He twisted round to see Phin stand over him and pull a long silver blade out of his back.
Silver.
Dax stumbled to his feet and crouched low. He was lucky the silver only pierced his back, not his heart. He'd be dead otherwise. But a wound inflicted by silver wasn't going to heal by itself. Other wounds healed quickly. But this one...
“Dax?”
He heard Melynda call out softly. He growled low in response.
“Dax! It really is you!” She broke into a wide grin, and he saw her bloodstained teeth.
He would kill Phin Lester!
“Can you come nearer, Dax?” she whispered. “Dax...”
He shook his head with a growl. Phin was standing to the side, beckoning him with the silver knife. “Come and get me,” he taunted. “You know you want this...” He whistled and made a throwing motion, like he was throwing a stick for a dog to fetch.
Phin laughed, tapping his silver blade against his thigh.
Dax's eyes flicked to Melynda. She was shuffling forward on her knees, trying to come nearer to him. His name on her lips sounded like a plea, like she was begging for him.
Dax crouched low, eyeing the human. Phin was laughing, swaying on his feet like a drunk. That creep got drunk on violence, got a high out of beating and bullying women. He beat Melynda, and for that, he would die!
His wrath drowned out Melynda's quiet, desperate voice. He would kill Phin first.
Phin stopped laughing and swiped a dirty sleeve over his mouth. “Oh yes, at last. I get to kill a werewolf. I'll be a werewolf slayer!” He grinned. “Is she your girlfriend?” He waved his knife towards Melynda. “She and I kind of have a connection. It's hard to explain, but...it's intense!” His slitty eyes widened as he gestured dramatically.
Dax's claws sliced out longer, ready to sever all the veins in the man's thick neck.
“I saw her,” Phin smiled crookedly. “I saw what she was doing, in the hospital. With my bitch Rebecca.”
Dax watched him closely. This man was delusional, deranged, and just plain dangerous.
But how did he know they had been to the hospital to see Rebecca Rose? Was he...there?
“Nah, I know what you're thinking, wolf. That animal brain of yours is wondering if I'm at the hospital, watching you perform your hocus-pocus on my bitch. Let me tell you. I was nowhere near the hospital. I was far, far away. But your little witch...connected with me. I know! Fucking unbelievable, right?” He spread out his arms and smirked.
With a blink, his smile vanished. He stared at Dax, crouching slowly to mimic his position. “Here's what I think happened. I, Phin Lester, am no longer your average human. One night, I went back to the house to beat the shit out of that traitorous little bitch, Rebecca, when a demoness attacked me, in my own kitchen! She dragged me to her demon lord, and I was chained in his dungeon. As the demon drank my blood, he bled into my mouth. His blood was like a drug. It made me see things. Next thing I knew, I was in a psychiatric hospital! I mean, what the fuck! A psychiatric hospital? I'm not crazy. I was attacked, in my own home! I should be suing that demon for damages, for my pain and suffering, for everything! That demon was filthy rich, I could tell. I should have sued him, then I'll be rich and that bitch wouldn't be divorcing me!” He spat angrily. “I should have smashed her head in harder, just finish her off! Fucking slut!”
He sat on his haunches, turning the long silver knife over in front of him. “Anyway, that slut is now lying in a coma in the hospital. It's just a matter of time before they pull the plug, and she'll be dead. And her bear lover will be convicted of her murder, and he'll be dead as well.” He smiled at his own reflection in the blade.
Standing up slowly, he leered at Melynda and bowed. “Like I said, I'm not your average human. That demon lord made me something else. No, he didn't make me a demon.” He laughed humorlessly, almost bitterly. “I ingested his blood, so...I think I may have gotten some of his powers.” He tapped the tip of the blade against his chin. “I heard that he was the demon Lord of Beasts and Bloodshed. I'm not sure how it works, but—” He shrugged. “Here I was, having a nap in the basement of this building, when I felt this strange, pulling force. I opened my eyes, and I was still lying in the corner of the basement but I could see inside a hospital room. It was like I was half here and half there. That witch connected with me. I told you we had a special connection.” He winked and leered at Melynda before his expression turned stony. “I was there. You saw me, you saw what I did—and I saw you. I saw what you did. I saw Rebecca lying in the hospital bed, and I saw the both of you in the room. You were watching Rebecca's memories.”
His eyes widened. “You saw everything. So did I.” He pointed at Melynda. “That witch pulled Rebecca's memories out. She's going to ruin everything. Tsk!” Phin shook his head regretfully at Melynda. “You should have just minded your own business, witch. Minding other people's business will cost you your life.”
Phin cocked his head. “Pity she has to die. Such nice boobs and ass!” He chortled. “Oh yes, I felt her up and down, all over. I roughed her up real good. Women always like it rough.”
His laughter was cut off as Dax flew towards him in a blind rage. He would kill him. He would make him pay for everything he did to Melynda!
Man and wolf spun to the ground. Phin's blade was quick to parry the viscous slashes from Dax's claws. Dax continued his relentless attack on Phin. He could taste vile, bitter blood in his mouth, and he could feel thick, sticky blood dripping from his fangs. For a moment, Dax saw that Phin's blood was darker than normal. It looked almost black.
Despite his injuries, Phin laughed as he fought the Silver Wolf, seemingly relishing the fight. “Yes!” he shrieked delightedly. “Come on! More, more!”
He scrambled to his feet and veered towards the edge of the rooftop. Dax leaped towards him, his powerful paws landing on Phin's shoulders. Phin lost his balance and began to topple backwards. Just before he fell over the ledge, he stared Dax straight in the eye and laughed.
It was Melynda's scream that made Dax lunge forward at the very last second before Phin went over the edge.
“No! Don't kill him, Dax!”
In a flash, Dax had thrown himself forward to grab Phin's flailing hand in his mouth.
Dax was about to drag Phin back up, when he saw the glint of the silver blade in Phin's hand.
He gave Dax a bloody smile. “You. Die.”
With all his strength, Phin threw the blade straight at Dax's chest, aiming for his heart.
Dax jerked to the side, but not quickly enough.
The silver blade missed his heart, but burrowed deep into his stomach. A searing, blinding pain burned through Dax's body from the pit of his belly, through every cell and exploded behind his eyes. His jaws slackened, and he released his hold on Phin as he staggered back to collapse on the ground.
Melynda's screams sounded muffled and distant. Dax tried to raise his head but he could only make out a faint outline of her. She seemed to be fumbling towards him, but her voice sounded so faraway.
The silver was burning and destroying the cells in his body. His wound would never heal with that silver blade lodged in him. He had to get the knife out.
Dax felt his claws scrabbling against the concrete as he struggled to contain the excruciating pain. Yanking the knife out with his paws was going to be a challenge. Could Melynda reach him in time? She was bound and blindfolded. She couldn't see but she seemed to have sensed what was going on.
Could she sense him, his pain?
“Melynda...”
His voice came out in a croak. But it was his human voice.
Dax gasped and raised his hands to his blurry eyes. His claws had become fingers, and his silver fur had receded from his hands and arms. He looked down at his naked human body, sprawled in his own spreading pool of blood. In his agony, he had shifted back to human form, his wolf driven back by the deadly silver blade.
Grunting, Dax wrapped his fingers around the hilt of the k
nife. The silver handle scorched his hands, and he hissed in pain but he refused to let go. Ignoring the terrible, twisting pain, he tightened his grip on the handle and dragged the silver blade out of his belly.
Every muscle in his body spasmed and screamed in protest. With the blade out of him, Dax flung the knife aside and let his arm fall to the ground. He closed his eyes, surrendering to the overwhelming pain.
His eyelids fluttered open to Melynda's sobs and her warm, trembling touch. “Dax! Dax, please...”
She was kneeling beside him, cradling his head in her arms. He managed to smile up at her. She'd managed to stagger to the silver knife and used it to cut the ropes binding her wrists. That's my girl.
You're my girl, Melynda. Since the moment I saw you, till the moment I die.
Dax didn't take his eyes off her face. He knew he could die tonight, in her arms, and he just wanted to look at her a while longer.
