Chapter 257

Lyra’s POV

But despite being quite surprised to see me, Silas doesn't say a word more or ask me any questions again. He just smiles and looks at me knowingly. “It's great to see you, Lyra. How have you been? How are you holding up? Hope the pregnancy is not treating you so unfairly.” I am barely able to answer his questions, as my mind cannot form a comprehensive thought.

“Please take me to Kade,” I tell him again.

The guards of the packhouse where we went, standing by the door bowed in reverence to me, perhaps deeper than the nobility would bow when you have a noble person. I wonder if this has to do with the petrified ravagers in the courtyard. We walked for a long time through several winding corridors. I pause by Amara once, and she gives me a look of respect, something I never earned from her while I was a maid. She knows this, that I am the reason that she probably is alive, not to brag or anything.

We eventually get to his quarters. I had expected him to be laid in a special place in the infirmary, but I guess his quarters were a better option. As the door opened, I gasped out sharply, my heart breaking into a tiny million pieces. He looked worse than I expected. His face is as white as ash as he lays on the bed, perfectly still, his eyelids not fluttering, and his chest barely rising and falling in the garment he has been put in. I look at his fingertips, which are outside of the blanket, tucked in there by the side, at the position they had probably put him in, and they are blue. He looks almost dead. In fact, he looks more dead than the dead. I take a step forward and touch his fingertips, trying to stop the tears from dropping, but to no avail. “Kade,” I whisper shakily. “Even though I know that you cannot hear me, I am here now, you're going to be fine.”

I pull the blanket slowly down, noticing how the skin underneath is so black and charred, looking burnt but with so much fleshiness.

I suck in a sharp breath and take several deep breaths. There is no time to waste, and then the door suddenly creaks open, revealing a young girl, no more than ten or maybe twelve if I am being generous.

She had pale skin, bright crimson eyes, and straight black hair that reached down to her shoulders. She didn’t seem to notice me as she held a damp cloth in her small hands then went to start, gently dabbing Kade’s feverish forehead.

She was clearly a vampire.

Beside the window, two pack physicians were arguing in low whispers over a table full of glass vials and dry roots, looking completely helpless.

The little vampire girl turned her head sharply when I moved, her red eyes narrowing as she looked at me with caution, placing herself between the bed and me, her small hands balling into fists.

“Who are you?” she asked in a surprisingly fierce voice.

“I am Lyra,” I told her softly, taking a slow step into the room.

The girl’s eyes widened slightly, and she lowered her hands. “You're the Luna. The one he wrote the letter to.”

“Something like that,” I said, walking closer to the bed. I looked down at Kade’s still face. His chest was barely rising and falling, his breathing shallow and rattling. “How is he doing?”

The girl looked down at the floor, her shoulders drooping with sadness. “He fell into a coma two hours ago. The black lines reached his chest, and then he just stopped responding to anything. The physicians are over there working on something else, but they already told Beta Silas that there is nothing left to do.”

I looked at the girl, wondering why a young vampire would be sitting in the middle of an Alpha's private bedroom in a wolf pack.

“Why are you here?” I asked her gently. “Why would a vampire child care so much for a wolf Alpha?”

The girl wiped a tear from her cheek with the back of her sleeve. “Alpha Kade saved my life. Some weeks ago, Azythar's soldiers took me and put chains on me to use my blood for their dark magic. Alpha Kade attacked their camp looking for you, broke my chains, and brought me back here to SilverClaw. He gave me food, and he told his guards that no one was allowed to hurt me. He was kind to me when everyone else treated me like a monster. He also helped me… I suddenly couldn’t walk anymore. And now I can. He made his physicians do everything they could. Sometimes I still lose feelings in my legs, but it’s better now.”

A soft warmth touched my chest as I listened to her words. That was Kade. Even in the middle of a brutal war, he was still saving innocent lives and protecting those who couldn't protect themselves.

“What is your name?” I asked her.

