I had had every intention of crossing that short space and making an ass of myself. My path had been clear in my drunken stupor, I had thoroughly convinced myself that what I needed at this moment was something that I'd denied myself for six long months, yet, now that he was speaking with Landon my body felt as if it was frozen in place.
Attempting to move my feet, it's as if I was locked by my very own ice. Something pressed at the edges of my subconscious, creating a searing ache that started deep in my chest and began to throb outwardly to my limbs. I wish to cry out, to leave the ice that held me here, but when I look down I can see that my own feet are all that keep me in place.
The ice in my body feels too cold, it burns my insides and I fear I might even be boiling with the intensity of the heat. My lips part but nothing comes, nothing but an exhale of discomfort at my charred lungs desperate for air. This was punishment for rejoicing in the cold, the wraith had lied and the side effect was death.
Moments tick by and Verando seems none the wiser as he speaks quietly with Landon about the contents of the phone. They switch back and forth from English to French, relaying the info in a way that was much too passive for my intentions. I was a nuisance, that's why he hadn't looked up at me. He was surely upset with my antics, after all, I'd gotten quite intoxicated to achieve my mission.
My thoughts halt and I frown at myself, scorching alive and frozen in place only to down myself. Who did I think I was? I had nothing to apologize for, I was trying to figure out my place in this world, all be it, not with the most tact but my life had been completely uprooted. Was I not entitled to a bit of spiraling when denied my life's purpose?
"You promised."
The voice sounds familiar. I check to see if Verando is still ignoring me, a surge of fresh agony almost causes me to double over but my body remains rigid. My bones crack in my ears, threatening to splinter from the intensity of the pushback. "Look closer." The voice hisses. "You don't even know my name."
Sweeping the room as I swallow back the numbing sensation of icy chill rushing through my veins, the drug fights back against the intruder. I can see no one other than myself in the reflection of the massive windows overlooking the event center. The blinds conceal no form, it's only him and I in this room. "You've ignored me long enough."
I drop to my knees and hold back the scream as my body twists. Surely not, it couldn't be-
"I. Am." The voice snarls.
"You've got horrible timing." I spit through my teeth, climbing to my hands and knees as I catch the smooth motion of Verando standing. "I'm fine." I snap at him, "Get this done." I didn't need him close to me, not now, not when this creature was on the edge of escaping my grasp. Inwardly, I shove the beast down until the molten metal feeling in the edges of nerves began to simmer into a dull ache.
I was not about to surrender to a volatile being. I was not about to give in, no matter the level of intoxication, to the temptation of an animal. I had just earned my freedom, I wouldn't lose it because the wolf was having a tantrum. The thought elicits a whole new wave of punishment and I grit my teeth to the point where I fear they might turn to grit.
"I am not an animal!" The voice howls, singing in my ears at a deafening volume. "I am you, you pathetic excuse of a king! I am the best parts of you and you've locked me away for this petty excuse of a vessel!"
The audible crack of my collar bone springs a tear to my eye, I clutch my shoulder and force the bit back into place. Pain was something I was quite good at, there was little pain that could motivate me beyond my own will. My body feels as though it were held together with glue and string, unhinged as the wolf fights for any avenue to break through my fragile hold. "It's not your life," I mutter, almost inaudible.
Chocolate eyes float in my vision as if the creature knelt before me. My own eyes projected before me so clearly it was as if I were looking into a mirror. Only, these orbs blazed with the intensity of what I'd been running from for so long, an alpha brought to life by the lycan infusion. My gaze flickers over the rust-colored coat, the tan undertones fluttering in and out of my line of sight. I could never quite focus on the form, a flame dancing among the chill of my ability.
"Tell him." The voice snarls, a flash of ivory teeth prompts a rib to protrude and I grip my side forcefully.
"No." He wouldn't understand that I had not meant for it to go this way. I hadn't drugged myself, it was an accident and my own tactics had backfired into an unreasonable state of euphoria. I was too happy to allow reality to squash my moments of bliss.
