A Rejected Wolf and a Court of Ash (Eden and Azriel) novel Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Elvira

The chains don’t rattle tonight. Screamer already did his shift. Now he is singing like a lunatic.

“Virelith, virelith…”

I have no idea what Screamer’s words mean. He sings them like a drunk lullaby. Is it another language? It could be a prophecy or the jingle from a cereal ad.

“They put bees in my soup again,” Screamer mutters. “They said it would make me strong.”

This idiot…

I press my forehead to the wall and try not to smile. It doesn’t work. I smile. Just a little. Just enough for the guilt to rush back in and slap me with its cold hand.

Remember where you are and what you’ve done. You don’t get to smile.

You haven’t earned it.

My heart clenches with unresolved guilt. I try to ignore it by looking across the hallway where the new girl hasn’t moved.

She is smaller than me. An Omega and the exact image of who I used to be. Tiny. Shaking. So thin it looks like she hasn’t eaten in months. More delicate than a daisy. She hasn’t said a word since they threw her in two hours ago, just curled up in the corner like her bones are too scared to hold her up.

“Don’t talk to her,” Screamer yells suddenly. “She is a ghost. I saw her disappear. Twice.”

“Shut up, Screamer,” I say quietly.

“You shut up, Pretty Rat.”

I don’t correct him. There aren’t many friends to choose from down here, so Screamer is allowed to call me that now. All for the sake of the imaginary bond that we are sharing down here.

“Wh-where am I?”

The girl asks, finally looking. Her eyes are swollen. No bruises on her brittle body, though. Just the kind of swelling that happens after the guards have had their way with you. I know it well.

And while I shouldn’t care, shouldn’t make friends with someone I’m just going to end up breaking since I’m a snake, I ask, “You okay?”

She flinches. Like the words hit her harder than the guards did. She doesn’t answer. Just stares like I’m a warning etched into the stone.

“They will stop hurting you if you scream louder than me!” Screamer yells.

“Ignore him,” I murmur. “He is not… entirely here.”

“Neither are you,” he sings back.

And maybe he is right.

The girl finally whispers, “What did you do?”

1 freeze.

My breath catches, and I feel a sharp pull in my chest, like something twisting in it. Not from the question itselt, but from the not knowing.

1/4

100

Chapter 99

She doesn’t know.

How does she not know? I thought the entire pack knew. I thought they carved my betrayal into every wall. i thought the guards told the story every time they passed my cell. That I was the one who betrayed Eden. The one who turned on her own best friend.

I was sure it echoed through the halls louder than Screamer ever could.

But this girl is just looking at me with curious eyes. Like she thinks I might be worth something still.

And I hate it. I hate that I want to crawl into her hope and hide there.

But I can’t because what did I do?

Something terrible.

I betrayed the only person who saw me. That’s what I did. I let the wolves circle Eden, and I joined in. I bared my teeth to be liked. I laughed when the cried. I sharpened myself to fit into a pack that chews up girls like her and spits them out as bones.

And for what?

To feel powerful for a second?

To be seen by Paris and Hilda?

I traded a soul sister for scraps of attention, and now I’m here, rotting in here.

Well–deserved.

This is karma, and every time I blink, I see Eden, this scene of her looking at me while I stood beside Paris and Hilda instead of her. She didn’t cry. She just

blinked, like she couldn’t believe it. Like she was watching herself die in someone else’s story.

“Are you here?” the girl whispers. “The guards? Did they break your spirit?”

I swallow. The answer I want to give doesn’t fit in

I am broken, but not because of them.

my throat.

I broke myself, but since I can’t tell her that, I just crawl over the floor. There’s a throb in my ribs, but I ignore it and press my back against the bars. Then I

face her. Not like a threat. Like a mirror.

“Not if I can help it.”

She stares at me for a long time.

Then slowly, she scoots closer. Not much. Just enough to mean something.

“The guards said my sister didn’t want me anymore, that she put me here,” she murmurs. “They said I would get used to the dark.”

“They always say that,” I reply. “It’s how they win.”

She sniffles, wipes her nose on her sleeve. Her voice is quieter now. “But they were right about the dark. I don’t even see it anymore. It’s just… always there behind my eyes, waiting to drag me under its current. Like I’m swimming in the vast ocean, trying to find land with a thousand hands trying to drown me.”

Screamer whistles. “Wow, that girl has seen some shit.”

I ignore the bastard and sit in silence with the girl. She is holding her breath as if she believes it will somehow save her from the hurt inside. I used to do that too. I used to think if I made myself small enough, the guards would walk past and that the guilt wouldn’t roll in.

2/4

10.24

Chapter 99

But you can’t escape from your own thoughts.

Before I can respond, a scream cuts through the corridor.

Not Screamer.

Someone else.

A door slams. Heavy footsteps. Metal dragging.

The girl flinches. I grab the bars. My heart kicks like it remembers how to panic.

Screamer mutters, “It’s her turn with the guards again. Poor thing.”

The girl grabs my hand through the bars.

“What do I do?” she whispers.

371%

I don’t have an answer.

I can already hear them. The guards. Laughing like this is entertainment. Like her fear is worth their amusement. I want to rip their voices out of their throats. But I don’t even have a voice of my own anymore.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify