AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I might be in my weaker form, but at least I have my hands with which I reach down and grab onto the blade. I grip it so tightly that it cuts through my palm, siphoning the life out of me even faster.
Hekate’s eyes widen in delight, her lips curl up in an excited smile. With every second that passes, she absorbs my power. My strength becomes her strength.
Now! I say to my wolf.
He reaches out to connect our minds with Helia’s at the same time I touch her beam of green light. Mine and my wolf’s whole focus is on her, fighting to put some kind of a shadow barrier between Hekate and the channel of power she’s sucking on like a leech. Helia’s spell is slowing her down, but her sister is too strong to be stopped. Helia can’t do it on her own.
Ready, my wolf says with a heavy strain of concentration.
I love you, I say to Helia, not caring that my last words to her are a cliché because it’s the truest thing in me.
With my wolf’s help, I call on whatever’s left of my power. We summon it up, and direct it to the blade, guiding it to Helia’s green beam. The dagger’s siphon works immediately, functioning like a rapid current.
Helia gasps as my power seeps into her. My wolf makes sure to add a nice amount of warm healing energy that would immediately be focused on her injuries. The blood returns to her face, giving her a nice and healthy hue. I smile, knowing that I’ve done at least one good thing in my miserable life.
The strength to hold my head up is too much. I let it fall limply to the side. Unable to move, I can only watch how Hekate’s fingers uncurl around the dagger’s hilt. She’s not the one getting my power anymore. I watch helplessly as she begins to pull herself from underneath the rubble. She’s taken enough from me to make her movements look light and easy.
The green power beam from Helia dies down. With neither one of the Payne sisters touching the dagger, the effect is immediate. While my gut still hurts, I’m finally able to take a shaky breath. My life essence is still leaving my body, pooling underneath me, but at least my inner wolf remains intact.
Are we dying? I croak out, choking on the metallic taste in my mouth.
I think so, he admits.
I’m glad he’s telling the truth. There’s no point in lying when we share one brain. It’s comforting to know that we can always rely on each other.
“I’ll make you pay for what you did to my family,” Hekate growls, pulling herself on her knees and slowly crossing the small distance between us. “When I’m done with you, I’ll kill everyone you’ve ever loved. Including my own traitorous sister.”
I stare at her but don’t bother to speak. It requires too much effort and there’s too much blood in my mouth, around my body…just too much. My head is getting heavy. My thoughts are hard to grasp. Do my legs feel numb?
“Don’t touch him!” Helia warns from behind.
Hekate looks over her shoulder, the slight shift putting Helia in my view. Released from the fallen trap, she rises from the rubble like a blonde goddess reborn. Her green eyes are locked on her sister, the raw intent in them so powerful. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’d do anything to protect me. To keep me alive.
I want to smile at her. I think I’m smiling. I’m not sure.
It’s almost time, I say to my wolf when I begin hallucinating a garden of flowers spurting from the floor around Helia. Her signature flowery scent hits me, overpowering the smell of blood and death. If I can only make sure that she survives, this would be a good way to go.
“You want to die first?” Hekate asks Helia. “Fine. Have it your way.”
We need to do something, my wolf urges, channeling whatever’s left of his strength into me to fuse it into one last-ditch effort to save our fated mate.
Still on her knees, Hekate turns her back on me, shifting in a way that brings her leg in my reach. With a groan, I push myself forward and grab her ankle, yanking her backward. Hekate loses her balance and tips on her side, awkwardly catching herself with her hand. A low cracking sound followed by Hekate’s cry in pain fills the air.
Look at her wrist, my wolf urges, his tone igniting a spark of hope.
It’s broken, I realize with delight.
“Go now,” I say to Helia, my voice shaky and strained. I cough and then spit the blood out of my mouth.
Helia glances at me with worry. Whatever she saw on my face gave her the determination not to run but to get to her sister. Hekate has just enough time to lift her uninjured arm up when Helia throws herself at her, exploding in a bright green light of pure power.
I shut my eyes and turn my head downward, pressing my forehead against the floor. Hekate’s screams mix with Helia’s. The earth shakes. The unsteady foundations of the building crack and some of them even collapse. I hear a crash near me, but the light is still too bright for me to risk opening my eyes. It doesn’t matter anyway because I’m too weak to get up.
This is it, my wolf tells me.
It’s been a wild ride, I agree. Thank you for standing by me.
The light slowly but steadily turns warmer until it’s burning hot as if it’s coming from the sun itself. My bare skin is beginning to blister. I don’t need to open my eyes to know it’s an angry shade of red.
