Chapter 42
Jade
Damian didn’t come around again since his angry outburst. I didn’t expect him to but there were whispers around the grounds that he was finally losing it. That something big had happened and now he felt like he was losing the game. I listened as intently as I could but with the wolfsbane still in my system, it was hard to hear. Getting too close to the other wolves was not a good idea either.
I was walking back to our room when I heard the first crash. I ducked down low and crawled to the wall. My arms were overstretched above my head, afraid one of the cinderblocks in the ceiling would crush me if this was an attack. But after a few minutes, there wasn’t another and I stood up carefully. My knees wobbled as I made my way to our door. Just a few more steps and I would be there.
Another crash had me diving for the floor again. This time the crashing was followed by the ground shaking and loud screaming. Except it wasn’t screams of terror or fear. These were screams of rage. I crawled across the floor when I heard the shout clear as day.
“You let them escape!” Damian’s roar rattled the doors.
There was a whimper before a door down the hall slammed open and a person went hurtling out of the room. He smashed into the wall with a sickening thud. He rolled into a heap on the floor before he tried to stand up. His legs shook as he took a step forward but it didn’t matter. A blast of light came from the bedroom and all that was left of the man after a few seconds was a pile of ash. There wasn’t even enough time to be shocked or horrified. One minute he was there, then the next he was gone. I didn’t bother with getting off of the floor as I crawled the rest of the way to the bedroom. I don’t know how I managed to open the door or even get into the bed. All I remembered was waking up the next morning with Lucas rubbing my back in soothing circles.
“Three witches are gone,” he whispered into the darkness.
I leaned over the side of the bed and my stomach emptied onto the rug. I didn’t know what caused it. Maybe it was the horror over what was happening. Maybe it was Nalia’s ruthlessness being gone. I had killed two wolves without blinking. Who was this girl vomiting on the carpet?
“I’m no better than he is,” I whispered when I was done throwing up. My voice shook and my throat ached but somehow the words made it out.
He clucked his tongue. “That isn’t true. You took care of people that were evil. He is killing people that are innocent. He is amurderer.Those wolves would have killed you if you hadn’t killed them. You have to establish a pack dynamic. Even here. You’re the Alpha.”
His words didn’t make me feel any better. In fact, they made me feel worse.
“Alpha?” I choked on the word.
“You established that dominance here. Damian doesn’t have that. He doesn’t have a wolf. All he has is fear.”
It only got worse. Every single person walked on eggshells. The witches that came to clean up the vomit didn’t even bother with taking the rug out. They caught it on fire. The breeze from the balcony took away the smoke and ash while we waited for them to finish. They were too afraid of how he would react to my vomit. He would take it out on them. We all knew it. They shook in fear as they cleaned the bathroom. The toilet brush clanging against the toilet was the only indicator that they were scared out of their minds. I was sure Damian was playing roulette with who would be next. We all waited on pins and needles.
I hadn’t gotten out of bed when the door splintered open. I clutched the blankets to my chest as Lucas flew out of the bathroom with his toothbrush still in his mouth. Damian stood in the now bare doorway. Crisscross scars marked his bare chest and pajama pants were low on his hips. His eyes were wide and glassy. He didn’t wait for me to get out of bed, instead, he marched to where I was and pulled me from the blankets. He didn’t care about what I was wearing. His eyes didn’t take in how indecent I was. All he cared about was dragging me out of the room. His grip around my wrist caused me to wince as I stumbled behind him down the hall.
Lucas raced behind us. I shook my head ferociously. I could fight him off. I wasn’t starving myself, even if the wolfsbane was strong within me. I worked out in our room every night. I did pull-ups and sit-ups in the bathroom doorway. I tried my best to keep my strength up for the moment he came for me.
“Where are you taking her?” Lucas shouted behind us. At least he had stopped following. I could try to protect myself but I didn’t know if I could protect Lucas. Damian didn’t bother with answering, he only picked up his pace. When we hit the stairwell, that’s where I didn’t fare too well. My legs collapsed under me with just about every step. When Damian was over my struggles, he stopped before he yanked me over his shoulder. I yelped as he went down the stairs at a much faster pace. My hair had fallen out of its bun and was now a curtain in front of my face.
We kept descending and with all the jostling and hair in my face, I couldn’t see where we were going. Only that the light in the room kept getting dimmer.
Between the smell and the darkness, I knew nothing good would come out of this. Why hadn’t I fought while he was trying to get me down the stairs? Why had I just gone with him?
Because he would have taken it out on Lucas.A voice whispered in my mind. I fought back a shiver as my body slid from his shoulder. We were in a dungeon of some sort. The smell of blood and mildew hit me. I had to fight everything in me to not throw up again. What had he been doing down here? The smells were too fresh for this to be an old forgotten place.
