Abnormal Little Me (Completed)

Chapter 59: A Fire That Doesn't Die

Hey guys! Have you seen the new cover? What do you think? I am in love with it, honestly. It looks a bit blurry, but I added it to the first chapter and it looks so much better if you want to check it out. Shout out to my friend Vincent who took some amazing pictures despite the weird temperature we were having here. If books were horizontal, I would have taken the one I put in this chapter. I just love the concept. As always, have fun reading this chapter. It's a bit longer because I had it in mind for a while. Love you all, keep being awesome <3 Don't forget to vote and comment :)

Those two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. I finally met Balio under Rilos' and Vriany's supervision. He was over the moon to meet me. I think that I never complained about his food had something to do with it. He didn't have the profile of someone who makes food for a living. He was this tall, buff guy who seemed to belong in a fighting ring rather than a kitchen. I was a bit wary of his at first, but he quickly put me at ease by cooking me cupcakes that had the shape of a wolf. I also met Krolor, who bowed to the floor and apologized profusely for what had happened months ago. I forgave him immediately. After all, it hadn't been his fault to begin with. Rilos took me to the arena almost every evenings after supper to train. He would show me different ways to fight and how to counter certain types of powers. Jaline had also stopped by my room to show me how to create the portable magic trap.
The day of the ceremony, I was in my bedroom getting some adjustments done on my clothes by Sanaelle. Felia was there as well, trying to make me laugh, knowing I wasn't supposed to. Kylanne was already in the Southern kingdom to spend some time with her family. As soon as Sanaelle was done, Rilos came in and teleported the girls to the place where the ceremony would be held. He smiled and placed a small kiss on my lips.
"Ready to go?"
I nodded.
"Remember that we can go back if it becomes too hard for you to stay."
"I know."
The room changed and we were in an arena which looked exactly like the one we had in the castle, except the walls were painted orange. The benches were filled with people who came to witness Kylanne's coming-of-age. Her mothers were on the balcony with us, nervously clenching each other's hand.
"She's going to be fine," I reassured them.
"Why are you nervous then?" Ylna asked.
"Men everywhere."
"That's a good reason. I don't really like them either," Myrie replied, winking at me.
"We don't particularly like you as well," laughed Levian who was sitting further away with Prior.
"Guys, you say the same thing every time we see each other and we all know that you are lying," concluded Rilos.
He stood up and raised his hands, asking for silence.
"Wolves of all provinces, we are reunited here to celebrate the most important event in a werewolf's life: The coming-of-age. Kylanne, make yourself comfortable. Take a deep breath and look inside your mind. Do you see your wolf?"
She nodded.
"Very good. Ask her to come see you. Don't walk toward her. She could get scared and take longer to come out. It might take some time depending on her temperament so don't rush her."
I was aware that this process could take hours, but I felt weird. I tugged Rilos' sleeve.
"Rilos, something is wrong," I murmured.
"What do you mean?" he replied.
"I don't know. It's just an impression."
His eyes widened and he turned to Kylanne.
"Kylanne, is everything alright?" he shouted.
"No, there's a barrier between she and I. I'm not the one putting it up."
"If someone is blocking her wolf, remember that it's a synonym of whipping. Either that person stops now or I will be the one giving the punishment and it won't be pleasant."
He glanced back at her and she shook her head.
"Well, looks like someone wants me to be the bad guy today."
While he was scanning the arena, I felt the air move behind me. I turned around and saw someone with a syringe sneaking in Rilos' back. I jumped between them, grabbing the assailant's wrist and breaking it. She yelped and caught the needle in her other hand. I couldn't stop her from injecting the liquid inside my thigh. I kicked her in the face, effectively snapping her jaw. I was about to kick her more when I was pulled back by Myrie. Rilos was enraged. He stepped on the syringe, broke the woman's neck and tangled her from the balcony.
"Kylanne, do you want to kill someone who just hurt Lyra? Here, enjoy to your heart's content."
He threw her down. I heard growling and a satisfying snap.
"Good job, Kylanne, and congratulations," I shouted.
Rilos ran to me and kneeled down. He put his hand on my leg and tried to extract as much liquid as he could out of my injury, but everything had already been absorbed. He inspected the syringe and analyzed a drop of what was inside. His expression decomposed.
"How did she get this?"
"What is going on, Rilos?" asked Zynelle.
"I need to get Lyra out of here. It's going to be ugly. Make sure that Kylanne changes back. I'll explain everything once this has passed, but it could take a while."
He took me in his arms and we appeared in our bedroom. He put me on the bed and sat beside me.
"My injury isn't that bad, Rilos. How can it turn ugly? It's not like it can get infected."
"Remember that weapon humans used against werewolves?"
"Are we going to die?" I asked softly.
"No, but we would have if she had gotten to me. This particular drug as different effects depending on the receiver's gender. It kills men so I am very thankful that you stopped her. It also explain why the attacker was a woman. Usually, confronting assassins are male."
"You mean this isn't the first time you are sent one?"
"Definitely not."
"If you can categorize them, I'm lucky that you are still here talking to me. What about females? What is it going to do to me?"
"I don't know how painful this can be and there is no counter drug except time. It's not the kind of pain you are used to. I hate that I can say that."
Suddenly, my lower abdomen clenched and a small fire started burning inside me. In seconds, it changed from a small fire to an entire volcano and was running inside my entire body.
"Rilos, what is happening to me? It's burning so much," I screamed.
