War (Book 3 in Destined Series)

31

"Oh bloody hell what?" Luke asks quickly moving over to me

"Holy shit!" he exclaims and I nod

I stare down at his white eyes, the pupils completely gone. A coiled up worm of some sort rests at the bottom of his eye.

"Drew." I say and he slowly walks over

"Shit." he mutters and I look over at him.

"What is it?" I ask and he opens up Mike's other eye. The same thing, but the worm isn't coiled up at the bottom. He's moving around.

"God I'm gonna be sick." Nick mutters ten runs out of the room

"Drew. What the hell is this?" I ask and he gnaws on his lip.

"It's a rare disease bred within wolves."

"Does this disease have a name?"

"Hell bound."

"Of fun! What does it mean?" I ask

"Exactly what it says. When a wolf is touched by this disease half their soul is given to the devil. A wolf can only last so long before the half soul he claims still as his own, turns dark and he falls fully to hell. He literally becomes hell bound."

"And this is something that can just appear over night?" I ask and he nods

"Yes, and the only way to be sure darkness doesn't take you over is to kill yourself, with Wolfsbane."

"That's why the powder was in his mouth. He killed himself." Luke says and I nod

"To protect us." Drew says and I nod again

"But if he got it. Doesn't that mean you can?" I ask and he sighs

"I already have it." he says solemnly and I turn to face him.

"But your eyes are normal." I say

"For now yes. But a wolf can't live in the presence of hell bound, without it touching them too."

"What about Nick, Luke, and I?"

"It cannot harm you three." he says and I take a deep breath looking down at Mike.

"We're being wiped out one by one before this battle has even truly begun." I say and Luke puts his hand on my back.

"We've lost, before we've even started." I say the truth, too clear to be ignored.

"We haven't lost. And we don't lose." Luke says and I turn to face him.

"Jennie said I'd get the answers when the time was right." I say touching the amulet.

"That time is now." I say as it shimmers before my eyes.

"I need to get in here." I say then put the necklace down on the ground and swipe my hand over it.

"Christina! You don't know what it's like over there at night." Luke says grabbing my hand and pulling me back as I go to step into the portal.

"I don't care. I need-

"No." he says and I look over my shoulder at him.

"Shane is gone, Nick's mom is dead, Ben is dead, Grace is dead, and now Mike is dead. It's only us four left Luke, and soon it'll only be us three." I say sadly looking over at Drew.

"We need help. Because as far as I know, we're the only ones fighting on this side. And if we plan on being able to fight much less win, we're gonna need help. That well had the help we need."

"Nothing is ever the same at night as it is at day." he says pulling me back again as I go to lunge.

"I will not risk you getting captured in there, or something bad happening in there. We can't lose one more person, and if we do, it definitely cannot be you. Go back when it's light, when demons can't hide in the shadows even in a dream world." he says and I huff but nod.

"Ok." I say gently then pick up the amulet closing off the portal.

"You hold onto it, so I'm not tempted to use it." I say handing the amulet to Luke. He nods closing his fist around it and I look at Drew.

"We'll bury him tomorrow." I say then slowly turn and leave the room. Nick looks up at me from the couch and I walk over.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, sorry I was such a-

"Don't apologize." I say and he nods

"At the end, this battle will be only ours to face. I need to know you'll stand by me no matter what." I say and he nods

"Always." he says and I nod

"Because we've lost your mom, your dad, Shane, Grace, and now Mike. Soon, Drew will follow after, and no matter how much I hate to think of it... Luke's life might be next in line." I whisper and Nick nods.

"I will always stand by you Christina. Ok?" he asks and I nod with a smile.

"I know." I say and he nods

"Now, go get more sleep. It's only three. I'm sure Luke will be up shortly." he says and I nod.

"Goodnight Nick."

"Night." he says and I slowly stand up and walk over to the stairs, then head up them.

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