Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

The drive to Ashford Rare Books takes me through the historic district where Elena and I first chanced upon the Underground Market. The streets look different in the daytime, more mundane, but I can still sense the supernatural current that runs beneath the surface of this city.Mr. Chen is an old man with kind eyes who clearly remembers Elena. He wraps the ancient medical book in tissue paper with the reverence of someone handling a religious relic."Dr. Voss has a good eye for historical books," he tells me while I'm paying for the book. "This book has surgical techniques that were innovative in their time. Some of the principles remain true today, and thus, are basics of the advance ones that we utilize.""She'll love it," I reply with certainty."Pass on my regards when you talk to her. It's been too long since she last visited."The wrapped book is heavy in my hand as I approach my car. A tangible connection to her passion, her desire for knowledge, her love of learning. Somethin

(Rylan's POV)I've lost faith in miracles.It's been months now that I've been seeing my pack slowly tear themselves apart, that I've seen Zara writhe in agony every few hours as her body fights to shift between forms, that I've held Marcus while he screamed his way through another involuntary change, I've realized that hope is just another word for prolonged suffering.The village looks like a war zone. Thirty-eight werewolves are on makeshift beds, their bodies stuck in the horrific halfway point between human and wolf. Some change back and forth repeatedly, their bones shattering and re-knitting every few seconds. Others are locked in half-changes that look like torments incarnate.I move through their midst, checking pulses, tucking blankets, holding water for those who can still swallow. That's all I can do. Sage exhausted her supply of pain-easing herbs weeks ago, and her last attempt at a counter-curse she suggested proved abortive.We're dying. All of us. The Alpha bonds that

I was floating on a tide of supernatural consciousness when Kael's unique energy bursts into my empathic senses like a spark.The force of his emotional signature snaps me back to consciousness so abruptly that I nearly choke, my eyes shooting open to find him standing in the doorway of Mira's sitting room, she was without panic which means she's obviously waiting for me to come back. Kael's clothes are rumpled, his hair tousled, and there is something about his face that speaks of fatigue and unspoken hurt.But under it all, relief. Glorious, overwhelming relief at finding me intact."Elena." His tone is thick with something I cannot identify. "How are you doing?"I think through my body, surprised to find that after all these hours of focused empathic work, I am more resilient than I have been in days. More rooted. More connected to who and what I am."Changed," I tell him honestly. "Like I've finally stopped fighting what I'm supposed to be."Kael approaches, and I can sense the un

I wake to the morning light streaming through the windows of the guest room and hushed voices yelling from the kitchen. For a moment, I am disoriented, not knowing where I am or why my head aches lightly. Then the night before flashes back into my mind. The night, the wine, Kael being such a gentleman that he took over an entire bar just so I would feel special.I smile as I yawn, more refreshed than I've been in weeks. Empath training has changed me in ways I'm still discovering, but the blinding tide of supernatural perception that used to work to make me crazy now feels almost within my control. Background music I can tune in and out at will.I dash into an outfit and go out to the kitchen, where I find Kael and Mira sitting amidst conversation over coffee and what appears to be a satisfactory breakfast spread. "Good morning," I say, accepting the cup of tea Kael thrusts in my direction at once. "How long have you two been awake?""About an hour or so," Kael replies. "We were disc

Three days with the pack, and I'm finally understanding why Kael mentions they're his family.Their initial hostility has yielded to wary tolerance, helped immensely by my ability to relieve their curse symptoms. I spend hours each morning methodically working my way through the settlement, using my empathetic abilities to soak up small amounts of their pain and channel it into the earth where Mira taught me it can safely seep away.It's temporary, but it gives them a reprieve. Marcus can remain human for whole days now as opposed to minutes. Zara's gory shifting attacks slowed down from every hour to once or twice a day. The old pack members who were bedridden are now on the move in the settlement, participating in normal life again.But it's hard labor. By mid-afternoon each day, I'm so exhausted that Kael has to pretty much carry me back to the cabin they've prepared for me. The accumulation of magical interference from the curse is more intense than anything I experienced training