Chapter 26 Slow Descent

Chapter 26 Slow Descent
ZADE

“She’s not going anywhere. She’s not a bloody servant, Enid,” I spat.

Enid chuckled. “Really? Come on now, this should work in your favour. People are already talking and saying you’re fucking your sister.”

Indie quickly covered her daughter’s ears. But it was too late.

Annoyance sizzled inside of me, my claws lengthening. Just one move and Enid would be dead. She wouldn’t even see me coming. Yet, Indigo’s life was in her hands. Only she could stop my rot from spreading to my mate.

“Zade, it’s fine—” Indie started, and I cut her off.

"Absolutely not." My voice came out rougher than I meant. "I won’t let you.”

Her smile widened, her eyes softening.

“Zade." She said, turning fully towards me. "I'll be fine. I’ll help with the preparation and attend the ceremony to support you. The pack needs to see their alpha and his Luna together. Tradition, remember?"

Fucking hell. Why was she so stubborn?

I moved closer, lowering my voice so Lila wouldn't catch it. "I don't give a fuck about tradition. I want you safe. Here. Where I can see you."

She reached up, her fingertips brushing my jaw. "I do understand your intentions," she said softly. "But I'm not hiding anymore. Not from Enid. Not from the pack. Not from myself." Her thumb traced the corner of my mouth. "I'll come back to you after. Promise."

I wanted to argue. I wanted to lock every door, bar every window, and chain her to me until the moon set and rose again. But that fucking smile stopped the words in my throat.

I exhaled hard through my nose. "Fine."

She leaned in and pressed the lightest kiss to the corner of my lips. "Thank you."

Heat suddenly spiked through my chest, burning like acid. My vision blurred at the edges. I tasted copper.

Fuck.

I forced a tight smile for Lila's sake. "I forgot something in the study. Be right back."

Indie's brows dipped. "Zade?"

"I’m fine," I lied, already turning. "Just need a minute."

I made it down the hall on autopilot. Each step sent fresh fire lancing through my ribs. By the time I shoved the study door open, black spots danced in my sight. I kicked the door shut, staggered three steps, and collapsed against the bookshelves. My knees hit the rug. Then the rest of me.

Pain roared up my throat. I coughed hard, and blood sprayed across my palm.

I curled in on myself, my forehead pressed to the floor, trying to breathe around the inferno in my chest. The voices were back.

I clenched my teeth until my jaw ached.

The door banged open right then. It was Enid.

She rushed in, her face arranged in perfect concern. "Zade! Oh gods, what happened?"

She dropped to her knees beside me, reaching for my wrist. I let her, only because I didn't have the strength to stop her yet. Her fingers pressed against my pulse, then she froze.

Her breath hitched. "Moonspear root. Mixed with wolfsbane ash." Her voice dropped to a horrified whisper. "How long, Zade? How long have you been carrying this?"

I yanked my arm back hard enough to make her stumble. Blood dripped between my fingers onto the floor. "What. Do. You. Want?"

She didn't flinch. She sat back on her heels, her eyes gleaming with something dangerously close to hope. "I can brew something. A temporary antidote. It won't cure it—nothing will—but it'll buy you time.”

I laughed dryly. "You think I'm stupid?"

"I think you're dying," she said flatly. "And I think we both know who poisoned you."

I wiped blood from my mouth with the back of my hand. "You haven’t answered my question."

"Varak." Her voice cracked. "He's... he's tightening the leash. I didn't know how bad it was until now. I thought—" She swallowed. "I thought I could control it. Play both sides. But he's going to kill me when he's done using me. And then he'll come for you. For her."

I stared at her. Blood trickled down my chin. "You're asking for my help."

"I'm asking for protection." She leaned closer, her voice urgent. "Just long enough to get rid of him. I know things—weaknesses, locations, rituals. I can help you end this. But I need to live long enough to do it."

I met her eyes, letting her see the cold, flat thing that lived behind mine.

“You want me to trust you?"

"I want you to use me," she said. "The way you use everyone else. Turn me into a weapon. Point me at Varak. Let me prove I'm worth keeping alive."

I studied her for a long moment. The pain in my chest worsened.

I leaned forward until our faces were inches apart, blood still dripping from my lip.

"Fine," I rasped. "You want to play saviour? Prove it. Brew the antidote. Tonight. And if it works, then maybe, just maybe, I won't rip your throat out the second the moon sets."

