I dropped my arm to my side, my eyes drifting closed. Just before darkness fully enveloped me, it was chased away by a warm embrace. His familiar scent hit me, and his voice came in my ear. “Sorry, I’m late.”
Rufus’ POV
The moment I caught sight of Crystal, my heart wrenched violently inside my chest. Then anger took over.
Damn that Lee! I would never let him go for this!
I hurried out of my coat and wrapped it around Crystal; then I picked her up in my arms. It was a blur, but I managed to bring her back to the imperial palace in less than an hour.
The doctor was already waiting when we arrived. As soon as he saw the state that Crystal was in, his face changed drastically. “Your Majesty, how did she get hurt this severely?”
Crystal looked like I had just pulled her out of a sea of blood. Her hair and fingers were dripping with it, and she was barely breathing. Anyone who saw her would understandably be horrified.
But I didn’t dare to waste any time on trifles. I handed her over to the medical staff. “Treat her immediately.”
Before long, the doctor came up to me and shared his diagnosis. Crystal was suffering from power strife. Three forces were rampaging unchecked inside her body. She could explode from the sheer power of she contained at any given time.
“I’m afraid there is no medicine that can help her. All we can do is to administer some painkillers. The rest is up to her.” The doctor lowered his head, his expression torn between panic and helplessness.
“You can’t help her?” I roared. “Then what the Fuck is the use of having you here?! All of you, move and see what you can do to treat her! If she dies, so will you!”
The doctors dropped to their knees in fear as my powers surged over them.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, telling myself to calm down. When I felt like in control of my rage, I spoke again, gently this time. “You must save her, no matter what. I don’t want to hear such ambiguous nonsense from you again. And be sure to keep the fact that she currently holds three powers inside her a secret. I don’t want anyone finding out.”
The doctors nodded and rushed away to convene and come up with a treatment plan. I had never expected things to develop like this. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the kind of torture she had had to endure by herself. Regret washed over me. I should have found her sooner.
I didn’t think Lee would turn out to be a vampire. It looked like their legion had infiltrated the werewolf packs and taken root.
I ruffled my hair in frustration. I hate feeling powerless. I hate that Crystal was fighting for her life. I didn’t want her to die. Her children were still so young, and she couldn’t just leave them to fend for themselves.
When I first learned that her daughter possessed the blood of a black witch, I had already guessed that Crystal must be something of a hybrid of witch and werewolf. These two powers were difficult to balance as it was, and now, the vampire’s blood curse was making the situation even worse.
As difficult as it was, I forced myself to pray that she would be all right. It was all that I could do at the moment.
All of a sudden, I heard a crash from inside the room. I barged through the door and rushed inside.
The shelf by the bed was empty, and things were scattered all over the floor. Crystal was there, too, curled up into a ball and groaning in pain. Her body was drenched in sweat.
My eyes were arrested on the horrible scratches on her arm.
I felt as though my heart had been speared by a lance as I watched her claw at herself. I strode over, crouched down, and grabbed her hands to keep her from hurting herself any further.
Crystal was delirious, and her body was hot. She was running a fever. “It hurts. It hurts so much! Please kill me. Make it stop!”
“I’m sorry, Crystal. I know you’re in pain.” My throat tightened, and I had to swallow my words. I cupped her face and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “But you can’t die. You must not die. No matter what happens, you need to hold on, do you hear me? Think about your son and your daughter. You can’t leave them behind.”
“No! Please… It hurts too much…” Crystal shuddered in my embrace, and then she suddenly grabbed my arm so tightly, her nails were digging into my skin. ‘Please, just kill me! I want to die! Please! Ease my suffering…”
Rufus’ POV
Crystal was being tortured, not just by one, but by three different kinds of power. Her veins stood out on the back of her hands, and her body continued to burn.
I carried her back to the bed and prepared a basin of water to wipe her with. I needed to get her temperature down first.
No medicine could help her, and from what I had just seen, the painkillers didn’t do much, either.
If Crystal’s fever continued much longer, her body might burn to ashes before it could explode.
Towels were changed one after another, the basin emptied and refilled repeatedly. The blood curse was so potent that several towels caught sparks of flames as soon as they made contact with her skin. I couldn’t even imagine the pain Crystal must be going through.
The blood stains on her body were cleaned, but she was sweating endlessly.
I stared at her face, twisted in agony, and my heart ached. I didn’t even understand why I was reacting like that, but I was adamant about not letting her die. I refused to even entertain the possibility. If I could, I would have traded places with her in a heartbeat.
I wiped the sweat off her face in a loving caress. I didn’t know what else to do. How could I comfort her? How could I make this better?
Words were of no use at this time. I just wish I could be the one in pain instead of her. Damn that bastard, Lee! I will haunt him down and chop him into pieces!
My violent tendencies began to stir in the pit of my stomach, and the desire to destroy kept building and building up. I hadn’t felt this impulse since the moon curse was removed from me.
My first thought was that I was going crazy. How could I suddenly harbor such barbaric thoughts? This cunning witch on the bed must have really cast a spell on me. Why else would I dream about her again and again? And every time I was in her presence. I felt… oddly at peace.
I put the towel away and took her hand. “In any case, you need to wake up. You promised Beryl that you would take her to fly some kites, remember? It’s going to be sunny in the next few days. You should get better soon and take advantage of the fine weather. And Arron… You have yet to explain to me why he resembles me so much. Aren’t you worried that without you, I would mistreat your kids?”
I paused, but there was no reaction from Crystal. I sighed and continued. “You love the children so much. Surely, you can’t bear to leave them behind, can you? I promise you this, as long as you wake up, I will grant you your freedom. I will never restrain you again. You can return to the border pack if that is what you want. I know you cherish your freedom. There are so many rules in the imperial palace, right? You must have felt suffocated this entire time.”
I let out a self-derisive chuckle. I didn’t even know what I was trying to accomplish, but I felt a tug at my heart with every sentence I said. And when I spoke of setting Crystal free, I felt a crushing pain sweep over me.
“If you refuse to wake up, I will throw Arron and Beryl to the orphanage, where they will have nothing and no one to rely on.” I would never do that, of course. But I needed to get a reaction from Crystal, and the only way I knew how was to mention something that would stimulate her. If Crystal really died, I didn’t think I would mind raging a full-on war against the vampires.
At last, my words seemed to have reached her. Crystal cracked her eyes open ever so slightly, and managed to squeeze out a few words in her feeble voice. “Don’t… Don’t hurt them…”
As soon as she said that, her back arched up, and she let out a bloodcurdling scream. She flailed in the sheets and began scratching her arms again.
I quickly loomed over her and pinned her hands to the bed. “Crystal, hang in there. Please, just hold on. You’ll be fine soon.”
“No! Please kill me! It hurts too much.” Crystal continued to scream and cry out, her body twisting this way and that. At some point, I grew scared she might bite her tongue and bleed to death.
As both my hands were engaged with holding her down, I felt I had no choice but to use my mouth Without wasting another second, I swooped down and pressed my lips against hers.
Rufus’ POV
I coaxed Crystal to open up to me as I leaned closer.
When she did, I touched her tongue with mine, hoping that it would distract her. Sure enough, I felt her slowly relax. It fed into my relief, and I, too, relaxed and gentled the kiss.
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