Brute 149

Chapter 149 

ATASHA’S POV 

The warmth in my palm turned cold so fast it burned. A shiver shot up my arm, and my breath caught in my throat. Beneath my hand, the woman’s pulse leapt, too strong, too sudden, and her back arched off the bed. 

Then, her eyes snapped open. 

For a split second, I thought I’d done it, that she was waking up. But the thought barely formed before I realized something was wrong. Her pupils were wrong. They weren’t human anymore. The color was draining from them, leaving nothing but a milky film that spread outward like frost. 

Her hand shot up and clamped around my wrist. The grip was impossibly strong. Bone–deep. My healing light flickered. I tried to pull away, but she held tighter, her fingers digging in hard enough to hurt. 

“Cassian-” I started, but my voice broke. 

The woman’s mouth twitched, her lips parting as if she wanted to speak. Instead, a wet, rattling sound came out. Her head jerked to the side. The skin along her cheek split like cracked glass. I froze, unable to breathe. The flesh beneath it darkened, turned gray, then black. Her veins bulged, spreading like a web under her skin. 

Her other hand twitched, then clawed at the blanket, tearing through the fabric. Her jaw dislocated with a sickening pop. 

And then, she smiled. 

It wasn’t her smile. The lips were wrong, too wide, too stretched, showing gums and teeth that didn’t belong in a living face. 

“I found you,” she rasped. 

The words came out too clearly, echoing through my head. I yanked back, but her fingers dug in deeper, her skin flaking off as she held on. Almost immediately, the smell hit me, rot, metal, and something sharp like sulfur. 

“Let go-“I gasped, trying to push my power through her again, to heal, to burn, to do anything, but it wasn’t. working. 

The world tilted. My vision blurred. The voice came again, not from her mouth this time, but from somewhere inside my skull. 

“I found you.” 

Her eyes rolled back, her grip loosened, and suddenly everything went black. 

Or so I thought. 

“Atasha?” 

 

Cassian’s voice pulled me back. My eyes flew open, and the world around me snapped into focus again. I was still standing beside the bed, my hand frozen midair, just inches from touching the woman. What in the goddess’s name was that? 

I blinked hard. The woman hadn’t moved. She was still lying there, pale and still, her chest rising weakly. No broken skin, no rotting flesh, no milky eyes. Just the same sick woman I’d been about to heal. 

I turned slowly toward Cassian. He was beside me now, his hand closing around mine. His brow furrowed when he felt how cold my skin was. He must have felt what I felt from the bond. “I- Im fine,” I had to assure him or… 

“We need to get out of here,” he said, his tone flat. 

“What?” I breathed out, glancing at the woman again. “No, she’s–she’s still dying.” 

“She hasn’t moved,” he said. “You were just standing here. You didn’t touch her.” 

My pulse thundered in my ears. I swallowed, trying to make sense of it. “I-” I looked back at the woman. “I saw her open her eyes. She spoke. She said-” 

Cassian’s hand tightened slightly around mine. “You were staring,” he said quietly. “You didn’t move at all. You’re tired. Let’s go. We need to leave.” 

“No,” I said. 

“Atasha…” 

“Look at her,” I nodded slowly, even as a small tremor went through me. The memory of those words, I found you, still crawled along the back of my mind. It didn’t make sense. It couldn’t have been real. “She’s dying, Cassian. I have to help her.” 

I couldn’t just leave her like this. 

“I’m going to heal her,” I said firmly. My voice sounded steadier than I felt. “Whatever that was, it doesn’t matter. She’s still alive.” I didn’t know if that was meant to stop me or scare me off. 

Cassian didn’t argue, but his gaze stayed locked on me, watchful. 

Ignoring the pounding in my chest, I pressed my hand to the woman’s wrist. This time, the connection came easily. My power flowed smoothly, spreading warmth through her arm and across her chest. Her pulse steadied under my touch, faint but real. 

The color began to return to her cheeks, slow but visible. Her breathing deepened, no longer shallow and weak. The gray hue of her skin faded, replaced by a faint flush. 

I let out a quiet breath I didn’t know I was holding. “It’s working,” I murmured. 

Cassian stayed silent, but I could feel him close behind me, his presence grounding me as I focused on the faint rhythm of life coming back under my hand. 

Whatever that vision, or nightmare, had been, I pushed it aside. For now, the woman was alive. That was all 

that mattered. 

But deep down, a single thought wouldn’t leave me. 

What if she really did 

say 

it? 

“Violet?” Sister Veris’s voice broke through the silence, snapping me out of focus. I looked up and realized the woman on the bed–Violet–was staring back at me, her eyes now open and unfocused. My breath caught, and I quickly released her hand. 

“Sister Veris?” Violet’s voice was rough, barely more than a whisper as she turned towards Sister Veris. 

“Give her some water,” I said. “And something soft to eat when she’s ready.” I looked at Sister Veris. “We’ll wait for you outside.” 

But instead of answering, Sister Veris’s arms came around me before I could react. The hug was sudden and tight, almost desperate. I stiffened at first, surprised, but then I felt her shoulders shaking against me. Her body trembled, and soft, muffled sobs escaped her. The sound was raw, relief and grief tangled together. 

For a moment, I didn’t know what to do. My hands hovered awkwardly before I finally lifted one and patted her back. “She needs you more,” I said quietly. “Go to her.” 

Finally, Sister Veris pulled back, wiping at her eyes with the edge of her sleeve. “Forgive me, my Lady,” she said, voice thick with emotion. “That was disrespectful of me.” 

“It’s fine,” I said simply. “Go to her.” 

She nodded, pressing a hand to her chest before turning toward the bed. Cassian and I stepped out of the room, the door closing softly behind us. 

In the small living space, the air felt heavy with the smell of herbs and smoke. I turned toward Cassian. “What do you think?” 

He studied me for a long moment, his expression unreadable. “What did you feel earlier?” he asked finally. “Before you touched her.” 

I frowned, trying to find the right words. “It was nothing,” I said too quickly. “Just… some kind of hallucination. Probably because I’m tired.” 

The moment the word hallucination left my mouth, I regretted it. Cassian’s stare sharpened. He didn’t say anything, but I could feel his concern pressing through the bond. 

I stepped closer and caught his arm, forcing him to look at me. “Listen,” I said firmly. “Someone might be targeting the North. If the curse is real, then it isn’t just superstition. Someone wants chaos here. They want to break us apart from the inside.” 

“I- “I wanted to tell him not to focus on me and focus on the north instead, but his reaction left me unable to finish my words.