Page 139 of The Wolf and the Chimera
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Elle
As shifters clashed, blood stained the once pale stones of the temple. Though the chimeras were fierce and fought with brilliance and strength, this wasn’t a battle.
This was an extermination.
Throughout it all, Medea circled young Helena and weaved a spell in a low whisper. Jason guarded her with vigor, and his handsome face was a harsh, unyielding mask.
Helena was so still.
Cursing and crying, I lurched through the frenzy and reached the young chimera’s side. When I tried to take her hand, my touch went right through her.
I was a ghost, powerless to change the past.
Medea’s words boomed louder and drowned out the cacophony of the bloodshed. I glanced around, but no one noticed the witch’s louder spell. Instinct tugged at me to listen, as if the spell were what I was here for—what my chimera wanted me to learn.
I listened more intently to the guttural, ancient language, but I still didn’t recognize it. I wanted to scream—I had wasted all this time to learn what my chimera wanted me to, only for it to be in vain, for me to glean nothing beyond the atrocities that had been done to my people.
Ryder,I thought,I need to get back to Ryder.
That tug became a lurch, and Medea’s words were inescapable.
Listen,my chimera implored.
Stifling my panic, I closed my eyes and focused on Medea’s voice. Leaning into the instincts of my chimera, I searched for anything recognizable in the choppy syllables.
Magic tingled in my veins—not with the warmth of my power, but with the hot rush of Medea’s.
I didn’t know the language she spoke, butshedid.
Before the sorceress could defend herself, I slipped into her thoughts.
Smugness and anger and longing swirled. She was too lost in the sea of her emotions to notice my quiet presence. I dug deeper, until part of me was tuned to the vision of the past and part of me stood in the recesses of the sorceress’s mind. On the small corner of logic left untouched by her wild feelings, I translated her spell.
Bind, tether, mend together.
Medea hesitated, until the cries of dying chimera swelled.
Mine eternal, mine forever.
Mine,I realized,not the gods’.
Sun-blessed warriors become my vessel.
As Medea crafted a spell that bound, tethered, and claimed, none of the gods noticedwhoshe tied the chimeras’ power to. They were too consumed by the dying roars of mortals to pay attention.
Medea had commandeered all of this for her own gain.
And Jason had helped her.
What had cleaved two bound, twisted souls?
I realized my mistake a heartbeat too late. Jason’s name was like a beacon in her thoughts, and as Medea realized how deeply I had traveled into her mind, her rage smothered me.
Are you pleased with what you learned?she hissed.
As the vision of the past fractured, and we descended into darkness, I wanted to scream.Pleasedwas the furthestthing I felt. Not only had I just witnessed the downfall of my ancestors, but I had wasted precious moments I could have used to escape.
