Chapter 62

-Dante-

We stayed in bed for a long time. I was glad for it because of the splitting headache I was suffering from. It got much better when Chase went to make me a potion. I didn’t even care about the pixie pee in it anymore – the pain was so bad I was ready to drink whatever Chase put under my nose.

Once the pain started to subside, it was easier to understand what had happened while I was unconscious. I still couldn’t believe Killian was gone, along with the entire operation. It just… I’d been there, but I couldn’t remember any of it. I killed him. I did what I was set out to do, and… I couldn’t remember it.

To be fair, maybe it was for the best. There probably had been a lot of blood and guts, so…

“It’s over,” I whispered again. “It’s so hard to let that sink in.”

“I understand,” Chase said, hugging me with one arm, snuggling his head against my neck. “Now all that is left is the cure.”

“I wonder if Donovan was telling the truth,” I muttered. “I’m having hard a time trusting a person who would’ve loved to see me dead.”

“Exactly,” Chase sighed. “If Arthyzn finds anything, Ben can check it out.”

I nodded and focused on caressing his shoulder for a moment. I was so goddamn happy he was still alive. I didn’t care that he was no longer a human. I didn’t care how he got the rest of the souls. Those bastards deserved to die so my love could live.

I had to push the thought of Killian and his men out of my head so I wouldn’t get angry.

“I wonder what those other two are going through right now. The rassawolves,” I spoke. “They must be scared and confused…”

“My parents are taking good care of them. But I’m sure they’re really shaken. It’s probably going to be hard for them to trust anyone ever again,” Chase spoke.

“I want to meet them,” I said.

“They’re at Ben’s, so I’m sure you’ll get the opportunity soon,” Chase said.

“Hmmh…”

“What?”

“I don’t feel like staying in bed anymore,” I told him. “My headache is almost gone, too. I just… I don’t want to stay still.”

“You should be resting,” he noted.

“Come on, we’re not storming another base here. I just want to go meet those women,” I told him. “And maybe see if there’s any news about Lena’s journal.”

He was silent for a moment, but then sighed. “I kind of want to go see how Zane is doing, too.”

“Me too,” I said, and pushed myself to sit up.

“Roe? We need you to teleport us back home,” Chase spoke, and his very annoyed master appeared at the end of the bed.

“Leaving already, huh?” he grunted. “I’m not a freaking airplane.”

“Roe…” Chase sighed wearily. “We want to go to our friends. Is that too much to ask?”

“Fine,” Roe snorted and grabbed us by our ankles.

A second later, we were sitting in the middle of Ben’s living room floor. Chase let out a defeated sigh. Roe snorted at us and vanished. I just laughed, especially after spotting the several confused looks we were receiving.

Ben, Frank and Aaliyah were sitting on the couch, having tea, and Chase’s parents were in the lounge with two very shaky-looking women.

“Um, welcome back,” Ben was the first to say. “How are you, Dante?”

“I’m good,” I said as I helped Chase up from the floor. “I heard what happened. Is everyone all right?”

“You have no need to worry over us,” Aaliyah said with a friendly smile. “We were worried about you.”

“I’m fine – I don’t remember much,” I said.

“Maybe that is for the best,” Aaliyah said sympathetically, and I nodded.

“What do you remember?” Ben asked, and I gave them the brief story. I really couldn’t remember much.

“Where’s Zane?” Chase asked once I was done talking.

“Sleeping upstairs,” Ben said.

“He’s slowly recovering, and it doesn’t seem like the necromancer messed up his revival. His soul seems intact,” Aaliyah added, and Chase was clearly relieved to hear that.

I turned my attention to the lounge. The two women were eyeing at me with fearful eyes. I felt so sorry for them… I couldn’t even imagine the horrors they must’ve been through.

Carefully, I took a few steps towards the lounge. “Hi, I’m Dante,” I said quietly. “I’m a rassawolf, too.”

They both seemed much more interested in me after hearing that, though their fear didn’t subside.

“You are safe here,” I told them, taking another few steps up the stairs to the walkway between the two areas. “No one is going to hurt you or control you ever again.”

