brother to push him into power, it’s hard to have credibility. Winter’s lips furled as she looked at Abigail and then she dropped her eyes, refusing to look up again.
Midnight Falls (Sky Brooks Series Book 3) Page 18