AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Eight
“Stop!” I yelled. Scrambling to my feet, I stood in front of Anson, my arms outstretched. Jarred would have to shoot through me to get to him.
“What are you doing?” Jarred said. He sweated from the effort of staying on his feet, of aiming the gun. “You don’t know what he is. He’s been lying to you. He’s X, Tempest.”
I looked back at Anson. He collected himself, running a hand through his disheveled hair, brushing straw from his shoulders. He rose up and stepped out from behind me.
“Jarred,” I said, keeping my voice calm and steady. “I know who he is.”
Jarred’s eyes registered shock, then confusion.
“What the hell are you doing?” he said. “Step away from him, Tem. Let me end him once and for all.”
“Your wolf’s not strong enough,” Anson said, his face splitting into a satisfied smirk. “So you’ve gotta cheat and use Dragonsteel. Sounds about right, Jarred. Always using someone or something as a crutch. Some heir apparent you are.”
“Anson, stop,” I said. “Just shut up.”
“Get away from him,” Jarred said. He pushed off the door frame with his shoulder and took a halting step forward. The gun wavered. Anson growled behind me. If it weren’t for his collar, I felt certain he would have attacked.
“I said enough!” I pushed Anson backward as hard as I could and went for my brother.
“He needs to die, Tem,” Jarred said. Warring emotions took over my heart. Jarred was conscious. He was up. Walking. Talking. I wanted to pull him into a hug at the same time I wanted to throw him through the damn wall.
“You better sit down before you fall down, boy,” Anson said.
I let just enough of my wolf out as I turned to Anson and snapped at him. He bared his own fangs, squaring off with me. It would never be a fair fight with him still bound in Dragonsteel. Even so, I could practically taste his bloodlust. His face changed. His scars became visible once more.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jarred said, seeing the metamorphosis as I did. “Tem, he’s wrong. Cursed.” He pulled the hammer back, coming that much closer to shooting.
“Stop!” I shouted, whipping around. I moved with the speed of a cobra strike, pulling the gun out of my brother’s hand. He slumped against the wall, ready to pass out again.
“Stay here,” I said to Anson.
He held his arms out, palms up. “Where exactly am I supposed to go, Tempest?”
“Just…just…give me a minute.”
“If you don’t kill him, now,” Jarred said, “We’ll all die, Tem.”
“You’re alive because of him,” I said. “As much as you hate him…hell…as much as I do. Like it or not, we need him.”
Anson took a seat on a nearby bale of straw. He pulled a piece out, picking at his teeth with it. Casual. Infuriating. If anything, he was amused by my brother and me.
I looped an arm under Jarred’s and pulled him outside. He jerked away from me.
“I can walk.”
“Barely. And why’s that? Do you even know?”
Stubborn, fevered, maybe both, Jarred ignored me and went toward the house.
He got as far as the front porch before keeling over. He grabbed the railing and slowly lowered himself to the top step. He was shaking when I got to him.
“We need to get you back to bed,” I said. “I need to get Dr. Olivet.”
“I’m sick of that bed,” he said. “I need fresh air and sunlight, Tempest. I need to hunt.”
“You’re not strong enough for that.” I wanted to yell at him. Scold him. Shake sense into him. But two years’ worth of pent up grief finally spilled out. I burst into tears and threw my arms around my brother.
