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CHAPTER 55
GUNNAR
A horrifying scream resonated from Lily as she rushed towards Raiden. He clutched his stomach as he doubled over, crashing onto the floor in a puddle of his own blood. My mind stopped working.
Blood poured from the open wound, covering Raiden’s hands, drenching his clothes. I was on my feet in a matter of seconds, lunging myself at Tanya, with a wildness I never knew I possessed.
She was ready for my attack, had anticipated it and sidestepped me with a few quick moves. She moved like a shadow. Swift, precise and incredibly fast. With the spirit in control of her body, she was unpredictable. Deadly.
Carter followed my lead and shifted into his wolf. Me in human form, him in his beast and the Host Crawler within Tanya. She was absolutely terrifying. Her eyes were covered with a thick white film, giving her an unearthly, sinister appearance. Her canines were elongated, and her claws drawn, caught in a half state of shift.
She moved quickly and quietly, an assassin. Every hard blow I dealt, she dodged with ease, and it felt like she was running circles around me. Carter snapped and snarled savagely at her with his sharp canines, but she didn’t even break a sweat.
LILY
I fell down right beside Raiden, pressing my hand firmly to the gaping hole in his abdomen.Stop the blood. I had to stop the blood. He’d lost so much of it already and it seemed to be seeping out of his back as well as his front. I didn’t know what to do.
“Somebody help,” I yelled out, frantically searching the room for anyone willing to aid us. Tears streamed down my face, blurring my vision, but I wouldn’t turn away from this, not from him.My mate, my love.
I didn’t care about the fight, about the spirit, about the world still swaying around me. All I cared about was him. Saving him. My heart was breaking, the mark in my neck burning like fire. No, no, no, please, I watched as life slowly drained from him. “Help, somebody! Anybody!”
I didn’t care about the scorching pain in my neck, nor the smell of burning flesh tickling my nose. No, I would gladly have died for him, let alone endure a little bit of searing skin from the mark in my neck.
Raiden clenched his teeth and turned a deathly white. He was in so much pain, he couldn’t even get a single word out. “Ssh, don’t, you’re going to be okay,” I said as warm blood gurgled up and covered my fingers.
Raw, violent desperation bubbled within me. This couldn’t be it. This couldn’t be the end. I would do anything. Anything to stop this. I sobbed as utter helplessness flooded me. It was the worst feeling in the world. Overwhelming. Agonising. My mate was dying, here on the ground in my arms and there was nothing I could do to save him. Marie dropped down beside me, holding her hands out over Raiden with her palms facing his chest. Her hands hovered above him, and she drew her brows together, concentrating.
“Please?” I begged, keeping my hands pressed firmly to his stomach, doing whatever I could to stop or at least slow the bleeding. “P-p-please help him,” I pleaded in a broken voice. My whole body was shaking as the words tumbled from my lips, “if he d-dies, it’ll be t-the end of both of us,” I sobbed.
Marie turned to face me; the look of concern and dread transforming her once friendly face. I could see that she was thinking, contemplating something. If there was even a chance-
“Please,” I cried out, grabbing her hand in one of my own. Ray’s blood was now on her hands too. She eyed me for a few seconds, considering whether she should intervene or not. There wasn’t time for this. Raiden was dying and she could help, I saw it in her eyes. “P-please!”
Raiden’s body started to jerk and twitch involuntarily in my arms.This was it. His final moments.“No, no, Ray? Please, please don’t leave me,” I cried, pressing my forehead to his. The dampness of his sweaty brow stuck to my skin and his fingers dug hopelessly into my shirt, trying to keep us together. It was a weak effort, but it weighed heavily on my heart. I would never forget it. This. This moment. His last, desperate attempt to stay with me. “Raiden, p-please,” I begged as my tears rolled down both of our faces.
I looked up to meet Marie’s gaze one last time, and she gave me a single, stiff nod. “But you should know,” she warned gravely, “all magic comes with a price.”
I shifted my eyes from her back to Raiden’s. He was losing blood fast, the colour of his face already a pale white. It was getting more and more difficult to make out his fading heartbeat.
I nodded, “anything, I’ll do anything.”
Ray’s eyes closed as he clamped them shut. His limbs stopped trembling; his jaw stopped clenching.
“In order to gain something you love, you have to lose something you love,” I heard Marie say. I didn’t care. Take anything, take everything, just give me my mate back.
“Take whatever you need,” I answered in a daze, “anything.”
A second later, Carter’s wolf came crashing into the wall beside us. I looked up at him and spun around, facing the fight. Gunnar was covered in sweat and had scratches all over his body. Mat was also covered in blood, sweat, and ripped pieces of clothing.
They fought fiercely against the thing occupying Tanya’s body, but it looked like she was gaining the upper hand.
“You need to kill her,” Marie hollered out, squeezing my hand to draw my attention back to her, “if you kill the host he’s in, he’ll be trapped inside and die along with it,” she explained, nodding her head in Tanya’s direction.
I received her message loud and clear. They needed me and I had a score to settle.
One last time, I bent over, covering Raiden’s body with my own and placed a gentle, lingering kiss on his forehead, "please, my love," I whispered. He had lost consciousness seconds ago and lay there limply in a pool of his own blood. "Please come back to me."
My tears ran down the contours of his face as I moved out from under him and exchanged a look with Marie. “Anything.” She nodded again and I got to my feet, turning to face my enemy.