"He is our partner. We don't lie to our partner."
Settling onto my hip, my body feels ready to burst as I shake uncontrollably. The fire overrides the ice, the heat burning away the drug at such a rapid pace that I worried it was taking me with it. Verando's voice echo's in the distance, far away from my mind that slipped on the ice as the flames consumed my consciousness. "Nic?" The concern causes me to frown at myself, pressing my chilled hand to my blazing cheek. It was sick, really, to think that it took a dog inserted into my body to keep me honest.
The chocolate eyes are replaced with the pale blue of my husband as he touches my hand, concerned by the chill of it. "Are you alright?"
My lips move but not a word comes out, I see the rusty beast in the corner of my eye as it steps out of the darkness and into the light. My own self, my own being, sitting ringside to the show that is my person. "No." The voice that finally leaves my lips isn't my own. It's lower, deeper, his eyes search my face and finally lock with my own gaze.
"Damn it.." he mutters, his thumb skirting over my cheekbone, "I should have never let you go with Keeta, you're drunk off your ass." I can't even focus on the man worrying for my safety, I watch the rust-colored creature lean into the invisible hand and marvel at the complete adoration displayed there. Trapped in my mind, at the mercy of this creature, I witness the origin of these irrational feelings and can't help but feel jealousy at the devotion behind the intention.
I loved Verando, this creature worshipped him, just as he did for me. I think back briefly to our time apart. It was Alpha who always kept me coming back when his human side found me intolerable. Alpha loved me long before Verando did. "Help us." The wolf manages, pushing the words from my own lips.
"What?" Taken aback, he examines me closer, the wolf fights for freedom and it takes everything in me to restrain it. Clutching my body tighter, he pulls me into his lap partially. "Nic, let your wolf speak to me. Maybe we can find out what it needs?" Ever the optimist when it comes to me, he could never imagine that it wanted to tell him the truth when I didn't. He couldn't fathom that I had been given a drug that was causing me to act wildly out of character on a power high.
I shake my head, burying my face into his chest as I flinch against the crackling of my joints. A thousand degrees, I must be in flames, hot and sticky from the sweat I curl closer to him to will the silence of the creature desperate for contact. "Let me help you." The gentle encouragement coaxes my last bits of control from my body.
"Drugged." The wolf finally manages, strangled by my fatigued body. Between the drug, the drinking, and the wolf, I was approaching my limit. "The enhancement drug." Another tear slips from the corner of my eye as I wonder when I'll ever be allowed out again. "The wraith slipped it into my drink." I intrude, refusing to take the blame for this. I tighten my fingers on the edges of his shirt.
His face is too calm, his eyes dark and stormy as he processes this new information. A tremble begins in his own body, the heat rising to combat my own as I fear he might erupt. I'd seen the look before, too often to not dread the outcome, and all I could think of was not being on the receiving end of his wrath. "Don't lock me up again." I plead, my voice almost a whisper. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just don't want to be locked up again."
It is not the wolf who reveals my greatest shame but my own humanity that begs for forgiveness. Almost as if the wolf is embarrassed by me, it hides in the darker realms of my mind as I sit here, exposed. Verando's careful expression cracks, the rage clear in his gaze for only a moment, "Why would I-" But he stops, shutting his eyes to exhale and collect himself. "We can talk about this when you're sober. Stay here."
My hands refuse to release him, wrapping my arms around his neck to hold him tighter to my body in an attempt to keep him here. "Don't leave me." I couldn't place what I was more frightened of, his departure, or his return. In my current state of limbo, I needed reassurance, I needed proof that there was redemption for my acts.
Searching with my lips, I catch his mouth with my own and melt against him with the fresh morphine of my wolf receiving that vital contact it'd been desperate for.
