Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Harper

The familiar scents of beer, old wood, and last night's burger special provided an odd comfort as I slid into a booth across from Brianna and Alex, Elias close behind me.

"You look like shit," Alex said, pushing a coffee mug toward me. "No offense."

"None taken," I replied, wrapping my hands around the warm ceramic. "Sleep isn't exactly my friend lately."

Harry, the ancient werewolf who owned the place, nodded at me from behind the bar. His eyes held a knowing look that made me wonder how much he'd heard about my current predicament. In a pack like Midnight Moon, gossip travelled faster than official announcements.

"How are the Council watchdogs treating you?" Alex asked, glancing at the door as if expecting my observers to burst through at any moment.

"About as well as you'd expect," I said, taking a sip of coffee. "Andrews is professional. Anettia is cold. Dominic is a self-righteous prick who thinks I'm corrupting the moral fabric of supernatural society." Elias's hand found my knee under the table, a gesture that was both possessive and supportive. I leaned slightly into his side, drawing strength from his presence. The silver sigils on my wrists had faded to faint outlines, but I could still feel their power, like an invisible leash tethering me to Council rules.

"So," I said, looking directly at Brianna, cutting through the small talk. "How bad is Marcus, really? Give me numbers, not vibes." Brianna set down her tea, her expression solemn. The witch-turned-Divine-Warrior had grown more confident since accepting her angelic grace, but the worry in her eyes was unmistakable.

"It's accelerating," she said quietly. "The soul-fraying I saw yesterday is already worse today. The threads are thinner, and more pieces are drifting than before."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning we have less time than I initially thought." She traced the rim of her mug with one finger. "It's been over a month since Lily died, since the bond shattered. That's already pushing the limits of what's documented."

"And what exactly is documented?" Elias asked, his voice steady but tight with tension. It couldn't have been easy for him, talking about his sister before he had gotten a chance to even get used to having her in his life again, after so long. Brianna exchanged a glance with Alex before answering.

 "That's the problem. There's no recorded case of someone successfully retrieving all the fragments of a shattered soul, not from there." The words landed like stones in my stomach. 

"None?"

"Historically, attempts end in partial recovery, madness, or death." She hesitated. "I've got Aaron combing the Divine Order archives and every obscure text we can get our hands on, but so far, it's mostly warnings and theoretical treatises, not practical guides."

"So you're saying it's impossible," I said flatly.

"I'm saying it's never been done," Brianna corrected. "But that doesn't mean it can't be." I stared into my coffee, watching the dark surface ripple as my hand trembled slightly. The idea that we might only be able to save parts of Marcus, enough to keep him functioning but never whole again, made me sick. He had killed his own mate to protect me. He'd stayed loyal through everything. And this was his reward?

"I don't accept that," I said finally, anger burning away the momentary despair. "Marcus risked everything for us. For me. I refuse to let 'we've never done it before' be the reason we don't try."

Elias shifted beside me, and I could feel him wanting to interject with practical concerns, the Council restrictions, the risk, the trial, but he held back, recognising my resolve.

"What kind of ritual are we looking at?" I asked Brianna. "What prep do we need?"

"That's what Aaron's researching now," she began. "We know we need-"

The bar door slammed open with a bang that made us all jump, cutting Brianna off mid-sentence. A small figure burst through the entrance, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. I recognised Abigail almost straight away. The child's eyes, red-rimmed and panicked, scanned the room until they landed on me. With a choked cry, she ran straight to our table and threw herself at me, small hands clutching at my shirt.

"Don't leave me!" she sobbed, her words barely intelligible through hiccups. "Please don't let them take me!" I reacted instinctively, sliding from the booth and crouching to her level, my hands gentle on her shoulders. Elias shifted protectively behind me while Alex and Brianna moved to create a buffer between us and the curious stares from the few other patrons.

"Hey, hey," I said softly, brushing tears from her cheeks. "Abby, breathe. Tell me what happened." She gulped air, her small chest heaving with the effort. 

"The, the mean w-werewolf man," she hiccupped. "He said I was d-demon spawn, and that I b-belonged in Hell." My blood turned to ice. 

"What man, Abby? Who said that to you?"

"Big. Dark hair," she managed between sobs. "He had the s-same clothes as the people who came to w-watch you." Elias and I exchanged a look. There was only one person that could be.

