A Wolf's Miracle

Chapter 42

I had no idea why Harlan's words had hurt me so much. I'd heard them all before. 

Well, that's not true, I did know. It hurt me because I love him and he was pushing me away again. He was in pain and wouldn't let me reach out to him.

I went to bed angry and had the strangest dream

____

She was running, running faster than I could follow. Her steps were trailed by shadows and when she looked back I saw her ice-coloured eyes filled with fear.

Violette.

She was wearing what used to be a long red gown but now was torn into pieces by what looked like extraordinarily sharp teeth.

"Ah ah ah" a deep male voice sounded all around her. "Where are you running to, princess?" a deep voice said with an accent.

She stopped and looked around. "Stop following me, this has nothing to do with you" she cried, terror in her voice. What could terrify her so much? Her? 

The air was filled with the aroma of sulfur and the first thing I saw was his hand around her neck. His black nails matched his smudged eyeliner perfectly and his hair was short and messy just like his outfit. 

The man before me was so handsome he looked like a movie star, one that partied too hard and woke up looking disheveled but still handsome. He was dressed in all black, the buttons of his shirt were practically all open. He had a long chain around his neck with a pendant I couldn't see clearly, it was some sort of a circle with something in the middle.

"Andras, please" she choked out bringing my attention back to her. He was killing her. Why wasn't she fighting back? I had no idea if he could kill her, but he seemed to be succeeding at impeding her from breathing.

I made to move to her but I was frozen in place. And that was when I looked at my hands again and saw I was once again transparent. But this experience was different, I was far away from my body and stuck in place. The short glance Violette gave me made me realize maybe this was her doing. Was she concealing me from him?

He laughed, deep and guttural as he squeezed her neck harder, his rings leaving an imprint. "Oh, how I love to hear you beg" his voice was erotic and his British accent addicting. "But this time you won't escape from me, little fox" his smile was terrifying but somehow attractive, this man emanated power and seduction, it was confusing.

Violette seemed to be caught in the same trance I was, stuck between scared and turned on. But she snapped out of it fast as she looked at him with pleading eyes "You have nothing to do with this, don't let him drag you into his business"

"I am a man of my word, beautiful," he said as he carefully caressed her cheek "A deal was made."

Violette never glanced at me again, I had a feeling that if she had he would have discovered me. This man must have been extremely dangerous, was he some sort of warlock? He definitely looked the part.

Violette thought for a moment and then said "What do you want?"

He seemed surprised "What do you mean?" he asked, easing the pressure on her neck.

"I know you, Andras, you never make a deal you can't get out of," she smiled "because there's always something you want more."

He gave her a cunning smile as he leaned in and whispered something in her ear I wasn't able to hear. His pink lips grazed her ear in a teasing manner. She shuttered as he released her, she didn't even take a step back, I suspect her ego didn't let her.

"I--" she started but she looked at me, maybe wondering if I'd heard. Whatever he'd just said was something she didn't want anyone to know.

As soon as she realized what she'd done she looked away but it was too late, the warlock was on me.

"What do we have here?" I blinked and something pushed me miles away, it was like being sucked back into my body.

____

I woke up and didn't think twice as I ran across the hall and banged on Harlan's door.

"What?" he asked, annoyed as he opened the door, but that emotion was replaced by worry when he took in my panicked state.

"She's in danger! And the warlock grabbed her by the neck but he smelled so weird and--"

"Calm down," Harlan said grabbing me by the shoulders, steading me "Tell me what happened"

"I traveled again, but this time I was with Violette and she was running from something, her dress was destroyed and it seemed no matter how fast she ran she couldn't avoid him" I tried, still talking too fast "He appeared out of thin air, smelling like sulfur grabbed her by the throa--"

"Like sulfur?" He asked.

"Yeah but--"

"Are you sure it was sulfur?" he seemed extremely worried and I nodded "Shit" he ran a hand through his hair and started walking toward the stairs. I followed, confused as to why he was stuck in that detail.

"Wait, I'm not done, the warlock then--"

"He wasn't a warlock" he interrupted once again taking a deep breath as he stopped and turned around to face me "What you saw wasn't a warlock, it was a demon" I was processing that as he said "And a very powerful one if Violette was scared of him" he started walking again.

"What? Where are you going?" I asked, unable to keep up.

"I need to find her, she might be in danger," he said "Please tell me the rest." He seemed extremely worried, and that for some reason, irked me.

"He called her little fox, said she wouldn't escape this time, he said he'd made a deal," I said, trying my hardest to remember the details but it all seemed fuzzy now. "She told him to stay out of it, she hid me from him but in the end he saw me, that is all I remember" I was trying my hardest.

"He saw you?" He asked, blood draining from his face.

"Yes, but I was pushed back into my body for some reason," I said thinking back to the abrupt end of the trip.

"Fuck" he said and before I knew it he grabbed my hand and dragged me all the way to the infirmary.

"What are you doing?" I asked, it was very late, not a good idea to barge in on Callum.

"Yes, what are you doing?" Callum said, rubbing his eyes, he had fallen asleep on his desk. I had a feeling that was why he had back problems at such a young age.

"I don't have time to explain to you" he put his hands on my shoulders once again and calmly said "You'll be safe here, tell Callum everything that happened. I have to go out and find her."

He didn't even wait for me to respond before he became a blur, running so fast I almost missed him.