18. CHAPTER 18
The low groan in pain interrupts my rest. The sound is familiar, but I can’t quite place it. It might speed up the process if I get a look, too.
When I open my eyes, my first view is of my feet. I try to lift my head, the movement sending a stabbing pain through my useless arms. I would’ve thought them to be numb by now. I’m not sure how long I’ve been chained up, but all the blood has flowed downward.
“There she is,” Hekate says from somewhere on my left. “You have a visitor, sis.”
I do what I can to turn my head, but it’s agonizingly slow. When I finally lock my eyes on the dark figure on the ground, I’m too out of my mind to recognize him. Maybe I don’t even know him at all.
Fuck, my mouth is so dry and my stomach hurts. I could kill for a drop of water and a bite of a sandwich right now.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” Hekate asks, and I furrow my brows in confusion.
She grabs a fistful of the guy’s dark hair and roughly pulls his head back to turn his face my way. His facial features are vaguely familiar, but my mind still can’t place him. The same can’t be said for my heart because it speeds up, aching to get closer to him. My stomach springs to action, but not because of the hunger. It’s as if dozens upon dozens of butterflies have awakened and are now fluttering around my belly.
“Grayden,” I breathe, my lips cracking as they form the word. Now that my mind put a name to him, I can’t believe I’ve ever managed to forget him even if only for a short while.
“Grayden?” Hekate repeats in a way that makes it sound ugly and wrong. She doesn’t deserve to use it. She’s not worthy of touching him.
Something primal in me awakens, sending a powerful jolt of unexpected energy through me. My fingers curl around the chains and I yank hard. Nothing changes and my restraints don’t budge one bit, but it’s the first time I’ve shown some fighting spirit.
I bare my teeth at her and snarl, “Get away from him!”
“Interesting,” Hekate says, corners of her mouth lifting. She glances at Grayden’s unconscious figure and carelessly releases him, letting his body drop to the ground with a hollow thump. “I’ll be honest, sis. I expected more from you, but clearly, you never fail to disappoint. He’s a truly pathetic piece of shit.”
The hair on the back of Grayden’s head is matted with blood, but the gash on his brow is starting to slowly knit together, so the other wound must be doing the same. That must be the famous wolf healing I’ve heard so much about. I need to distract her long enough for him to wake up and get out of here.
“It’s rather funny, isn’t it?” I force a cocky smirk on my face and even raise a brow at my sister. Hekate narrows her eyes at me. “I spent so many years being jealous of you, thinking that you were our parents’ favorite, but I’m realizing now that it’s the exact opposite.”
“I was their favorite,” Hekate tells me. “You were always a disappointment.”
“I don’t think so,” I counter. “In fact, I think that they always left me home because they wanted to protect me. While you were forced to listen to all those horrible old witches and make dull small talk, I was at home browsing through our family library in peace with music on the radio.”
“Going to those events was an honor,” Hekate hisses, stepping over Grayden’s body to move closer to me. “Those witches were the most respected and highly accomplished members of our communities.”
I roll my eyes and chuckle softly. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, sis.”
Hekate’s eyes flash with anger. I brace myself as she raises her hand to strike me, undoubtedly jolted up with a strength spell, but the pain never comes.
“You’ll never hurt her again,” Grayden growls from behind her, his fingers wrapped tightly around Hekate’s wrist.
My sister’s face contorts with anger. She spins on her heel and ducks under Grayden’s arm, hitting him straight in the chest with the hand and the spell that was intended for me. The breath is knocked out of Grayden, his eyes screaming in pain as his knees buckle.
“Grayden!” I cry out. “Hekate, please. Don’t kill him.”
Hekate throws a glance over her shoulder, pure hate in her dark green eyes. My sister, whom I grew up with, admired, and loved, will now be responsible for single-handedly ruining my life.
