Chapter 18 Eighteen
KAZIEL
The word slams into me, disorienting.
"Poisoned?" I echo, my voice still unsteady from what just happened.
Aaron nods grimly. "It's spreading fast. Her veins are turning black."
For a moment, all I hear is the pounding of my pulse.
Then I shove past him before I even realize I'm moving. The scent of blood and sickness hits me before I even make it down the stairs. The copper tang clouds the air, the smell thick and suffocating.
Eve's on the couch, her body jerking with shallow, uneven breaths. Sweat glistens on her skin, her lips tinged blue. Her heartbeat is terribly faint.
She's fading.
"Aaron," I rasp, crouching beside her. "What kind of poison?"
"Wolfsbane mix, I think. But there's something else. Something I can't quite place." He runs a hand through his hair. "It's eating through her fast. Her own healing's useless."
My jaw clenches. "Damn it."
Eve's eyes flutter open, hazy but focused on me. "Told you... you're the only one who can keep me alive," she whispers, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
I look away. I have a bad feeling about this.
Aaron's voice is laced with urgency when he speaks. "Kaziel, if you're going to help her, you need to do it now. You know your blood can neutralize any kind of poison."
My blood.
No.
It's too risky. Feeding her would mean—
"Alpha," Aaron presses, moving closer. "She'll die if we don't do something."
I stare at her, at this girl who's supposed to save us all. Her chest heaves as she tries to breathe, every inhale a struggle. Danika's sleeping face floats into my mind. Her scent still lingers on my skin, intoxicating.
If Eve dies, Danika dies too. Then the curse lives on.
Fuck.
I curse under my breath, lowering my gaze to my bare wrist. My pulse thrums violently beneath the skin.
Eve's eyes widen slightly, her pupils dilating. She knows. She fucking knows what this means.
I hesitate one last time. "Don't make me regret this," I mutter.
Then I bite into my wrist, hard, tearing through the skin until blood wells up. The strong metallic scent fills the air.
Eve's lips part, a soft sound escaping her throat.
"Drink," I order, pressing my wrist to her mouth.
She doesn't hesitate. Her lips close over the wound, and she drinks greedily.
The moment her mouth touches me, a shudder runs through my entire body. It's too intimate. Too much. I can feel every pull, every swallow, like she's drawing the life straight out of me.
"Easy," I warn through gritted teeth. "That's enough—"
But she doesn't stop. Her hands clutch my arm, her nails digging into my skin as she drinks harder and faster. My vision blurs as an unnatural bond forms between us.
Aaron moves forward, alarmed. "Alpha—"
"Don't," I snap, my voice feral.
She gasps suddenly, jerking away, her lips stained red. The wound on my wrist closes instantly, and for a while, neither of us moves.
Eve's breathing evens out, the blue fading from her lips. The poison's gone. But the new bond connects us.
Her gaze meets mine, her pupils dilated. "Kaziel," she whispers.
There's a strange sparkle in her eyes.
A cold dread slides down my spine.
What the hell have I done?
...
The clock ticks too loudly.
I've been staring at the same spot on the wall for what feels like a very long time, the dim light from the lamp casting long shadows across my study. The whiskey in my glass is untouched, the ice long melted. My head pounds steadily, a dull ache that's been growing since the moment I fed her.
I shouldn't have done it.
My instincts had screamed how wrong it was, but logic...
Fucking logic reminded me that without her, Danika dies.
Now I can feel her. Not in the physical sense, but in the faint, thrumming echo beneath my skin.
I drag a hand down my face, trying to shake it off.
Across the desk, Aaron leans back in the chair, his arms folded. He's been watching me like a hawk, probably afraid I'll lose it again.
"You should rest, Alpha," he says in a low voice. "You look like hell."
I grunt in response, swirling the amber liquid in the glass but not drinking it. "Resting won't fix this."
"It might stop you from grinding your teeth to dust."
"Not helping," I mutter, leaning back. My temples throb relentlessly. "How long until the eclipse?"
Aaron glances at the window, where the night sky is devoid of stars. "Three months."
The words practically crush my chest.
Three months.