The older of the two peered at her friend, and then back at me. “I’m… Tanya… This is Lara.” she spoke carefully, not really making eye contact with me.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me. Of any of us,” I said. “You are safe here.”

Tanya nodded slowly. “Thank you. We… We have been his… We’ve been captured for years. I can’t remember for how long…”

“I’m sorry,” I said, taking a step into the lounge. “I wish we could do more for you.”

“We are free,” Lara said with a tiny voice. “He’s… not in my mind anymore.”

“That is more than enough,” Tanya nodded.

“And he will never be,” I promised. “We got rid of him.”

Everyone else in the house stayed silent as I chatted with the women for a bit. They wanted to know more about me, and as the minutes passed while I told them what had been done to me, they both started to relax a little. I was so happy we were able to save them.

I didn’t dare to bring up the cure just yet because I knew how horrible the feeling of uncertain hopefulness could be. I needed to know for sure there really was a cure before letting them know about it. They were so shaken already…

A short while later, Frank cleared his throat.

“Arthyzn has something for us,” he informed.

I nodded and turned my attention back to the women. “You two look like you could use some rest.”

“I guess,” Tanya said. “We couldn’t really sleep last night, but…”

“I could try again,” Lara added, giving me a timid smile.

“I’ll take you to your room, then,” Chase’s mom said in a warm tone.

We all waited patiently while they made their way up, and after we heard the door closing, and Chase’s mom returning to us, Frank called for his old master.

A few seconds later, Arthyzn appeared next to him. He was holding a big book in his hands.

“I found the body – this was hidden with it,” he said. “There’s a lot of science stuff in this. I can’t tell if it’s the cure or not, but it does talk a lot about the beasts.”

“May I?” Ben asked and took the book from him. I held my breath as the old man started leafing through it, Aaliyah watching over his shoulder. “It’s hard to say but… It does look like she believed this was the real thing.”

I let out a deep breath. The old feeling of hope was back again, even though I wasn’t so sure if I even wanted the cure.

“Look,” Aaliyah said, and pointed at something in the book. “It says rassawolves are a mix of several different species.”

“La… larugh… lareug…” Ben muttered, peering at something.

“Lagreoughnak?” Roe frowned, and the alchemists nodded. “That’s a rare creature from Njizrski. Almost extinct.”

Arthyzn gave me a curious look. “You know what? I think I can see that. There’s definitely lagreoughnak in that form of yours. That’s why it’s resistant to magic – and it looks a bit like it too.”

“So they took a bunch of different species and mutated them together?” I asked.

“These are all very wolf-like creatures listed here. And wolves from the human world. This mixed with werewolf genes…” Roe muttered as he read the journal over Aaliyah’s shoulder.

“You get me,” I ended his sentence, walking to them in the living room area.

“Not only genes,” Aaliyah said, gesturing for Chase to join them. “There are a lot of other ingredients, too.”

Chase took a look at the page as well. “Oh, yeah – a lot of basic ingredients for potions, and… hmm.”

“What?” I asked, also joining the crowd to see the page. It was filled with words I couldn’t recognize. A lot of very difficult words.

“Here’s the problem. These three,” he spoke, pointing different words, “together they cause rapid aging – the combination is usually used for farming and gardening. That’s pretty basic knowledge, too, but there really aren’t equivalents for any of them.”

“Where did she get this?” I asked.

I used to be married to that woman. For three years! How did I miss all of this?

“Killian probably spilled more secrets.” Arthyzn shrugged. “So this is the book Donovan was talking about?”

“It is,” Ben nodded. “I need to test this, but at least she believed she found the cure.”

“So Donovan wasn’t lying,” Chase said, sounding almost surprised. “What about the decipher?”

“Do you need it?” Arthyzn frowned.

“We may need it,” Chase only said, glancing at me shortly.

“It can only decipher Donovan’s journal – and Killian’s, but there was nothing more to it, just him rambling on about Dante and finding Lena’s murderer.”

“I want to use it on Donovan’s journal,” I told the merchant, who shrugged and picked a magnifying glass from his pocket and gave it to me.

