The Opelux and Other Monsters || Book One

CHAPTER 40 - TRITTEON

I screamed as I lowered her lifeless body to the ground. Every inch of me shook, and it wasn't only from adrenaline.

The dust around Daniel had settled and he was sprawled out and unconscious. The only thing keeping me from running over and ripping his head off was the hope-in-a-vial Desraeon had given me.

I Veehmed my clothes to me and pulled the small box from my jacket pocket. Inside was a folded piece of paper tucked next to a small silver vial no larger than my thumb. My hands shook as I read through the paper once, the words in that rough Oria dialect Orion's letter had been in, and blew out a heavy breath. I didn't know what I would do if it didn't work. Well, that wasn't altogether true. I knew exactly what I would do to Daniel.

I lifted the vial from the box and bent toward Orion. There was no peace in her face. Her eyes were wide and full of pain. I brushed a few strands of hair from her face and tilted her chin upward, opening her mouth.

I froze as the white ribbon on her neck began to blacken and disintegrate, curling away to reveal a silver, oval plate with seven diamonds set into it. The largest one in the middle seemed to have black smoke swirling around inside it, and the six smaller ones seemed to be yellowing. All along the edging of the plate was one word inscribed over and over again in that archaic language—Opelux.

"Please work," I whispered, lifting the top off the vial. A curl of steam escaped and I recoiled at the foul, acidic smell.

'Do not worry that it will injure her. She will not feel a thing. She will be dead,' Desraeon had said.

I shook my head and slid my finger into her mouth, pushing her tongue out of the way, and poured the entire contents of the vial down the back of her throat. A small bit splashed against my skin. I jerked back, cursing as the spot was burned black.

I looked down at Orion, horror rising in my chest. What had I just done?

Orion gasped, her eyes turning white. Her back arched upward and her veins glowed blue and the largest diamond blazed with white light and began to radiate cold. She thrashed and I had to jump back as her claws stabbed into the stone floor and cut across its surface, spraying sparks.

And then she was still. Her eyes were closed, but her chest moved up and down.

"Impossible," I whispered.

She squinted her eyes open at me, and then closed them again.

An amused grin played at the corner of her mouth. "Tritteon, are you naked?"

I grimaced. I hadn't realized I'd changed back. "Yes, I am," I confessed. I grabbed my clothes and pulled them back on. "Alright. I am decent."

She kept her eyes closed. "It's too bright. Are you dead too or am I alive again for some reason?"

I knelt next to her. "You are alive again for some reason."

She felt the back of her neck. "It's healed." She tried opening her eyes again. I leaned over her to block out some of the light. "And I don't have a desire to kill you anymore."

I glanced down at her throat. The ribbon had reappeared, hiding everything away. "I can't believe that worked."

Her smile disappeared. "What worked?"

"Whatever was in that vial Desraeon gave me. How do you feel?"

She looked me up and down. "Better than you look." She reached out and lifted my shirt. I couldn't help the shiver that went through me, and it wasn't because of the pain. "I'm so sorry. Those look really deep." Her eyes glowed faintly. "And it looks like a few of your ribs are broken."