Three months of putting up with that shady girl who now has a link to me. Three months of pretending I'm fine when I can still feel the ghost of her mouth on my skin.
I set the glass down too hard, the sound grating my nerves. "Three months of hell."
Aaron studies me for a long moment. "She's stabilized now. Whatever was in her system is gone. You did what you had to do, Alpha."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it," I bite out. My hands are trembling again, barely noticeable at first, then more violently.
Aaron notices. "Hey—"
"I'm fine," I snap.
"Bullshit." He stands, walking around the desk. "You're shaking like you're about to relapse. When was your last stabilizer dose?"
My throat tightens. "It’s gone."
His jaw tightens. "Gone as in...?"
"Gone as in I might've had too many episodes and lost count of...shit."
Aaron curses under his breath, pacing. "That's bad. You need to—"
"I said I'm fine!" The words explode out of me before I can stop them. The air in the room crackles, my pulse surging dangerously fast.
Aaron doesn't flinch. He's used to this.
“Kaziel," he says carefully, "go to Danika."
I go still.
"She calms you down," he adds. "You know it's true. If you don't, you're going to spiral again."
I let out a bitter laugh. "You don't understand."
"Then help me understand."
I look away, my voice low and rough. "I fed on her."
That silences him.
Aaron exhales slowly. "Ah. Shit."
"Yeah," I mutter, clenching my fists. "I didn't mean to. I lost control. I could've killed her."
"You didn't," he reminds me.
"Doesn't change the fact that I wanted to."
The silence between us is heavy. My hands won't stop shaking, and the taste of her blood still lingers on my tongue. It's maddening.
Aaron places a steadying hand on my shoulder. "Then make it right. Go to her. Talk to her. She's probably worried sick."
I drag a hand through my hair and let out a shaky breath. "No. Not tonight."
He hesitates, then nods, backing off. "All right. But if the tremors get worse—"
"I'll handle it," I cut in.
He studies me for a long moment, then turns for the door. "You always say that."
When the door closes, the silence returns. My heart pounds in my chest, restless.
I stare at the clock and whisper, mostly to myself,
"Three months."
Can I really ignore the bond? What if she...tries to seduce me using the influence of the twisted connection?
Now, she'll always know when I'm hungry. Will she really not use it against me?
I still don't believe her shitty story about how she was randomly attacked. Something's not adding up.
My hands shake harder, the familiar pain setting my bones on fire.
Biting back a groan, I double over in my chair, sweat forming on my forehead.
Just then, my phone vibrates on my desk. With a shaking hand, I reach for it and unlock the screen. There's a message from Danika.
'Where are you?'
The words are simple, but they nearly send me into cardiac arrest. I'm a coward. I deserve what I'm getting.
Another message pops up.
‘Don't you dare ignore my call. Answer it.'
The corner of my lips lifts upwards as my vision blurs in and out of focus. My dove is getting bolder. She'll become a little vixen in no time, won't she?
As if on cue, my phone rings out.
I rest my head on my desk, answering the call.
"Give me directions, please. Your house is too big. I can't even find Eve," Danika says, and I bite back the urge to smile. I adore the sound of her voice.
"You really are something else, aren't you? You should be scared, you should—"
She sighs.
"Should you really be telling me what to do? I can be stubborn, you know? I want to see you, you don't sound so good."
Fuck. I want to kiss her senseless. I love the sound of her voice.
"Kaziel, please?"
"I think I made a mistake," I pant, my eyes slipping close. I can hear her moving faster.
"You sound breathless. Isn't your beta with you? Wait, are you having another episode?"
An image of her beautiful face floats into my head, and I groan, the pain worsening until it feels like I'm I’m on fire. The agony feels different than usual. It’s too much.
I can't... I can't do this.
Gasping, I blindly rise to my feet and hurry towards the door. But the moment I yank the door open, the burning surges and my knees give out, sending me crashing right into a pair of waiting arms.
"Kaziel?"
Weakly, I turn my head, and through blurry vision, I see her. She’s standing a few feet away with her phone pressed to her ear, panting.
“Danika,” I whisper.
A bitter laugh crawls up my throat.
Oh, well.