“This is it?”

“Yup – made by Donovan himself.”

“I should…” Ben mumbled, his nose still in the book. “I found the recipe… I want to test this. Miss Aaliyah? Would you like to join me?”

“Of course,” the vampire said, and together those two vanished into Ben’s lab.

I watched the staircase even after I couldn’t see them anymore. I really wanted to follow them and see what they were going to do, but I noticed Chase looking upstairs.

“Should we go say hello to Zane?” I asked him.

“If he’s awake,” Chase said.

I listened carefully and heard the two women chatting quietly in their bedroom. I smiled at their happiness. They were really happy to be free again. Then I turned my attention to the light snoring coming from the next room. Zane was fast asleep in the one Chase and I had used.

“He’s sleeping,” I informed Chase.

“Oh, we better not disturb him then,” Chase said, turning to look at me. “Should we follow Ben and Aaliyah?”

“Actually…” I muttered, looking at the decipher in my hands. “I want you to tame me.”

“What? Now?”

I nodded. “I’m still dangerous. Even if I take the cure tomorrow, I still want to be sure I will not attack any of you today.”

Chase gave me an uncertain look. “I don’t want to control you like that.”

I offered him the decipher. “I want you to control me like that.”

He stared at the decipher, then smirked at me. “You made that sound dirty.”

“Funny,” I chuckled, but then turned back to serious. “I don’t want to live in this fear any longer. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Chase looked at me for the longest time, but then, slowly, he reached for the decipher.

“We will still talk about the cure. This doesn’t mean the end of that discussion, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, feeling relieved.

I wouldn’t have to be afraid of my transformations anymore… I wouldn’t have to be afraid of anything anymore.

“You want to do it right now?” Chase asked, and I nodded.

“Please,” I begged.

“All right, I guess I need to ask Roe to bring the stuff,” he muttered. “He’s not going to like that.”

“You can blame me,” I smirked.

He chuckled, but then stopped to stare at me. “Is this really what you want?”

“It is,” I said without hesitation, and pulled him into a hug. “You are my life now. I trust you completely. I want you to take care of me when I cannot. I’m happy to know you won’t let me hurt anyone ever again.”

He had a soft smile on his lips when I stopped talking.

“I love you, Dante,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” I told him, and kissed him.

*****

Later that day, when the sun was setting, we all stood outside in the yard, gathered around several short pillars Roe had conjured for us. Our friends were all there, too. Even Zane was looking in the window, and so did Lara and Tanya.

We had quickly learned that taming me wasn’t going to be just a few fancy words. Thankfully, Donovan’s journal had very clear instructions on how to perform the ritual, and we even had two options on how we wanted to do it.

One: give me a collar and bind a ring or something similar to it, like Graham had done.

Two: bind us through our hearts.

We went with the second option. It sounded much more romantic than collars. And no one would be able to steal the control from Chase.

The pillars were set, and the symbols the spell required were drawn on them. Next step was to take blood from both of us and mix it together to bind our hearts. I watched as Chase went to pour a few drops of it on top of each pillar.

Then we both stepped next to the pillar in the middle. Chase put the book down and pulled out the decipher. He gave me a smile that was both happy and a little concerned, but I was completely content. And happy. God, I was happy…

“You are the only person I want to bind myself with,” I spoke quietly. “Now and forever.”

“Now and forever,” he repeated with a smile. “I will make sure you will never hurt anyone. I will protect you. I will make sure you are safe.”

“I know,” I whispered. “Ready?”

He took in a deep breath. “I am.”

He turned to look at the book and searched for the first symbol. He spoke the words, and one of the pillars got caught in red flames.

“That fire was green when Killian did it,” Roe muttered.

“Must be because he was trying to bind his collar instead of himself,” Ben muttered back.

I ignored them as Chase continued speaking out the words. One by one, the pillars lit up, and when there was only one left, I started feeling nervous. Good kind of nervous. Like I was getting married again, but this time with my true love.