"Was his name Dominic?" I asked, keeping my voice carefully level despite the rage building inside me. "Did he look like he swallowed a rulebook?" Abigail nodded vigorously, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. "He said I'd be s-sent back to Hell where I c-came from. That people like m-me never stay topside." Her small hands gripped my arms tighter, her eyes wide with terror. 

"Please don't go anywhere near Hell again," she begged. "He said if you go, we all have to go too. I don't want to go back down there! I just got free. I'm good now, I promise!"

The words hit me like a physical blow. Abigail had never been to Hell;, she'd been born topside to a demon-blood witch mother, but the fear was real, planted there by Dominic's cruel words. The image of this child, terrified of being dragged into the darkness because of her bloodline, because of me, made something snap inside my chest.

"Listen to me, Abby," I said, my voice steady despite the fury coursing through my veins. "No one is sending you to Hell. Not Dominic, not the Council, not anyone. You are under Midnight Moon protection, and more importantly, you're under mine." She stared at me, tears still streaming, but her breathing calmer. 

"Promise?"

"I promise." I brushed her hair back from her forehead. "And Dominic is going to answer for scaring you." 

I rose to my feet, turning to Brianna. 

"Can you stay with her?" Brianna nodded, already moving toward Abigail with a gentle smile. 

"Of course. Alex and I will keep her safe right here." I met Elias's gaze, silently communicating my intent. Don't stop me. His jaw tightened, but he gave a barely perceptible nod. He wouldn't try to prevent what was coming next, but I could see in his eyes that he'd be right behind me. Without another word, I turned and strode toward the door, pushing it open with enough force that it slammed against the wall. The cool morning air hit my face, but did nothing to temper the white-hot rage burning through my veins. A Council observer who threatened children. Who used Hell as a boogeyman to terrorise a little girl already struggling with her identity. Dominic was about to learn exactly what happened when you crossed that line with me.

I stalked down the main street, every sense heightened as I scanned for Dominic's scent. The sigils on my wrists prickled in warning;, any aggressive move against a Council representative would be added to my file, but I was beyond caring. The familiar scent of Council-issue armour oil and that particular brand of self-righteousness hit me before I spotted him. Dominic was jogging along the edge of the park, earbuds in, utterly unconcerned, as if he hadn't just traumatised a child. The casualness of it, the sheer arrogant disregard, made my vision blur at the edges.

I didn't call out. Didn't warn him. I simply launched myself forward, tackling him mid-stride and sending us both crashing to the pavement. The impact jolted through my body, but I barely felt it through the haze of fury. I straddled his chest, my fist connecting with his jaw before he even registered what was happening.

"You think it's funny to threaten a kid?" I snarled, landing another blow. "You call her demon spawn again, and I'll show you what a Divine Warrior can do to pathetic bullies like you!" Dominic's training kicked in a little too late. He blocked my third punch and tried to throw me off, but the element of surprise had given me the advantage. I got in two more solid hits before I heard someone shouting my name.

"Harper! STOP!" Andrews' voice cut through my rage, followed by hands grabbing my shoulders, trying to pull me back. I shrugged them off, but then stronger arms wrapped around my waist from behind. Elias.

"Let me go!" I thrashed against his hold as he physically lifted me away from Dominic.

"You're making it worse," Elias hissed in my ear, his grip unyielding despite my struggles. Dominic pushed himself up to a sitting position, wiping blood from his split lip with the back of his hand. His eyes were cold with contempt as Andrews helped him to his feet.

"You just assaulted a Council representative," Andrews said, his voice tight with strain. "Do you have any idea-"

"He threatened a child," I spat, still straining against Elias's restraint. "A little girl. He told her she belonged in Hell, that she was demon spawn!"

"I didn't threaten anyone," Dominic countered, straightening his training gear. "I told the truth. Children are innocent. That abomination is not a child; it's demon spawn." The word "abomination" ignited fresh fury in my blood. I lunged forward, nearly breaking free of Elias's grip. 

"Say that again! I fucking dare you!" From the corner of my eye, I saw Anettia approach, her fae features impassive as she observed the scene. Unlike the others, she made no move to intervene physically.

"Antagonising a Divine Warrior under trial seems politically unwise, Dominic," she remarked dryly. But there was no real care in her tone, no emotional investment in protecting a demon-blood child. Andrews stepped between us, hands raised in a placating gesture. 

"Ms Kirby, you're on house arrest pending trial. Any assault on Council personnel will be added to the charges against you."

