drag myself away from her, unable to stop screaming. My body was torn to shreds. I’m dying, I’m dying—why won’t pain stop? Every few minutes a new wound opened on my skin as though slashed there by a knife. Finally I lay on my back, sucking in deep breaths of air, choking on cries of pain.
“Caroline! Oh, Caroline.”
Suddenly Wolf cradled me in his arms, his bloody, tear-streaked face hovering over mine. Was the battle over? Had we won? I screamed again and convulsed as a spot on my back sliced open.
“Caroline, what did she do?”
I grasped at the lapels of Wolf’s new coat. I hated him. I hated him for lying to me. Twice. I hated him for showing his true colors now that I was going to die.
“Caroline!”
Alex! He was back! I couldn’t see. The entire world was blurry. All I could make out was Wolf’s face. Killing her must have freed Alex.
A scream of horror confirmed my suspicious. Marianne was herself again, standing somewhere on the stairs where I’d thrown her. Invisible knives cut at my arms and legs, drawing more shrieks from me.
“Caroline?” Alex yelled. “Jesus Christ, what’s wrong with her? She’s soaked in blood!”
Final curse, a part of my mind thought. But I couldn’t talk. I could only cry and jerk in pain when more wounds opened. I was going to bleed to death. A slow, painful curse. I shivered involuntarily in Wolf’s arms, chills already coming on from the loss of blood.
“It hurts,” was all I managed, sobbing. “Oh God…” I writhed and screamed again. How many more? How many more? I don’t want to die.
“Caroline. Caroline,” Wolf sobbed. “Curse the moon, forgive me. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
I had almost died by fire, and now, after so much…
“Wolf!” I gasped, then opened my mouth in a silent scream as an unseen knife slashed at my cheek. I panted for air. “Wolf. The jacket. There’s a vial.”
He immediately began searching the pockets in my blood soaked coat. He pulled out the vial of lavawort flower extract.
“Give it to me,” I said breathlessly, then convulsed again, tears spilling down the sides of my face.
He opened it and gave it to my shaking hands.
“What is it? Caroline—” His eyes widened as he caught the scent. “CAROLINE, DON’T!”
But he was too late. I downed the bottle and immediately went rigid in his arms as a new wave of pain washed over me. A searing heat burned me from the inside out, spreading through my veins, coupling with the agony of the wounds, wrapping tendrils of molten liquid around my heart. I couldn’t even scream. I was burning, burning just like the old witch had said. My mind went numb with the fire. I couldn’t breathe. I’d reached too far. Fought too long. In the haze of agony, I summoned my last remaining bit of strength, every scrap of resolve, and reached up to touch Wolf’s cheek. His hand immediately covered mine and held it there. Beautiful.
And then I died.
Chapter 23
Somewhere in all the darkness, a wolf was howling.
“What the fuck was that? What the fuck happened to her?”
“This is all my fault! That witch. That old witch lied to me!”
“Of course it’s your fault! You fucking went traitor on us!”
Somewhere, in all the blackness and the shouting, a little girl cried.
“She said the only way I could save her was if I broke my vow.”
“Well that sure as hell didn’t work, now did it?”
The voices went silent. The dark echoed with the sounds of crying. The wolf howled again. I wanted to comfort him, but I didn’t know where he was.
“Jesus. Care…”
I wanted to be with them. I wanted to be with the voices.
“You broke her heart, you know. I mean, I think you literally broke her heart.”
“What? No…. I couldn’t have. She’s not….”
“You didn’t see her. There was something wrong with her. Even the other wolves saw it.”
This time a wolf didn’t howl. A man screamed. Angry. Pained. Dying.
I clawed my way up, raging against all that blackness. I am not going to die in the dark alone!
I sucked in a breath. The men around me froze. Someone gently put a hand to my chest to feel my heart. It beat weakly against his palm. I opened my eyes a crack. Wolf still held me, gazing down in sheer disbelief and hope all mixed together on his face. My body ached. Traces of fire still lingered in my veins. I took in another breath.