Chase looked up at me when he spoke the last part of the spell. The last pillar lit up, adding to the light that surrounded us. Suddenly, the fire was everywhere, locking us in like we were standing in a fiery dome. I didn’t care much about it. I could only see Chase.

I could only feel him. When I closed my eyes, I could feel his warmth inside me. I could almost hear his thoughts all around me like silent whispers. When I opened my eyes again, he was smiling at me, looking beautiful as always.

“It’s done,” I whispered, and the flames disappeared.

“I can feel you,” Chase breathed out in awe. “I can… I can feel your presence.”

“I can feel you too,” I said, stepped around the pillar and hugged him. “We’re one.”

“We are,” he said in a happy voice as he hugged me back tightly. “I can really feel you.”

I pulled back a little so I could kiss him. I really enjoyed his warmth. Both his body and mind.

“I’m quite curious to test it,” Chase said with excitement. “Not now, of course.”

“Why not?” I asked since I was dying to know if it worked.

“Um, because of everything that has happened lately?” he chuckled.

“I’m not tired or anything,” I shrugged.

“You are tempting me – and you shouldn’t.”

“Come on! I know you want to try it,” I said.

“I think we should head inside,” Roe muttered, wisely guiding the rest of the group indoors.

“Are we really going to do it?” Chase asked, and I nodded. “Okay, but first, let me show you my true form.”

“Yes, please,” I said, feeling excited.

“Roe? Can you help me turn into a demon?” Chase asked over his shoulder before his master could leave.

He let out an annoyed sigh and stomped back to us.

“You and I are starting your lessons first thing in the morning – I am not your lackey!”

“Sure, sure,” Chase chuckled and turned to look at me when Roe slapped his hand on his shoulder. “Don’t get scared of me, now,” he told me when I stepped back.

“Of you? Never,” I smiled.

He smiled back, and suddenly he started growing taller. His skin turned blue, his horns and tail sprouted out, and his legs transformed. It was odd, but fascinating to watch. In mere seconds, his transformation stopped, and he smiled down at me. His features were almost exactly the same, but still different. I could only stare at him for a while.

“You’re so tall,” I finally breathed out. “And beautiful…” I added, carefully touching his arm. His skin was warm, which surprised me. I wasn’t sure why I thought it would be cold. Maybe because of the color.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “I thought you’d hate me like this…”

“What? I’d never hate you!” I said and hugged him. It was odd when my head didn’t even reach his chin. “You’re my love, Chase. You are my heart.”

His smile grew bright, and he leaned down to kiss my forehead. I wasn’t going to settle for that, so I got up on my toes. He got the hint and pressed his lips on mine with a happy gleam in his eyes.

“You are so tall,” I chuckled after he pulled back. I reached up to touch his slim horns. They felt smooth under my fingers. “You look hot.”

“Thanks,” he said. “Weren’t we going to…?”

“Oh, right,” I said, ripping my eyes off him. “Give me a moment…”

I had never tried to turn to that beast without an aid. I couldn’t even remember how to turn into a werewolf. I tried to make myself angry, but how could I be angry when I was bubbling in happiness? I tried to picture myself as the rassawolf as well, but that didn’t work, either.

“There has to be a way for me to start the transformation on my own,” I sighed.

“Yeah. I mean, the beast wants to be in control, so it should be easy, but I have no idea what could trigger it,” Chase spoke.

That gave me a new idea. I tried to call for the beast. I knew it was there. I could always feel it lurking around or sleeping. Now it was asleep, but I kept calling it. Poking it. Harassing it.

And suddenly, it was awake.

“I think I got it,” I told Chase. “Better get ready.”

I’d gotten so used to battle against the beast that I wasn’t quite sure how to let it do what it wanted. I focused on his presence, trying to encourage it to take the lead.

And it worked. My transformation started, but… Something was off. It… didn’t feel as bad as it usually did. When my bones started shifting, it hurt less, like it all happened much smoother.

Was it because of Chase? Or because I was letting it happen?

It happened much faster, too. Chase grew smaller in front of me as I grew bigger. He took a few steps back, but he was still smiling at us.

And then it was already over. The beast was in charge, but when it saw Chase, it didn’t get filled with its usual need to get his heart. And it wasn’t trying to push me into darkness either.

