Chapter 386: Change

Chapter 386: Chapter 120: Change

Destiny heard Dane calling her name.

His voice seemed to come from somewhere far away, muffled beneath a heavy silence that pressed against her ears. She tried to answer, but she could not feel her mouth moving. She could not feel the stones beneath her back or the hands that held her. There was only the distant sound of fighting and the desperate voice that kept calling her home.

Dane.

She knew that voice. She knew the fear in it, though she could not understand why he sounded so afraid. She had been fighting beside him. She remembered the wolves, the dagger skittering out of her hand, and the pain that had torn through her when their teeth found her flesh. She remembered how not one of them had turned toward anyone else. She remembered trying to reach him.

Had she failed?

She tried to open her eyes.

Nothing happened.

Then warmth touched her chest.

It began as a faint sensation beneath the coldness, a small point of heat that spread outward until she could feel it pulsing against her skin. The warmth did not come from Dane’s hands. It came from something lying against her side, where her blood had run across it, something that seemed to recognize her even when she could no longer recognize herself.

The Heart Stone.

She did not know how it had come to be there. Aurora had been holding it.

She remembered the priestess’s warning about the curse remaining inside Aurora even after its spread had been halted. She remembered the black veins beneath Dane’s skin, the way his strength had failed him, and the moment her blood had touched the stone before. She had never understood why it answered her.

Now it was answering again.

The light behind her closed eyes intensified.

Dane’s voice broke through the silence.

“Destiny, please.”

The sound pulled at her. She wanted to reach for him, to tell him she was still there, but her body felt impossibly distant. She could not summon the strength to move a finger.

Ramon spoke somewhere above him, low and urgent. “Dane. The stone.”

Then something changed.

The warmth became a fierce, living current. It swept through her chest and down her arms, reaching the places where the wolves had bitten her. Pain followed, sharp enough to make her gasp inside the darkness. It was not the pain of teeth tearing flesh. It felt as though something buried deep within her was being dragged into the light.

A second pulse answered the first, stronger, and she felt the darkness around her recoil.

She did not know whether she was dying or being pulled back from death. She only knew that the stone was drawing something out of her blood, and whatever it touched seemed to recognize the curse that had nearly taken her life.

The silence broke.

She heard a wolf cry out.

Then another.

The sounds were no longer the mindless snarls that had filled the courtyard. They were cries of agony, confused and frightened, coming from creatures that seemed suddenly aware of their own suffering.

Destiny tried again to open her eyes.

This time, her eyelids moved.

Light flooded her vision. For a moment, she could see nothing beyond the brilliant glow spreading from the Heart Stone. It covered the stones beneath her, climbed over the bodies of the dead wolves, and spilled into the courtyard.

The fighting had stopped.

Or perhaps the warriors had simply fallen silent.

She could hear the wounded groaning, the scrape of claws against stone, and the ragged breathing of the people gathered around her. Somewhere nearby, someone was calling for the priestess.

Then Dane’s face appeared above hers.

His expression frightened her more than the pain. He was human again, blood streaked along his jaw and down his neck, his shoulder torn open and dark with it. His eyes were fixed on her with such desperate intensity that she could barely bear to look at him.

“Dane,” she whispered.

He went completely still.

For a heartbeat, neither of them moved. Then he lowered his head until his forehead rested against hers.

“You’re here.”

His voice cracked on the words.

Destiny wanted to reassure him, but she had barely enough strength to breathe. She could feel his hands trembling against her cheeks, and she tried to lift one of her own to cover them.

Her arm moved only a little.

Dane caught her hand before it fell.

“Don’t move. Please, just stay with me.”

The Heart Stone pulsed again between them.

Destiny’s gaze shifted toward it. Its surface had changed. The dark red light that had filled it was threaded now with silver, and the lines beneath its surface moved like veins carrying living blood.

She could feel something passing through the stone, through her, and outward into the courtyard. It was more than warmth now. It was a presence, a force that met the curse wherever it found it.

The pain in her wounds began to ease.

It did not disappear, but it eased.

She drew a shallow breath, then another. Her body still felt weak, and every movement hurt, yet the terrible coldness that had settled inside her was retreating.

Dane followed her gaze to the stone. His free hand went flat against his own chest, over the place where the phantom bite had burned since the hall, and he stared down at it.

“The burning’s gone,” he said. Then, rougher, “What is it doing?”

She shook her head faintly. “I don’t know.”

The truth frightened her. She had watched the stone respond to her blood before without ever understanding why. But this was different. She could feel the difference. Whatever had begun was no longer confined to her wounds.

The light had reached the nearest cursed wolf.

It lay several paces away, its body twisted against the broken trough. At first, it struggled violently, scraping its claws across the stones. Then its movements faltered. Its head struck the ground, and a terrible, choking sound came from its throat.

Dane shifted as if to rise, but Destiny tightened her fingers around his.

“Wait.”

He looked down at her. “You need help.”

“So do they.”

She did not know how she knew. She only knew that the same warmth she felt inside her was moving toward the wounded creature. The black veins beneath its coat stood out sharply, then began to fade in thin, uneven lines.

The wolf’s body shuddered.

Its jaws opened, but no snarl came out. Instead, a weak, broken whimper escaped it.

Destiny stared.

The curse was changing.

She pushed herself onto one elbow, ignoring Dane’s attempt to stop her. The movement sent pain through her side, and she nearly collapsed again. He caught her immediately, supporting her against his chest.

“Easy.”

She clutched his arm and kept her eyes on the wolf.

Its massive frame began to shrink. The blackened fur receded in patches, revealing skin beneath. Its claws shortened, and the unnatural darkness in its eyes gave way to a frightened, bewildered stare.

Then the transformation stopped.

A man lay where the wolf had been.

He was naked, shaking, and gasping for breath. His hands flew to his face as he looked around the courtyard. When he saw the blood on the stones and the bodies scattered across them, terror filled his expression.

“What happened to me?”

The question carried across the sudden quiet.

No one answered him immediately.

Destiny’s breath caught. She had seen cursed wolves briefly regain their human features before, but this was different. The man remained human. The black veins had vanished from his skin.

The curse had loosened its hold.

A movement beyond him drew her attention. Another wolf collapsed as the silver light reached it. Its body convulsed, and its cries echoed against the sanctuary walls. One by one, the cursed wolves began to fall, their monstrous forms struggling against something they could no longer overcome.

The Alpha remained beyond the shattered gates.

Even from where she lay, Destiny could see him resisting the light. His enormous body stiffened, and the dark veins beneath his coat throbbed as though something inside him were fighting to keep its grip. The wolves nearest him crowded together, but the ring they had held around him since the first charge had begun to break. Several stumbled away, their attention no longer fixed on the battle.

The Alpha threw back his head and released a roar that shook the courtyard.

The Heart Stone answered with a pulse of silver light.

Destiny felt the force of it pass through her chest. For one terrible instant, it seemed to draw every remaining measure of strength from her. Her fingers slipped from Dane’s arm, and the world tilted.

“Dane-“

He tightened his hold on her.

“Stay with me!”

She heard the fear return to his voice, and she fought against the darkness threatening to close over her again. The stone was using her blood, but she could not tell how much it would demand before its work was done.

She was a healer. She knew that blood could sustain life, but it could also be lost. She knew that a body could only endure so much.

And she could feel how little strength remained in hers.

The priestess arrived at last, pushing through the gathered warriors with a healer’s satchel clutched against her chest. She dropped beside Destiny and examined her wounds, then froze when she saw the Heart Stone resting against her blood-soaked clothes.

“What have you done?” she whispered.