Anton inclined his head in a formal bow. Thomas acknowledged it with a flick of his fingers before turning his back on Theo as he started screaming for mercy.
"Let's go. You don't need to see this next part." Liam didn't wait for my agreement, turning me and guiding me to the car, his hold firm.
Theo's screams followed us, the kind that I would hear in my nightmares, the kind that would haunt me for years to come. That piece of humanity I thought I was willing to part with, I wanted it back, even knowing it was too late now.
We got into the car, Thomas climbing into the front passenger seat as Eric took the driver's seat. We didn't say anything as we drove off, leaving Anton and his victim in the clearing.
"You were right about him," Thomas said as he stared out the window.
I turned my head to look at him but didn't say anything.
"He would have betrayed me in the end." I didn't know if the words were meant for me or for himself. "There was no other choice."
I took that to mean the decision regarding Theo's life had been a hard-fought one—up in the air until Thomas spoke with him. I went back to staring out the window as the car sped down the twisting road. I didn't know how I felt about that, or if I had any right to feel anything.
It was over. I had survived. That would have to be enough for now.
*
Two days after the full moon, I followed Sondra into the basement of Lou's Bar, my footsteps echoing harshly on the stairs as we descended. I’d slept for most of that time, exhausted from my trials. My sleep hadn’t been peaceful, instead interrupted by the voices of the dead. Even though I’d managed to save Caroline, I felt like I’d lost a large piece of myself by leaving Theo to die. It was an irrational feeling, but then feelings often were.
Events after Caroline’s fall from the cliff had unfolded exactly as Liam predicted. The wolves had chased Caroline to ground and battled each other the entire night, until Caroline collapsed into her post-shift coma shortly after sunrise. Once they’d come back to themselves, Caroline had been taken into custody
The only thing left to do was recover, gather our strength, and find a more palatable solution for Caroline’s dilemma.
I reached the bottom of the stairs, noticing the silver cages that rimmed the perimeter of the room. Only two of them were occupied. Caroline sat on the hard ground, facing the stairs as she looked out from behind the bars with a dead expression on her face. Lisa glared from a cage across from her.
I stopped at the sight of Caroline, momentarily off balance. Except for a few bruises that already looked weeks old, she looked unharmed. Physically, at least. Mentally and emotionally she looked bereft, as if she had lost that spark that made her Caroline.
"What did you do to her?" I hissed in a low voice at Sondra.
"Nothing. She's been like that since she woke up in here." Sondra looked upset about that fact. "She's not eating or drinking. She refuses to talk to any of us. I hoped you could get through to her."
So, that's why they let me down here with minimal argument when I showed up at Lou's. I thought I'd have to call in a few dozen favors to get this chance, but they'd shocked me by being reasonable for once.
Sondra watched her with sad, regretful eyes. "I don't understand this. Her wolf seemed to accept us toward the end."
"Perhaps it has something to do with being locked in another cage." My voice was acerbic.
She didn't respond to that.
“What do you plan to do with her?” I asked. “Last we spoke, you and Brax were entertaining the idea of putting her down.”
Sondra looked unsettled, her gaze going to Caroline. “That’s over now. I don’t know what happened that night, but her wolf has settled. She’s not experiencing the unstable shifts that were a side effect of the demon taint. Her bite has also become less deadly. Now that her wolf sees him as her alpha, Brax is able to exert some control over her. It has bought us some breathing room.”
That was very good news. Thomas had been most interested to learn about the wolf whose bite was lethal to all. Such a weapon in his hands would have meant bad things for any who opposed him. With that out of the equation, it meant Caroline could be a normal werewolf.
It did beg the question of whether any of Caroline’s stabilization stemmed from what I had done to the snarl of burnt umber and pitch-black webbing I’d seen in Caroline’s chest when she attacked me. Even now, it lay pliant and smooth, the strands of magic looking almost harmonious. Whatever I had done that night seemed to remain.
Caroline's eyes shifted to me. "Have you come to break me out?"
I stepped forward and stuffed my hands in my pockets. "Not exactly."
"Figures," she snorted.
"You're not eating?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow. "That doesn't seem very bright."
She lifted her shoulder in a shrug. "Haven't been hungry."
"They tell me you're not talking either."
"Hasn't been much to talk about." Her voice was sullen and very un-Caroline like.
I paused before taking a seat in front of her cell. We sat in silence for several moments as we each regarded the other. What I saw sent worry crashing through me. She looked defeated and without hope. And angry—so angry.
"Enough of this shit," I told her. "You're a werewolf. That sucks. You have to obey an alpha. That sucks too, believe me I know. What other option do you have?"
The look she slanted my way was full of wrath. "That's rich coming from someone who refuses to complete the century's service and won't let the vampires train her. I know you’re planning to move back into your apartment. Must be nice."
"Is that it? That's why you're acting like a three-year-old? Because I never fulfilled my contract?"
She shrugged one shoulder and gave me a look that said, “if the shoe fits”.
I growled. "You look at me, and tell me you're not a danger to others. Then maybe we'll talk."
She looked away.
"You damn near killed me, not just once, but twice. Brax and his wolves managed to put off their transformation for over two hours on the full moon. How long did you last?" It did not feel good confronting her with these truths. "Caroline, you're barely keeping it together. Listen to them. Let them help you. They're not your enemies."
"Like the vampires aren't yours?" She met my eyes with a stubborn gaze of her own.
I turned my head slightly, knowing that Liam was just upstairs out of sight, no doubt listening to everything that was being said. I'd been surprised when I'd arrived to find him and Eric having drinks at the bar with the wolves watching them for any sign of aggression.
I sighed, feeling like a hypocrite. How was I to help her when I'd bucked the system at every stage, unwilling to consign my life to another's control ever again? I rubbed my forehead as we sat in silence.
"Unless you're here to get me out, you might as well go. We have nothing to talk about." She looked away from me, trying to shut me out.
“Why are you so angry with me?” I asked. “Really?”
She had been from the get go. Beyond reason.
“You know why,” she said, some of her wolf making itself known in her voice.