Chapter 21 #2
Purple light swallows them both, but Romero stays behind. Blood covers his body from muzzle to claws as he continues pinning Alastair beneath him. My tears fall so hard my ears are ringing, drowned beneath the sound of Mrs. Geeny screaming at me.
“Go now, Alexa!”
I look between Harlow disappearing through the portal and Romero still clinging to Alastair alone against an entire army. Alastair’s soldiers swarm over the gray wolf like starving predators.
“Alexa! Hurry! I can’t hold it any longer!”
Mrs. Geeny’s voice cuts through my panic. I choke down the sob clawing up my throat and force myself to rush toward the portal, though my eyes remain glued to Romero.
Before I can ask anything else, Mrs. Geeny pushes me into the mirror. It feels like falling into a dark, endless well. Something pulls my body deeper and deeper into the void, yet Mrs. Geeny never moves from her place.
“Wait! No!” I cry.
The old woman smiles at me despite the exhaustion etched across her face.
“Go, child. The Moon Goddess will guide you.”
The moment her words fade, the purple portal seals shut directly in front of me. Mrs. Geeny disappears right before a wolf lunges at her. Darkness instantly surrounds me. Endless and cold.
At the far end of the void, only a single doorway remains, glowing with soft golden light. My tongue tastes nothing but salt from my tears. And deep inside my chest, beneath the grief and terror, only one thought burns hotter than anything else.
I will kill Alastair with my own hands.
* * *
Mrs. Geeny truly means it when she says the mirror portal connects directly to the Southern Star Club. The portal spits us out through the mirror inside the men’s changing room. By the time I stumble out of the fading purple light, chaos already floods the fighting club.
People crowd around the fighting ring. Staff members rush back and forth carrying towels, medicine kits, and bowls of water. Familiar faces blur past me through the panic. Jo is there too, helping press a cloth against someone’s bleeding shoulder while another worker bandages a broken leg nearby.
It doesn’t take long to find Harlow and Julius sitting near the mirror. I drop to my knees beside Harlow.
Blood still pours from what remains of his right arm below the elbow. Thick cloth is wrapped tightly around the wound, but it is already soaked in crimson.
“Let me heal him,” I say quickly, my heart hammering so hard it hurts.
“Are you outta your damn mind?” Julius snaps beside me. “No matter how strong you are, you can’t grow somebody a whole new hand! And the healer already pumped him full of medicine.”
“I have to try!” I shout back over the noise filling the room.
“And then what?” Mr. Moris glares at me while tightening the blood-soaked cloth around Harlow’s arm. “You planning to sacrifice your own arm for his? If you’re thinking about using black magic, then get the hell away from him right now.”
“I’d trade my life for his if I had to,” I fire back without hesitation.
Even Mythril recoils at my desperation. “Alexa, we can’t do this. It’s too dangerous.”
“No!” My voice cracks. “I healed Jo before. I can heal him too.” I turn toward Julius frantically. “Give me your hand. Hold onto him.”
“The hell I will!” Julius throws his arms up. “Healing cuts and bruises ain’t the same as regrowing a damn limb!”
“I don’t care! He could bleed out and...”
“Alexa.” The familiar voice freezes me.
Eldritch.
My breathing catches as his calm presence brushes against my thoughts through the mental bond.
“They’re right. Forgive me for being weak and useless. But please... don’t let Romero’s sacrifice become meaningless. Think clearly. Don’t destroy yourself recklessly.”
The moment I hear him, fresh tears burst from my eyes.
Romero.
The image of him covered in blood while holding Alastair back crashes into my mind again so violently it feels like my chest is splitting open.
My entire body throbs with exhaustion now that the adrenaline is fading.
We are bruised and battered from the sudden attack. All of us have reached our limit.
I wipe my tears away with trembling hands and force myself to breathe slowly. Beside me, Julius pats my back awkwardly before giving me a small nod. His eyes are red, tears still clinging to the corners.
My gaze drifts back toward Harlow. Sweat beads heavily across his forehead. His body trembles from the pain even while unconscious. The deep-red cloth around the wound keeps darkening little by little.
I carefully cup both of Harlow’s shoulders above the injury. Wounds this severe might need far more power than I possess, but I have to try.
“At least let me seal the wound,” I whisper. “Please, Beta Julius. Help me.”
For a moment, Julius says nothing. He presses his lips together and exhales a long, exhausted sigh before finally offering me his left hand while gripping Harlow’s shoulder with his right. I grab onto Julius.
“O Moon Goddess, bless us with your power. For every blessing, let there be balance. For every open wound, let there be mercy.”
Silver energy surges through the three of us. The light coils around Harlow’s injured arm, pressing back against the violent red energy still festering around the wound. The moment the power connects, pain detonates through my own right elbow.
Julius sucks in a sharp breath beside me, biting down hard on his lower lip to stop himself from groaning. Excruciating pain tears through my arm like the bone itself is being ripped apart from the inside. My vision blurs, but I clamp my mouth shut.
No. I refuse to scream.
Compared to what Romero and Harlow endured tonight, this pain is nothing.
“Stop,” Julius stutters through gritted teeth.
“Wait...” I gasp.
“Alexa, stop.”
Harlow’s weak voice cuts through the ritual. My eyes snap open. His chest rises and falls more steadily now, proof that the healing worked enough to stabilize him. The bleeding slows beneath the cloth.
I let out a relieved breath to see his calm face once more. But I maintain the energy flow for several more seconds before releasing the spell. The moment the silver light disappears, pain floods every inch of my body.
Dark bruises spread across my arm and Julius’s. My muscles ache violently. Tiny cuts surfacing across my skin like the ritual is redistributing Harlow’s injuries between us. My stomach twists painfully, and pressure throbs along my jaw and cheekbones.
Had Harlow been injured this badly? This is far worse than when I healed Jo. Even Julius groans and collapses backward onto the floor, covering his eyes with one arm.
I stare down at my shaking hands before quietly asking, “Julius, back there... Why did you choose to save Harlow first?”
Julius lowers his arm slowly.
“That wasn’t my choice,” he mutters. “Alpha Romero ordered me to protect both of you no matter what happened.”
My throat tightens. Fresh tears spill from my eyes again as I cover my mouth, trying desperately to hold myself together.
Mr. Pascoe. Romero. Mrs. Geeny. Their energy has gone from this world.
And for what? Everything they sacrificed tonight crashes into me all over again. Deep inside my chest, beneath the grief and exhaustion, something colder takes shape.
Resolve. I will avenge them.
* * *