"On women, it's an aphrodisiac. Are you in pain?"
"I just want it to stop."
I shifted to try to relieve the pain, but it only made it worse when my dress rubbed against my thighs. It was like I was aware of every single nerve on my body and that each was linked to my core, sending lightning flying there at every touch. A cry escaped my lips.
"Can't you make it stop?"
He looked at me, a pained expression on his face.
"You can't?"
"I can. Just not to you."
"Why?"
"You're not ready."
"I don't care. Make it stop."
"Lyra, the only way to make this go away is time or by having sex until the aphrodisiac is out of your system."
"Make love to me then."
He seemed surprised by my choice of words. When I tried to reach out to him, he came back to his senses, grabbed my wrists and immobilized them down beside my head, forcing me to lay on my back. He moved his face close to me, his lips ghosting over mine.
"I'm not going to, Lyra. I don't want the first time you're going to enjoy to be under the influence of a drug."
Water filled my eyes as the burning became more and more intense. I trashed left and right, trying to get some kind of relief, but Rilos still had my hands immobilized. Sweat broke on my body and my breathing became erratic.
"Please, Rilos, please!" I begged, tears streaming down my cheeks.
He shut down my protests by slamming his lips on mine. I moved against him and bucked my hips at the overload of sensations caused by his lips and his thumbs rubbing the inside of my wrists. He let go of one of them and, as I was about to grab the back of his head, caught it with the hand that was already holding my other wrist. His now free hand pinned down my pelvis to the mattress. I growled against his mouth, partially in frustration of being restricted and partially because, for an instant, it calmed the fire. The break didn't last long and it started again, stronger than before. My entire body was burning. I screamed and his mouth muffled the sound. His lips moved away to catch his breath.
"Rilos, please! It hurts so much!"
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I can't do that to you. Not in the state you're in," he cried.
His tears fell on me as I yelled until I lost my grip on reality.
During the times I was semi-conscious, I could hear people talk. More often than not, it was Rilos saying "sorry" over and over again. I couldn't say anything back; my mind was entirely focused on the pain. The next time I was conscious, I saw Rilos sitting on one of our couch, his head between his hands. The room plunged into darkness, which was strange. Normally the light spheres were shining even during our sleep. I bit down the cry that rose in my throat when I moved the sheets to get out of bed. I hissed softly at the contact between my feet and the cold floor. I slowly walked to him. The fact that he didn't react at all to my movements worried me a whole lot. I reached him and kneeled down in front of him. I took his hands and moved them away from his face. His eyes were hollow.
"Hi, Lyra. You're feeling better."
I didn't want him to know that I was still hurting. It wasn't the same kind of pain. It was more like a dull pain inside my bones instead of an intense burning.
"Yeah, I'm feeling better."
"You just lied to me."
Well that didn't work.
"How did you know?"
"You are gripping my hands really hard and drawing out blood."
I quickly released his hands. The half-moon imprints of my nails were filled with blood, but healed as soon as I saw them.
"Let's put you back in bed."
"No. It's not as bad as it was before, I swear. Why do you look so tired? Do you get enough sleep? How long have I been out?"
"You've been trashing around for about twelve hours. Of course I didn't get any sleep; the woman I love is in indescribable pain and I can't do anything to help her."
"You can. You just don't want to."
"Lyra, you're making me feel like the bad guy when in reality, I just don't want to do anything to you while you are drugged out of your mind. I don't know how long you are going to continue to be this way since the dosage in the syringe was calculated for my size and not yours. When given the correct amount, women would be under the influence for four days straight. With what you were injected, we can easily multiple by three or four that period."
I got up and sat on his lap, my back against his stomach. He instinctively wrapped his arms around my midsection, propping his chin on my shoulder.
"Can I stay like this until it starts hurting too much again?"
"Of course, sweetheart. I'll be here for as long as you need. Let me get you something to eat while you're not incapacitated because you won't have a break for another twelve hours."
"How'd you know?" I asked, engulfing the sandwich that had appeared in front of me.
"Shortly before I was born, a group of hunters were ambushed by "Hybridos". The men died, but one woman was able to teleport the other women safely back to the cave. They had been hit by the drug, but they were safer with us than with the humans who would have used them to procreate. That's how we learned the mechanisms of the drug. You'll have a break every twelve hours to give you time to eat and do other things."
"How long is the break?"
"An hour."
"I'd better go take a shower then."
I dislodged myself from Rilos' arms and closed the bathroom door behind me. I undressed and walked under the hot stream of water. I thoroughly washed my hair and as I was about to do the same to my body, I felt a familiar jab of pain in my stomach. I thought I had an hour. I slipped on the floor, holding my abdomen, trying to contain the pain to no avail. I didn't know if it was because my body hadn't completely recovered yet or just because that was how the drug worked but the pain was worse than before. Tears blurred my vision as I started panting.
"RILOS!" I yelled desperately.
The door flew off its hinges and disintegrated into a million pieces on the opposite wall. Rilos ran inside, fury and sadness painted on his face when he saw me lying down in the shower. He took me in his arms and I screamed at the sensation of his skin against mine.
"I'm sorry, Lyra. I thought we had more time."
"MAKE IT STOP, RILOS! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!"
"I can't, sweetheart. I'm sorry."
He put me down on the bed and the whole world became black.