"I'm defending a child under my protection," I snarled. "If the Council wanted calm compliance, they shouldn't have sent bigots to police children!" Elias's grip on me had loosened slightly, but he remained close, ready to intervene if I lunged again. I could feel the tension in his body, torn between backing my righteous anger and knowing we were giving the Council exactly the ammunition they wanted.

Dominic straightened, brushing dirt from his clothes with exaggerated care. 

"The Council's position on demon-bloods is clear. They are corrupted beings that require monitoring and containment."

"She's a child," I repeated, my voice shaking with suppressed rage.

"She's a time bomb," Dominic retorted. "And when Hell calls its own back, you won't be able to stop it." I surged forward again, but before I could reach him, before Elias could even tighten his grip, a blur of motion slammed into Dominic from the side. The impact was so violent that both figures tumbled across the pavement in a tangle of limbs. It took me a second to process what I was seeing. Marcus.

Marcus was on top of Dominic, but this wasn't the controlled, strategic Gamma I knew. This was something feral, something broken. He wasn't fully shifted, but his features had elongated, caught between human and wolf. Saliva dripped from his bared teeth as he pounded his fists into Dominic's face and chest with unrelenting force. The sounds coming from his throat weren't words or even growls;, they were something more primal, more wrong. Inhuman snarls that didn't seem to come from a place of consciousness. Dominic, caught completely off guard, barely managed to get his arms up in a weak defence before a particularly vicious blow knocked his head back against the pavement. His eyes rolled back, body going limp beneath Marcus's continued assault.

"Marcus!" Elias shouted, releasing me to lunge toward the fray. "MARCUS, STOP!" I stood frozen, unable to move, as Elias grabbed Marcus's shoulder. Marcus whipped around with terrifying speed, snapping his teeth at Elias's hand, nearly taking off fingers. There was no recognition in his eyes, just blank, animal rage. Andrews moved in from the other side, using his Council training to try to subdue Marcus without hurting him. But Marcus fought with the unhinged strength of someone who felt no pain, no limits.

"We need help here!" Andrews shouted as Marcus's elbow caught him in the ribs. Two pack warriors who had been drawn by the commotion rushed forward, and it took all four of them, Elias, Andrews, and the two warriors, to finally pin Marcus to the ground. Even then, he continued to thrash and snarl, trying to get back to Dominic as if driven by some invisible compulsion.

I finally broke from my trance and moved closer, crouching near where they held him. 

"Marcus," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Marcus, it's Harper. You need to stop."

But there was nothing behind his eyes. No flash of recognition, no hint of the sardonic, protective man I knew. Just emptiness, or something fractured where Marcus should be. Brianna's words echoed in my mind: soul-fraying, threads thinner than before, pieces drifting. This wasn't just anger on my behalf. This was Marcus's soul tearing further apart, leaving nothing but primal reflex behind.

"We need to sedate him," Andrews panted, struggling to maintain his hold as Marcus bucked beneath them. "He's completely feral." Anettia stood over Dominic's unconscious form, her expression cold. 

"Is this standard Gamma behaviour in Midnight Moon?" she asked, her tone making it clear this wasn't really a question. "Or perhaps a side effect of your influence, Ms Kirby?" I ignored her, my attention fixed on Marcus as the pack warriors managed to secure his wrists and ankles. His struggles were weakening, but the vacant savagery in his eyes remained unchanged.

"This incident will be reported to the Council," Anettia continued. "Both your assault on Dominic and the Gamma's... episode." I knew what she was implying. This would be used to bolster their case against me, to "prove" that I corrupted those around me, that demon-blood influence was spreading through Midnight Moon like a contagion.

But as I watched Marcus being restrained like a rabid animal, I couldn't bring myself to care about the Council or their opinions. All I could see was the emptiness in his eyes, the complete absence of the man who had become one of my closest friends and allies. If this was Marcus with most of his soul still tethered to his body, what would be left when there was nothing? The pack warriors began to haul Marcus away, presumably to somewhere he could be contained until he calmed down, if he calmed down. Elias caught my eye over the crowd that had gathered, his expression grim. This had just become even more dangerous, for Marcus and for my case.

But watching Marcus snarl and snap as they dragged him away, I knew we'd run out of options. Whatever time Brianna thought we had left, it wasn't enough. I couldn't wait for the trial to begin. Couldn't play by the Council's rules anymore. I was going to Hell for Marcus, and soon. Contract or no contract.