Chapter 37

-Dante-

“Dante?“

I stared at the snow under me. I tried to move but couldn’t. Something was holding me back. I nearly panicked, trying to yank myself free, but it did nothing. My ears hurt from the sharp sounds of metal chains.

“Dante? Can you hear me?“

I had the worst taste in my mouth. It burned my tongue and throat like someone had mixed acid and the hottest jalapenos together and force-fed it to me.

“Baby?“

I looked up and saw Chase taking a step closer to me, his beautiful face turned into a worried frown. When he took another step closer, I was suddenly caught in such horrible pain it felt like my body had burst out in flames.

“Dante?!“

I blinked, and the darkness surrounded me.

When I opened my eyes, the lights were so bright I couldn’t see anything. My body had never felt so heavy before. I could hear the sounds of chirping birds, but I hardly registered it. The bad taste was gone, and when I moved my hand, I felt soft sheets brushing against my skin.

Little by little, my eyes adjusted to the brightness, and I saw a wooden ceiling above my head. A familiar ceiling. I turned to look on my right, realizing I was in our room in Ben’s house. When I turned left, I saw Chase curled up in an armchair right next to the bed. He stared at me in silence.

My heart sank immediately upon seeing his red eyes.

It took me a moment to find some kind of mental balance so I could push myself to sit up. Chase was watching me without blinking, but he still didn’t say a word. I put the pillows behind my back, taking my time to get comfortable, before I turned to look at him again.

“It… didn’t work, then,” I muttered, trying not to get crushed by my own words.

He shook his head, his lip trembling for a moment, but then he looked away. He took a few, deep breaths before he spoke with a broken voice, “It did make you turn back, though.”

“Chase…” I whispered, patting the spot next to me, and he immediately flung himself onto the bed and crawled on my lap. “We’ll find something else,” I said, while he buried his head onto my shoulder.

I didn’t really believe myself, but I couldn’t stand seeing him so devastated.

“Ben and Aaliyah are studying the spell, trying to… to… I don’t even know what they’re trying to do…” he murmured.

“Have you slept at all?” I asked, and he shook his head. “Chase, you need to rest.”

“I can’t… I need to find that cure,” he said, trying to get up again, but I didn’t let him. “There’s no time to waste!”

“We still have months, my love,” I said soothingly, hugging him tightly. “This isn’t over yet.”

“We have wasted enough time as it is! The Book, the spirits and their fucking dream… Ben and this stupid house…!”

“Hey, hey, hey…” I muttered, meaning to try to reassure him we’d find the cure, but I felt empty. I had no hope at that moment.

He fell silent again, hugging me tightly. I caressed his back and shoulders, trying to find the words to calm him down. I found none. Instead, I turned to look out the window, but what I saw made me frown.

“What happened to the forest?” I asked.

There was a wide, blackened scar on the ground that started from the house and continued for a few hundred yards. The trees in that area were just… gone.

“I was upset,” he murmured.

“Oh… I see,” I said quietly and kissed his temple.

“It didn’t work… Why didn’t it work…? The spirits showed us that book!” he spoke angrily. “It was supposed to help!”

“You said it turned me back to human. That’s a start,” I said, clinging myself onto that thought, torturing myself by finding a tiny bit of hope in it.

“It might have been just a coincidence,” Chase said, but he did sound calmer. “I need to go see what Ben and Aaliyah are doing.”

He said that, but didn’t move a muscle. I wouldn’t have let him leave anyway. I was unable to let go of him at that moment. I needed to hold him. I needed to feel his body against my own or else I would’ve crumbled.

We still had no cure. I was still dying.

“Tell me… What happened. I can’t remember much,” I asked, hoping the story would take my mind off the dark thoughts that lurked close by.

It didn’t help much. Hearing what I had done, even though I didn’t hurt anyone, made me feel worse, even disgusted of myself. It wasn’t easy to hear I turned into a pureblood killer. That thing only wanted to kill, and the thought still made me sick to my stomach. How could I turn into something so horrible as that…?

I was ashamed to say that I was so deep in my own thoughts that I didn’t notice at first that Chase had stopped talking. It took me even longer to understand that he had fallen asleep in my arms. When I realized it, I hugged him tighter, listening to his steady breathing.

The longer I watched him sleep, the angrier I became. I wasn’t angry that this spell didn’t work.

I was angry at Lena.

“Our marriage was ruined the day you turned into a beast, and there’s nothing that can change that. You should be happy that you can still do something for me. As my test subject.”

She did this to me. Not by accident. She did this to me…

A silent knock on the door saved me from turning into the beast at that very moment. I did my best to let go of that anger when I turned to look at the door, Ben’s scent oozing through it.

