Zev reached out to her, but she moved away from him. “While Lord Norrlen was forthcoming, we know nothing about him. Cassiel is right to oppose it.”
“Of course, I’m right.”
She glared at him.
He scowled back. “This is for your own good.”
“I’m not a child, Cassiel. You’ll not decide what is for my own good.”
Dyna pivoted on her heel and headed for the brook, ignoring their calls to return. She understood their concerns, but she merely wished to help Lord Norrlen while he still had the chance to see his family again.
She lost her own, and no matter what she did, she could never have them back.
Chapter 27
Cassiel
The road to Corron was long and uneventful, if not fairly awkward. Cassiel trailed behind Zev and Dyna, straining to hear their whispered argument. Anything they said was made indistinguishable by the crunch of gravel beneath their boots. Their pace quickened whenever he neared, quieting whatever they were discussing. They had no interest in speaking to him today.
He glowered at the evening sky, wondering if it had to do with yesterday. Dyna had not spoken to him since then. How could she not see they couldn’t trust the elf?
She must be angry with him, though. Cassiel had to admit he was too harsh. The hurt look on her face wouldn’t leave him. She wouldn’t even look his way now. The day had dragged without her excited chatter that he unknowingly became used to.
“It’s time to make camp,” Zev announced.
He led them off the road and into the forest for half a mile until they found a small clearing. They dropped their rucksacks. While the others made camp, Cassiel worked on gathering brushwood for kindling. He took out a flint rock and a small rod of steel from his pocket and beat them over the sticks. The sparks quickly caught fire.
Dyna set out a handful of vegetables and herbs for soup. Cassiel hesitated before taking a potato and quickly peeling it for her. She muttered a faint thank you. He supposed that was a good sign and helped her with the rest. But the tension didn’t go away.
They remained in uncomfortable silence as they waited for their meal to cook. It continued while they ate. As the sun lowered, and the wind grew colder so did the mood.
At one point, Zev glanced at the darkening sky and stood. Dyna tugged on his arm, arguing again in hushed whispers.
Cassiel crossed his arms and leaned on the large boulder at his back. He had enough. “What is it? If you have a quarrel with me, out with it then.”
They both stopped to look at him over the campfire. Zev wore a guarded expression while Dyna wouldn’t meet his gaze.
“This has nothing to do with you,” Zev said.
“I disagree.” They were hiding something, and Cassiel sensed it was dire.
“I don’t have time to explain.”
“Make time.”
Dyna sighed. “We said we would work to trust one another. This is one of those moments, Zev.”
She riffled through his rucksack and pulled out a long set of thick, coarse chains. They clinked as they piled on the ground at her feet, two manacles hanging off one end. Cassiel stared at them, feeling like an idiot for not questioning what had been causing that racket in Zev’s pack.
His mind raced with the history of his people chained and caged. He was far away from either Celestial Realm, and no one knew where he was. He warily rose to his feet, reaching for the hilt of his sword. “What are the chains for?”
Zev took in a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “I have two forms. The wolf and the Other.”
Cassiel knew as much. What did that have to do with the chains? Zev looked up at the sky again, and he made the connection then. Tonight, there was a full moon.
He straightened from his defense, relieved but also alarmed. “You will chain yourself.”
“I must or the Other will go on a rampage. I cannot control it.”
A cold flush washed through him as he recalled the massacre in the glade.
“That is all I have time to tell you.” Zev turned away. “Let’s go, Dyna.”
Cassiel glanced back and forth between them. “Go where?”
“In the forest,” she said. “I have to chain him to a tree.”
He glared at Zev. “You have her do such a barbaric thing?”
“I have to,” she cut in defensively. “Zev can’t touch the chains. They’re made of silver.”
He looked down at the ugly mound of metal. The chains were an exact match for the odd scars marking Zev’s body.
Dyna riffled through her satchel and pulled out a vial. The one with the murky substance she had fed Zev when he was poisoned with silver.
“What is that?” Cassiel asked.
“Wolfsbane. It helps to subdue the Other.” Dyna gathered the chains and headed with Zev toward the woods.
