Page 38 of Rising Reign (The Wolves of Crescent Creek #3)
WREN
Everything happened so fast it was like I could only pluck individual snapshots out of the air. Those haunting, dead eyes. The glint of the blade in the air. The pure fury in Franco’s expression.
And then something else—something that had everything in me seizing in sheer panic. A flash of movement I recognized instantly as Ender. Movement that put him directly in Franco’s path at the last possible second.
The knife struck Ender in the chest, just beneath his shoulder, and he let out a grunt of pain as he sent Franco stumbling back in pain. A second later, Brix sent two knives flying at the man. They pinned him to the wall as he spat and struggled, raging in a language I’d never heard before.
The entire gym erupted, but I only had eyes for Ender. Only the handle of the knife was visible now. It was bejeweled with ancient language on the handle. And the etchings were glowing .
I could hear Clyde in the background, trying to calm the patrons, telling them to stay put. All of that was minimized by the fact that Franco was hissing and spitting like some sort of zombie.
“I’ll handle the humans,” Eliza clipped. For a brief second, I feared that her handling them meant slaughtering them all where they stood, but as I glanced over my shoulder, I saw her eyes sparking with golden fire.
She made eye contact with each human other than Clyde and Juan, holding them captive with that stare as she spoke an incantation and then wove a different sort of story. “You came to the gym and had a normal workout. You had to leave early because a pipe burst. You won’t return until tomorrow.”
They all went to grab their belongings and filed out of the gym, calm as can be.
“How the hell?” Clyde muttered.
I didn’t care how, just that Eliza had done it. I turned back to Ender and moved in closer, but he held out a hand to stop me. “Don’t. I need to—” Ender gripped the handle and pulled the blade from his chest, letting out a pained groan and then a curse.
As the knife clattered to the floor, Franco writhed and fought harder, as though he’d do anything to get to that blade. Ender bent over, his chest heaving. “Fucking hell.”
I couldn’t stay back any longer. My hand went to his shoulder, trying to help him straighten. “Let me see.”
“Are we going to talk about the fact that my best friend looks like the fucking walking dead?” Juan snapped. “What the hell is happening? It’s like he’s possessed.”
Clara moved toward Franco, showing no fear as she studied him. “Not possessed. Spelled.”
“What in the actual fuck?” Juan cried.
Kingston shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Hera’s on her way.” He turned to Puck’s sister. “What do you know?”
I helped Ender stand fully, Brix at my side. And then true panic hit me. The wound. It was deep and oozing blood. But the blood bubbled as it spilled from him. “It’s not healing,” I croaked. “Why isn’t it healing?”
Clara turned, her focus dropping to the blade on the mat.
It no longer glowed, but the jewels in the handle still glittered under the gym’s bright lights.
“It’s an enchanted blade. It’s meant to capture someone’s soul essence, along with their power.
But it only works if it’s stabbed into the heart. ”
My hand instantly went to Ender’s wound, trying to discern how deep it had gone and exactly where it had landed. Panic swept through me in a vicious blaze. “It didn’t get your heart, did it?”
Sweat broke out on Ender’s brow. “Kitten, my soul’s right where it should be. It’s all good.”
But the pallor of his skin said otherwise. He was pale and clammy as he stumbled slightly. Brix caught him. “We need to lay him down.”
“I’m fine,” Ender bit out.
“You’re not,” Brix snapped. “Now, lay down and shut up.”
“I’d like it a lot better if Kitten was ordering me around,” he mumbled, wincing as Brix got him on the floor.
I sank to the mat next to him and took his hand. “Why?”
“I’m getting kind of partial to you, Kitten,” Ender wheezed.
Clara moved in closer, glancing at Brix. “Put pressure on the wound until your healer gets here. She’ll know what to do.”
Brix instantly did as she asked, leaning his full weight on Ender’s chest. Ender let out a stream of curses. “You might want to lay off the cookies.”
More sweat streamed from his face, and I gripped his hand harder, panic digging in. The thought of bonding with End flashed in my mind. I’d been able to keep Kingston here. Stopped him from slipping away. Maybe I could do the same for Ender.
“Don’t even think about it,” he croaked.
I tried my best to make my face a blank mask. “What?”
“Keep those pretty little teeth away from me. When I bond with you, it’s going to be because we both want it. Not because of some ridiculous ploy to keep me here.”
I bared my teeth at him. “If you die on me, I’ll never forgive you.”
“I’ll remember that when I haunt your ass,” Ender shot back.
“That’s not funny.” Tears pricked the corners of my eyes.
Ender squeezed my hand. “I’m not going anywhere, Kitten.”
Franco railed against the knives pinning him to the wall as he snarled and spat.
“You might want to get something else to hold him,” Clara suggested. “He’s not currently human.”
“Then what the hell is he?” Puck demanded of his sister.
“He’s got a demon controlling him through dark magic. There’s a way to remove the magic and the demon, but we need to confine him until your healer arrives,” Clara explained calmly.
King’s eyes narrowed on her. “How do you know all this?”
Clara looked him dead in the eyes. “Because a dark mage tried to kill me.”