novelraw Chapter 535: Dogs And Leashes
Chapter 535: Dogs And Leashes
Zubair did not let himself believe that Sera was alive until he confirmed it three separate ways.
First of all, her chest rose. Barely, but it moved a fraction of a centimeter as her lungs forced themselves to draw air into them. Next, the warmth of her skin against his palm let him breathe just a little bit more, knowing that at least half of her had the blood circulating. Finally, he could hear just the faintest sound of her heart as it struggled to beat in time.
Her body was in rough condition, but it was fighting.
Now, he could only hope that the rest of her had just as much fight.
Yes, she was alive, but the problem was that she wasn’t there...
The cut that had cleaved through her torso had sealed shut, causing her blood to start slowing down, but the healing wasn’t clean. Normally, the moment something hit her, a bullet, a knife, an rpg, her body healed before he had time to think about the impact.
One second there was a hole, and the next, she was perfectly fine.
But this closure was wrong.
The flesh had fused together unevenly, scarred and raised, and a dark purple color against skin that should have erased the damage entirely.
It looked less like healing and more like something had forced the wound shut with staples and sheer will.
Zubair hated it on sight.
He crouched beside her in the churned earth, one hand braced at her shoulder, the other hovering over the line of damage without touching it.
Heat coiled under his skin, tight and furious, demanding to be let out, but he kept it contained.
Burning the world down wouldn’t wake her. And at this point, in her current state, he couldn’t promise that he wouldn’t hurt her, too, if he did.
"Talk to me," he said quietly, because he didn’t know what else to do.
Unfortunately for him, Sera didn’t respond.
Her lashes rested against her cheeks, too still. Her breathing stayed shallow, controlled by something that was not her.
That was almost worse than the silence.
Lachlan, or whoever had taken over his body, stood a few steps away, the rainwater from the storm a few seconds ago still sliding off him.
He had been completely changed, just like Elias had been changed. Just like Alexei had been changed.
His skin was darker now, a deep blue gray that seemed to absorb light instead of reflecting it. His ears were no longer fully rounded and instead narrowed slightly at the tips. His eyes were dark, shot through with pale silver, and there wasn’t much emotion in them anymore. Like everything had been seen and done.
Even his hair had grown longer, thicker, and was streaked with white that hadn’t been there before.
That wasn’t even taking into account his new body. Lachlan had always been tall, but now he was built like a brick wall. His muscles seemed to have muscles, like he was built for strength and endurance rather than speed or flexibility.
Zubair didn’t have to ask.
Lachlan was gone and he had no idea who stood in his place.
Lachlan turned to look at him, like he felt his gaze. "I am Caerwyn, High Seelie Lord of the Storms and protector of the Lost Daughter."
While those words didn’t seem to mean anything to Lachlan, he could see Psycho and Aerenyx react to them.
"The Lost Daughter is a myth. Something that the Record keepers tell to keep children in line. There has not been a Lost Mother, so there is no Lost Daughter," sneered Psycho, his hand clenching at his sides.
"The Unseelie have no say in Seelie matters," replied Caerwyn, his voice calm and even like he was speaking to someone so far beneath his notice that he had to teach the rules to. "I’m surprised that you are still here, to tell you the truth. I thought you would be long gone the moment you got control of your hosts."
Zubair looked up sharply as Aerenyx took a step forward. "This is not the time for a pissing contest," he snarled. "In case you have missed it, Sera is dying and not one of you fucking fairies is actually helping the situation."
"You know that there is something wrong if Zaddy had started swearing," answered Psycho, but the toothy smile on his face did not match the look in his eyes. "If I didn’t know better, I would think that this human is telling us what to do."
"And this is why they Unseelie cannot be depended on," sighed Caerwyn as he pushed Psycho out of the way. "Too convinced of their own superiority to care about the only thing in this world or the next worth caring about.
His gaze flicked to the sealed wound, then back to Zubair’s face as both Aerenyx and Psycho got even closer to Sera. "Something appears to have intervened. It wasn’t powerful enough to completely save her, but it did heal her enough to keep her from dying right away."
Psycho let out a low sound behind them, not amused. "So she’s paused."
"If the Seelie is to be believed...yes," Aerenyx agreed. "And paused is as good of a word as any."
Zubair swallowed.
Paused meant unfinished.
He pressed two fingers to her throat again, even though he’d already checked. Pulse. Present. Steady enough to mock him.
"Can you wake her," he asked.
Both Caerwyn and Aerenyx shook their heads. "No."
That answer landed harder than Zubair expected.
"Can anyone heal her?" he demanded looking around the clearing, praying for a miracle.
"No," Aerenyx repeated, without apology.
Zubair’s creature surged, furious and focused. This is unacceptable. She is not an object to be set aside. She is not a task left incomplete. Find the cause of her injury and remove it from this Earth.
"I will," Zubair said aloud.
He looked at the bodies scattered along the ruined cut in the land. Or what remained of them. Storm damage had erased most identifying features, but some details survived violence.
Uniform fragments. Pale cloth. Reinforced seams.
"Who were they?" Zubair asked, tilting his head in the direction of the dead bodies.
Aerenyx didn’t hesitate. "Seelie Wardens."
The words felt wrong immediately and even Caerwyn let out a low growl as his muscles seemed to ripple under his clothes.
The fact that he hadn’t disagreed worried Zubair even more. "Explain."
"They enforce succession law," Caerwyn explained, his eyes narrowing on the bodies. "Borders. Bloodline violations. Threat assessment related to thrones and inheritance. They are meant to keep the Seelie Court in line so that no one is able to dispute the validity of the sitting King."
Psycho tilted his head. "The Unseelie have their own version. But I thought they were supposed to be ceremonial."
"They’re supposed to be obedient to the current ruler," Aerenyx corrected.
Zubair’s gaze snapped back to Sera. "Then why were they here."
Aerenyx’s mouth tightened. "Because someone told them she was a problem."
Caerwyn exhaled slowly. "The worst part is that they used an Unseelie blade. Seelie Wardens should not have Unseelie blades. It goes against everything that they are supposed to stand for."
"That means we have a problem," grunted Zubair, comforted by the fact that he now had a plan starting in his head. "They are nothing more than dogs. We need to find who is holding their leashes."
"Yes," agreed Caerwyn. "But you aren’t going to be going after them alone."