Cassiel rubbed his face and exhaled heavily. “I shall accompany coming.”
He took a stick from the fire to use as a torch and walked ahead before he could question the decision. He was morbid enough to want to see what the Other looked like, and he needed to be sure it wouldn’t harm Dyna while being restrained.
No one spoke. Their steps crunched over fallen leaves, and their breaths clouded in the chilly air. The forest darkened with the descent of the sun. The shrubs chirped with crickets and mice. An owl hooting overhead, an audience to their somber march.
Zev stopped in front of an old elm tree, with a strong trunk and thick protruding roots. “This one.”
Dyna dropped the chains there and set down the vial by her feet. Her hands shook as she untangled the mass and gathered the pair of manacles. She wound the long chains around the tree once. Then she stood in front of Zev, not looking at him.
“It’s necessary,” he said.
“It’s unbearable.” She strangled the chains tight. “But I gave you my word.”
Zev held out his hands as a prisoner would. She unlatched a manacle and enclosed it over his right wrist. It clamped shut with a loud clang. He cried out and fell to his knees. His skin sizzled against the metal, smoke rising from beneath.
Dyna bit her lip, her face crumbling. “I’m so sorry.”
Cassiel cringed, trying not to inhale the smell of scorched skin. Zev endured this each month?
“The next one,” Zev said through his clenched teeth. He lifted his free, limp hand. Once she attached it to his wrist, he would be secured to the tree. “Hurry, the moon is coming.”
She quickly unlocked the second manacle. Zev’s head jerked upright and he looked past her, his eyes flashing yellow.
“What is it?” Dyna spun around.
Cassiel scanned the dark woods. All three of them holding still and silent. Nothing moved or made a sound, but goosebumps prickled across his arms.
“Something is there,” he said under his breath. He dropped the torch in the mud and whipped out his flaming sword.
A black streak burst through the trees and tackled Dyna to the ground. Her scream rang in the woods. Cassiel stood frozen in place at the sight of the wolf on top of her, teeth bared in her face. Dyna didn’t move, her wide terrified eyes fixed on it.
“No, Tasnia!” Zev shouted at it. “Look at me!”
The wolf did and snarled viciously, drool seeping through its trembling teeth.
“I know you’re angry,” Zev said shakily. He held out his chained hand to the wolf pleadingly. “You want revenge for Owyn and the others, but my cousin had nothing to do with it. Please, don’t hurt her.”
Tasnia’s furious growls raised the hairs on Cassiel’s neck. He tightened his grip on his sword’s hilt. He took a step, but her rabid snarls warned him to stop. The wolf snapped her teeth inches from Dyna’s neck.
“I tore them limb from limb,” Zev said, his tone turning cold and goading. Tasnia’s glowing eyes cut to him, lips pulling over glistening teeth. “I gutted them, like the animals they were. I turned Owyn to a mangled piece of flesh. When he couldn’t do more than beg, I bro
ke his neck. And I enjoyed it.”
Tasnia launched at him, and he fell under her weight. Zev deflected her bites, his clawed hands keeping her jaws at bay. Cassiel grabbed Dyna and yanked her away from them. A silver light filled the clearing as a full white sphere beamed in the clear night sky.
“Take her away from here!” Zev shouted at Cassiel. Fear, desperation, and pain swam on his face. It was all he managed to say.
His eyes rolled, and he flopped on the ground, convulsing violently. Zev screamed as his bones broke and reformed. His back snapped and bent, muscles writhing and stretching under his skin. Sharp claws grew from his fingers and toes. Black fur sprouted all over his shuddering body, a long tail extending behind him. His face twisted and stretched, forming into a drooling snout full of sharp teeth.
Zev was gone.
In his place, a huge hybrid of a man and wolf stood on two legs and howled at the sky.
The Other.
Tasnia did not run. The beast grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up in the air. The wolf didn’t even struggle. She simply hung in its clawed hand, accepting her fate. Her gasping breaths grew weaker and weaker as the Other squeezed. Cassiel flinched at the crunch of bone. The wolf fell limp and was tossed aside into the bushes.
