CHAPTER 34: SWARMED

The world outside Valden’s door was already shaking with panic. Boots thundered against the tiles, orders were barked down the corridor, and the alarm shrieked like a madman.

"Varcolacs..." I whispered, my chest tightening with worry.

Valden’s hand reached out and clenched mine hard until I turned my attention back to him. "You need to go, Maeve."

"I’m not leaving you," I said with finality, my voice firm and resolute.

His jaw straightened, his eyes flickering again with the glowing green, despite the weakness still chaining his body. "I’ll only slow you down. If they break through, you won’t be able to protect the both of us."

"Then I’ll fight twice as hard," I shouted, pulling him up with me as I tried to help him lean over me. His body was still recovering, but the fire in him was back, and I’d rather die with him than abandon him.

Before he could argue, a scream tore down the hall and my pulse skipped a beat. It wasn’t just the alarm anymore, it was going to be pure bloodshed outside those doors. And I would be a fool if I stayed inside any longer.

The very next second, the infirmary doors crashed open and soldiers in white uniforms poured in, panic written across their faces.

"They’re inside the dome!" one shouted. "The Southern sector has already collapsed, and they’re moving fast–"

The rest of his words were drowned out by another sound.

A deep and guttural growl.

The kind that didn’t belong in any city on Earth, especially not one behind the reinforced walls of our glass dome city, structured specifically to keep all of them out. My throat dried instantly.

The Varcolacs were here.

Valden gritted his teeth and tried to push himself off the cot. His muscles strained, and the bandages pulled at his skin, but his strength hadn’t grown back enough yet.

"Stay down," I hissed, forcing him back onto the bed.

"But–"

"I said stay down!"

I turned just as the first one burst through one of the walls of the infirmary, spraying dust and debris over all of us.

It was larger than I ever remembered, all bones of a deformed Lycan wolf and shadow wrapped in smooth, bare, and thick skin. Its jaws snapped wide, teeth like jagged knives glistening with saliva. Its eyes, those awful, molten tarry black eyes, locked straight onto me.

And then its gaze flicked to Valden.

Before I knew what I was doing, I grabbed the nearest tray from the bedside table and hurled it at the Varcolac. The clang barely fazed the beast, but it gave me enough time to push myself onto a corner, farther away, with Valden’s hand safely in mine.

"Get behind me," I growled. Valden was too weak but so was I. I had gained back some of my powers after being in close proximity with Darek last night but I wasn’t sure if it was enough.

But something inside me responded to the threat, something hot and ancient curling through my veins. My skin prickled, vision sharpening until every detail of the Varcolac seemed etched into my brain, the twitch of its claws, the sickly heat radiating off of its body.

And then, for just a tiny heartbeat, I swore it looked at me differently.

Not just with hunger to shred me apart. But with recognition. Its beady black eyes didn’t move an inch and a very eerie feeling crept up my skin.

How could it recognise me?

There wasn’t any way the Varcolac was the mutated form of anyone I already knew. All my family and the ones I loved, except Valden, were dead anyway.

Before I could ponder more about it, the creature lunged.

And I barely had time to react. My body moved on instinct, shoving my arm up towards it. Power surged out like invisible magnetic energy and cracked out of me like lightning. The Varcolac was flung back across the infirmary, slamming into the wall with a roar.

Silence presided around me for a second. Everyone, the guards, the healer still inside the infirmary, even Valden, they all stared at me with something close to both fear and respect.

First at me and then at my raised hand. Faint green veins lit up under my skin, pulsing like they were alive.

I staggered, clutching my wrist.

"Maeve..." Valden’s voice was soft and awed.

But he didn’t get time to express what he really wanted to say.

The beast shook itself off and lunged again, this time not at me, but at him.

"NO!"

The scream tore out of me with so much force that the very air seemed to shatter. Another pulse of power burst free, slamming the Varcolac into the ground mid-leap. The tiles cracked beneath its weight.

Blood trickled from my nose, but I didn’t care.

All I could think about was whether Valden was still alive.

"Maeve, stop. It’s getting too much for you," he rasped, but I couldn’t stop. Not when our lives were in danger. My chest was heaving, heart tearing itself apart as the bond inside me writhed in protest. Darek’s curse burned like fire in me, punishing me for using this much strength without him.

Can’t stop.

The Varcolac clawed forward again, dragging its broken body toward me. But then the Delta guards blocking the door parted in unison.

And the entire room, including the Varcolac seemed to bend with the force of the presence that stepped in.

Darek.

His eyes burned red, his power filling the space until it was hard to breathe. He completely ignored Valden and fixed his gaze on me, on my glowing veins and my trembling body.

And his face was unreadable. I wasn’t sure if he was concerned that we were cornered by a Varcolac, angry at the fact that I left to see Kinley and Valden without him being aware of it, or if he didn’t give a damn about any of it.

The Varcolac growled again, dragging its broken body upright, but Darek didn’t even move his head. His hand flicked once, and the creature was slowly reduced to a pile of ash and smoke.

Just like that.

That’s when I realised he had just combined my power with his and got rid of the creature. This was how he benefited from me. This was how he was going to make Kargahart great again. How we would get rid of all the Varcolac and the mist and change the world. Together we could be unstoppable.

But I never wanted to kill everything that posed a suspicious threat to him. I never wanted to deal this with violence.

The silence that followed was deafening.

I couldn’t move. My bond screamed, pulling me toward him, begging for relief from the fire eating my body. But my hand was still in Valden’s and his grip hadn’t yet loosened.

And I didn’t want to let go either.

Darek’s eyes flicked down, caught our linked hands but he didn’t say another word. He didn’t need to. This was my last chance and I was blowing it up every chance I got.

Before we could cut the silence, before I could even breathe again, the alarm shifted. The pitch rose, and the lights above started flashing red instead of white.

Another breach.

But this time, it wasn’t just one Varcolac.

The city had been swarmed.