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“OK, I guess. It’s going to be tough, but at least we were civil. Making him my enemy is too much drama.”
“I don’t like saying this, but it’s clear that Kieran’s keeping something from you,” Cruz said. Maren swallowed, looking away. Kieran had a lot of secrets, so it wasn’t a complete surprise.
I was a bit surprised, so I just said, “Why do you think that?”
“Well, every time he thinks he’s cut us off, he starts muttering about you,” Cruz stated. “Right, Maren?”
Maren nodded. My eyebrows went up in surprise, and I opened my mouth a bit. I didn’t really know how to respond to that. What was he muttering?
“What does he say?” I asked, thinking about whether I should hear this information or leave it.
“He moans to himself about how stupid he is. That one’s right. He put you through a lot of crap,” Cruz said. He kept on saying how he missed you, and the other day he was on the phone for hours, going on about how good it felt to have you in his arms.
“Um,” I said, feeling a bit embarrassed as the blood started to rush up to my cheeks. “He didn’t know you were listening?”
“You know, sometimes you forget that you haven’t put up the link block if something’s bugging you,” Maren said, looking at me cautiously. “He’s always talking about you. He’d swear every time he realised we were listening, but none of us had the courage to ask him what was going on.”
“Why would he talk about me?” I asked. I felt butterflies in my stomach. My heart was beating really fast.
“You’re his mate,” Maren said, shrugging. “I guess.”
“He’s got a girlfriend,” I pointed out. “I don’t like saying this, but if he wanted to be with me, he wouldn’t be with Pamela right now.”
“He loves her,” Cruz said frankly. Maren gave him a good smack across the chest. Sadly, we knew that news a while back. But it still made me feel down and more depressed. “But I think there’s more to the story than Kieran’s letting on.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve got no idea either, but I reckon he’s keeping something under wraps,” Cruz said.
“He’s definitely keeping a lot under wraps,” Maren agreed, nodding her head. “He’s been acting a bit differently recently.”
“What do you mean by different?”
“He’s been acting weird. He’s been a bit moody and short-tempered,” Cruz answered for Maren.
“Why?”
“Wouldn’t we all want to know?”
I was trying to get my head around all the info. I had a lot of questions, but I had a feeling that Maren and Cruz didn’t have the answers. They were just as clueless and curious as I was.
“I think he still loves her,” Maren started to say, but then the front door opened with a bang.
It was so loud that the three of us jumped a foot in the air. We looked at each other, a bit puzzled. We were taken aback when we heard screams of agony, shouting, and the rushing of feet across the tiled floors.
“Something happened,” Maren said, sounding worried, as she stood up. “Lila just linked me.”
“What?” I asked, gripping her arm. She just stared at the entrance of the living room with frightened eyes. Her face went pale and she was muttering to herself, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying.
Cruz’s face looked a lot like Maren’s. He got up as fast as he could. He was just about to jump over the couch when the commotion came in.
My eyes opened really wide and I felt dizzy. I let out a loud gasp, not meaning to. My hands started to shake and I felt a cold shiver run down my spine.
Beck burst into the room, shirtless, muttering something to Brielle. Brielle was in his arms, her little body covered in Beck’s light blue t-shirt. She was writhing around in his arms, screaming in pain. Beck was shaking and crying as he shouted orders at Cruz. Lila tried to whisper something comforting to Luca, whose face was all red. He was crying. After he punched the wall hard, he tangled his hands in his blonde hair.
Then I looked at Brielle’s stomach and saw dark red blood soaking through the fabric of Beck’s T-shirt.
“She was stabbed,” Beck said, pushing Brielle’s hair away from her pale face. “She’s dying from the w-wolfbane.”
“Can you help her, Talia?” Luca’s voice was barely above a whisper as he looked at me with bloodshot eyes. “Please heal her.”
Everyone started yelling. They started to get things together, grabbing blankets, water and other essentials. Everything was a bit of a mess, but that was overshadowed by the favour that Luca had asked of me.
“Can you help her, Talia?” Luca’s voice was barely above a whisper as he looked at me with bloodshot eyes. “Please heal her.”
“Talia, please,” Beck begged. My chest tightened when I heard how broken he sounded. “Please, I’m begging you.”
I really felt for Brielle. She was like a sister to me and I couldn’t stand seeing her in so much pain or the thought of her dying. I closed my eyes when she coughed, blood spluttering out.
The commotion was much louder now. Everyone was pitching in as much as they could.
“I’ll link Logan,” I said, a bit scared. “He’ll be here in a jiffy, I’m sure.”
“We don’t have time,” Luca said, frustrated. He was pacing around the living room, and he felt more and more annoyed every minute. “You’ve got to do it, Talia. She’s dying! My sister is dying!”
If I had even the slightest bit of talent for healing, I would have given it a shot without a second thought. The only problem was that healing wasn’t my strong suit. If I’d taken a chance, her injury would’ve got worse and she would’ve died because of my mistake. But if I didn’t even try and she died, it would still be my fault.
My head was spinning and my tongue felt like sandpaper. I was all sweaty on my forehead and my head was pounding. I couldn’t do that.
“Please,” Logan said, his voice breathless as Brielle’s screams started to falter.
“What happened?” Kieran yelled as he ran into the room. When he saw the commotion, he threw his hand in his dark hair. “Shit.”
“Brielle ran ahead of us to show us something. That’s when two hunters came out of the bushes and one stabbed Brielle,” Lila said, her voice wobbly. She looked down at Brielle and cried. “Beck and Luca finished the hunters while I tried to help Brielle. That’s when we realised – figured out – that the wound was – was,” Lila continued. She didn’t even manage to finish her statement.
“Talia’s getting weaker,” Luca screamed, pointing at his sister. “Help.”
“I might mess it up,” I replied, feeling a bit guilty. “If I try, it could make things worse. I don’t want her to die because of my mistake.”
“Talia,” Kieran said, coming over to me and grabbing my head in between his hands. His blue eyes met mine. “You could totally do this. Just focus. Don’t just stand there if you’re the only one who can do something about it. She’s dying, Talia. Just focus. Take a breath. You could do it.”
I looked at Brielle. Her skin was so pale. Her eyes kept rolling back, but Beck refused to let her sleep. She let out a moan of pain.
I had to do something. I had to give it a go.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” I said quietly, looking into Kieran’s piercing blue eyes.
“You’ll be fine,” Kieran said, letting go of my face.
Everyone went quiet as I started giving orders. “Beck, I need you to lay her on the couch. Can someone get water, a whole roll of napkins and fresh clothes for Brielle, please? I also need a first aid kit,” I said, feeling much more confident.
Beck put Brielle on the couch, gently. She let out a soft moan, clearly in pain. Lila, Cruz and Maren got all the materials next to me in the next minute. Beck grabbed his mate’s hand. Luca was standing next to his twin sister, stroking her hair.
I felt like I was going to be sick when I ripped the shirt where the wound was. There were a few gasps – including mine – when we saw the deep cut on Brielle’s flat stomach. Blood was gushing out of it. The wound was going black from the wolfbane.