Chapter 64 Sixty Four
KAZIEL
"Alpha, she's stable now," Doctor Callen tells me, and I nod, sucking in a shaky breath. But it doesn't make me feel better because I know she probably failed to kill the wraith and has restarted the loop. I stroke my thumb along Danika's pale cheek, my vision blurring with tears. I thought I knew what it means to be powerless and helpless, but I was wrong. Something warm slides down my cheek, and Callen sighs beside me.
"Alpha," his voice is laced with pain and worry. I shake my head slowly, kissing Dani's burning forehead.
"I'm losing her. I can...feel it," I croak, squeezing my eyes shut. My head throbs, my chest constricting. Almost like my body can tell that I am losing my woman.
I'm terrified out of my mind. I don't remember ever being this scared.
"Please, be strong, Alpha. Your condition is still fragile. Contrary to what you may believe, the poison in your body hasn't been completely neutralized," Callen points out, and I nod numbly.
My phone rings out, and I take it out of my pocket, only to find that Matthew is calling. He must be concerned about his daughter since he couldn't reach her.
The phone keeps ringing in my hand, the vibration annoying me. I glance at Dani, and my stomach protests. Still, I swipe to answer.
"Matthew," I whisper, even though my voice barely works.
There's no greeting on the other end.
"WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?" he snarls, his voice thundering through the speaker. "What have you done with her?"
I swallow hard, my throat sand-dry. My free hand curls over my chest, right over the dull ache in my sternum that keeps throbbing agonizingly.
"Answer me, Kaziel! What happened? Why can't I reach her? Is she hurt? Are you hiding something from me?"
Still, I say nothing. Because if I speak, everything inside me might crack open. The pain in my chest pulses again. I rub at the spot slowly, trying to ease it, trying to breathe.
"Are you sleeping with my daughter!? Tell me the truth!" Matthew yells, his voice cracking with fury and fear.
I clench my jaw tightly, finally responding in a low voice.
"...She belongs to me."
At first, there's only silence on his end.
"WHAT?" Matthew explodes.
"You arrogant little— We are FAMILY, Kaziel! I trusted that you would stay away from her! You were supposed to protect her, not claim her like some—some trophy!"
I lift my gaze to Dani's trembling eyelids and her limp fingers in mine.
"Report me," I mumble, too tired to care. "Do whatever you want."
"You think I won't? I'll go to the council myself! I'll drag your title through the dirt if I have to. Tell me where she is RIGHT NOW—"
I sigh, exhausted. And I end the call. Then I lower my head, my hair falling over my face. My vision blurs again, the pain in my chest worsening.
"I can't lose her. I can't..." I croak.
Callen stares at me, worried.
"Alpha—"
"Leave," I whisper. But he hesitates.
"What should I tell her friend who's waiting in the sitting room?"
"Tell her Danika will be fine. She's only asleep," I respond.
"Alpha, I really think—"
"Leave."
Callen lowers his head and backs out of the room quietly, closing the door behind him.
The second he's gone, I climb into the bed beside her, not touching too much because she's scalding hot, but close enough that I can feel her faint breaths on my neck. My arms slide around her waist carefully, pulling her against my chest.
"Dove..." I breathe, burying my face into her hair, the scent of her vanilla shampoo drifting into my nostrils.
"Come back to me."
I close my eyes and pretend. Pretend she's only sleeping. Pretend I'm holding her the way I do on nights she falls asleep in my arms when we cuddle.
But her body stays hot and motionless.
And I hold her tighter, lying to myself because it's the only thing keeping me from breaking completely.
"Come back," I whisper again, my voice cracking.
"I'm right here, sweetheart... just wake up."
...
A sudden pressure on my neck wakes me up a while later. And when I do open my eyes, there she is. She's straddling me, her hands wrapped around my neck, and her eyes are pure white.
A smile tugs at my lips because I know she's trying. She's fighting so hard to get rid of the wraith. I can feel her sanctum power swelling. It burns. But I don't push her away. If it means that she wins this time, I'll bear it.
"Die! Die, you bastard!" She screeches in a distorted voice. The hollow trashes around inside of me as her scorching fire sinks deep into my soul. I bite my lower lip to keep from screaming, my body shaking hard.