“Come in,” I said quietly, making sure Chase was still comfortable.

“I’m sorry to…” he trailed off when he noticed Chase, and continued with a whisper. “I can come back later.”

“Is it important?” I asked, and he nodded. “Come in,” I repeated.

“We may have found a way to preserve the glands,” he spoke as he tiptoed his way to the seat next to our bed. “It is tricky, but this way, we can harvest the glands and save them for later use.”

“For the blood spell?” I asked, and he nodded. “Why?”

“We don’t have any proof yet, but it may be a way to turn you back to human,” he spoke, sounding excited. “It may have been just a coincidence, so we need to run more tests, and by preserving the glands, we can have that potion ready for the next time you turn.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“Miss Aaliyah came up with the idea. There is this certain alchemical component we can use – liquid time-freezer, as she said,” Ben spoke, looking like a child before Christmas.

“It’ll keep the gland intact?” I asked, and he nodded. “Good.”

His expression changed after that, and he gave me a careful look. “I’m sorry the spell didn’t cure you.”

“I didn’t have my hopes up anyway,” I muttered, turning to look at Chase again. The life I could’ve had with him flashed before my eyes once again, and the anger moved inside me. “But we’re not done. We will find that cure.”

“Of course,” Ben said hastily. “I must continue studying the spell. If it does make you change back to human, it could hold the key to your cure.”

“And that’s not all I need you to do,” I said, feeling suddenly stronger than before when I turned to look at him. “I need you to do every single test and experiment on me that you can think of. I don’t care if it’s dark magic or voodoo, just do it. This disease is not getting me.”

He blinked at me a few times, and then nodded. “I will go through my journals and see which tests could prove useful.”

“No,” I said sternly. “All of them. Start from the beginning and do not leave a rock unturned.”

“Of course,” he nodded.

“Good,” I said, and turned to look away from him. “Roe? Are you listening?”

The air in the corner turned dark, the center of it twisting rapidly. A second later, Roe emerged out of it in his human form with a blank expression on his face.

“Chase will not be amused if he finds out we’re making plans without him,” he pointed out.

“He needs to rest,” I said, making sure he was still asleep. “And we need to find Killian,” I continued, turning my attention back to Roe.

“That goes without saying,” he said, raising his eyebrow at me.

“We are not even trying to find him,” I said. “He knows more about me and this condition. All we know is that he will do anything to find me.”

“Are you suggesting what I think?” he frowned at me. “Chase will never allow it.”

“I’m not strong enough for it right now, but we can use me as bait once we’re ready. All I have to do is come out of hiding, and he will find me,” I said, feeling uneasy about it, but it had to be done. Eventually. “I doubt we can find him or their new base like this.”

Roe let out a deep sigh and rubbed his chin. “Can’t say I haven’t been thinking about it. I alone am more than capable of dealing with an army of humans, so the risks wouldn’t be big.”

Ben let out a nervous chuckle, and immediately looked startled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sound disrespectful,” he said quietly. “I know you are powerful, but we shouldn’t jinx it.”

“And you shouldn’t underestimate Killian,” I told Roe. “He’s been dealing with supernaturals for a long time. He and his men are capable of fighting us. Even you.”

Roe snorted. “We just got back from fighting caraggas and ice worms, I think we can handle a bunch of squishy humans.”

I was silent for a moment, trying to find the right words to convince Chase’s master. “I can’t remember anything about the fight, so I have nothing to compare him to, but please, you must understand that he is a threat.”

He squinted his eyes at me, still clearly not convinced, but he didn’t continue arguing. “It doesn’t matter right now. But you are right. I have wasted plenty of time on you, and the spellbook was all I could find. We need to find him to get real answers.”

“It is starting to seem like that,” Ben agreed with a sigh, while I looked at Roe closely.

“I want to thank you for wasting your time on me,” I said, being sincere. “I’m not your responsibility.”

“You’re not, but he is,” Roe said, pointing at Chase before turning around. The darkness had returned into the corner, and he took a step towards it. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was in the middle of wasting more of my time.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked before I could stop myself.

He turned around and glanced at Chase. “Whatever I can,” he muttered, and vanished.

*****

“I don’t like this,” Chase practically hissed at me later that day.

“I can do this,” I said reassuringly while pulling my sleeve up.

“I still don’t like this,” he said, and sighed, standing in the middle of Ben’s workplace. His lab.

I took a better position on the comfortable chair and looked up at the ceiling for a moment to gather my courage. I was doing my best to avoid looking at the cage at the back of the room, but otherwise, the lab didn’t make me feel awfully bad. It was almost like another living room.

“You really did a great job with this place,” I said, and turned to give Chase a smile.

“I still don’t like this,” he grunted at me, but his expression was turning softer. “We could’ve waited for a few days.”

