"She loved like she died. Deeply, and in the end, chaotic. I guess you didn't realize how much she had shook your world until she was dead. Until her blood painted the ground and her heart ceased to beat. She cried every night, you know. She would c...
Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us when we live. -Norman Cousins
I collapsed on the bed, shivering. Vincenzo closed the door behind us. "Araceli, you were dead." he murmured.
I flinched away from him when he sat next to me. He frowned, but refrained from touching me. "You should be mad. You should be livid I'm alive. You want me gone." I whispered.
I jerked away from his hand. "Ara, plea-" His words were cut off by my fire surrounding his fingers and burning him. He hissed in pain, "Araceli, what the fuck."
I shook and crawled to the back of the bed, away from him. I barely noticed Arcaen burst in. I was too focused on the voices whispering at me. I leaned my head against the bedpost, closing my eyes.
"Two wolves just killed themselves, alpha." Aracaen hissed.
Vincenzo cautiously grabbed my arm. "Come on." he whispered.
I growled at him, clutching my pounding head. Arcaen sighed, throwing me over his shoulder. I yelped, flailing in his arms. Vincenzo sighed and walked outside to the murmuring wolves. I slumped out of Arcaen's hold. I pushed through the crowd and nearly threw up at the sight. Two little girls cried over an old man's body and a young woman's. The woman's neck was red where a noose used to be. I turned away at the sight of the elder's slit throat. I've killed and the sight of two suicidal wolves breaks me.
"Who were they?" Vincenzo murmured.
"Two of the four wolves who were brought back to life when the witch died."
"Bring me every single witch from the cells!" he roared. "I want four wolves posted in and out of her room." he pointed to me.
I cautiously eyed the four volunteers who stepped up. It was the beta-female and the gamma-female, along with the burly males. They followed me when I stepped away. "What, afraid I'll kill myself?" I spat to Vincenzo. "Get them away." I hissed.
~
I followed Vincenzo when he went down to the cells. I was shivering uncontrollably and scratching my mark. He frowned, "Stop scratching it."
I growled at him, and begrudgingly went closer to him when wolves in the cells swiped at me. I hissed at them, shivering when they hissed back. Vincenzo pushed me into a cell, where a shackled witch was hanging from chains. Vinceno grabbed her chin roughly, forcing her to look at him. "What's going on, necromancer."
She laughed, throwing her head back. "Oh, in the thousands of years I've been alive I've never met one of Apollo's own."
Vincenzo rolled his eyes. "Shut up."
She appreciatively looked my mate up and down. "Wow, Vince, it's a good thing that body and face are going to stay the same."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? You come back from the past and Katerina dies from the magic? Your mate comes back after a slow death from traveling incurable poison?" She smirked, dark eyes glittering. "You idiots have warped time! It's all over! You've made your own little place, similar to the vampires. None of you will age! Everyone who died of disease or old age when the witch died. They were floating in then they were shoved down... Isn't that right, Araceli?"
I sucked in a breath when her black eyes gripped mine. "I'm called the necromancer because I've dabbled in black magic and the dead. I've never brought someone back, but I know the side affects. Those four from your pack, they belong in the land of the dead. You don't die without losing a piece of yourself in the process." She cackled. "You're in for one hell of a ride, darling. You werewolves can't age past the age of eighteen anymore. You'll all be alive forever. Time stands still in your blood."
I shivered again, "I'm going."
Vincenzo kept interrogating the necromancer. I drew my bloody clothes closer for warmth and hissed when a shadow leapt across the walls in the form of a wolf. I shook in fear and watched forms of humans and lions crawl across the wall. I reared into one of the cells when a shadowy creature clawed at my throat. I whimpered and clutched my head. I threw a jet of fire at the creatures, only to have them disappear. There was one still remaining, the slick shadow of a lion.
I growled loudly at it, ignoring my chattering teeth. Vincenzo came running. "Araceli, what the fuck?"
I let him enclose his body heat around me. "Goddess, you're freezing." he hissed, drawing me into his arms. I pointed to the shadow lion and shivered into him. "There's nothing there, Ara."
"The l-lion. It's there."
"We're getting you to your room."
I pushed him away, "Why don't you believe me?! It's there!" I growled. He rolled his eyes and lead me out of the cells. I'm going insane.
A/N: Araceli just died, okay. Then she came back and this isn't going to be sunshine and rainbows. I've always read those books where the girl dies and then she's meets the moon goddess in this stunning garden and wow! It's her mom! Then the moon goddess is like "It's not your time :)" and then voila! They live happily ever after, even though she just came back from the dead, and you know, that must be pretty traumatic.... Well, fuck that.
SHE JUST CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD! SHE BROUGHT A PIECE OF THAT WITH HER! THERE IS NO CHEATING DEATH, IT WILL DO EVERYTHING TO HOLD YOU THERE.
And wow guys! 100K? #26? YAYYYYYYYY! I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