Slow against his mouth, I savor the taste of him, the firmness of his lips against mine as my fingers relax against the nape of his neck. I hadn't kissed him like that in months, I hadn't been kissed like that in a lifetime. It felt more like a promise and less of a proposal, my body didn't lurch to fulfill some sort of unspoken contract, I'm breathless as I retract half an inch. Peering through my lashes, I can see that while I'd had an effect on him, it had not changed his mind.
"Stay here." He repeats firmly.
My wolf forces my obedience, I slip off of his body and watch him leave. "Happy?" I practically spit as I attempt to climb to my feet. My body shivers uncontrollably as my bones settle back into their rightful place, cold and yet melting all at the same time. I'd experienced my first taste of what it would be like to shift and I couldn't' stay I was thrilled to ever endure that again. "He's furious."
"Not with us." The wolf responds with a snarky tone that insights violence in me, I grind my teeth in displeasure as I adjust my clothes. "The wraiths."
"The wraiths?" I snort, approaching the desk on shaky legs to disconnect the phone from the computer and log out of the multiple screens. Whatever we'd harvested would have to do, I was in no position to continue the transfer. All at once, my fingers loosen and I drop the phone as the realization hits me. I knew exactly why those chocolate eyes were so pleased with their good work. My wolf wanted the same thing that Verando do, the elimination of the threat to me.
Relaying that message meant that I had given him the information necessary to avenge my mental state. "He's going to go after the wraiths? That'll ruin everything!"
Scrambling to jerk the phone off the ground, I turn on my heel and run out the door. Mind fights against body as the lycan does everything it can to slow me down while the wind propels me forward. "Get out of my way!" The threat is real as I shove the inferno underneath the ice shelf and reach the stairs at an ungodly speed. Blasting an ice shelf from my palm, I slide down the makeshift drift and hop off with as much grace as I can manage.
I search desperately for him, sampling the air as I fight to find him in the sea of alcohol, sex, and sweat. "I'm not helping you." It was like fighting with a child. Balling up my fist, I punch a pillar and send a chunk of plaster sailing across the small space and clanging to an unceremonious halt by the exit. The pain did me some good, stopping the descent into a blind rage and helping to focus my mind.
"It's not just my mission, there are more wraiths here than there are lycans. Verando is out of practice-" A scream breaks my concentration and I wheel around to see that my inferno was not the only one to be concerned about. The ten-foot-tall man of fire roars a flaming blast across the curtains. The smoke alarms screech and spray water across the horrified patrons as the man shrieks in pain from the spray.
Keeta runs towards me, her arm blistered, "Nic!" She manages, gagging on the downpour of water. "Nic, something's wrong with X-"
"He got a dose of the drug when I threw my drink on him..." I murmur, feeling the power surge spread to my fingertips. The drug would surely wear off soon, faster for me than him with how much use I'd already gotten. My time was limited. "Get everyone out of here."
"Verando ordered the guards to lock the place down." She hisses, soaked to the bone with her outlandish clothes and thin body. Her pink hair plastered to her forehead, the bits of fabric hanging off her frame like rags in their drenched state. "I had X locked up but someone must have let him out."
Of course, what better way to distract a lycan hunting wraiths than to unleash a beast upon the people. "Get everyone into the event center and out of the lobby. I'll take care of X." The ring of a gunshot causes me to flinch, protectively sheltering Keeta before pushing her in the direction of the double doors leading to the band. When choosing between Randy and a flaming monster, I had to trust that my husband had a plan and could manage to survive long enough to get this rouge mage doused.
Collecting the water from the downpour from the spouts, I direct it towards X, feeling the tremble in my wrists from the fading drug. The sizzle of the flames hitting the force of the water causes an eruption of steam and I shield my face, using the wind to direct the steam out the windows as well as the second wave of water.
X roars in response, the flaming man slings his arms to block the incoming waves, stoked by the wind billowing the steam, the flames erupt from his shoulders and the alarms howl their warning. Threatening to burst, my ears ache deep into my skull and I fight the urge to curl away from the discomfort. I hear another gunshot, tracking the noise I spot Verando amongst the crowd, the dead wraith pinned under his heel.