“I’m already in the second phase, Chase. It won’t be long until I stay in that form for several hours at a time. We don’t have time to waste. We need to start with the tests now.”

He let out a frustrated groan and turned to glare at the curtains that hid the lab equipment from my view. “It is way too soon. Right, Ben?”

The old man peeked his head through the curtains, giving him a timid smile. “I… was hoping I’d be left out of this conversation…”

“You are his doctor!”

“Well…” he mumbled, stepping towards us. “He… does have a point,” he said carefully.

“It’s too early.”

“You must understand that I can’t run my tests while he is in that form, right?” Ben asked. “Soon, his time as a human will be shorter than as a beast.”

Before Chase could reply to him, I took his hand in mine and pulled him to me. “Chase… We don’t have enough time. I am ready. You’re here right by my side, so I have nothing to be afraid of.”

His expression grew even more softer. He leaned in to peck my lips, but then, he muttered in my ear, “Nice try. I still don’t approve of this.”

I let out an amused sigh when he pulled back. “We’re not even doing anything triggering. Think of this as a regular checkup.”

“There won’t be any needles or anything,” Ben agreed hastily. “I’m starting with a regular checkup, just like he said.”

“But next there will be needles,” Chase said.

“Chase. I’ve made my decision,” I said sternly. “I’ve been covering in the shadows for far too long already. You don’t have to like it, but we are starting the tests now.”

He turned to look at me, seeming surprised for what I said. “I know you’re stronger already, but I’m still worried,” he said.

“I can deal with the needles now. Sort of,” I said, pulling him back to me. “You know we need to do this.”

“Well, you have made your decision already,” he muttered.

“But I still want your approval,” I smiled. “You are my safe haven.”

He was silent for a moment, and eventually sighed. “Just a regular checkup for now. Nothing more.”

“All right,” I said, caressing his fingers with my thumb before turning to nod at Ben.

Chase stood by my side the entire time, watching closely, and squinting his eyes at Ben. I understood why he was worried and didn’t like what we were doing because part of me shared the same fears he did. What if I freaked out? What if this ruined my progress? What if it really was too soon… I silenced those fears again and again.

I did it for my future with Chase. Seeing myself happy and living a normal life with him gave me courage and strength, and even the failed spell couldn’t take those from me.

While Ben was checking my ears, Chase’s phone started to ring. He glanced at it and let out an annoyed sigh.

“It’s Frank,” he muttered, silencing the phone. “I’ll call him back later.”

“Frank?” Ben and I repeated.

“My mentor. The drunktard who was supposed to teach me how to be a warlock, remember?”

“Oh, right,” I nodded, ashamed that I had forgotten the man.

There was still so much I didn’t even know about Chase, and so many things I had clearly forgotten… I wanted the rest of my life with him last longer than a couple of months. I wanted to know everything about him, and a few measly months were not enough.

When Ben moved onto checking my ears, the phone started to ring again. I could see the name “Drunk” on the screen.

“It’s fine if you get that,” I told Chase, but he shook his head.

“He probably needs more money,” he said.

“Or he could be in trouble,” I suggested.

“If that’s the case, he wouldn’t be calling me.”

I left it at that since Chase was clearly too annoyed to talk about his teacher, but the phone rang two more times over the next five minutes. I had the feeling that for whatever reason Frank was calling him, it was urgent, but Chase ignored his phone completely.

And then it stopped. I kept peering at the phone a few times, but the screen stayed dark.

A minute later, it became clear why.

“Chase?!“

The sound of an angry, strange man startled us all, and we turned to look at the stairs.

“What the fuck?” Chase breathed out with wide eyes. “How did he get here?!”

“Chase! I know you’re in here!“

Before any of us could move a muscle, the air started twisting by the stairs, just like it had just before Roe had appeared out of thin air. But it was not Roe who appeared. It was a man I had never seen, big, round and angry as hell, his face crimson red and twisted in furious wrinkles.

“How did you get here?!” Chase asked just as angrily, stomping towards him.

“Why is the shop closed?!” the man yelled back at him.

“I’ve had things to take care of!” Chase hissed at him, stopping right in front of him. “I told you I have a sick werewolf in my hands!”

“Quiet, both of you!” Ben yelled over them, but it was too late.

My heart rate was through the roof. All that yelling… I was helpless against the transformation that started. Suddenly, all eyes were on me as I roared without meaning to. The beast was quickly taking over as I grew. I begged Chase to get out of there, but my mouth wasn’t mine to command anymore.

“Chase…” The man behind him breathed out, trying to grab him by his arm without taking his eyes off me.

I roared again but I could still hear his words over the noise just before I fell into the darkness.

“That’s not a werewolf.”