Hell and Back

Chapter Twenty Seven

I hear a short round of applause, and looking up, I see Tony watching from afar. Seeing him brings back memories of our first experience in Damien's pack. He did everything it took to try to kill me, and when that failed, he tried to mate me.

"Oh my God." I whisper.

"Oh my Goddess, indeed, little pet. I have to admit, I'm surprised you went through with it." He admits.

"What?" I cradle Damien close to me, unable to let go of him as the pool of blood pours from his wound. I can still feel his warmth. 'Please don't go.'

He stands up slowly and Kingsley takes a vial from his pocket and fills it with the blood leaking on the floor. Stacey emerges from the back entrance of the stage with a bowl in her hand. "Damien!" I cry as he sputters blood. He's still conscious. I place my hands over his chest in a desperate attempt to save him. My heart is aching at the idea of never seeing him again and it feels as if I've lost Chase all over again. A part of me is dying with him.

"We've been planning this for decades!" Tony announces. I feel my heart twist in my chest. Stacey kneels down and dips her finger in the blood on the ground and tastes it. My eyes widen in fear. What in the hell?

She winks at me as she opens her eyes. "The most potent force in this world." She cackles. Kingsley hands her the vial. "Now, Mari." She calls, and I feel the wind in the room pick up but Marielle is still nowhere to be found.

"Alena, if only you knew. You poor thing. I've been planning for so long! You have granted me the gift of immortality." Stacey starts to chant in the bowl as the wind swirls around her. Her dark brown hair is swirling around as the bowl glows. She unscrews the vial and starts to slowly pour the glowing liquid back into the vial. "I tried so hard to get you 4 years ago. It backfired, of course. But I was determined to make it work. I tried at first to kill you, but I realised that wasn't as easy as I thought. Now, I've gotten you to do the dirty work for me. And when the kingdom finds out, you'll pay for your crimes." The truth is hitting hard for me now. It was a lie. They manipulated me. It was all a lie. "Two birds, one stone. I originally was going to have to kill you myself, but unfortunately, your boy toy has more eyes on you than I thought. I disguised myself as a guard to work in that pack. I infiltrated it from the bottom up. Made it a concentration camp. It was too easy. Damien is incapable of leading anything. He abandoned his pack so many times. All for you." Hearing Tony explain his disgusting plan is angering me. This man will live forever because of a mistake I made. I didn't trust myself. I didn't trust my heart. And now I'm suffering because of it. "I brought you back to his pack because it was the only way to keep him in one place at once. And my witchy cousin Mari has connections to royalty. Once Stacey caught wind of it, she wanted nothing more than to help to become the ruler of the Kingdom." Stacey wants power, Tony immortality. Their ego-driven desires have lead me straight into hell. "It's a one time deal, Tony." Stacey says as she shakes the glowing elixir in the vial. Looking down, Damien is unconscious. I look back up at Tony as he gazes lustfully at the vial.

Without a second thought, I stand on my own feet and swing the knife toward Kingsley. He disappears into thin air and I swing back toward Stacey and I stab her arm, making the potion fall from her hands. "No!" Shouts Tony as the potion falls into my free hand. I notice Kingsley shifted down into the form of a snake and slithered out of the room. "Coward!" Tony screams. He turns back toward me as Stacey is cradling her wrist.

"Don't get near me!" I back up toward Damien's lifeless body.

"Alena, think about what you're doing. If you drink that you live forever! And without him!" Tony barks. I shake my head in dismay. Truthfully, that sad fate is what I deserve. Damien really had the purest intentions when it came to me. I just had a hard time seeing it because of my own anger and resentment. I didn't learn to let go when it was necessary. We both have our demons, but Damien was genuinely working on confronting them. Me on the other hand, I ran away.

"Bottoms up." I chug the elixir and it slides down my throat, and feel the warm mix tingle as it goes down my throat and into my system.

The last sound I hear is Tony's anger drowning out as I pass out into oblivion.