But it was him. The Other would always be part of him. The mad whispers returned, beckoning and alluring. Zev craved to accept what it offered him. He didn’t want to live like this anymore.
Dyna held him as he bitterly wept. All of his pain spilled from him in shuddering cries. She didn’t let go even after he was empty and exhausted. They sat together in silence for a long while, simply letting life pass them by.
When the dawn turned to morning, Zev spotted the carcass of a wolf tossed halfway in the bushes, flies buzzing above it. He didn’t need to ask to know he had killed her too.
“Who was she?” Dyna asked.
“Tasnia, the Luna of the Lykos Pack. Owyn’s mate.” Zev crossed his arms over his bent knees and laid his head over them. “She came for me.”
Tasnia had been one of the few werewolves who had been kind to him. And he repaid her by taking away her mate. He’d seen the beginnings of wild Madness in her last night, along with rage, sorrow, and betrayal.
“It was more than that,” Dyna said. “When the Other appeared, she didn’t run. Nor did she fight.”
Zev closed his eyes. Tasnia ended her life as a wolf rather than let the Madness take her. She succeeded in her revenge. The burden of her death at his hands and Owyn’s last words would always remain with him.
“You’re no wolf. You’re a demon.”
Dyna took his arm. “Come, let’s return to camp.”
Zev staggered up. His feeble legs stumbled, and he fell against the elm tree. Dyna waited, letting him get his bearings. He could barely stand. She leveled beside him so he could lean on her, his feet struggling to hold him up. They wobbled away, only pausing so she could grab the cursed chains and lugged them along. It was a slow trek through the forest as he dragged one foot in front of the other.
They eventually left the tree line and entered the clearing where they had camped. The Celestial Prince sat by a roaring fire in the middle of a grass field glistening with a layer of morning dew. To Zev’s surprise, he rushed over to help them. Cassiel took the chains from Dyna and brought Zev’s arm over his shoulders. He withstood most of the weight, half-carrying him the rest of the way to camp.
Zev hissed and winced as they helped him lay flat on the wet grass. He closed his weary eyes against the glare of the sun. Pain and profound fatigue fell over him, pulling him under.
“Let me heal you,” Dyna said again.
Zev rolled over, giving them his back. Cassiel cursed under his breath at the sight of the burns there.
“I cannot look at you this way,” Dyna said, her voice quivering. “Please.”
He didn’t protest again.
She kneeled and held both of her hands above him. Warmth fell over him as vivid green Essence radiated from her fingertips. Static charged the air, prickling along his skin. The light grew as it enveloped him in a cocoon.
Cassiel inhaled a breath. “What?”
Gradually, the strain on Zev’s body eased as his pain melted like snow in the spring. Lying still, he watched the wounds go through the stages of healing as though time sped past within the green light. The burns closed and scabbed, then the scabs fell away to leave behind distended pink scars. The last wound over Zev’s heart scarred, and her Essence faded.
“There,” Dyna murmured faintly, then she collapsed.
“Dyna!” Cassiel exclaimed. “She’s unconscious!”
Zev sighed and rolled over.
The Prince held her limp body on his lap, her head lolled against his chest. “What happened? What was that?”
“She will be all right,” Zev garbled. “She needs rest.”
“You both do.”
Zev mumbled an incoherent reply and his bloodshot eyes slid closed as sleep took him.
* * *
The smell of porridge drew Zev from his dreams. It bubbled in a small pot hanging over the campfire. Dyna slept soundly in the grass beside him under many blankets.
Cassiel sat with them, his distant gaze fixed on her face. He held a black wing extended above her, providing shade. The sun shone high in the clear blue sky.
