Page 10 of From Frost to Flame

“Days? Silas, get this off me.” Lex tugged at the device, but his fingers just slipped over the metal chains, slick with blood. “I want it off right now. I can’t die again. I can’t be buried again. I won’t go back in that box. I won’t!”

Silas's heart broke at the genuine terror in Lex’s wavering voice. Werewolves, like most nonhumans, simply were. They were born and lived a nonhuman life. It was easy to forget that vampires were humans who died with fangs in their necks. Lex never discussed how he turned, but Silas guessed it was more tragic than he imagined.

“Listen to me. I’m not letting you die. I’m going to handle this.” The compass needle spun slowly, and its face steadily turned bright red. With every rotation, the device stole Lex’s blood and life force. Once Lex was slumped over in exhaustion, the pin stopped, glowed bright white, and pointed steadily east.

It’s already draining his energy to power itself.A knot formed in Silas's stomach, and he swore he could hear the relentless ticking of a clock in his ears. The sunken eyes of the corpses he found as he tracked the compass down haunted him, but he forced himself not to think about that.

“Here, get on my back. We’re going to follow it. You shouldn’t expend your energy.” He helped Lex climb onto him and got to his feet. “Does the rest of your body hurt?” When he didn’t get an answer, he glanced back at Lex. His eyes were completely closed, and his body was slack.

He’s still breathing. Just remember, he’s breathing.

He looked at the compass on Lex’s bloody wrist draped over his shoulder and headed east through the winding alleyways.

Paws padding against the stone street approached from behind. Shortly after, a six-foot-tall brown wolf with bloodied fur came around the corner.

“We have a minor change of plans,” Silas said as Castor shifted into his human form and caught up to them.

“I’ll say. I got attacked by some rogue fae guards, and I was worried Arden ambushed you, too.” Castor paused and furrowed his brows. “Is that Lex?”

“Arden attacked me. Lex has Death’s Compass on his wrist,” Silas answered distantly, still processing his new predicament. “That’s the short version.”

“If it’s on him, he can’t have much time left. Didn’t most of the past wearers last all of three days?”

“I know. We can discuss it more later,” he replied stiffly. “For now, I just want to keep moving.”

“Moving toward what, exactly? Orion’s in the other direction.”

“The compass is pointing east, so I’m going east.”

Castor gripped Silas's arm and forced him to stop. He stared hard at him. “Silas, what are you doing?”

“I won’t consider losing him.” He tightened his grip on Lex’s legs as he banished the thought. “I’m going to collect the shards of her soul and kill her.”

“Have you lost it?” Castor said with an incredulous laugh.

“It’s the only option.”

“It’s a suicide mission!” He shook his head and gestured to Lex. “I don’t want Lex to die either. I care for him, too, but let’s be realistic here. A vampire isn’t going to survive her curse for more than a day. Their human origins make them fragile to all magic. We should head home so when he passes, we can lock the compass away like we planned.”

“I’m not changing my mind.” Silas didn’t care if it was hopeless. He would fight the stars themselves before he let Lex go. “He doesn’t deserve to die like this.”

Castor took a long breath. “If you really want to do this, you can’t go in unprepared. The rest of our pack and the other warriors need to be involved. You at least need to return home and tell them the plan.”

“Lex is more important.”

“More important than the kingdom being left without a king? You can’t just vanish from the throne. We lied about where you were going, remember? Vega will wage war with the centaurs if he thinks you entered their gates and never returned.”

“But as you said, a vampire won’t last long. Lex doesn’t have time for me to make this formal.” His bond with Lex consumed him. All he could focus on was protecting him, like the stars intended. In this moment, he’d let Orion fall if it meant Lex would wake up again. He fought his instincts to forsake everything and searched for a compromise. “If you want to go back and tell them where I’m going, fine. I can do this alone.”

“I see.” Castor nodded. “Can I ask something?”

“What? Talking is wasting time.” Every second that passed was a second Lex lost.

“Do you really think you can kill her?”

“Yes.” Silas avoided his brother’s eyes so he wouldn’t see his uncertainty. For the first time since he was a pup, he doubted his abilities, but for Lex’s sake, he wouldn’t speak his doubt into existence. “I know I can.”

“Fine. You know I’d never leave you to do this alone. We’ll send word when we can. That’s my one condition. Hopefully Vega will keep things in order and act levelheaded until then.”

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