Chapter 153: The Dagger In The Dark

Calix Pov

I saw Maddie fall and my whole mind went cold. I did not look at the rogue wolves in front of me anymore. I did not care about the fire or the house or Simone. I just turned my body and I threw myself toward the spot where her white fur hit the dirt.

A grey wolf jumped at my neck but I caught him in mid-air with my teeth. I bit down until his bone cracked and I tossed him sideways. Another rogue bit my back leg but I kicked out hard and my claws caught his snout. I was moving faster than I ever had before. I hit the pile of wolves like a rock and they scattered into the tall grass.

"Get away from her," I roared in my head and I snapped my jaws at a brown wolf who was trying to get close to her.

He ran back toward the tree line. I dropped out of my wolf form and I hit the ground on my knees next to her. The dirt was wet and slippery under my hands. It was covered in her blood. Maddie was in her human form now. Her skin was very pale and her eyes were half-closed. The silver dagger was sticking straight out of her right side and the skin around the metal was bubbling and turning black from the silver burn.

"Calix," Maddie whispered and she reached her fingers out toward my face.

"I am here," I said and I grabbed her hand.

Her fingers were very cold. I looked down at the bond in my mind and it was flickering. It looked like a candle that was about to go out in a big wind. The gold light of the bond was getting small.

"It hurts," Maddie said.

"I have to take it out," I said and I put my hand on the hilt of the silver dagger.

The metal burned my palms instantly. I felt the heat of the silver traveling up my arms but I did not let go. I clenched my teeth and I pulled the dagger straight out of her ribs. Maddie let out a sharp scream and her body went stiff against mine. I threw the bloody knife far into the bushes.

I pressed both of my hands over the wound to stop the red flow. The blood was hot and it came out between my fingers anyway. I could feel her heart beating under my palms. It was too fast and it was getting weaker with every second.

"You are going to be fine," I said and I leaned my head down against her forehead.

"She is lying to you, Calix," Simone shouted from the top of the lawn.

I looked up over Maddie’s shoulder. The rogue army had formed a complete circle around us now. There were at least fifty wolves standing in the first row and their shoulders were touching. They were growling and their saliva was dropping onto the grass. Simone was standing right behind them and she had her arms crossed over her chest. The purple light was still moving under her skin like bugs.

"She will die in your arms," Simone said and she took a step closer to the circle. "Just like everyone else you love. You cannot save her from silver."

"Shut up," I said and I bared my teeth at her.

"You have no pack left, Calix. Look around you," Simone said and she waved her hand toward the burning house.

Our elders were backed up against the old well. Marcus was on the ground and Elder Thomas was holding a broken fence post. They were outnumbered and they could not get to us. The whole world smelled like burning pine and fresh blood.

Maddie let out a soft groan and her head tilted back. The white light that usually lived under her skin was almost gone. She looked small in the middle of the grass.

"Calix, listen to me," Maddie whispered and she opened her eyes a little bit.

"Do not talk," I said and I pressed harder on her side.

"You have to run," she said.

"I am not leaving you," I said and I shook my head.

"Please," she said and her hand fell away from my cheek.

I felt something hot explode inside my stomach. It was not the light of the bond. It was the old curse. It was the black anger that had been sitting in my blood since I was a boy. It did not come from the stone this time. It came from me. I felt my skin get tight and my teeth felt too big for my mouth.

I stood up straight and I left my hands on her side. I threw my head back and I let out a howl.

The sound was loud. It was louder than the fire and it was louder than the rogues. It shook the leaves on the trees and it made the closest wolves step back two feet. It was a challenge to every single wolf in the valley. I was telling them that if they wanted her, they had to kill me first.

"Kill him then," Simone said and she pointed her finger at my chest.

The wolves got ready to jump. Their hind legs bunched up and they lowered their heads.

But nobody moved.

A strange sound came from the edge of the porch. It was the sound of loose stones rolling down the dirt. It was a heavy, scraping sound. I turned my head just an inch to look past Simone.

The body of my father was moving.

Alpha Hawthorne had been lying flat on his back near the stone pillar. His eyes had been blank and his skin had been grey. But now his fingers were twitching against the grass. He lifted his right leg and then he rolled his torso over. He stood up slowly. His bones made a loud cracking sound like dry branches breaking in winter.

"What is that?" one of the rogue wolves asked and he turned his snout toward the house.

Simone turned around too. Her mouth went open and she stepped back until she hit a rogue's shoulder.

"You are dead," Simone said and her voice was shaking. "I saw the stone break."

My father did not look at her. He stood up straight and he wiped the soot from his shirt. He looked completely regular except for his eyes. They were not gold anymore. They were not even grey. They were filled with the same solid blackness that had been inside the purple stone. The blackness was moving inside his eye sockets like water.

He looked across the lawn and his gaze landed right on me. He did not look like a father. He looked like an empty shell that had been filled up with something old and hungry.

A small smile came onto his face. It was the same smile he had right before he fell down the first time.

"I told you," my father said and his voice sounded like two rocks grinding together at the bottom of a well.