Cursing under my breath, I redirect another blast of water towards X and make a break for Verando, slipping through the retreating crowd as the flaming man fires a blast in my previous location. My hands sail across the short distance I shove Verando's gun down, meeting the icy gaze with a look of surprise at the determination there. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Not now, Nic." Verando seethes, his voice tight, his skin blazing to the touch.
"You can't kill the wraiths, we need them!" I retort sharply, unable to hold his arm down as he shoves out of my grasp and clips the retreating mirage in the shoulder. The wraith hisses, baring the black barbed fangs as Verando fires again before I can stop him. "How are you killing them?"
"Blessed silver bullets. Works on just about everything so I suggest you stop messing with my shot." He pushes out of my way again to aim at X only this time I shove his hand up. The gun fires, blasting out one of the lights of the massive chandelier and showering us in glass shards. Verando's arm encircles me, holding me against his body momentarily. "I told you to wait in the room."
The heavy scent of death hits my nose, my hand dives down and I quickly jut my palm upward to lift a wall of water and trap the incoming wraith inside. With a shove, I crash the wave back to the ground, smacking the fragile being against the floor. "Since when do I listen to you?"
The low snarl in his throat incites a strange response in me and I growl back instinctively. Clutching me to his chest, in a quick move I'm flipped to the opposite side as he slings a knife from a holder on his hip. The blade buries deep in the skull of the flickering mirage, dropping it into the pooling water. I shove the water away from our feet hurriedly, sighing in frustration. "We should still treat them like wraiths.. their blood could be poisonous. You totally ruined my plan, by the way."
"You plan to get totally shit faced? Or the plan where you were drugged beyond recognition?" His voice is hard, I roll my eyes as I shove my back against his for leverage to blast ice at the blazing man and redirect him from the action. Casting my hand in a wave, I douse the crawling flames as the room begins to clear. "At least you got your wish."
"Do you think I wanted this? I want to feel needed!" A yelp of surprise leaves my lips as he grips my shirt, using my leg as a handle, he practically throws me across the space before lifting his gun to shoot the rope of the chandelier. I barely manage to get my feet under myself, pushing off a table and managing to land on my hip instead of my face as the glass display sails from the ceiling and crashes down on top of X with an ear-splitting crack and an explosion of glass.
Without thinking, I run to his aid, his body flickering more like a candle than an incinerator. I use the pooling water to form a stand and lift the contraption off of his back, yanking him out from under it to flip him onto his back and press my ear to his bare chest. The light patter of heartbeat assures me that he's still alive, for now.
My body blazes, beside myself with rage for the carelessness. "You could have killed him!" I shout at the bewildering man, but he's gone across the room to collect the anchoring hook and rope for the light display. "What do you have to say for yourself?" I might as well be speaking to a wall for all the response I get.
He scans, a hunter seeking his prey, my hand extends to use the last of my ability to cut off the sprinklers. The heavy scent of death hits my nose and I grimace as I flick my hand to twist the valves. The low, quick sound of a whistle catches my attention to my right. It could almost be human, save for it was to fast with a metallic hint. Blood spatters across the side of my face, I'm quick to use my sleeve to scrub it from my eyes as the overwhelming smell of decay brings me to near gagging levels of distaste.
When I can finally bear to look up, I see Yule drop his knees, the hook plunged deep into his collar bone as the inky black blood slips down his suit. The rope yanks tight, wrapping the metal around the collar bone with a sickening squelch that threatens to make my stomach flip with the ease in which the hook sldes. Yule shrieks an inhuman sound as Verando approaches, admiring his handy work.
"That is how you use bait." There is no humor in his voice as he examines the toe of his shoe before he strikes his foot across the wraiths temple, knocking the damaged creature unconscious.