The Other’s glowing eyes focused on him next. With only one chained hand, nothing was keeping it restrained.
Run, instinct commanded, but fear rooted Cassiel to the ground. He could not move or tear his sight away from the monstrosity now hunting him.
He didn’t realize Dyna had left his side until he spotted her behind the Other with the second manacle. She inched toward it, but the chains clinked. The beast spun to her and roared. She screamed, the chains slipping from her trembling hands. It swiped at her, and the blow threw her across the clearing. She smashed against a boulder with an awful crack. Blood gushed from her hip to her thigh where her dress was slashed apart. The Other bound for her, drool seeping from its sharp teeth.
Dyna shook her head. “No, Zev!”
It lunged and bit into her shoulder. Her piercing scream rang in the forest. Blood gushed down her back, soaking her clothes. The Other began dragging her away.
Move! The thought launched Cassiel out of his stupor. He sprinted for them. He pumped his wings and soared into the air, releasing a furious bellow. The beast turned as he rammed his boot hard in its face. The kick stunned the Other enough to release her from its jaws. Cassiel snatched Dyna from the ground and carried her into the air.
She clung to him, her hands shaking on his chest. “We have to chain him to the tree. The wolfsbane, I dropped it somewhere. But if you can get it—”
“Are you mad? I’m not going anywhere near that thing.”
“If Zev runs off, he may kill someone. We must restrain him!”
The Other circled the ground below, watching them through hungry, glowing eyes. The chains dragged behind it, still attached to one of its front paws. Cassiel didn’t care if the beast ran off as long as it left.
Dyna’s fingers brushed his cheek. He jolted at the touch and met her sad gaze. Tears glistened like pearls on her lashes.
“Please,” she pleaded, her voice breaking. “Please help him.”
She was placing her faith in him as she had done in Hilos. As much as he didn’t want to get involved, he couldn’t refuse her when she looked at him like that.
“He only needs to be chained to the tree with the other manacle.”
As if it were that simple.
The beast lunged at them. Cassiel dodged the snapping teeth by a hair’s breadth. He flew higher and placed Dyna on the tallest branch of a tree. The Other made another leap. Cassiel used the opening to fly down and grab the other end of the chains.
He remained grounded, facing off with the beast. It prowled forward, iridescent eyes catching the moonlight. Cassiel forced himself to take a breath, his body buzzing with adrenaline. The chains rattled in his quivering hands as the creature circled him.
He opened the manacle. All he had to do was chain the Other to the tree. How difficult could that be?
The Other dove through the air for him. Cassiel sprinted forward and slid on the ground, coming out from behind. It snarled and spun for him again. He flew into the air. Using all his strength, he slung the chains and lassoed them around the Other’s body. He wrenched it backward with the force of his wings, knocking it off its feet.
He stalled for a second, surprised it worked. With all the strength he could muster, Cassiel dragged the heavy beast to the tree. But the Other quickly untangled itself from the chains and lunched at him. Cassiel evaded the slash of claws tearing through his shirt. Feet tripping, he landed heavily on his hands. He slapped at his chest, feeling damn fortunate to find it intact.
Realizing he fell where Dyna had dropped the wolfsbane, he dared look away from the beast for a second to search the carpet of leaves. His fingers closed over a familiar round shape.
“Cassiel!” Dyna screamed.
He dodged a snap of teeth by a fraction, leaving the Other to crash headfirst into the tree trunk. The beast staggered over the roots, dazed by the blow. Cassiel raised the jar of wolfsbane. The beast roared, and he tossed the contents down its gullet. A horrid keening ripped through the forest. It fell back and thrashed, howling in agony.
Cassiel grabbed one end of the chains and flew around the tree rapidly, ensnaring them around the Other several times. Then he clamped the manacle around its free wrist. Bellows filled the forest. The beast thrashed against the restraints, growling and snapping its jaws at him.
He stumbled away, watching to see if the chains would hold. They didn’t budge. The Other yowled as its fur smoked beneath the chains. With a howl of defeat, it slumped against the tree.
