Chapter 328 - 62: The Heart Stone

The heavy oak doors opened before Hannah could throw her weight against them.

A priestess stood on the other side. Her eyes moved quickly over the three of us, taking in Henrik’s blood-stained jacket and Dane’s limp body hanging between us.

"Bring him inside," she said, stepping aside.

Henrik and I carried Dane through the doorway while Hannah followed close behind. The temple hall was cold, its high stone walls barely visible beyond the weak light of the oil lamps burning in their sconces. The priestess led us toward a narrow passage at the far end of the hall.

"We need somewhere to put him down," Hannah said, struggling to keep up. "The room at the back should have a bench."

"It does. Bring him there."

Henrik tightened his arm around Dane as we followed her down the passage. My shoulder was pressed beneath Dane’s arm, and I could feel the weight of him dragging against me with every step.

Dane’s head rested heavily against Henrik’s neck. His skin was slick with sweat and burning hot, the heat coming through my clothes.

He hadn’t made a sound since we left the house.

That frightened me more than the struggling had.

"Dane?"

I reached up and pressed two fingers against his jaw.

His pulse fluttered beneath my fingertips, so fast and uneven that I could barely count the beats. Then the muscles beneath my hand suddenly tightened.

"Henrik, something’s wrong."

"I’ve got him."

Before either of us could do anything, Dane’s chest convulsed.

His entire body locked up, throwing all three of us sideways. Henrik caught himself against the wall, but I lost my footing and nearly went down with Dane.

His eyes flew open.

The color was gone from them. A thick yellow haze covered his irises, while dark, web-like veins spread around his pupils.

"Destiny."

My name came out as a wet, strained gasp.

For a second, he looked directly at me.

Then his expression changed.

"Get her away from me!"

He shoved Henrik with enough force to send him stumbling backward. Dane’s arm swung wildly toward me, and before I could move out of the way, his forearm struck my shoulder and threw me against the doorframe.

Pain shot through my elbow and down into my fingers.

"Hold him before he hurts himself!"

Henrik was already moving. He caught Dane around the chest and forced him back against the stone bench while the priestess grabbed his legs.

Dane fought them both with frightening strength.

His fingernails stretched into black claws as he clawed at the stone beneath him. They scraped across the surface for several seconds before shrinking back beneath his skin.

"Keep his arms down," the priestess said.

"I’m trying."

Henrik shifted his weight, forcing Dane’s shoulders against the bench.

The priestess opened a low cupboard and pulled out a heavy glass syringe.

Hannah’s eyes widened when she saw it.

"Is that the wolfsbane? Are you sure you should give him that? He’s already suffering in agony."

"He won’t last much longer if I don’t."

She moved toward Dane.

"Keep him still."

Henrik braced himself against Dane as the priestess drove the needle into the crook of his arm.

Dane’s body immediately went rigid.

His chest rose sharply, then again.

On the third breath, the strength seemed to leave him completely. His body sagged against the bench, his head rolling to the side as his muscles relaxed beneath Henrik’s grip.

For several seconds, none of us spoke.

Hannah wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist, still breathing hard from the struggle.

"I’m going to get Mom and Dad. They need to know what happened."

Henrik kept his attention on Dane.

"Tell them to put guards around the perimeter gates before they come."

Hannah looked at him, confused.

"Why? Do you think whatever did this could have followed us?"

"I don’t know. I don’t want to take the chance."

That was enough for her. She turned and hurried back toward the main hall, her footsteps fading down the passage.

I pushed myself away from the doorframe and knelt beside Dane.

His collar had twisted tightly around his throat during the struggle. I pulled at it until the fabric tore, sending two of the small buttons onto the floor.

Then I saw the veins.

They had spread much farther than before.

The black lines were no longer confined to his wrist. They had crawled up his arm and across his throat, branching beneath his skin toward his ear.

The priestess leaned over him, studying the marks.

"How long have they been spreading?"

"About a few minutes, not sure if it’s gotten to an hour."

"Was he conscious when it started?"

"Most of the time. He was confused, though. He kept saying the walls were closing in and that there was fog everywhere."

I swallowed before continuing.

"He tried to push me away before we even left the house. He was terrified of me, but I don’t think he knew why."

The priestess’s fingers hovered above the dark veins without touching them.

"He knows something is wrong."

"What does that mean?"

"His wolf knows."

She straightened and looked at me.

"Whatever is inside him is trying to keep you away from it."

I didn’t understand.

"Where is the stone?"

My heart skipped a beat before returning to normal. "How did you know about it?"

"Four of our guys died, you know," she said unimpressed.

Right.

I reached inside and pulled it out.

The priestess went completely still when she saw it.

She stepped closer, but she didn’t reach for it. Her eyes moved over it as though she were trying to make sure she was seeing it correctly.

"Where did you get a Heart Stone?"

"I don’t know what it is. I found it in the back of my house. And it was reacting to me."

Henrik stepped closer.

"If you know what it is, can you use it to help him?"

The priestess looked at him before returning her attention to the stone.

"Well, the stone binds the curse to a person. Find the stone, kill the person it’s bound to, kill the curse."

"Yeah, we know," Henrik said. "But we are not killing her. Dane would never forgive us."

"Then, let’s see if just your blood will do." She held out her hand toward me. "Give me your hand."

I stared at her.

"Why do you need my blood?"

"Because you brought the stone here, and I need to see whether it will respond to you."

She drew a thin silver blade from her belt.

I barely had time to react before she took my wrist and drew the edge across my palm.

The sting was immediate and sharp.

"What are you doing?"

"Hold your hand over the stone."

Blood welled from the cut and gathered in the crease of my palm. The priestess took the Heart Stone from me and held it beneath the wound.

The first drop fell onto its dark surface.

Nothing happened.

Another drop followed.

Still nothing.

I glanced at the priestess.

She was watching the stone carefully.

I started to pull my hand back.

"This isn’t doing anything."

"Give it another moment."

A third drop slipped from my palm and struck the edge of the stone.

Dane suddenly made a rough sound in his throat.

I turned toward him.

His body jerked once.

One of the thick black veins running across his neck tightened beneath his skin, trembled, and then began to fade.

Within seconds, it had disappeared.

I stared at the place where it had been.

"It worked."

The priestess immediately took a piece of linen from the tray beside her and pressed it against my palm.

"Cover the wound."

I tried to pull my hand back.

"Wait. If it’s helping him, let me give it more."

"No."

She closed my fingers firmly around the linen.

"Look at your hand."

I lowered my eyes.

The skin around the cut was already changing. It wasn’t red or inflamed. The flesh had taken on a dull gray color, and the area looked strangely lifeless.

My stomach tightened.

"What happened to me?"

The priestess set the Heart Stone on the stone table.

"The stone didn’t destroy what was inside Dane."

Henrik looked at her.

"Then what did it do?"

"It moved it."

I looked from her to Dane.

"What does that mean?"

"It means whatever was spreading through his veins hasn’t been destroyed. The stone carried it somewhere else."

My eyes dropped to my palm.

"You mean into me?"

"I don’t know yet."

She looked at the gray skin around the cut.

"But the stone needed your blood to open the path, and something has clearly passed through it."

Henrik stepped beside me.

"Is Dane stable?"

The priestess checked his breathing before answering.

"For now. His breathing has settled, and the poison has stopped spreading."

I felt some of the tension leave my chest.

"Then he’ll be all right?"

"He’ll wake up."

The priestess looked at me again.

"But don’t assume that means we’re finished."

Her gaze dropped to my hand.

"Whatever was rotting inside his veins is still here somewhere. The stone only gave it somewhere else to put down roots."