Chapter 75 Chapter Seventy Five
Chapter 75 Chapter Seventy Five
WALTER’S POV
I can feel as the cold steel of Draven’s sword presses against my throat, with its silver edge biting into my skin so sharp it's enough to draw out blood.
I can feel the dark magic radiating off him, it's so thick and suffocating like I'm under a swamp water, and the golden light that had begun to heal me flickers and dies away, leaving the familiar burn of silver poison searing through my veins once more.
My leg gives out beneath me, and I sag forward, my weight pulling at Draven’s grip on my throat. Through blurred vision, I watch Lila standing frozen in the center of the stone circle with golden chains wrapping around her wrists, her ankles and even her throat, it's glowing brighter with every ray of sunlight that creeps over the horizon.
Her eyes are wide with terror and fury all at once and the starlight gold of her power fighting against the bindings but unable to break free.
“Let him go!” she screams, her voice cracking with raw emotion.
“I’m here, you have me! Just let him live!”
Draven laughs, it's sounds like stone grinding stone, and presses the sword harder against my neck.
“Live? Why would I let him live, Star Born? He’s been nothing but a thorn in my side for years and once I claim you and your power, there’ll be no one left to stand against me. Not him and definitely not your pathetic pack, no one.”
I reach up with my hand trembling as I grasp his wrist, trying to push the blade away.
The silver in my blood makes my strength falter, but I refuse to give up, not when she’s watching and not when everything we’ve fought for hangs in the balance.
Fight, my wolf snarls inside my mind, his voice strained but fierce. We can’t let her see us fall.
“I… won’t… let you… take her,” I gasp out, each word a struggle against the pressure on my windpipe.
Draven’s eyes flash with malice. “You don’t have a choice. The circle is already activated and by sunrise, she’ll be bound to me whether she wants it or not. And you’ll be dead before you can even watch it happen.”
From the edge of the clearing, I hear Caelum shout as he fights off two of Draven’s warriors, his dagger flashing in the growing light.
“Walter! Hold on!” But I can see he’s being pushed back, outnumbered and struggling to keep his ground. Mirabel is still standing with the scroll, her hands moving rapidly as she chants words I can’t make out, trying to break through the magic surrounding the circle.
Then I see it, it's a flicker of movement in the trees behind Draven, something small and dark that moves too quickly to be human. Elara. She’d slipped free from her bindings while everyone was focused on the fight, and now she creeps forward, a small silver knife clutched in her trembling hand, it's the same one Draven had used to write his message earlier.
“Elara, no!” I try to shout, but only a choked whisper comes out.
She leaps forward just as Draven raises his sword to strike me down, driving the knife deep into his side. He roars in pain and releases me, spinning around to grab her by the hair.
Elara cries out but doesn’t let go, twisting the blade deeper as dark blood seeps through his clothes.
“RUN!” she screams at Lila, even as Draven backhands her across the face, sending her crumpling to the ground.
The distraction gives me just enough time to push myself up, grabbing a fallen branch and swinging it at Draven’s head. It connects with a dull crack, and he staggers back, releasing Elara and pressing his hand to his bleeding side. But his eyes are still fixed on Lila, and I see his hands beginning to move, weaving dark magic even through the pain.
“The bond is almost complete,” he snarls, his voice thick with rage.
“Even if she breaks free now, the magic will still tie her to me! She’ll never be able to use her power without me feeling it and without me controlling it!”
The sun climbs higher, painting the sky brilliant orange and gold, and the chains around Lila glow so brightly that they’re almost blinding.
I can see her struggling, her face contorted with effort as she tries to fight the magic, but it’s no use, the circle is too strong, the ritual too far along.
I stumble forward, my leg screaming in protest, and reach for her, my hand outstretched even though I’m still twenty feet away.
“Lila! Don’t let him win! Remember who you are, remember us!”
Her eyes snap to mine, and for a moment, the terror fades, replaced by a look of pure determination.
The golden light around her flares brighter than ever, and I hear the sound of metal cracking, then one of the chains around her wrist shatters into a thousand sparkles of light.
But Draven recovers quickly, raising his hands and shouting words that make the ground shake.
“YOU CAN’T STOP WHAT’S ALREADY BEEN WOVEN, STAR BORN! TODAY, YOU BECOME MINE!”
As he finishes speaking, the remaining chains around Lila glow white-hot, and a wave of dark magic explodes from the circle, throwing me backward into a tree.
My head cracks against the bark, and the world blurs, but not before I see something that makes my blood run ice cold, Draven’s eyes are glowing now, the same starlight gold as Lila’s, and he’s smiling as he steps toward her.
He’s already taking her power.