Chapter 127 Today Is The Day You Die
The ropes bit into Alberto's wrists as he strained against the chair, the wood creaking under his weight. The growls rolled closer low, wet, hungry echoing off stone somewhere beyond the door.
He reached inward, searching for the familiar heat of his wolf.
Nothing. Just silence, thick and wrong.
"Come on," he muttered through clenched teeth. "Answer me."
Still nothing.
His gaze dropped to the small, dried flower tucked in his front pocket brittle petals the color of old blood. A desperate idea sparked.
Alberto closed his eyes. He drew a slow breath, then pushed. Hard. Not coaxing, not asking, forcing every scrap of will against the invisible wall that caged his power.
Pain bloomed instantly. Hot. Sharp. His nostrils filled with copper; warm blood trickled over his lip, dripped onto his shirt. A high ringing started in his ears, then something wet slid down the sides of his neck.
He didn't move or flinch.
The flower trembled against his chest.
Again. Harder.
A crack like glass underfoot split through his skull. The barrier gave.
The petals flared white-hot for a heartbeat. When Alberto opened his eyes, the flower was gone. In its place, a thin, wicked blade rested across his palm, edge gleaming.
He twisted his wrist once. The ropes parted like thread.
He was on his feet in the next second, staggering toward the door Darius had disappeared through earlier. Behind him the wood of the outer door splintered. Claws scraped stone. Snarls filled the room.
Alberto yanked the handle and threw himself through just as the first wolf lunged.
Teeth raked fire down his back. He choked on a shout but kept moving, slamming the door shut behind him.
The door led to a narrow dark tunnel, Alberto didn't think twice before turning to his heels.
He ran half stumbling, boots slipping on damp rock without looking back. The howls chased him, claws clicking, bodies crashing against walls in their haste.
There was light ahead though it was faint but it still gives rays of hope.
He burst out into open air, chest heaving, blood soaking the back of his shirt.
And there standing motionless in the clearing was Samael.
"Samael!" Alberto lurched forward, arms out. "We have to go now. Those wolves they're coming. Run with me, please—"
Samael didn't move. Didn't even blink.
Alberto grabbed his shoulders. "Did you hear me? We—"
A low chorus of growls cut him off.
The wolves poured from the tunnel mouth, muzzles dripping, eyes strangely dull. They fanned out in a loose semicircle but made no move to attack.
One by one they lowered their heads.
Their voices rasped out in eerie unison.
"Leader."
"Leader."
"Leader."
Alberto's grip on Samael went slack.
He stared at the wolves, then at Samael at the flat, obedient glow in every pair of eyes fixed on the man beside him.
The word hung in the air like smoke.
Leader.
Alberto stumbled backward, eyes wide as he stared at Samael. The puppet wolves remained bowed, silent and waiting.
“Samael…” Alberto said softly, voice cracking. “What’s happening to you?”
Samael finally lifted his gaze, eyes cold and empty. “Today is the day you die.”
Alberto’s breath caught. “Samael, it’s me. Alberto. Whatever this is fight it. We’re brothers. You don’t want this.”
Samael lunged without another word, moving at blinding speed.
Alberto raised his arms just in time, blocking the first strike. Samael’s fist slammed into his forearm, the impact jarring bone. “Samael stop!”
Samael didn’t answer. He slashed with claws extended, raking across Alberto’s shoulder. Blood welled instantly.
Alberto hissed in pain but countered, driving his elbow into Samael’s ribs. “Talk to me! What did they do to you?”
Samael twisted away and struck again claws tearing down Alberto’s side. Alberto staggered, blood soaking his shirt. “You’re killing me stop!”
Another slash caught Alberto’s thigh. He dropped to one knee, gasping. “Please… Samael… don’t make me fight you like this.”
Samael paused, breathing steady, expression blank. “You defended me, trusted me. And now you die for it.”
Alberto coughed, tasting copper. “I still trust you. This isn’t you but please fight whatever is controlling you. You aren't the same man who will lay down his life to protect me. This isn't you Samael.”
“This has always been who I am, you just didn't see it. Don't trust easily”
“Samael don't do this!” Alberto pleaded.
Samael stepped closer. “Enough.”
He raised one hand.
The puppet wolves surged forward as one, jerky movements snapping into violent motion. “Kill,” Samael commanded flatly.
Alberto forced himself up. “No, stay back!”
The first wolf lunged. Alberto grabbed a vine hanging from the tunnel wall, channeling his keeper’s power. The vine whipped out like a lash, wrapping the wolf’s throat and yanking hard. Bone cracked. The body dropped.
Another wolf charged. Alberto summoned roots from the ground; they burst upward, impaling the creature through the chest. “Get off me!”
A third leaped. Alberto twisted a branch into a spear and drove it through the wolf’s eye. “I said stay back!”
The fourth and fifth came together. Alberto pulled thorns from nearby bushes, turning them into razor-sharp darts. They flew forward, embedding in throats and eyes. The wolves collapsed, twitching.
Alberto’s vision blurred. He coughed again blood sprayed from his mouth. “It’s draining me… too fast…”
The last two wolves attacked. Alberto wrapped vines around their legs, slamming them together. Skulls cracked on impact.
He fell to his knees, hands braced on the ground, coughing violently. Blood dripped steadily from his lips.
Samael stepped forward, slow and deliberate. He drew a dagger from his belt silver, poisoned edge glinting.
Alberto looked up, chest heaving. “Samael… don’t do this. Whatever they did to you… fight it. Please.”
Samael crouched in front of him, pressing the dagger’s point to Alberto’s throat. “No more words.”
Alberto closed his eyes for a second, then met Samael’s gaze again. “If this is how it ends… at least look me in the eye when you do it.”
Samael’s hand didn’t waver. The blade rested cold against skin.