“I've always loved you, Melynda. And I always will,” he whispered, just before his eyes closed against his will.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Melynda stared at Dax, stuttering his name over and over again. He didn't open his eyes again, didn't wake up. Sobbing, Melynda pressed her hand over the wound in his stomach which refused to heal. Shifters healed very quickly, didn't they?
“Silver,” she hissed as she grabbed the knife lying at her side. Running to the ledge, she leaned over, her knife raised.
But Phin was gone.
Melynda scanned the ground below to see if the man had fallen to his death, but there was no sign of him at all.
She turned back to Dax. Phin was gone. She couldn't feel his presence at all.
Still clutching the knife, she went to Dax and felt frantically for his pulse. It was weak, too weak and he was scarcely breathing.
There was no time to get him to the hospital. She held his hand and closed her eyes. She could literally feel his life draining away. He was running out of time. There was only a few precious minutes left, before Dax's heart would stop forever.
A heart that had been loving her all this time.
Melynda held both his hands and raised her face to the full moon. It was up to her now. She had to save the man she loved.
This was risky. She had never done Emotional healing before. She had read about it secretly, but she had never dared tried it on anyone. She had never done it, but she would have to get it right the first time.
“You can do it...for Dax, for yourself,” she whispered quietly, taking deep, fortifying breaths. “You can...do it.”
Slowly, she held her hands up over Dax's body and tilted her face towards the moon.
She began to chant softly, drawing upon the power of the moon and her own emotions for her magick. She concentrated on the spell, careful not to stumble over the words and mess anything up. Gradually, she began to feel a spreading warmth from the center of her body. The heat moved down her arms, to her fingertips, and swirled across her chest. Melynda's eyes slid shut, as her body became a conduit for the healing power of the moon and her magick. She had the strangest sensation of stepping out of her own body and witnessing the whole scene from a distance.
She felt detached, and in control, and slowly, she began to see moving images, a scene replaying before her. With a start, Melynda realized that she was watching Dax's repressed memories. She was trying to heal him, and part of the healing process involved releasing all his suppressed memories.
Melynda forced herself to keep calm and just be an observer. These were Dax's memories. These were events from his past, and should no longer affect him. But they did, and she was about to see why.
The fog cleared to reveal a scene in a cottage. She saw a young Dax, fresh faced, bright eyed, and rosy cheeked. He looked to be around nineteen or twenty. He was with a beautiful woman, a slender beauty with sable hair and dark, green eyes. She looked older than him, but the young Dax was following her around with his tongue hanging out. The slavish look in his eyes was one Melynda had never seen before. Dax only had eyes for that woman. His gray eyes never strayed from her as she moved around the cottage.
The woman called over her shoulder, “Come here, Dax.”
“Yes, Savannah.”
Melynda reeled, but she kept chanting steadily under her breath, powering the healing spell. She had to let the vision play out, let Dax's memories come to the surface and be free.
This was Savannah, Dax's mate. And she was a witch, like Melynda.
Melynda saw the spell books and wands strewn on the table in the cottage, and she glimpsed a cauldron simmering in the fireplace. Even as a young man, Dax was strikingly handsome. He was not as broad and muscular as he was now, but still he was toned and tall. Dax was a full head taller than Savannah, but she seemed to be controlling him completely. At a word, he tore off his clothes and presented his naked body to her. When she waved him down, he knelt before her immediately, still gazing at her with that starry-eyed look.
Savannah walked over to the fireplace and scooped the boiling, murky liquid into a huge bowl. Standing over Dax as he smiled up at her, she held the bowl of boiling liquid over his head and muttered a spell. Then before Melynda's horrified eyes, she tipped the bowl over, letting the boiling liquid spill down Dax's bare shoulders and body.
Shocked and sickened, Melynda had to forced herself to continue chanting as she watched Dax's painful memories play out. This is part of his healing, she repeated stoically to herself. Don't baulk, just be strong.
