Artifice - Man x Man - Book Six

Chapter 2

The dull ache hits me, a heart stuck in turmoil. "He's dying." Helen breaths, clutching me. "Call him. Call Alpha."

"Alpha!" I wheeze, clutching my throat. My body feels strangled. 

"Nic, just do what you did last time and take it! He's dead anyway, maybe we can get to him while you still have the celestial being."

The thing is, I don't know how I did that. I choke on the air, coughing as if I have water in my lungs. Everything feels heavy and I can feel the bubble getting smaller. "Alpha!" I try again, coughing once more. 

She starts to drag me, determined, forcing my feet to move as we limp our way into the harbor. Maybe we're too far away, maybe he can't hear us.

"I can't see a damn thing with this bloody water!" Helen hisses, squinting through the murk. I flinch, falling to my knees. "No! No, Nic, come on!" 3:46. The watch sputters and dies, she rips it off, throwing it into the depth of the harbor. "Alpha! Verando, please! Nic, you have to lift the harbor so we can see him. You must."   

I feel like I can't lift anything. I'm seeing spots, the world fades in and out and her person looks blurry. But, I'm wasting time dying. All the time I'm sitting here, feeling sorry for myself, we could be acting. We could be doing something. Slowly, I climb to my feet, pulling in a ragged breath.

 Gritting my teeth, I raise my hands and feel the tremble run through my weakened body. I start to murmur a spell that I would use to lift clouds, the more I speak, the more the words begin to change and become their own. All around us, the water begins to shiver and twist as the clear spot begins to grow.

 I curse, it's not enough, I'm just not strong enough. I haven't used in so long, my body is out of practice. Shoving against the weight, I feel like I'm lifting a planet. 

He carries this mental burden every day, I remember the dream where he lay beneath the creature who threatened to overwhelm him. Every day he lives for me, I must live for him. I feel like my lights are dimming, I see the quiver in the water as if it's unsure if I can handle this. 

Helen wraps her arms around me and my feet feel wet. I look at her with a tired expression. She sobs into my shoulder, hugging me tightly. "I'm scared." It comes out without even thinking of it. 

We make sacrifices for our children, we do things we don't want to do, and we do the impossible for them. 

Pulling on whatever reserve I have left, I feel my vision flash red and my fists clenched into balls. I start to chant again and the water begins to grumble as it lifts from the sand. I can't do all of it but we have a much better view. "Come on." 

We start to run, doing our best to avoid the rocks and wreckage. I feel like I'm on borrowed time, every step could be my last and we don't even know what direction to go in. "Alpha!!" I try one more time. My body shivers and I wrap my arms around myself.

"Your eyes!" Helen exclaims. 

My eyes? My eyes! I see the shimmer of light in the distance and we're running again, heading toward it as fast as we can manage. I clutch my chest, a metallic taste in my mouth. I feed off the celestial being, borrowing a surge of magic as if it would tether us both to this earth a little longer. 

But the light is fading, growing dimmer every moment. My teeth clench and it feels like I'm fighting through the mud. Helen pulls me along and the light goes dim, "Fuck! Did you see which way?" 

"Beyond those rocks, we're almost there."

I cough and sputter, wanting so badly to rest as my lungs feel as though they're full of flames. We have to be way beyond the limit, how long can his lycan side keep him alive? If he's even alive. It might just be taking longer to kill me because I'm using.