Chapter 107: Keali Begged For The Life Of His Brother

Roiner

"He is gone!"

The doctor burst backward out of the medical room, his white coat stained with dark, sluggish rivers of blood, before dropping instantly to his knees on the wooden floorboards.

"We cannot save him!" the doctor sobbed, his voice cracking with utter despair as he clutched his head. "We have tried everything! We have sewn him back together, we have cauterized the bleeding... but he is bleeding internally from every severed artery. It is done. The prince will not live."

In the narrow hallway, the air turned instantly to ice.

Roiner and Keali stood side by side just outside the door. Roiner remained astonishingly calm, though deep down, he cared, knowing Malric the boy who shared a soul-bond with his own mate was going to die sent an ache through his chest.

Roiner stepped forward, his voice a smooth, steady baritone that cut through the doctor’s hysterics. "How long until the prince passes?"

The doctor trembled violently, looking up with tear-filled eyes. "Five minutes... ten at the absolute most. If you wish to say anything to him... now is the time."

Keali didn’t hesitate, he quickly pushed past the doctor, slipping directly into the dimly lit room where Malric laid on the blood-soaked bed. Roiner followed in silence, his footsteps completely noiseless against the floor.

Beside the bed, Keali dropped heavily to his knees, his hands frantically grasping at the fabric of Roiner’s trousers.

"My parents, they are busy with the witch. And I know she will not be able to break the curse placed on Malric. She is powerful."

"This isn’t proper, Keali. You must get up," Roiner murmured softly, looking down at the desperate boy. "I understand you are in unimaginable pain, but you must come to terms with the fact that the prince’s time has come. He will join the Moon Goddess."

"Please, save my brother!" Keali choked out, tears spilling down his cheeks as his fingers gripped Roiner’s pants with bone-crushing force. "Please!"

"I wish I could," Roiner replied, his voice laced with genuine, quiet regret. "But I am not a healer."

"You are a vampire!" Keali cried, his milky eyes flashing with wild, frantic desperation. Roiner’s eyes widened, the realization of Keali’s words finally dawning on him. "Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?"

"Yes!" Keali pleaded, his voice breaking. "Shift my brother! Turn him! You must make him a vampire. That is the only way he will live!"

The senior physician scrambled to his feet, waving his hands frantically. "Whoa! Calm down now, Prince Keali! Think about what you are saying! I do not think he will be able to survive the vampire transition. His body is already too shattered, it will violently clash with the wolf-shifter blood. It could kill him. It will be a gruesome, agonizing death!"

Keali turned his head, his face a mask of absolute resolve as he stared up at the doctor. "But at least there will be a chance of his survival. If we do nothing... he dies right here."

Roiner stared down at the kneeling prince "Keali, I don’t think this is a good idea" Roiner said, his brow furrowing deeply. "It is an unnatural, cruel act. The burden of becoming a vampire is no easy feat, and a cursed, half-undead life like that is not a gift for anyone."

"Roiner, please," Keali begged, his voice dropping into a trembling whisper. "I know you and my brother never got along. I know it is mostly because of your love for Travis... and his utter dislike of Travis... that you two constantly clashed."

"That is true," Roiner admitted quietly. "But, I still cann—"

"This is a matter beyond petty rivalries!" Keali interrupted, shaking his head. "Shall we wait for my parents to return?"

"And, that witch cannot undo the curse on Malric, it is simply too powerful" Keali argued fiercely. "I am telling you now, Omen’s magic might be able to undo our minor injuries, but what has been forcibly placed upon Malric is no easy feat to break."

Roiner stood silent, deeply reluctant.

Keali looked up, his expression hardening into something desperate and terrifying. "I truly hate to threaten people. I really, really do. I believe we all must make choices of our own free will." Keali swallowed hard, his voice dropping into a chilling ultimatum. "But if I lose my brother... then I have no reason left to live. Malric may seem like a terrible person and a terrible influence to most, but he is my blood. He is my brother. And that is why I am willing to go to absolute war for him."

Keali leaned in close, his voice dangerously low. "If you refuse, I will tell everyone in this entire academy the truth about Travis. I will tell them who he really is, what he really is, and expose every single secret you hold. You’d be surprised by the things I heard when people thought I was too far gone."

Roiner stared at the young prince. A rare flicker of deep, understanding compassion bloomed inside the vampire’s chest instead of annoyance. I have never lost much in my long life, Roiner thought, but I know the crushing terror of fearing what you can lose. I never truly understood that absolute agony until I found Aina... and perhaps that is why I can feel a profound, aching compassion for his current desperate situation.

Roiner looked down at Keali, his crimson eyes softening. "If I turn your brother... and he dies because his shattered body is unable to accept my vampire blood... you must understand, Keali, it is not my fault."

Keali nodded rapidly, tears tracking through the dirt on his face. "Yes. I accept that."

"But if he lives as well... and he furiously refuses to accept his new vampire lineage... you must be just as confident as you were today and take full responsibility for what you made me do. This is entirely on you."

"Yes," Keali whispered. "It is."

The doctor wrung his hands together, his face drained of all color. "Are we... are we actually doing this now?"

Before Roiner could answer, the doctor cleared his throat frantically, wiping cold sweat from his brow as he looked between Roiner and Keali. "If we are going to do this... if you are going to perform this, now is the time!"

Roiner stepped past Keali, walking slowly toward Malric’s bloody bed. The sight was horrifying. Malric’s body was a mangled jigsaw puzzle of crude medical stitches and heavy white bandages, soaked completely through with dark, seeping blood.