Chapter 41: The serpent Kiss has been enchanted

Chapter 41: The serpent Kiss has been enchanted

Eleanor’s POV

The familiar, comforting scent of brewing coffee filled my kitchen, a stark contrast to the phantom smells of burnt fur, silver, and fear that still clung to my memory.

I leaned against the counter, my hands trembling slightly as I replayed the previous night in my head.

It was a blur of pain and primal instinct. Waking up in that pitch-black storage room, remembering how my entire body ached before, as if my skin had tried to tear itself off my bones.

But amidst the terror, there was one clear, bizarre memory: the beast. The massive werewolf I’d chained up.

Somehow, in the depths of that dark night, curled against its warm, heavy fur, the pain had lessened. I’d felt... safe. Protected. It was the weirdest, most illogical feeling in the world.

When I’d woken at dawn, the agony was gone, replaced by a deep, bone-weary exhaustion. I hadn’t dared to look at the creature, too afraid of waking it.

I’d just carefully, silently, untangled myself. My clothes were ripped in several places, so I’d fumbled in the dark for a discarded canvas tarp to wrap around myself like a makeshift coat before slipping out, leaving the beast—or, as I’d discovered, the man—asleep on the cold floor.

Because it had been a man. In the final moments, my hand had brushed against not fur, but skin. A human hand. The beast had shrunk back into a person overnight.

But the room was too dark, and I was too scared to see his face. I didn’t want to know. Some secrets are better left in the dark.

Now, back in the safety of my apartment, I tried to rationalize it all. The strange sense of connection I’d felt, that inexplicable calm... it had to be a side effect of the lunar moon.

A weird, supernatural empathy between two creatures suffering the same curse. That’s all.

Oh, for moon’s sake, Beatrice groaned in my head. You are impossibly dense. That wasn’t ’empathy.’ That was a bond. I felt it. That was our mate.

I shook my head, taking a sip of the hot coffee. "It was the full moon," I said aloud. "It does strange things. I bet it makes creatures... connect in weird ways."

Right, she drawled, dripping with sarcasm. Because cuddling with a random, terrifying creature you’ve just silver-chained is a totally normal ’weird connection’ and not at all a classic mate-bond manifestation. You’re a fool if you think we’re not going to find out who that was.

"We are not finding out," I said firmly, though a part of me was desperately curious. "It was a one-time thing. He was in pain, I was in pain. We... coexisted. End of story."

But even as I said the words, I couldn’t shake the feeling. The memory of that warmth, the solid weight against me, the strange, profound sense of rightness I’d felt in the middle of the worst night of my life. It haunted me more than the fear ever could.

I carried my mug of coffee to the bed, the warmth seeping into my hands. Needing a distraction from the whirlwind in my head, I grabbed my phone and pulled up the news. The screen lit up with a grim-faced anchor.

"—the aftermath of last night’s unprecedented events at the Serpent’s Kiss race track," the woman was saying. "While the strange red hue of the lunar moon and reports of supernatural activity are concerning, the most shocking development is the track itself. Eyewitnesses and officials are describing it as having ’come alive.’ Reports indicate some form of enchantment has taken hold, resulting in multiple human injuries. All victims are reporting the same phenomenon: the track materializing physical, aggressive creatures."

The scene cut to a hospital room where a bandaged racer was speaking to a reporter, his eyes wide with residual terror. "It was like nothing I’ve ever seen! The asphalt... it just moved. Formed into these... these things with teeth! I thought I was hallucinating, but everyone saw it!"

My blood ran cold. Roxy. Was she okay? I didn’t have her number. My fingers fumbled as I dialed Mira.

She picked up on the first ring. "Eleanor! Oh, thank god. Where were you? I tried calling you a dozen times when all hell broke loose!"

"I... I can’t really remember," I lied, the words tasting bitter. "It was so chaotic. I think I got knocked out or something. I just woke up and got back home." It was a flimsy story, but it was the best I could do.

"Well, I’m just glad you’re safe," Mira said, her voice full of relief. "It was insane."