“Mina,” she replied quietly.

I smiled. Funny how that was my fake name.

“Well, Mina,” I said, placing a gentle hand on her small shoulder. “You don't have to worry about Azythar ever again. Azythar is dead. I destroyed him yesterday.”

Mina gasped, looking up at me with her mouth slightly open. “He's really gone? That’s why the war stopped?”

“He's gone,” I promised her. “And now, I am going to save Kade.”

I turned to the two physicians by the window, who were staring at me like I had interrupted their private funeral. “Both of you, get out. Silas, wait outside the door.”

“Luna, with all due respect, we have tried every known remedy—” one of the older doctors began.

“I said get out,” I commanded.

The two doctors swallowed hard, gathered their small bottles in a hurry, and practically ran out of the room. Silas gave me a supportive nod and pulled the door shut behind them, leaving only Mina, Thorne, Kade, and me inside.

I set my leather pouch down on the bedside table.

I pulled a small silver blade from my belt and took a deep breath. I knew that I could not hesitate. The black lines were already creeping toward his throat, and if the poison touched his heart, his wolf would die within minutes.

I opened the pouch, taking out the paste made of dried star-flower and ground silver-root. I used my fingers to spread the thick grey mixture directly over the open, blackened wound on Kade’s ribs.

Kade’s body gave a sudden, violent twitch, a low groan escaping his pale lips even though he remained unconscious. The herbs immediately began to hiss as they touched the dark poison, drawing the venom toward the surface of the skin.

Next came the final step.

I brought the small blade to the palm of my left hand and pulled it across my skin. A deep cut opened up, and bright red blood welled to the surface.

I placed my bleeding palm flat against the grey paste covering his wound.

“Accipe lucem,” I whispered, closing my eyes and pushing my inner magic through the cut. “Accipe lucem, et eam sume, ut putredinem exurat.”

Pain shot up my arm as the dark poison recognized my blood and began to pull away from Kade's veins. Through our mate bond, I could feel the cold, heavy darkness inside him fighting against my warmth. I gritted my teeth, refusing to pull my hand away, even as sweat dripped down my forehead and my head pounded with a terrible ache.

I watched as the black lines on his chest slowly began to shrink.

They were being pulled back from his collarbone, moving down his ribs and gathering directly beneath my palm. The grey paste turned black, likely because it was absorbing the venom.

After several agonizing minutes, the glowing light in my hand faded away.

I pulled my hand back, breathing heavily as I pressed a clean white cloth against my own cut palm.

I looked down at Kade's side as the skin around the cut had returned to its natural, healthy colour. The poison had been drawn out of his body.

“Is it done?” Mina asked in a tiny, hopeful whisper from the edge of the bed.

“It's done,” I breathed, sinking down onto the edge of the mattress. “The poison is out of his blood.”

I took a clean wet cloth and wiped the sweat from Kade’s face, my fingers gently brushing against his cheek. His skin was still cool to the touch, but his breathing had deepened and his chest was rising and falling better than before. I pulled a chair up to the bedside and sat down, holding his limp hand in mine.

Now, all I could do was wait.

An hour went by in complete silence. The only sounds in the room were the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner and the breathing of Mina, who had curled up on the small rug near the foot of the bed.

I watched Kade’s face without blinking, waiting for his eyelids to flutter, waiting for his fingers to squeeze mine, waiting for any sign of life.

Two hours passed.

Then three.

The afternoon sun slowly began to set outside, casting long shadows across the bedroom floor and Kade still did not wake up.

I wondered in dread if I had arrived too late after all. I wondered if the poison had already damaged his wolf before I managed to pull it out with my blood.

“Please, Kade,” I whispered, resting my forehead against his cold hand as tears spilled over my eyelashes. “I'm right here. You don't have to leave me. Please wake up.”

The room remained deathly quiet, and Kade still did not move an inch.

Goddess please, I whispered to myself as more tears began to stream down my face.