Like we had finally found the same tune.

“Hey, baby,” Chase murmured softly, reaching out to touch my nose. “Such a handsome boy…”

We sniffed his scent and accepted him. He was fine. He wasn’t a threat.

“It’s working,” Chase breathed out. “It’s really working!”

He suddenly hugged us, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. We actually liked it.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Roe said, relaxing now that we weren’t threatening his mridien. “This was a very good idea.”

“Yes, it was,” Chase agreed, looking up at us. “Who’s such a good boy?” he cooed.

We rolled our eyes.

*****

Since Zane had our bedroom, Chase and I took a few mattresses into the lounge and made a bed for us there. We spent the night tightly in each other’s arms, celebrating our victory and me finally being one with my beast in whispers.

We talked a lot about all the things we were going to do now that we were no longer in danger. We agreed that the first thing on our list was to visit the dwarves again. We both had fallen in love with their mountain, so we’d have our very first vacation there. But it wouldn’t end there. All the things I’d missed out on as a supernatural… I’d finally get to see it all.

And I’d finally see my family again. We had to come up with a plan, though. We couldn’t just tell them what really happened, but that was a problem for another day.

When the morning arrived, neither of us had gotten much sleep, but that didn’t take away our happiness and excitement. We were all smiles and giggles when we went to make breakfast for everyone. The house was still full of people, who started waking up as the morning grew older, so we prepared a lot of food for everyone.

But before we could sit down and start eating, Ben appeared from downstairs. He was still in his pajamas, and he had an excited look on his face.

“Come! I have something to show you!” he said and rushed back down without checking if we followed him.

Of course we followed him. Once we reached the lab, Ben and Aaliyah gestured for us to come closer to their equipment.

“Thanks to Arthyzn, we were able to make the concoction that should cure you,” Ben explained, waving his hand at the desks behind us.

They were filled with all sorts of ingredients, some of which I didn’t want to know what they were. Seeing them made me realize that pixie pee wasn’t the worst thing one could ingest.

“We saved some of the blood we took yesterday, and tested the potion on it – we have five samples, and guess what?” Aaliyah asked with shining eyes.

“They’re back to normal?” I guessed.

“They’re back to normal! All of them! No anomaly! No beast!” Ben told us hastily, nearly jumping up and down. “This is it! This is the cure!”

The rest of them let out cheerful noises, congratulating me, but I only stared at the closest petri dish with my blood in it. My cured blood.

“That’s great news,” I turned to tell Ben. “But I’m not taking it.”

“What? Why?” he frowned, and almost all of them stared at me in confusion.

“Our next task is to find out if we can prolong my life,” I said.

“I thought we were going to talk about it,” Chase mumbled.

I turned to look at him and placed my hands on his arms, giving him a smile. “We have at least ten years. If we can’t find a way to stop the aging process in nine, then I’ll take the cure.”

“Five,” Chase said sternly.

“Okay five,” I agreed. “I’m not a threat anymore. We have years to see if there’s something we can do to stop the aging. We have the containers so we can have the blood spell ready whenever we need it,” I said, and stopped rambling for a moment. “I just feel like we should wait before getting rid of the beast. Who knows, maybe it can be useful one day.”

“Okay, fine,” Chase finally agreed. “I do like having it around…”

“Me too,” I said, and hugged him.

“Well, if you are sure,” Ben said. “We should ask Tanya and Lara if they’re interested in it.”

“I’m sure they are,” Frank said. “They hate being monsters.”

“Yeah, I think so too. And I can’t blame them,” I said, giving the petri dish one last glance. “But now I’m hungry.”

For me, I didn’t see that beast as a monster. Not anymore. He had helped us save our asses so many times I couldn’t be mad at him. It wasn’t his fault that he was created. His anger, rage and need for blood weren’t his fault either. They created him that way, but he could do so much good, too. He could protect the people we loved.

And now we were complete. He deserved to have a chance. He deserved to redeem himself. He deserved the chance to prove he was capable of doing good.

I deserved that chance.