'She's going to kill you, you idiot!' Ares growls in my head. But I ignore him.
Every breath I take feels like I'm being roasted on an open fire.
My eyes roll in the back of my head, the oxygen in my lungs vanishing.
And just when I think I'm really going to die, the grip on my throat loosens.
"K-Kaziel?"
Danika?
"Oh my god, what have I done? Kaz? Baby, look at me," she whispers, her voice shaking with fear.
Letting out a weak moan, I force my eyes open, struggling to focus them right.
Unsteady hands cup my face, something warm dropping against my collarbone.
Her tears. I can smell the salt in them.
When my gaze finally collides with hers, she lets out a sob. Relief punches me hard in the gut.
She made it. My superwoman did the impossible. She fought death and won.
"W-what do we do about your neck? I...I burned it. It's really bad. W-why aren't you healing?" She hiccups, and I smile, reaching up to touch her cheek.
"You came back. Thank you," I croak, tears crawling down my cheeks. She probably doesn't understand this. But there isn't a record of anyone surviving the fear wraiths. Once the victim has fallen asleep, the victim's family is usually forced to prepare for a funeral.
"I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry, Kaz," Dani cries, her hands trembling violently on either side of my face. Her tears fall faster, dripping onto my scorched skin, and every drop stings like acid, but I don't move. I don't even flinch. Instead, I pull her into my arms.
Her body folds into me immediately, shaking so hard.
"Hey... hey," I murmur, hugging her tighter. My throat feels like it's being stabbed with knives every time I speak. "It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay. You're here. That's all that matters."
"But I hurt you," she sobs, gripping the front of my shirt. "I—I burned you. I felt it. I heard you choking. I—Kaz, I felt myself fading, and I thought I was going to die. I thought I'd never see you again. I thought—"
Her voice breaks into a choked scream.
My heart sinks.
I cradle the back of her head, my fingers slipping into her hair. "Don't say that. You fought your way back to me. The burn is nothing, dove. Nothing."
It’s a terrible lie. Because every breath I take sears through my lungs like molten magma. My neck pulses with raw, blistering agony. My vision swims. And even my wolf whimpers inside me.
But she doesn't need to know any of that right now.
Right now she needs me to stay steady. She needs to feel safe.
So I hold her while she sobs into my chest, soaking my shirt with her tears.
"I thought I'd lost you," she whispers, her voice small.
"You didn't." My grip tightens around her waist. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."
Slowly, the tremors in her body soften. Her breathing evens out, little by little, exhaustion dragging her under. The weight of everything she's survived presses down on her until she slumps against me fully, her cheek pressed over my heart.
Gently, I brush a thumb over her eyelid, and her lashes flutter.
"Dani?" I whisper.
She doesn't respond.
"Dove...?" I press my fingers gently to her neck. Her pulse beats steady, still weak from the fight, but steady. I exhale shakily, relieved.
"She’s just sleeping," I murmur, brushing her hair aside. "Just resting."
I kiss her forehead softly.
Then, I carefully ease out of the bed.
The moment I straighten to my full height, agony punches through my neck, and I bite down a groan. My hand shoots up to grasp the burned skin, my fingertips brushing the blistered flesh.
When I turn towards the mirror, the air rushes out of my lungs.
Holy hell.
The entire left side and right side of my neck are scorched black and red, veins outlined like molten cracks in stone. Her sanctum fire burned straight through skin, through layers of tissue, branding me down to the soul.
It’s a mark only she could leave. A mark that should've killed me.
A low growl builds in my chest, but not at her. Never at her. No. This rage is reserved for one person.
Tyler.
He did this. He let the wraith touch her. He almost cost me my mate—
My eyes darken as Ares snarls inside me.
‘We should've ripped his throat out long before now.’
He's not wrong.
My fingers curl into fists.
Tyler is going to pay for this. Pain for pain. Until he understands that no one touches what's mine and walks away whole.
I take one last look at the sleeping angel on the bed.
Then I turn towards the door, fury simmering like raw fire under my skin.
Tyler's going to wish the wraith got to him first.