A Crown of Blood [18+]

Chapter 22

"What are you doing here?" Rosalia asked from her brother's bedside. There was no accusation in her tone. Instead, she watched me curiously, with a spark of hope that made me feel better about what I was inclined to attempt.

"The Hallowed Star might help the healing process," Jude answered softly. "Halina is the only witch who can use it now."

In a cloud of white sheets and pillows, a series of machines hooked to his exposed torso and arms, magical talismans, and equipment stacked on the bedside tables, Damon slept. His face was twisted with the agony brought from the stab wound on his chest, the fresh bandages already tinted pink from where the bleeding continued. The poison of the silver blade cracked like lightning across his skin, jarring me. It mixed with the faint scars of where the witches at the lake struck him, confirming my suspicion.

Damon sensed our mating bond and the witch's warning reared its ugly head.

He will die.

The column of his throat no longer glowed bright and strong red. Instead, the light flickered in and out of life. Anger rose through me.

I refused to let this growing list of people who exerted control over me grow. I needed to find out exactly who the witches were and how to get rid of them and their stupid prophecy.

"Where is the Hallowed Star?" I asked, finally finding my voice. Rosalia wiped the sweat from the alpha's brow and he groaned softly, canines elongating and retracting against his bottom lip.

"In the safe," she replied, gesturing to the closet. "It's enchanted so only my brother and I can open it." Standing, she assessed me carefully. "I trust you not to try anything, Halina. But remember that if anything happens to my brother, you will answer directly to me."

Rosalia Caine had the power and strength of a potential alpha. She would use all of it given the chance, other Caine wolves be damned.

Dipping my chin, I said, earnestly, "I want to help him."

"What do you plan to do?" Rosalia asked Jude.

Pulling his silky lilac hair back, Jude rolled his shoulders. "The healers amplified his ability to heal and expel the silver from his blood. I will guide Halina to do the same. With the help of the Hallowed Star, Damon's body can process the poisonous metal, and if I'm careful enough, I can pull the remnants out of his wound."

"We should call the other healer witches," Rosalia said, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"They can't know we have the Hallowed Star yet," Jude said with an edge of frustration. "My coven may be assisting in retrieving the Book, but if they see the Star too early..."

I knew from my investigations that the witches tried and failed to retrieve an artifact from the vampires. Now, I knew it was likely the Hallowed Star. Witches claimed most magical artifacts and talismans, claiming their direct line to the gods and goddesses who created them made them the rightful heirs. The Hallowed Star imprinting on a werewolf-witch hybrid would stir up controversy. It could even cause a war.

"I can do it," I assured both her and myself. "Jude taught me how to direct my magic. I assume it will be the same." I looked at my teacher, raising my brows. He nodded, adding,

"Remember your training and it should work."

Should.

Not sure how I feel about those odds...

Without another word, Rosalia went to retrieve the talisman. Rounding the bed, I stood at Damon's side. His skin glimmered in the light, and the magnetic force of his soul reached for me, called to me, and felt impossible to ignore. Hovering my hand above his temples, I closed my eyes and reached for the magic that always simmered inside me, and when I touched Damon's forehead, his pain hit me like a tidal wave of molten lava, and a deep, primordial voice screamed through my mind,