Chapter 147 - You’re going to regret this

EMMA

When I watch the dagger plunge deep into her stomach, all logic leaves my mind. All motive for self-preservation goes out the window and I run over to her. I fall to the ground and blood seeps from her wound and spills on the concrete beneath my knees. The dagger is buried all the way. The flow of angry red signifies the rapid passing of time like sand moving through an hourglass. If I remove the dagger then she’ll die, if I don’t she’ll most likely die as well.

“What did you do?” I ask, but I don’t expect an answer. I’m not even sure who I’m asking.

“You're next, princess,” Dex says with a grunt as he picks up the second dagger from the ground. The blade rasps over the concrete.

I look up and find him coming towards me. His hair is a mess and sweat collects in beats on his skin. His actions cause him much strain, but his unwavering determination and fury push him through the pain. He is on a mission and the mission is to kill me.

I should have known that it was a dangerous combination. Only the broken ones have that much obsession and drive. We’re just two sides of the same coin. One is willing to die and the other is willing to kill.

Dex closes the distance and metal clatters beside me. My heart breaks when I see that Alex pulled the dagger from her stomach and blood now gushes in a flood. She presses her hand on the wound, but I know it will only delay the inevitable. She just slammed the final nail into her own coffin.

“Take it.” She says and her voice is weakening.

“You’ll die,” I say as if I can still convince her not to do it. My voice is small and breaks on the few words.

“I know.” She says and her jaw locks. Tears spill from her hard eyes. The tough-as-nails woman that I got to know is faltering and I now only see a scared little girl that was thrust into a war.

Who would she have been if she got to live her life without nightmares? Would she have found peace? Would she have found love? Would she have been able to love?

I’m bitter and outraged about the fate she has and the life she had to live. I grab the dagger and my nails dig into the hilt. My knuckles turn white and tears blur my vision.

Dex chuckles when he watches me rise from the ground with the dagger in my hand. “You really want to fight, princess?” The question is dripping with superiority. “We both know you’re not that good.”

I grit my teeth so hard that they might break. “I’ll show you how good I am.”

Warmth blooms in my solar plexus and I nearly gasp when I notice movement in the shadows behind him. The only sign of life is the two resentful amber eyes.

Nero treads out of the shadows and the steps of his paws are soundless as they meet hard concrete. He pulls away from the darkness and enters the artificial light. He moves like a shadow in the light. The light fails to cast a shine on his fur. No light will ever succeed.

Dex lifts his injured arm to take a swing at me, but Nero is faster. With a growl, he bites into his already injured shoulder and pulls him back. The dagger falls from his hand and Dex screams when Nero sinks his teeth deeper into his flesh. The scream is ear-splitting and I’m sure that the others have heard. It travels through the halls and the echo amplifies the sound of agony.

Nero drags Dex toward the tunnel where Lucas was imprisoned. He shuts the door with his nose and paw and I know the plated silver must hurt.

I drop the dagger and quickly return to Alex. Her skin is pale-white and her hand is shaking with the little strength she has left. I replace her hand with mine and beg the stream of blood to stop.

“You need to go,” Alex says. Her voice is barely a whisper.

“I’m not going to leave you.” I dig deep within me to find a way to heal her like I can heal Hadrian.

Her blood-stained hand covers mine and the coldness of her fingers seeps into my skin. “If you stay you’ll die too.” Her voice lacks the usual hardness and strength.

Nothing happens beneath my palms. Why can I not heal her? I reach deeper within myself and the only thing that comes out are my sobs when the wound keeps spilling blood.

Alex pries her fingers around mine but she lacks the strength to pull my hand away. “You have to save them, promise me.”

I think she’s talking to me, but her eyes are focused on something above my shoulder. I jump when I find Nero behind me. He shifts and two seconds later Hadrian is standing in his human form beside me.

“I promise,” Hadrian says. He could easily refuse her, but his words are sincere. I have never known Hadrian to ever give up on his promise.

“At least I can die with one question answered,” Alex says with a low chuckle, her eyes fixed on one spot.

I follow her gaze to Hadrian’s resting endowment. He hunches down in front of her with no shame and ignores her remark. “May the Moon Goddess be with you, Alex.”

“Take her away from here,” Alex whispers as a lone tear slides over her cheek.

Hadrian nods and steps back. He shifts back into Nero and uses his teeth to pull me away from her. I know that I’m in a losing fight when I try to pull free.

Rapid footsteps sound from the end of the hall. More people are coming. Nero’s strength is overpowering and I cannot do anything but accept it. My vision is blurry with the tears when I see life further and further drain from her.

“You’re going to regret this,” Dex says from behind the silver-plated bars. His voice is filled with hatred and the promise to retaliate.

I won’t spare him another glance. I climb on Nero’s back and he shoots off.

———————

I clamp myself onto Nero but this time not because of nausea, but because of grief. The tears silently fall and soak into his fur. Nero is running slower than last time and maybe he realizes that I don’t have the strength right now for his top speed.

Alex was a friend with whom I had good days and bad days. We didn’t always like each other and we had fundamental differences. But shared hardship made us at least tolerate each other. She was always going to be broken. Sometimes I could hear her scream at night. I knew that the terrors of the past would always haunt her. And I knew that her tough exterior was only there in the daylight. At night she had to relive the memories over and over.

At least now she can rest.

Nero slows his pace when we reach the river. The roar of flowing water is loud. He lowers to the grass and I fall like a rag doll to the soft ground. Nero pushes me to sit up with his nose and releases a sad whimper.

I notice Lucas and Graciella sitting by the riverbank. There are three more women huddled together beside them. Their faces are pale-white and their bony fingers clench on pieces of bread.

Lucas jumps up when he sees us. His eyes widen and the sight must be frightening. I’m covered in blood and the distress on my face must be clear.

“What happened?” Lucas asks in a panic.

“She’s dead,” I whisper and when I speak the words out loud, the truth of them breaks me.