Epsilon [Werewolf]

Chapter 59

I tried to struggle as he scooped me up in his arms, planting a light kiss on my forehead, but the bonds held firm. As he carried me down the corridors I screamed and yelled, trying to summon the magic that seemed to be buried under layers of darkness. I could feel my emotional energy rising in response to my fear, but it never went further than my core. It seemed Azriel was suppressing that, too.

My voice boomed about the cobble walls, but no one responded to my calls. It was dark, so dark, and all I could feel was the heat of Azriel's chest -- something I'd once loved that now filled me with repulsion. 

I sensed that Alia was some few feet away, and part of me was glad she'd lost consciousness. I didn't want her to feel the fear I was feeling, to see the result of what I'd done to her. 

I continued to scream and cuss, testing the bonds as Azriel nudged open a metal door and strolled down a narrow corridor. Through the dim light of the bracket torches, I could see iron bars glinting in my peripheral, and as my eyes adjusted more, my heart sank. These were cells, and I was going to be thrown in one. 

Sure enough, iron clicked against iron and one of the Gammas rushed ahead to open one of the cells. I screamed louder as Azriel set me down on its cold stone, the icy water seeping into my rear end. I watched as the man carrying Alia breezed past the cells, and I felt myself sob.

"Wait!" I called, voice weak and hoarse. "Wait!"

"Stop, Gamma Derrik," Azriel commanded. The male halted, glaring at me.

"Please," I begged. "If you're going to put Alia in a cell, at least put her near me. I-- I don't want her to be alone."

I couldn't see Azriel's face in the darkness, but by the way he remained silent, I could only hope he was pondering the idea. I hated how little options I had, how little control I had over the situation, but what I least wanted was to make this any worse for Alia. I would much prefer her here with me, who could understand the fear, rather than locked up elsewhere.

Azriel blew out a breath. Then, turning to his underling, said, "Put the girl in the cell adjacent to Zion's. Collar her in silver in case anything goes awry. She won't be dangerous enough to need wolfbane."

I bit back a sob of horror and relief. Zion was here too? I watched like a hawk as the Gamma opened one of the cell doors and chucked Alia inside, slamming it shut. My eyes instantly shot to the cell adjacent, and if I had been standing, I would have dropped to my knees.

I couldn't see his form very well, but I knew it was him. He was leaning up against the wall, chest rising and falling in uneven breaths. His skin was pale and clammy, much different from his usual sun-struck tan. His mouth hung open as he wheezed, and the effort it took for him just to crack open one eye broke my heart.

"Kyra..." he rasped, and a tear slipped down my cheek. I turned to Azriel, glaring despite the tears in my eyes.

"Why the hell are you doing this?" I tried to yell, though it came across as more of a strangled whisper. 

Azriel chuckled. "You'll understand in good time, Kyra-dear. And do to worry so about Zion's state." He chucked a look over his shoulder, something in his face hardening as he regarded the male. "He's just been injected with wolfsbane. He'll have a fever for a little while, but he should be fine... I think."

My heart dropped to my stomach. I'd heard about wolfsbane -- recalled it from one of my conversations with Raina. A drug used to weaken wolves and smother their magic, she'd told me. Too much was lethal. 

"How could you do that to your own Beta?" I sobbed, hating every tear. "He was your best friend! He was loyal to you!"

A dry chuckle. "He was loyal to me, that's correct, Kyra-dear -- until he tried to reveal what I was planning. The night he warned you, I knew I couldn't risk him wandering the court unsupervised."

A short gasp ripped from my throat. So, he did try to warn me... tried to and yet I ignored it, a mistake that may well cost his life -- if not mine.

I stared at my feet in shame. I couldn't believe it. Zion had stuck out his neck for my sake, and yet I'd brushed him off, believing their lies of him being sick -- just as I has believed in Azriel truly loving me. 

Seeing my distraught state, he reached out to caress me. I pulled away.

"Go away!" I screamed, throwing out my foot in an attempt to kick him. It hit his shin, not as hard as I would have liked, but still enough to make him jump back. Pain flashed through his eyes again.

He stared at me. Just... stared. One minute, his eyes were alight with hurt. The next, they were bland and hard as stone, as though he'd never felt anything in the first place. If anything, his quick shift in expression just confirmed that he was really good with faking emotion. 

Pained groans sounded from Alia's cage, and I found myself clinging to my iron bars. I gripped the cold iron until my knuckles whitened, enduring the icy pain as it bit into my palm. I deserve this, I reminded myself. I deserve whatever pain there is to come, for how stupid I've been.

"Come on, everyone," Azriel announced, his voice low and measured. "We're leaving." Then, he turned to me. A flash of adoration, sadness, then nothing -- again. "I hope you will find it in your heart to understand me, Kyra. Farewell." 

I blinked. I didn't even have it in me to cuss him out. As he turned to march back down the corridor, his lackeys following in toe, my eyes fell to the girl before me. Her body twitched in the darkness, guttural groans rumbling from deep within her throat, and I knew what was to come next. 

"Kyra..." Zion groaned again. I tore my eyes from Alia's convulsing form and stared at him, almost relieved to look away from my friend, from what I'd done. But looking at him was no better. He was huddled against the wall, shuddering as he struggled to keep his single eye open. "It's... not your fault."

I choked on a sob, shaking my head. Of course it was my fault -- this was all my fault. I'd trusted Azriel, ignored Zion's warnings, bitten Alia, and now she was...

A loud howl reverberated from her cage. My head whipped forward, staring at her twitching form, at the eyes that glowed a deep violet. It was already happening. I placed a hand over my mouth to muffle my whimpers as another scream tore from her throat. Even now, I could hear bones snapping, her skin tearing as she underwent the transformation.

"Kyra..." Zion groaned again. Frantically, I looked at him, my eyes pleading with him for a solution. Of course, there was none, other than, "Look at me. Don't look at her."

I shook my head. I had to face what I'd done -- I had to endure every second of Alia's pain, for that was the only way to make this somewhat right.

"No, Kyra, don't look," Zion pleaded. It was hard to hear him over Alia's screaming, over the snarls and whimpers rippling from her throat. His green gaze snared me. "Keep your eyes on mine."

His words broke my heart. Here was Zion, beaten and bruised, weakened by poison, still looking out for my well-being. He still cared for me after everything I'd done to wrong him, after everything that had been done to him. He was a true friend, one that would walk to the ends of the earth for my sake, if needed. A friend I didn't deserve. 

Another scream from Alia. I couldn't resist anymore, I had to look.

Violet eyes flashed, alive and hungry. Her disjointed form stood at all the wrong angles, as though someone had mangled her body and tried to piece it back together. That rounded, lovely face I'd known for years was furry and lupine, stuck somewhere between humanoid and beast. It snarled at me, the sound rattling my bones. 

"What's happening to her?" I whimpered to no one in particular. 

"She's undergoing Upsilon transformation," Zion called over the snarls and whimpering. "Kyra, please, look away..."

But I couldn't. I couldn't look away, couldn't turn away from what I'd done to my best friend. Upsilon. The word tugged on a distant memory, from a time that seemed so long ago now. A walk in the woods, a dark figure at my side, an erratic heartbeat in my chest... any more I couldn't remember.

I gripped the iron bars of my cell, sobbing. Zion was yelling at me, begging me to look away, but I couldn't. I just couldn't.

It went on for hours.