Chapter 106 : Blue

MAXINE.

The last sound escapes my lips and I sink into my knees, so full of despair that even I can feel the cold around me. My hands are buried in the grass, tangled in the leaves and the snow.

But it’s not like real snow. It’s not as fine and definitely not as harmless. They’re more like jagged pieces of glass, lodged into my palms until I can feel my blood flowing and salting the earth. The crimson liquid seeps into the piles of frozen daggers, catching the light in the circle and the early glow of the coming morning. All I can think about is Theo being there deep in the forest, tucked where I hid him, forever frozen because someone decided it was his time.

I just refuse to let that happen.

I refuse to have someone decide for him.

Or at the very least, I refuse to let go of the one who decided it.

I step forward. All forms of winds are blowing around me, gathering into a small storm full of hale and sharp ice. I take a step forward and the ground rocks. I can feel the buildings shaking around me. The pile of bodies in the corner topples down.

The fog clears, and lying before me, propping himself up on his two elbows, is Draco.

His face is almost unrecognizable now. The damage that Theo has done is still there, barely even healed perhaps except for the swelling in his eyes. But now, his skin is raw and pink, covered in blisters and peeling layers. Huge patches of burns from the sudden blast of subzero winds.

I take a step towards him, and he flinches, staggering back. It’s satisfying to see him so afraid, right in a perfect condition where I can crush him like a gnat.

But he starts to stammer and stumble over his words. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to kill him. He’s my brother, you see. You know I would never do that to my own brother….”

“I know you’re capable of that and more,” I whisper, but my voice is resonating around the field. “I know what you are.”

“No,” he reasons out, clamoring to get to his feet and rifling through his pockets desperately. He finds a small vial of something and tosses it over to my feet, where it lands and gathers frost. “That’s the antidote to the Nightshade poison. It’s real, and I had to keep it because things could have turned bad and he could have used it on me instead. I kept it close for that possibility. You can use that on him now. You can go back.”

“Theo is dead!” I scream at him. “What good does this do? The only thing that would make it better is if you’re in his place!”

“He’s not dead yet!” he yells desperately. “His heart might have stopped but that’s what nightshade does. He’s just frozen. The antidote will make him breathe and make his heart beat again.”

I take another step towards him with the full intent of ending his miserable life, but I underestimated just how cowardly and quick he actually is. He shifts into his Werewolf form all at once, even trying to make a wild swipe at me. I manage to duck just in time, but he’s gone. Just like that.

More rage fills me, but the antidote is still lying on my path, completely untouched. If what he’s saying is true, then I can save Theo.

There is nothing more I can do. I hate that I have to cling onto Draco’s words and trust him indirectly, but it doesn’t matter as long as Theo makes it.

The storm around me ceases, but the chaos does not. The Unclaimed are now wreaking havoc. The guards are all running, trying to make it out. Some of them are actually loading the cars with the Unclaimed too, like they all agreed to leave together. Some of them are left, still trying to fight those who are not leaving either. But there is no fighting them now. I have unleashed their inner monsters.

They’re dousing the Overseer office in gasoline, dousing the guards that also get in the way. The stench of the gasoline is also present in the other buildings.

Then all at once, they light it.

“Freedom for the Unclaimed!” they scream. “Freedom for the abused… and revenge on the oppressor.”

I lock eyes with them when I start to head out into the gates. A vague sense of surprise hits me when I see that it’s Bianca and Vivienne leading this rebellion. They both nod when they see me, a gesture of utmost respect.

This is all for Theo, they all seem to say. All for my love.

* * *

THEO.

My heart stopped, but for some reason, I knew it wasn’t the end.

My mind is alive, hungry and still yearning to save Maxine, as though it’s stuck in the state where everything just stopped. For a long while I can see white. Just white. Billowing clouds all around me while the weight of the pocketwatch swings around my neck. I can feel the ground shaking, breaking around me. And yet I can’t tell if this is happening in real life or just in my mind.

I start to drift off, my hard chest making it difficult to stay attached to reality.

But then, I feel a warm hand on my face.

Suddenly everything is clear. Suddenly I can feel my body. Suddenly I can move. I open my eyes and a face looms above mine, looking down in a world that is still blurred. Slowly, my focus comes back and I notice that it’s Maxine.

She’s tipping some liquid into my open mouth, and the more I taste the sweetness of it, the more my consciousness returns.

For some reason, we’re both dusted in what looks to be snow. Even the trees are covered in it like it’s winter, except it never snows in California. Not like this, at the very least.

The last of the drops drip down my throat, and my heart starts again, beating loudly like it wants to be heard. Maxine’s face slowly gets clearer, and I see her sinking into her knees with relief. She sobs against my chest, holding me closer to her until I wrap my arms around her delicate body.

“How did you….” I trail off, my voice still raw and almost gone. “How am I….”

I know I was poisoned. I know I should be gone. But she saved me somehow, and there’s all this snow. All this power emanating off her. She’s so warm, it’s almost like hugging a bag of coal.

“I went back to camp to confront Draco,” she whispers against me.

Is he dead? I want to ask. But the question gets stuck in my throat as he finally looks up.

Maxine’s hair is now completely white, like the snow that covers the ground, like the fur of her wolf form. But that’s not what’s shocking to me.

Her eyes are now blue. Bright and smart and piercing.

Glowing with power, just like her father’s.