"Roxy," I blurted out. "What about Roxy? I saw the news about the track."

There was a pause on the other end. "She’s... okay. A few bumps and bruises. But she’s tough. It’s not her physical state I’m worried about."

"What do you mean?"

"Eleanor, the track created monsters. It attacked people. There’s no way humans can race on it now. And supernatural creatures aren’t exactly welcome to compete publicly. The whole project might be shut down. Permanently."

I sat back, the news sinking in. Shut down? The Serpent’s Kiss was a masterpiece of engineering. It is going to be one of the main centerpiece of Vexxon’s new racing division. But Mira was right. A monster-making race track wasn’t exactly a viable business model.

"I don’t know," I said slowly. "The CEOs... I don’t think they’ll just shut it down. They don’t seem like the type to give up on an investment that easily."

"You might be right," Mira conceded. "Anyway...uhhh... something just came up. I’ll call you later, okay? Bye." The line went dead.

I finished the last of my coffee, the bitter liquid doing little to calm the storm inside me. Just as I set the mug down, a violent, pounding noise erupted from my front door.

My heart sank. I knew that knock.

I walked to the door and opened a crack. Sure enough, Dickson stood there, his face twisted with fury.

"Why the fuck did you block me online?!" he snarled.

I tried to shut the door, but he shoved his foot in the jam and forced his way inside, invading my space yet again. "I am fed up with your attitude, Eleanor!"

A weary, cold anger settled over me. The fear I usually felt around him was gone. "I am not in the mood for your man-child behavior today, Dickson. Get out."

He laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "Do you really think you’d get away with humiliating me at the office? I know you’ve been fired. Your co workers told me you were being ’disposed of.’ You’re back to being a nobody. A beggar."

So he didn’t know. Good. The less he knew about my life, the better.

He looked me up and down, a smug, condescending smile spreading across his face. "But you know, if you beg... I might be able to pull some strings. Get you a little job back at the company. Maybe as a cleaner. It would suit you, I think."

This dude is really starting to piss me off,

I looked him dead in the eye, my voice flat and devoid of any emotion. "Leave. Now. Or you are going to regret it."

The smile didn’t leave his face; it just became more patronizing. "Or what, Eleanor? What are you going to do?"

Dickson sneered. "You don’t have any authority here. You have no power anywhere. I’m the only one you have left, and you’re too stupid to see it."

Now’s the chance, Beatrice hissed, her voice a venomous whisper in my ear. Make this pathetic worm pee his expensive trousers. Show him what happens when he corners a wolf.

I’m not going to threaten to kill him, I thought back.

Then suggest a better idea, she shot back, because that’s the only one I’ve got!

Dickson wasn’t done. He was warming up. "Let me remind you who you are, Eleanor. You’re the woman no one needs. Not your family. Not your friends. Can’t you see that the common denominator is you? There’s something fundamentally wrong with you that even your own flesh and blood rejected you."

Each word was a carefully aimed dagger, designed to hit the deepest insecurities he’d helped create.

"I rejected you," he continued, his eyes gleaming with cruel satisfaction, "because I couldn’t stand the sight of you. Your touch repulsed me. I tried to make you better, to polish you up, but you just got worse the second I wasn’t there to put you in check. Look at you! You even dyed your hair back to this freakish silver white because you have no one to tell you how ridiculous it looks."

He took a final, triumphant breath. "I am never, ever getting married to you. You will die alone, which is exactly what you deserve. So here is your one, final chance. Get on your knees and accept whatever pathetic scrap I decide to throw you."

That was it. The dam broke. This man, this vile, insignificant speck, thought he could define my worth.

Kill him, Beatrice’s voice clouded my mind, a seductive, primal command. End him.

I didn’t speak. I just started walking toward him, my steps slow and deliberate.

Dickson misread the silence for surrender. A smug smile spread across his face. "Finally. What was all those stubbornness for? You finally underst—"

My leg shot out in a swift, brutal arc. My foot connected with his crotch with a sickening, satisfying thud.