Chapter 13 13
Elias's POV
We had been running for hours, and my body was failing me.
Not from exhaustion. There was no end to my strength now—fueled only by some bizarre connection with the primal that had been unleashed within me. I had the legs of an unstoppable runner. But my metamorphosis had turned dangerously erratic.
My claws popped out without warning, black and javelin-like, slicing through my fingers before snapping back a few seconds later. The pain was short but consistent, repeating itself as my body struggled against itself. My vision ricocheted between human sight and something else entirely. Some of the times I’d see dulled colors, other times scorching contrasts of heat and motion. My gums throbbed where I had tried to grow fangs.
The thought of losing all control scared me stiff. What if I was nothing but a monster? What if I accidentally switched on Narnia?
Narnia tripped next to me, bracing herself against a tree. Her breath came fast, and in the moonlight her face was pale. Sweat sweatened her hair despite of the coolness of the night.
“I can go on,” she said, though it was barely more than a whisper.
I looked at her properly. Her legs trembled with exhaustion. Dark circles shadowed her eyes. She had been left languid after weeks of captivity. She was fueled only by dogged determination.
“No, you can’t,” I said in solidarity with her. "You are about to collapse."
"I can keep up," she said stubbornly. "Leave me if you must."
The suggestion struck me a blow. Leave her? The thought was impossible. My wolf howled in opposition, filling my head with certainty.
Protect. Mate. Ours. Never leave.
“That isn’t happening,” I said firmly. I knelt down, my back to her. "Get on."
"Elias, I can walk..."
"Now," I interrupted. “The hunters are closing in, and you can’t flee like that.
She thought about it, then hopped onto my back. Her arms went around my neck, her legs around my waist. She was lighter than expected, her body weakened by weeks of beatings.
Everything shifted when her body was against mine.
Suddenly inside myself the riot was quieted. My breathing steadied. My vision cleared and held. The pain in my very bones waned. She was no jinx for me. It stabilized me.
I resumed running, quicker this time. I flowed through the woods like water, leaping over logs, ducking under branches. I felt Narnia's breath hot on my neck. Her body sank against mine as fatigue took over.
I could still faintly hear the hunters behind us. They were howls, twisted ones that made me shiver. They were gaining ground.
I pushed myself faster. We needed shelter. A place to sleep and plot our next play.
That was when I saw it. A waterfall falling off rocky cliffs into a pool below. And behind the falling water, its dark appearing only just visible in the darkness, there was a cave.
Perfect.
I winged my way across the pool, bearing Narnia. The water was cold enough to zap my overheated flesh. We ducked behind the waterfall and into its cave. It was small but dry. I lay her gently against the stone wall.
I assembled some rotting wood I’d found in the back and made a fire. My hands trembled as I did so, claws coming out and vanishing unsystematically. I fought to concentrate, clicking the flint until flame caught and grew.
Narnia was already out, eyes shut. In the glare of the fire, I saw bruises on her arms and shoulders. She had cuts on her hands and face. She was his war child.
She had. And it was I who initiated it.
I sat opposite her, looking at the flames. We were able to take a deep breath, the first since that wedding feast.
"Why did you rescue me at the wedding feast? Narnia asked suddenly.
I glanced up to see her watching me with a dumbfounded look.
"What do you mean?"
“You could have left Jorah to kill me,” she whispered. “No one would have thought you concursed me. The Guild would’ve looked past it. You could have said you were bewitched.”
She was right. That would’ve been the safe choice.
"I do not know," I admitted. “I couldn’t just let them do that to you.”
The words dangled in the air between us, more honest than I’d meant them to be.
Narnia eyed me in the glow of the fire. "You broke Jorah's wrist. You attacked the Guild. You ruined your own wedding, and tossed out your crown. All to protect me."
"Yes."
Why?"
I gazed at my hands as the claws were extended and retracted. ''I mean, even when I was human and still thought you were my enemy, something inside of me knew. Knew that you were important. Had known that being without you would break something in me, and I’d never been mendable.”
Narnia was silent. She took out the leather journal Nyrand had handed to her. She balanced it on her knees, running her fingers over the battered cover.
“I have to read it,” she said quietly. "I need to know who she was."
"Your mother?"
She nodded. “I’ve spent my whole life wondering if she ever loved me. If the reason she died was because of me.”
"You did not cause it," I said softly.
"How do you know?" Her voice cracked. “If I hadn’t been born, she would still be alive.”
"Read it," I said quietly. "Learn the truth. It may be nothing, but you should know.”
Narnia opened the journal. Elegant handwriting filled the pages. There were a few lines that used symbols I didn’t understand. Others were in common tongue.
She started reading out loud, her voice shaking.
“I am Selene Voss, Moon Blooded, final Moonlight Guardian. And the Guild have wiped us out. I know they're coming for me soon. But before I die, I need to leave the truth for my daughter. My beloved Narnia."
She paused, tears trickling down her face.
“You’d have to be mad not to fall in love with a wolf”I fell in love with my roommate named Romulus. We dreamed of peace. But his brother Corvin, he betrayed him and had him executed. I was barely able to make it out with my life and you growing inside me.”
Cold realization washed over me. Corvin had killed Narnia's father.
“I had to deliver alone,” Narnia read. “I brought you to Corvin, begged him to protect you. He did, but I saw the hate in his eyes."
Her hands shook badly. I sat down close beside her.
"There's a hunter that has it in for me. His name is Kael Varron." Then she stared at me, her eyes so wide. "I have seen him in visions. “But I have also seen his son.”
My heart stopped.
"The hunter has a son. A wolf spirit that resides inside a golden-eyed boy. I have looked down to the crossroads at this boy. In one vision, he slaughters our folk. In the other, for better or worse, he is our salvation.”
Her eyes peered at me, tears matted on her face.
"I know not in what way the moon will change the course for him. But I feel like they are related. When Kael Varron comes for me, I’m going to damned well put a curse on him that his own son learns what it is like to be hunted. But this curse is also hope. I think his son and my daughter might accomplish what we failed to. They could make the peace we dreamed of.”
The journal slipped from between her hands.
We faced each other across the fire.
"She knew," Narnia whispered. “She saw you when you were in your mother’s womb. Cursed your father, knowing it would pass to you. She bound us together deliberately."
"Why?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
“Because she thought you could save us,” Narnia said. "Or destroy us. She left the choice to you. To us."
I felt the weight of fate, and it was heavy.
"What if she was wrong?" I asked quietly. "What if I can only destroy?"
Narnia extended an arm and took my hand. I felt a heat starting inside from her touch.
“Then we will destroy the right things,” she said softly. "Together."
I didn't have a chance to reply; the fire sputtered out.
Not from wind. A strange, chill wormed its way into the cave. My feet were on the floor in a second, skimming between Narnia and the door. I had heat signatures through the waterfall. More than a dozen people about us.
A voice, cold and decisive, spoke out of the gloom.
"Elias Varron. Narnia Voss. His name is Archon Serras Tarren. You give it up, or we smoke you out. Either way, you’re Guild now.”