Cassiel’s shoulders slumped as he breathed heavily, catching his breath. He shook his head at the creature he subdued. It held no semblance of Zev. “He’s gone.”
“No.”
Cassiel looked up at Dyna’s whimper. Tears streamed down her face. “That thing is not your cousin.”
“He will be himself again in the morning.” She climbed down the tree, blood pouring down her leg. She cried out from the strain on her wounded shoulder, and her bloody hands slipped from the branch she hung from. Cassiel launched up and caught her, bringing her to the ground. He set her down, and she took slow steps toward the beast.
“Zev, it’s me. You know me, don’t you?”
“What are you doing? Get away from it!”
Dyna shook her head, sobbing. “I know you’re still in there. You can defeat this. Please, please try.”
The Other stopped whining and focused on her.
“That’s right, it’s me.” She raised her bloody hand to caress its snout. The Other went into a frenzy and lunged at her.
“Get back!” Cassiel yanked her away.
“Zev is in there. He heard me.”
“He nearly tore you apart!”
Blood flowed from the deep gashes on her shoulder and waist. Her shredded dress barely hung on her small frame by strips. Zev had tried to kill her. Cassiel saw Dyna’s horror the moment she realized that. Her breath came in rapid bursts, her small body shaking.
“Breathe …” he said steadily.
She couldn’t. Her eyes rolled, and she toppled forward.
“Dyna!” Cassiel caught her and patted her face. It was no use. She had lost too much blood.
He swept her into his arms and soared into the air back to camp. He soon spotted the flickering orange flames in the dark ahead. He swooped down and laid her on the grass by the campfire.
Cassiel grabbed Dyna’s satchel and flipped it upside down. Azeran’s journal, her notebook, and dried plants fell out. There were no bandages, and the ceramic jars weren’t labeled. He wasn’t familiar with their uses, much less the plants. Like a fool, he hadn’t bothered to remember anything she had said about them.
“Damn it all!”
She was the Herb Master. He didn’t know what to do. The lac
k of bandages was beside the matter. He had to stop the bleeding.
Cassiel lifted the soaked kirtle to examine her mauled shoulder. The shredded fabric fell away in his fingers, revealing her bare body. Dark red trails spilled from the punctures in her shoulder where she’d been bitten. He parted her torn skirt to find the same was true of the serrated gashes running from her waist to her thigh. Cassiel pressed his hands over the wounds, applying pressure. Dyna’s pulse was faint and too slow.
Her warm blood seeped through his fingers, and he felt her life slipping away.
Cassiel lowered his head. “I do not know how to save you. I cannot stop this.”
No. His blood.
His blood could save her … but he couldn’t give it to her. It was illegal. And he was not a pureblood. He was a cursed half-breed. His blood might not even work!
Cassiel’s hands shook as he wrestled with his morality and celestial law. To break such a monumental law of giving divine blood to a human called for exile. They would take his wings, and he would never set foot in the Four Celestial Realms again.
Dyna’s pulse faded beneath his fingertips, drowning him in desperation. He looked at her pallid face, wishing she would wake and give him that carefree smile of hers that he thought he didn’t like. If she died when there was a possibility of saving her, he truly would live to regret it.
Cassiel rummaged through their rucksack, tossing out items until he found the carving knife. He winced as he slashed both of his palms. Taking a shuddering breath, he hesitantly placed them over her wounds.
The moment white light flashed beneath his hands he knew instantly that he’d made a grave mistake.
A power shot through his body like a bolt of lightning, filling every crevice of his being with incredible heat. It weaved through muscle and bone with a force that, had he not been kneeling, would have knocked him down. The burning power continued its course from him to Dyna, and light burst from her in a brilliant ray.
Her heart hammered like the rapid flutter of a hummingbird inside of his chest. His hands throbbed with electric warmth where they connected. There was a tugging and a merging inside of him as his life force stitched with hers. Violent waves of pleasure rushed through his veins, blood pounding in his ears, stealing his breath. When he thought it would consume him whole, the sensation waned and his racing heart slowed. In tandem with Dyna’s.
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