Chapter 7 Axel
1057 Words
Something tells me I should’ve dropped Lumina when she backhanded me at the front gates.
The girl held my gaze in front of my bonded pack like she had something to prove.
Bold for a new Faction member.
Most people would be pissing themselves by now.
Nyxian chuckles like he just told the girl a joke instead of threatening to crawl through her nightmares.
My irritation spikes immediately.
“Shut up, Nyxian.”
My jaw ticks, and Veyra interrupting my decision isn’t helping.
Nyxian crosses his legs in that lazy way he always does before looking at me. “She talked back. What did you expect me to do?”
“Let me handle it.” My gaze drops to Veyra, still sitting on my lap. She’s lucky she isn’t bent over my knee right now. “Which apparently someone doesn’t understand.”
Veyra sighs and crosses her arms. “I’m helping, Axel. I can already tell that girl is going to be a problem, but I wanted to make sure she was clear on both ends.”
All I keep hearing is I.
It makes me stare at her longer.
“We, Veyra.” My voice sharpens. “And this isn’t the first time you’ve done this. It’s been multiple times. Now move.”
Veyra looks at me like I shoved her even though I haven’t touched her.
“I—” She cuts herself off, then slides off my lap and sits beside me before immediately turning toward Nyxian. “Nyxian, tell him I was only trying to help.”
Of course, she runs to Nyxian after I scold her.
Nyxian lifts her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Of course you were trying to help,” he purrs, and the sound immediately gets on my nerves, “but you picked the wrong moment.”
The corner of my lip twitches.
Sugarcoating it.
“Is that girl going to be a problem?” Reis asks, getting straight to the point like usual while Nyxian keeps Veyra distracted with all his cooing bullshit.
At least he’s useful for something.
“Seems like it.” I lean back slightly against the couch. “We’ll watch her closely. The last thing I need is a liability in Ashborne, and from what Eevek told me about her Ruin, she could become one.”
Eevek told me a lot of things I haven’t shared with them yet.
The Rogue attack.
Her family.
The reason she crawled through those gates half-dead in the first place.
She’s stubborn.
The defiance in her eyes made my own Ruin flare, and I don’t like being challenged.
Even silently.
Reis nods once. “You put her in classes with Veyra.”
“Y—You what?” Veyra’s head turns so fast I think it might snap off. “Why?”
My brows furrow.
She’s never reacted like that before. Not even with new Faction members I’ve assigned to her classes.
“Is there a problem with that?” I ask, holding her gaze.
Her eyes shift for half a second before she smiles, the panic melting off her face almost instantly.
“No. No, of course not.” She laughs softly. “Sorry. I just didn’t like how she challenged you in front of us. It was rude.”
Veyra scoots closer to me, but I don’t acknowledge it.
Nyxian does.
He slides an arm around her waist and pulls her against him instead.
I don’t have to tell Nyxian I’m on edge.
He’s the only one who feels it immediately.
“Reis, take over.”
I stand abruptly.
The burning under my skin spreads fast, racing through my body until every inch of me feels too tight.
Too hot.
My skin itches like something underneath it wants out.
Fuck.
I need to get to Eevek.
Fast.
Reis takes the folder from my hand while Veyra reaches for me, but Nyxian catches her wrist first and redirects her attention by pressing her palm against his cheek.
Distraction.
Useful.
I keep my expression neutral as I walk out into the hallway, but the second I’m far enough from everyone, I speed up.
Red creeps into the edges of my vision.
Not now.
I take the quickest route to the infirmary and shove open the private treatment room at the end of the hall before slamming my hand against the emergency button.
Then the pain hits full force.
A groan tears out of me as I drop to my knees.
It feels like my bones are burning from the inside out.
The screaming in my ears gets louder.
My entire body trembles violently.
Fuck.
If Eevek doesn’t get here soon—
No.
I shove the thought down immediately.
I’m not giving in to it.
No matter how violently the Cinder Madness tries to ignite inside me.
The door bursts open a moment later.
I barely register Eevek before the sting of a syringe punches into my neck.
Air rips into my lungs like I’m breaking the surface after drowning.
“Damn it, Axel.” Eevek shoves me onto my back. “Why the f**k didn’t you come sooner?”
I breathe hard while the serum floods through my veins.
“Stop acting like a hero and playing around with this shit.”
I swallow against the lingering burn in my throat.
This was way too close.
“I’ll be fine,” I grit out. “I just waited longer than usual—”
“Cut the crap,” Eevek snaps immediately. “Veyra isn’t strong enough for you. She barely keeps Nyxian stable.”
The truth in his words lands hard enough to twist something in my gut.
I shove it down before it can settle.
“We’ve survived two years, Eevek.”
I forced myself to sit up enough to look at him directly.
“And I’m not becoming a victim to this thing.”
My jaw tightens.
“We stick to the plan. Reis and Nyxian take from Veyra. I keep taking the serum.”
I hold his gaze.
“No matter how many times I have to.”
I won’t let my bonded pack fail.
I won’t be seen as weak.
And I sure as f**k won’t lose everything I fought to build because my own body decides to betray me.
- Writer
