It was very late; I couldn’t tell exactly what had woken me. The room was dark, moonlight filtering through the curtains providing the only illumination. Something felt wrong. Beside me, Kaius’s body radiated heat- far more than usual.
I reached out, touching his forehead. He was burning up.
“Kaius,” I whispered, shaking him gently.
He didn’t respond, his breathing rapid and shallow, I climbed out of bed, hurrying to the bathroom to wet a cloth. When I returned, I placed it on his forehead, but he didn’t stir.
“Kaius, please wake up,” I said, louder now, fear creeping into my voice.
His eyelids fluttered, then opened. What I saw made me gasp and stumble backward – his eyes were completely black, no trace of amber visible.
“Kaius, you scared me; you were burning up, and I…” My words died as he sat up, the wet cloth falling forgotten to the bed.
He moved with unnatural speed, grabbing my wrist in a bruising grip A low, rumbling growl came from his throat of a wolf, but something darker, more primal.
“Kaius, let me go,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady despite my racing heart.
His grip tightened, and I couldn’t hold back a cry of pain. “You are hurting me.”
–
not the sound
For a moment, we remained frozen like that me caught in his grip, him staring at me with those terrible black eyes. Then something shifted. He blinked, and when his eyes opened again, they were their normal amber. Confusion replaced the feral rage.
“Elowen… what happened?” he asked, his voice rough but unmistakably his own again.
Relief flooded through me. “You are burning up; I need to go get Frost.”
Before Kaius could respond, I pulled free of his now–loosened grip and hurried from the room, not bothering to grab a robe. Frost’s quarters were just down the hall, and I pounded on his door without hesitation.
When he finally opened it, he looked irritated. “Do you realize how late it is?”
“Something is going on with Kaius,” I said, trying to catch my breath
Frost immediately stepped into the corridor. “Is he hurt? Sick?”
“I don’t know. He’s burning up with fever, and his eyes…” I couldn’t find the words to describe what I’d se
We rushed back to my room to find Kaius sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. He looked up as we entered, and his eyes were normal – if exhausted.
“He looks fine to me,” Frost said, frowning.
“No,” I insisted, moving closer to Kaius. “His eyes were black completely black. And he grabbed me. He wasn’t himself.”
–
Frost placed a hand on Kaius’s forehead. “Normal temperature,” he announced. “If anything was wrong with him, I would have felt it.”
“You listen to me; Kaius is not alright!” My voice rose with frustration. Why wasn’t Frost taking this seriously?
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Chapter 159
Kaius watched the exchange, is expression troubled. “She’s right, Frost. Something happened.”
“His temperature had gone up,” I said, placing my own hand on his forehead. To my surprise, it was cool to the touch. “It hadn’t been like this when I went to get you.”
Kaius caught sight of my wrist, where dark bruises were already forming in the shape of fingers. “Elowen, let me see your wrist.
I pulled my hand back instinctively. “It’s fine; it’s just a bruise.”
“Elowen,” he repeated, his voice gentle but insistent.
Reluctantly, I extended my arm, revealing the marks he’d left. “You see, just a bruise.”
“I did that, didn’t I?” Self–loathing filled his voice.
“No, you didn’t,” I lied, hating the pain in his eyes.
“You gave in; you stopped fighting; why?” He caught my other hand, forcing me to look at him.
“I didn’t…“.
“Why?” he pressed.
I swallowed hard. “I knew I couldn’t fight you, so I just… didn’t.”
Horror crossed his face. “What if I did worse than this?”
“I didn’t think you would.”
“I was not in my right senses,” he insisted, turning to Frost. “How did you not feel this?”
Frost looked troubled now. “I don’t know. I should have been able to
“What happened?” he asked me directly.
I described everything as clearly as I could. “I had woken up to notice that he was burning hot. I tried placing a wet towel on him, but that didn’t change anything and he wasn’t opening his eyes. I had been worried and about to call for you when he finally awoke, but his eyes were completely black. I don’t know how to explain it, and he kept on snarling at me; he was like a totally different
person.”
Both men listened with growing concern. When I finished, Kaius and Frost exchanged a look I couldn’t interpret.
“What caused it?” I asked, looking between them.
“I… I don’t know,” Kaius admitted, running a hand through his hair.
“Hey… this is not your fault,” I said, resting my hand on his arm.
“Don’t.” He pulled away sharply. “I had hurt you and would have done worse.”
“But you didn’t,” I insisted.
“I could have.”
Frost cleared his throat. “I’ve never seen anything like this. And I should have felt your distress through our bond.”
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“Maybe he wasn’t exactly troubled,” I suggested, trying to understand why Frost’s usually reliable connection to Kaius had failed.
‘Elowen, if this ever happens again, could you promise me that you would fight me as hard as you can? Kaius asked suddenly, his expression fierce.
“But…”
“No buts, promise me.”
“It won’t happen again,” I said, wanting to believe it.
“You don’t know that.“.
I took his hands in mine, forcing him to look at me. “I promise you that I would ‘try‘ fighting you off, but we both know I would lose in that.”
“Then run. Scream. Get away from me.” The desperation in his voice frightened me more than the black eyes
had.
“Let me stay with you tonight,” Frost offered. “Just in case.”
Kaius nodded gratefully. “Thank you.”
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