CHAPTER 38: THRASHED

The Varcolac moved closer, its claws raking sparks against the steel floor and each step echoed like a countdown to death. The glow of its eyes cut through the dark like molten fire, like something born of nightmares and with every movement, the temperature around us seemed to plummet.

My body came very close to convulsing. Not from the cold, but from the pull of the bond. I didn’t know why it was going off the rails now, could be because Darek was trying to find me and control me through it. His voice kept slithering through my veins like a toxin.

It wasn’t just words, it felt like a deep hum demanding obedience. But worse than that, something inside me was already breaking apart.

The curse.

The curse was draining me, and making my strength bleed viciously. Every pulse of the bond tugged at me harder, ripping pieces of myself away until I could barely stand.

"Valden..." My whisper was hoarse and my throat was as raw as sandpaper.

He angled himself in front of me, shoulders broad and taut, weapon raised high. His body trembled slightly and that’s when I realised that he was weak too. His body was still recovering. He wasn’t trembling from fear but from strain. For a terrifying second, I thought he might just break. His breaths came out harsh and laboured, edged with something animalistic.

The Varcolac growled.

The sound felt so much more pronounced now in the dark tunnel, the echoes mixed with the already loud growl. Blood roared in my head and I clutched my ear desperately, but it didn’t help. My vision felt like it was breaking bit by bit by bit.

Its limbs were bent at grotesque angles as if it had escaped from a failing fight, probably one with Darek. But it gave no relief. Weakened or not, a Varcolac was a big enough threat. Combined with my lack of powers now and a very weak Valden, it was going to be a disaster.

Valden shoved me back as he realised the same thing.

"Run."

I started backward, stumbling as I tried to lift my feet, to probe them to run back up against the wall and out the cargo tunnel. But my legs were useless. They might as well have been made of stone.

Every step felt like I was wading through thick, sooty tar. My muscles rebelled and my bones felt heavier and at the same time the Varcolac lunged.

But Valden was faster. His gun fired through the air, the bullet colliding with bone in a crack that reverberated through the tunnels. The monster staggered, but only for a breath. It came again, claws swinging, that cut through the air like sickles.

I stumbled back again, one hand pressed against my chest as fire seemed to erupt beneath my skin. It was getting harder for me to fight for my sanity. I was going to lose it anytime now.

The Varcolac slammed Valden into a wall, pipes splitting and steam hissing out of them into the frigid air. He grunted but swung back with sheer force, his fist plunging into its clammy skin. He fought with all the strength that remained in him. But even I could see that the Varcolac was stronger. It wasn’t just flesh and bone. It wasn’t just a Lycan. It was mutated into a monster of mist and shadow, a creature that could quite possibly survive multiple attempts of death.

"Valden!" I screamed, my voice breaking apart in panic.

He twisted, shoving the Varcolac aside with a roar that didn’t sound human anymore. Valden’s eyes snapped back to mine to make sure I was alive.

And they weren’t the same brown eyes with the faint glow.

What looked back at me was wild, luminous and untamed. His pupils had been swallowed whole by an emerald fire, blinding in their ferocity. His chest rose and fell in ragged bursts, something rippling beneath his skin.

And then I heard the sound of bones cracking. His frame convulsed, muscles tearing and reshaping. Black fur burst across his skin like wildfire. His back arched unnaturally as his body doubled in size, everything cracking to make room for the beast clawing its way out. He let out a guttural scream which was half agony and half liberation.

And then Valden was gone and in his place stood his magnificent wolf. Its fur was as dark as midnight. His eyes still burned that furious green, his jaw lined with teeth longer than daggers, dripping with danger. Power radiated from his wolf in waves even though it wasn’t to its full extent.

The Varcolac shrieked again, but Valden’s wolf lunged with earth-shaking force. The ground trembled under the weight of his charge and they collided mid air, beast against beast.

The Varcolac’s talons carved bloody gashes across Valden’s flank, but his wolf didn’t relent yet. He slammed the creature against the steel, the walls groaning with the impact. His jaws locked around its throat, ripping through the muscle and sinew, pulling black ichor that smoked like acid.

The tunnel became a cage of violence. Their snarls and roars thundered, deafening in the narrow space. Blood spattered the floor in thick smears and I hoped to hell it wasn’t Valden’s.

But I could only watch, helpless. My body didn’t feel like mine anymore. Every ounce of strength was being siphoned away little by little. The curse pulled harder as my veins burned until it felt like my skin was blistering with the heat.

The Varcolac thrashed wildly, slamming Valden into the ground, and then into the wall, tearing at him with monstrous fury. But his wolf fought back relentlessly. His teeth tried hard to find purchase again and again, ripping chunks of shadow-flesh until the Varcolac shrieked in desperation. But it wasn’t done.

Dark mist began to seep from its body, curling like smoke from a broken vessel. And then Valden was suddenly thrown back. I watched through blurry eyes as the Varcolac crashed over his wolf and buried its jaws into his neck. It was pinning him against the wall with claws digging deep into his chest.

"No, I can’t let that happen," my whisper was barely audible. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking but I summoned what little power I had and sent a burst of it right at the Varcolac.

The world around me fractured and the lights seemed to flicker. I wasn’t even sure if I was able to save Valden. I wasn’t even sure if he was alive.

The tunnel stretched and shrank like a hallucination. My knees buckled and my chest burned, every breath felt like it was shallower than the last.

But then I heard the fight still raging on, and over all that, I heard Valden again.

A deep agonizing howl.

It split through the tunnels, reverberating through every bone in my body. I clung to that sound, tried to anchor myself to it, to hold onto something real. But the darkness entering my vision was stronger and my body gave out finally.

The last thing I felt was the warmth of the bond searing through me and the sound of Valden’s howl echoing in the dark.