20. Andrea
20
Andrea
A cool breeze moves my hair. I turn to Ash, breathing heavily in the corner of the basement. His armor, similar to Azra’s, glistens with blood. He crouches and extends his hands to George.
“Azra ordered me to bring them to the shelter,” he coldly states to me. Ash stands once George is in his arms. He passes me and grabs the bassinet with the twins.
“What’s going on up there? Is Brielle and Willow okay?” Salem asks but Ash only turns his back to her.
“I’ll be back to get you two,” he answers in a clipped tone before vanishing. I glance at Salem who is rolling her eyes.
“Are all the men here moody brats?” She crosses her arms and leans against the wall.
Ash isn’t gone for long. His jaw ticks as he extends both of his hands toward Salem and me. He refrains from making eye contact with either of us. After Salem and I exchange glances, we take his hands, and the world around us blurs instantly.
The manor comes into view as my vision clears. The sky is painted with millions of glowing stars and the large moon. I turn to ask Ash where Brielle is, but he has already vanished.
Salem gives me a weary expression then proceeds to the front doors. Sobs sounding behind stops both of us. I turn and see Azra holding up Brielle by her waist as she sags against him weeping.
I run over to her as she drops to her knees. She brings the palms of her bloody hands up to her face, the tear streams clearing the splattered blood that dried on her face.
Her head falls back and the veins in her neck bulge with the guttural scream she lets out. Tears fill my eyes. Looking up at Azra, his expression is the same as mine while he drops beside her and pulls her into his chest.
“Take me! Fucking take me!” she yells into the air. Glancing over to Salem, she winces away from the sight of my broken best friend. “Please…” Brielle whispers finally before completely collapsing into Azra.
He pulls her into his lap and kisses her head. A single tear runs down his face as he stands with her. Turning to follow him, Celeste is at the doors with a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes.
Azra disappears up the stairs with Brielle while Celeste rushes to get towels for me and Salem. She hands us two towels with a solemn demeanor.
“What happened?” My voice comes out shaky. I have never seen Brielle so broken before, she’s come close but never like that .
Celeste’s eyes fall to the ground and she swallows.
“Willow was bitten. Vampire bites are fatal to werewolves.” She shakes her head, her eyes glossing over. Tears are already streaming down my face. “Brielle found her in her last minutes,” Celeste whispers.
Salem covers her mouth with her hand. My limbs become heavy and frozen with sadness but my insides burn and coil with anger. My mouth moves to form words but none come out.
I have nothing to say.
There isn’t anything to do to take this pain away from Brielle. She will sink into herself and with the state she is already in, I don’t see her coming out of this easily.
Her horrifying scream sounds in my ears over and over.
My dinner lurches up my throat and I sprint to the bathroom. Every single fear and anxiety spews into the toilet along with my vomit.
My back hits the wall and I sink to the ground, sobs rack my body. A quiet knock at the door is followed by Celeste’s soft voice, “I’m here if you need anything.”
I don’t answer. Mainly because I can’t. I have no words.
Only grief and sorrow.
––
My eyes are heavy, not from the tossing and turning I have done since the sun has gone down, but from the tears I have shed today.
No one has seen Brielle since Azra carried her in last night. Azra himself hasn’t come out of their room since either. The silence in the manor since last night has been haunting.
Sitting up, I quickly slide my slippers on and grab the knob of my door. I pause before turning it, questioning if I will be able to comfort Brielle in any way. Like old times.
My door creaks open without another thought. My friend needs me.
I tiptoe down the hallway a few feet until I reach the double doors of their bedroom. Taking a deep breath, I lift my fist to knock but before my knuckles hit, the door opens.
Azra is in a simple black V-neck and sweatpants. He almost looks normal despite the unearthly beauty they all have here.
“How is she?”
“She won’t sleep. She’s been on the balcony since nightfall,” he answers just above a whisper. His jaw ticks under his close-cut beard when he peers through the doors leading out to the balcony.
“Can I talk to her?” My brows furrow when I see her through the glass sitting on the railing edge.
Azra opens the door wider and nods. Swallowing back my anxiety, I walked past him. I take a deep breath before pulling open the balcony doors. The fresh night air hits my face. It always smells like freshly bloomed flowers around the manor. The scents calm my racing heart just a bit.
Brielle is sitting on the thick cement ledge, her knees drawn up to her chest with her arms crossed resting atop them. Her head is turned to the side staring out over the trees and the faint twinkling lights of the village far below.
I don’t have to see her entire face to know it is drained of all of her color. Her eyes are bloodshot with the mixture of lack of sleep and crying.
I lift myself with my shaky hands and sit on the ledge next to her. Heights aren’t my favorite thing so I keep my gaze on her and not the fatal drop below.
“Her babies barely had time with her.” Even her whisper is so broken and crackly. Like her words are razors slicing her throat on the way out. I sigh and glance down at my fiddling fingers in my lap.
“I know I never got to meet her but I would think she would trust you to make sure her babies know what a great mama they had.”
“I shouldn’t have to be the one to do that. They should have been able to experience her and love her and fucking grow old with her.” Tears stream down her pale face. Her eyes are unblinking and empty.
“Brielle, you can’t blame yourself,” I whisper, reaching out to put my hand on her shoulder and she dodges my touch. She turns away and shakes her head.
“I told you to stay at the house. If I didn’t have to turn back for you, maybe I could have made it in time to save her.” Her voice tapers off as each word is like daggers piercing my heart.
“I only wanted to help Brielle, I would have never imagined something like this would happen.” It feels like barbed wire wraps around my throat and tightens with each word. Tears drop into my lap.
“I just need to be alone.” Brielle wipes her face and stares over the ledge again.
“Brielle—”
“Leave me alone.” Her angered face turns to me. I swallow my gasp at how sickly she appears. Her cheeks are even more hollow than they were yesterday. Her eyes have sunken in so much that she almost looks postmortem.
I bite my lips to keep from sobbing in front of her. I nod and hop off the ledge. Before I enter her bedroom I stop and whisper, “I love you, B.”
Once I am met with silence for a few moments, I hurry back inside. Azra stands quickly from the armed chair that is facing the balcony. I rush by him but he steps in front of me and places his hands on my shoulders.
I cover my mouth to conceal the sobs. He lowers his head until our eyes meet. My vision is blurry from my tears but I can tell his jaw is tight and his lips are slightly turned down.
“She is just hurting, Andrea. She didn’t mean any of that.” His thumb runs over my skin before his hands drop from me.
“I would like to go please.” My voice breaks. He straightens and glances down for a moment before moving out of my way. I quickly walk through the doors and down the hall to my room.
I barely get my door closed before the sobs begin again. She has never spoken to me that way before.
Am I to blame for this? Did I fuck up thinking I could help?
The back of my head hits the wall I am pressed against a few times. I’d rather feel physical pain than the eternal damage her words caused.
My fingertips start to sting. When I bring both hands up, ten flames flicker on each tip. I curl my fingers into my palm, the skin sizzling before they are snuffed out.
I will do anything for her. I will save her like she couldn’t do for Willow.
I don’t care if I die trying.