“If cleansing doesn’t teach you a lesson, maybe this will,” Hekate tells me before turning back to Grayden who has recovered enough to pull himself to his feet. When she speaks to him, her voice isn’t only full of authority but also holds the strength of a powerful spell behind it. “Shift.”
Grayden grits his teeth, his jaw clenching so hard that it’s a miracle it doesn’t break. The vein in his forehead pops out as he tries very hard to resist her order. Every second that he manages to fight her spell is admirable.
“Shift,” she orders again, putting more power into the word.
Blood trickles from Grayden’s nose, coating his lips. It’s the first indication that he’s losing in this battle of wills. His teeth extend into long and sharp canines that pierce his skin as he stubbornly holds his jaw shut. His hands are clenched into fists, which are also turning red and sticky. The nails that he buried deep into his palms grew into claws that broke through the skin.
“Shift,” Hekate orders with an authority that echoes through the basement.
Grayden growls, putting his bloody canines on full display. He falls to his knees, catching his balance with his hands. When he opens his fist, the sharp claws shine in the gloomy light. He buckles forward, bending his neck downward as his already massive body begins to grow, ripping through his clothes. Too fast for the naked eye to see, a magnificent dark wolf stands in Grayden’s spot. Even in his animal form, he towers over Hekate and me.
The beast lifts his head, his lips curled up in a quiet snarl. There’s nothing that resembles Grayden on that animal, except the eyes. They’re the same eyes I’ve looked into when we made love. If it weren’t for the eyes, I might be tempted to believe all the stories about the wolves. But now more than ever, I know for sure that they’re wrong. Grayden is in there. He’s in control of the beast.
You make me feel alive too, Grayden says in my head.
Everything happens so fast. I don’t have the time to react. There’s nothing I can do to stop them from killing each other while I’m forced to watch.
With incredible speed, Grayden lunges forward at Hekate, but she’s prepared. She’s the one who forced the shift. With a swift turn of her wrist, Grayden stays suspended in the air, his fangs inches from Hekate’s neck. His muscles tense as he tries to fight the spell. He growls, the sound low and terrifying.
Hekate reaches back and pulls out an ancient dagger from the waistband of her jeans. My eyes widen, recognizing the old weapon as the one that used to be protected behind an impenetrable glass display in our home library. There are carvings on both sides of the blade in the language of our ancestors. While the leather on the hilt is worn out, the blade is as sharp as ever.
“It’s a siphon,” Hekate explains, basking in the attention with a triumphant smile on her face.
She’s convinced of her victory. It can’t be that easy. It shouldn’t. We deserve better. I don’t want to die this way. I don’t want to leave this life without sharing all it has to offer with him.
“Our ancestors knew the importance of this dagger, but as the centuries passed, the knowledge got lost,” Hekate continues, keeping Grayden frozen and suspended in the air this whole time. “It wasn’t until I met the Fire Prince, Felix Farrell, that I was able to fill in the blanks. Felix was so desperate for power that he didn’t care who got hurt if they stood in the way.”
Grayden lets out a low growl, his eyes flashing with anger. While there’ve been rumors of the witches using the wolves, I’ve never heard the whole story.
“He provided me with ancient texts from the Academy’s library and brought wolves to me to experiment on,” Hekate says with a malicious smile. “We’ve done great things together. I gave him power and he brought me the heads of my enemies. The rogue wolves did my bidding. They didn’t even blink when I ordered them to murder the whole town.”
A small gasp escapes my lips as I realize that my sister’s ruthlessness knows no bounds. She’s the ultimate bad wolf.
“I have to admit that I was a bit sad when I heard the news that he was killed,” Hekate continues and sighs. “Speaking of, I was hoping you could confirm a little detail to me. Don’t worry, you don’t need to talk. Blinking should be fine.”
I tilt my head to the side, my brows furrowing. I can’t help but feel curious about what my sister wanted to ask Grayden.
“I’ve made it my life’s work to get as much information on your world as possible. Prince Felix was a great help, especially when it came to your family. He seemed to have harbored a lot of hatred toward your brother.”