Her shoulders sagged with relief.

I grabbed her wrist before she could stand. Hard enough to bruise.

"But hear me clearly, Enid." My voice was barely a whisper. "If you betray me—if you touch Indie, if you so much as look at Lila wrong—I will make what Varak did to me look like kindness. Do you understand?"

She nodded quickly.

"Good." I released her.

She scrambled to her feet and fled.

I stayed on the floor, listening to the distant sound of Lila's laughter drifting down the hallway.

I needed to become strong enough to protect them.

The study door flew open again. I didn't even lift my head. I couldn’t. Boots skidded to a stop beside me.

"Alpha."

Mason.

His hands slid under my shoulders, lifting me just enough to prop my back against the leg of the desk. I hissed through my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut as fresh fire ripped across my chest.

"Easy, easy—fuck, Zade, look at me."

I forced my eyes open. Mason knelt in front of me, his face pale, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. His hands shook as he uncorked a small dark vial with his teeth, the sharp herbal stink of wolfsbane antidote hitting my nose.

He cupped the back of my head gently. I wanted to snap at him for that. But I didn’t have the energy.

"Open," he muttered.

I parted my lips. He tipped the vial carefully, letting the bitter liquid slide over my tongue. It burned going down. I swallowed twice, grimacing as it hit my stomach like molten lead.

Mason didn't let go of my head.

Tears slipped down his cheeks. He didn't bother wiping them.

"I felt it," he said hoarsely. "I thought you were dying down here."

I tried to speak, only managing a wet cough. More blood speckled his sleeve.

"Hold on," he whispered. "Just hold on."

The antidote worked fast. The agony in my chest dulled to a low, throbbing ache instead of a roaring blaze. My lungs stopped seizing. I dragged in a ragged breath, then another.

Mason exhaled as if he'd been holding his own breath the whole time.

I leaned my head back against the desk, my eyes half-lidded. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet." He wiped his face with the back of his wrist, smearing tears and a streak of my blood.

"I know this isn't the time. I know you're—" He swallowed hard. "But the perimeter scouts just radioed in. Revenants. They hit the north base ten minutes ago. They're moving like they know exactly where the weak points are."

My stomach dropped.

The Moon Feast. Bonfires. Open ground. Hundreds of pack members scattered across the ridge under a full moon.

And Indie was going.

I tried to sit up straighter. Pain lanced through me again, but it was bearable now. "How many?"

"Too many. And they're not rotting like usual. They're... faster. Almost like someone's pulling strings."

I met his eyes and saw the fear he was trying to hide.

"Indie," I rasped.

Mason nodded. "Her flame must be unsteady if this is happening. If it's weakening..." He didn't finish the sentence.

The Revenants fed on death, on decay, and on broken things. Something was very wrong.

I clenched my jaw until my teeth ached. "Get the epsilons. Double the patrols around the house. No one leaves the grounds until I say. Especially not her."

Mason hesitated. "She's already talking about going to the feast. She said it's important for the pack to see her…not hiding."

"She's not going." I coughed. "Not tonight."

He studied me for a few seconds.

"You're not telling her about this, are you?" he asked.

I looked away.

"No," I said. "Not yet."

Mason exhaled through his nose. "She's going to find out. You know she will."

"I know."

He reached out and squeezed my shoulder once.

"Then we keep her safe until you can figure out how to tell her the truth." His voice cracked again. "All of it."

I nodded.

He stood, wiping his face again, pulling the mask of a beta back into place. "I'll handle the rest of the preparations. You have to rest. Just... don't die on me tonight, alright? I'm still so young, but I already have enough grey hairs."

A ghost of a smile tugged at my mouth. "Grey hair suits you.”

He scoffed weakly. “Asshole.”

He gave me one last look. Then he slipped out. The instant he did, pain shot through my back where Varak’s mark was. I bit my lower lip hard enough to hurt myself just so I don’t cry out.

‘Did you miss me, gorgeous?’ Varak’s voice filled my head, and I gasped from the pain.

‘Fuck off.’

He chuckled.

‘Relax. I just came to warn you.’

I frowned, my heart pounding faster. ‘Warn me about what?’

‘Indie’s slow descent into the darkness I’ve poisoned her mind with. I’m afraid the object of your obsession will reduce to nothing. And if it’s gone, you won’t even want to look at her. I mean…you’re incapable of love, aren’t you?’