Melynda watched the horrific scene with clear, unblinking eyes. She saw Dax's skin redden and smoke, his skin melting off to reveal raw, bleeding flesh. Yet Dax remained kneeling on the floor, smiling up at Savannah as if she hadn't just maliciously scalded the skin off his body. He didn't cry out, didn't move away, didn't react at all to the pain. Grabbing a knife, Savannah began to carve strange symbols onto his back, her eyes glowing as the cottage darkened unnaturally. Dax started to convulse, his eyes rolling back in his head. As she drew the final stroke in his back, she raised the bloodstained blade to her chest and craved a curved symbol right above her heart.
Lightning flashed, and Dax shifted into his wolf form. A beautiful silver wolf crouched on the ground, snarling at the witch. Savannah's face twisted when she realized that while she had managed to enslave the young man, her dark magick had failed to work on the wolf. The wolf saw her for what she was. A dark witch. A cruel, wicked woman.
The silver wolf growled, but didn't attack. The man was struggling against the wolf, and the man didn't want to hurt the woman he thought he loved. She had skilfully manipulated the young man's emotions, making him believe that she was his mate. The wolf knew that she wasn't his true mate, and had no qualms killing her in a heartbeat. But the man wouldn't allow his beast to kill his mate. The silver wolf made a half-hearted leap towards Savannah, and she easily blocked him with a spell.
She tried to conjure a stronger spell to force the wolf to submit to her. She began to age rapidly as her magick drained her of her energy and youth to power the spell. Her black hair turned white, and her smooth face started to crease with wrinkles. But still she wouldn't give up. If the Silver Wolf surrendered its power to her, it would become her familiar forever. Having a Silver Wolf as a familiar would greatly increase her prowess. She would be able to use the Silver Wolf to absorb the raw, potent power of the full moon.
Her power would be boundless, limitless. She just had to subdue the wolf, bind it like she had bound the man, and make it hers.
The wolf resisted. Blood leaked from the corner of its silver eyes as it struggled against the onslaught of the witch's dark magick. Melynda's heart broke as she watched Dax fight against himself and against his supposed mate.
She understood now. She understood his pain and anger completely.
Swallowing, she continued her healing spell, letting his memories spiral free from his mind. She watched Savannah hurl devastating spells and hexes at the wolf, trying to sever the tenuous connection between the wolf and the m
an. She succeeded to a degree. Dax was severely wounded, wolf and man never fully recovering. The man was damaged, and the wolf retreated from the man, emerging only upon the full moon.
Melynda watched with grim satisfaction as Savannah exhausted her life force battling Dax's Silver Wolf. She was a brittle, withered old woman, having drained all her beauty and her life in her fight against a powerful, steadfast Silver Wolf. The wolf had refused to accept her. She was not its mate.
With a screech, Savannah collapsed, her white hair shedding from her scalp and the light in her eyes going out. She continued shrinking away, her hair, teeth and nails falling out before she dwindled to a pile of bones at the feet of the bleeding, exhausted Silver Wolf.
Melynda inhaled deeply as she felt a weight being lifted off her chest. She could feel Dax's anger slowly dissipating along with his painful memories. She smiled a little.
This was right. He was healing. She could feel it.
Melynda relaxed, releasing her own fears and worries. She had absorbed Rebecca's terrors in the hospital, and she had to release them. If she held on to them, she would just end up endangering everyone.
Melynda knew that was exactly how she had pulled Phin Lester to her. Her fears, her terrors, Rebecca's nightmarish memories had all swirled together and powered her Emotional magick. She had been too shocked, too scared to control her emotions, her magick. Instead, she had brought herself to the dark heart of her fears, to Phin Lester, the monster she saw pursuing Rebecca. She had absorbed Rebecca's fears and made them her own. The haunting terror, the nightmares, her own fears and insecurity, all dragged her to the man whose horrifying visage she had glimpsed through Rebecca's eyes.
She had been trying to get home with her magick. Instead, she got to face her nightmare. Melynda surfaced from the vortex of her fears, and found herself in the basement of this old building. Instantly, she knew she wasn't alone. Someone was watching her, like a rat in the shadows. Only it wasn't a rat.
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