Hekate is speaking about Grayden’s family with a kind of familiarity that makes me jealous. While he mentioned some things here and there, we’ve never talked in detail about them. Well, we also didn’t talk much about Hekate, and here we are, enjoying the experience of two families coming together.
“I’ve done some research by myself, but I’ve never had it officially confirmed to the point of no doubt,” Hekate says, then takes a step closer as if she wants to look deeper into Grayden’s eyes. “Before I ask you a question, let me warn you that I’m perfectly capable of getting the answer by myself. But for Helia’s sake, I’m giving you an opportunity to tell me the truth.”
I suppress an involuntary shudder. The mind reading is an agonizing experience, but if the witch isn’t skilled enough and her focus wavers, the subject can turn into a vegetable in a matter of milliseconds. It’s scary and prohibited to use on any other species except on the wolves.
“One blink for yes, two blinks for no,” Hekate instructs him. Grayden growls, but she doesn’t care. “I’m sure Helia mentioned that our parents were killed by wolves.”
One blink.
It’s true, we did briefly talk about that.
“Good,” Hekate says with a hint of satisfaction in her tone. “Next question. Do you know who killed them?”
I hold my breath. I’m careful not to blink myself in fear that I’ll miss his reply.
Two blinks.
I exhale in relief. Grayden has no idea who killed them. I didn’t realize this was weighing on me until now that the weight was gone.
“Let me rephrase the question,” Hekate says with a low voice, clearly unhappy with his response. “Do you have any guesses on who killed Axel and Willow Payne?”
I open my mouth to tell her to leave him alone, but the words get stuck in my throat when Grayden blinks. Just once.
Hekate glances back at me as if making sure that I’m witnessing this. She locks her eyes back on Grayden, but his are turned to me. I could swear that he looked almost apologetic.
“Are they subjects of the Grey kingdom?” Hekate continues, and right now, I’m glad she does. I realize that I want to know more about my parents’ deaths.
One blink.
I swallow hard, holding my emotions at bay. My thoughts are running wild, but I ignore them, refusing to grasp any of them for fear of making them come true.
“Was it a member of the Pack of Shadows?”
My eyes widen in surprise. A distant part of me recognizes the name, but I can’t quite point my finger at it.
One blink.
“Was it one of your brothers?”
Tears well up in my eyes. This can’t be happening. Grayden’s family can’t be so directly involved in the deaths of my parents.
One blink.
“That’s all I needed to know,” Hekate says to no one in particular before turning to me. “His younger brother, King Gavin Lafayette was the founder and the Alpha of the Pack of Shadows. While I had it on good authority that they were the ones who hunted our parents down and killed them, now I know for sure. That’s whose bed you’ve crawled into. I’m actually surprised that you didn’t recognize him as a wolf. While his light doesn’t shine as bright, he’s definitely tapped the Source. You’re either blind or too weak to see it.”
Despite the dehydration, it’s a miracle that I’m still able to cry. I avert my gaze downward, refusing to look at her or Grayden.
“It’s time for you to finally understand that the wolves are an abomination,” Hekate pushes, still determined to flip me and convince me to join their cause. “It’s a curse that backfired. There’s no hope for them. They have no humanity because they’re ruthless beasts that should never have existed in the first place.”
That’s not true,Grayden’s weak voice echoes in my mind. You know me better than that. You know that I am more than the beast she’s describing. My family isn’t like that either. They’re good and kind. All we ever wanted to do was survive just like the witches. Does that mean that we had to cross horrible lines to protect our loved ones? Yes, but so did the witches. Things aren’t as black and white as Hekate is painting them to be. There’s a lot more to it, and you know it.
Your brother killed my parents,I state in my mind, unsure if he can even hear me.
