Chapter 82

~Grace~

“Over here!” Enzo’s voice carried through the room, and I turned around. He knelt beside Christopher, and my heart dropped.

Oh, no. Had something happened? Had we waited too long? Was he okay?

I ran over to Enzo and Christopher, and shifted back, standing tall. I looked over the both of them, knowing the worry was showing on my face.

“What is it? Is he alright?”

Enzo gave me a slow nod. “I think so. He moved.”

What?

I knelt down next to him and looked over Christopher. He still looked pale and worse for wear, but sure enough, his chest rose and fell steadily.

I sighed in relief. He was still alive, for now.

If Alex would just kill the Elder Lycan and be done with it, then we wouldn’t have to wait so long to get Christopher some care!

I shook my head. Whatever. He could work through his mental block while Christopher bled out, by his hand.

I couldn’t understand why Alex had no issue attacking Christopher and leaving him a bloody mess, but when it came to the Elder Lycan… No, not a drop of blood.

Suddenly, Christopher’s eyes opened slowly, and his bright blue eyes stared up at me.

I looked down at him in surprise, giving him a brief smile.

“Christopher?”

He returned the smile, but winced before he could finish it.

“Yeah, that’s me. Looks like I’m not dead, yet, huh?”

I laughed bitterly, shaking my head. “Not yet.”

Not yet, but it might be soon if Alex doesn’t make up his mind.

“Well, did it work?” Christopher asked, his voice hoarse. He stayed completely still, except the slight movement of his chest rising and falling, his lips when he spoke, and his eyes to look at me.

I wasn’t sure if he knew where he was, or really what happened at all.

I looked toward the bodies of unconscious Lycans in the circle of the ritual, still waiting to be saved.

“Well… no. Enzo and Alex got through it alright, but after-” I looked towards Alex, who was still holding the Elder Lycan down. “...after Alex attacked you, we brought you to the Black Lycan castle.”

Christopher raised his eyebrows slightly. “Oh? So he wanted me to live?”

I shrugged. I didn’t know, really. Maybe he meant it about not wanting to kill anyone, maybe he left Chrisotpher alive on purpose.

Perhaps I was being too harsh on him.

“I tried to do the ritual on the other Lycans, but I don’t know magic like you do. I followed every step in the book, but-”

Christopher slowly reached out and placed his hand on top of mine.

“I’m sure you did wonderful. Some of those words can be tricky to say. How about you give me the book and I’ll perform the ritual again?”

I stared at him.

“You’re in no condition to move!” I cried, shocked that he even offered such a thing.

He smiled. “Well, that’s why I’ll need a sweet woman like you to help me.”

I pressed my lips together. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Christopher, now.

I hated him, loathed him, cursed him, but then… I don’t know. He was helpful, and he did help me out of a bad spot, but I think he caused that bad spot in the first place…

I don’t know. My head hurt just thinking about it.

All I knew was that I didn’t want Christopher to die. He may not be the best of men, but he wasn’t the worst one out there, either. Certainly not like the Elder Lycan.

I truly did believe Christopher deserved another chance.

I think hiding under all of those layers of insecurity, there was a good man. And right now, he was showing that man.

Here, bruised and torn, injured to the point of unconsciousness, he offered to help. It was still difficult to tell if it was out of the kindness of his own heart, maybe he just wanted to impress me, I don’t know.

But it was a good thing to do, either way.

“Okay. But a sweet man is going to help you get up, too. I can’t move you on my own,” I told Chrisotpher, giving Enzo a knowing look.

Enzo nodded back, and together, we carefully lifted Christopher up so he could see the ritual. I watched him sweep his eyes across the scene, his brows furrowed with thought.

“Yes, you did a good job for the most part. There’s just a couple of symbols that aren’t quite right. Take me over there, and I’ll fix them.”

Enzo and I carried Christopher to each of the symbols, which he inspected carefully and would occasionally make corrections to. We had to relight the candles as well.

Then, I opened the book to the correct page and held it out to him.

“Wait-” Alex’s voice rang out, and I looked his way.

What now? Was he trying to stop the ritual? If he wouldn’t kill the Elder Lycan and he didn’t want Christopher to perform the ritual, did he really care about the lives of the Lycans?!

Alex looked cautiously between Christopher and I. He couldn’t move from his spot, still holding down the Elder Lycan.

“If you really believe this is the best way to break the curse… then I support it,” Alex replied, giving me a sincere look.

I smiled.

So he was finally coming around, after all. I knew it killed him to have Christopher doing anything for his clan, but it seemed like he refused to kill anyone tonight, so this left the only option available.

“Thank you,” I said, giving him a nod.

I turned back to Christopher.

“Well, if the big man says it's okay, then I guess I can do it, now?” Christopher asked, looking up at me.

I held him up with my shoulder, letting him lean against me, Enzo bracing him with his arms, but it was becoming more difficult by the second. It felt like Christopher was getting heavier, or I was just getting tired.

“Yes, please,” I told him, trying to keep the book steady for him.

Christopher began reading, and the now quite familiar spell began to take place.

“No, stop, you werewolves are tainting the Lycan blood! Using black magic against the Lycans is forbidden! Stop this, Alex!” The Elder Lycan began shrieking, but his voice suddenly cut off as Alex slammed his fist into the Elder’s jaw.

I watched with surprise. I guess he did have some malice for the Elder Lycan, after all.

I couldn’t help but smile.

Blue flames exploded in front of us, and I had to close my eyes from the brightness. I couldn’t tell if I was even holding the book up in the right position anymore, but I heard Christopher’s voice as he kept reading.

Finally, the light faded and it was quiet again. It felt like a weight had been lifted from the room, like the air itself had been cleaned.

Slowly, Enzo and I set Christopher on the ground, I couldn’t hold him up anymore.

I made eye contact with Alex, who watched the Lycans nervously.

Finally, someone in the Lycan group moved.