I’m not sure but I think it was his pack, Grayden confirms. Gavin especially is skilled in protecting our young ones. He gets very defensive when it comes to the pups. He even helps a new pack which is full of survivors of the massacre that your sister mentioned. They’re a group of orphans with traumas they shouldn’t ever experience in their short lives. He gave them a safe place to heal and grow. He’s teaching them to control their powers not just so they could fight and protect themselves, but because with control comes discipline. He’s teaching them lessons that are bigger than life.
Your brother killed my parents,I repeat, stuck on this piece of information.
Which is why it’s up to us to make sure things change,Grayden insists. I never saw humans as worthy of my time, and I was a firm believer that all witches should be killed on sight. You changed all that. Please, don’t close yourself off now, and help me open the minds of others.
How do I know you’re not playing me?I question, wondering if maybe it was all a lie and they tried to use me to get to Hekate.
Because you’re the one person I can’t lie to. You’re the one person who will see the whole me no matter how much I might try to hide myself. You’re the only one who I’ve ever loved and will love forever,Grayden says in my mind. He lowers his voice as he confesses the most valuable secret. Because you’re my fated mate, my soul mate.
I choke on my own saliva which must be a skill in itself because my mouth is as dry as the desert. Hekate looks up from her phone to check on me. She steps closer and puts a hand on my forehead.
“You’re burning up,” she says. “We should probably get ahead and start with the waterboarding.”
My coughing fit gets even worse at the mention of the next step in the torture plan. Burning was bad enough, but to induce controlled drowning over and over again was a new degree kind of brutality. The way humans do it is bad enough, but the witches use spells to keep their victims awake longer. Knowing my sister, I’m sure she’d have some other tricks up her sleeve to further enhance my suffering.
“It’s perfect that your wolf toy is here because he’ll play an integral part in your rebirth,” Hekate confirms my guess.
I’m not surprised that her plan differs from the traditional, but I am getting a bit anxious about it. She playfully tosses the siphon dagger from one hand to the other. With a malicious smile, she walks toward Grayden’s still-suspended wolf form.
“Instead of using water,” Hekate continues, “We’ll use his blood.”
“No,” I breathe.
“I’ll make you watch until I siphon the magic out of your wolf and bleed him dry. We’ll use his blood for your rebirth. It’s poetic. I guarantee you that when the others hear about your ordeal, you’ll be celebrated and welcomed back into our midst with open arms.”
“Don’t do this, Hekate,” I plead with her. “This isn’t the way.”
“It’s the only way,” she assures me and slowly lifts the dagger toward Grayden whose eyes are wide with fear and pupils dilated. Her cruel, ruthless ass is enjoying every second of this.
A dangerous dose of pure adrenaline shoots through my veins, spreading over my body at a high speed thanks to my rapid heartbeat. I act on reflex, allowing my instinct to take control.
I step on my toes and stretch myself as high as I can. When I get a good grip on my chains, I put all my strength into the pull, yanking down as hard as I can. Grayden must’ve really loosened it because the crack in the ceiling spreads like a spiderweb. The specks of dust fall down, making it look like it’s snowing inside.
Hekate turns her attention from Grayden to look at me. Her eyes widen and she manages to lift her arms up to protect herself just as parts of the ceiling come crashing down.
I land on my knees, then get toppled on my side when something collapses on top of me. The chains fall heavily on my back. I cry out when my leg gets pinned underneath a big chunk of the ceiling.
The dust in the air burns my eyes and makes it hard to breathe. I look toward where I last saw Grayden. His wolf form is buried underneath the rubble. He’s not moving, and I can’t tell if he’s breathing.
Next to his tail is a siphon dagger. Hekate’s fingers are loosely curled around the leathery hilt. She doesn’t seem to be moving either. Now’s my chance to do something. I have to stop her. Grayden can’t die for a cause that has nothing to do with our generation.
I try to move, but my leg isn’t only pinned down but also crushed. It’s a miracle that I’m even conscious. Chances are that when I move the chunk of wall off my leg, I’ll fall into shock and become useless. I need to do this without moving from my spot.
I have to use magic.