WebNovels

Chapter 9 - Twilight

The thud of a knee hitting the side of the bed brought Shey to consciousness. Within moments, Shey's convulsions intensified. Luckily, Barlie darted over and quickly administered a potion. Shey's muscles relaxed, while Ruby's grip tightened.

"What happened to her? What happened to Baskerville?" Ruby wondered, looking at each of her pack.

Everyone threw gloom, both Haris, Barlie, and finally, Glenn.

Wait.

Ruby was stunned. No wonder their situation was shrouded entirely in silence. She'd lost her friend, who should have been the loudest.

"Where is Thomas?"

Shey's pale lips trembled, and she let out a thin sob. She pulled one arm up, covering her eyes.

"We'd better talk outside. The medication will soon make Shey fall asleep," Barlie said.

Ruby's heart felt heavy, her feet felt frozen. She wanted to wait for Shey's crying to subside, to listen to the complaints and problems that seemed to center on her. Guilt gripped her. Ruby should have postponed the date, planned things out longer, and focused on saving the woman who had argued with her yesterday. The discovery of the woman's body was surely the root of all this.

Glenn held out his hand. "Be strong, Your Majesty."

Ruby grabbed her friend's hand, forming a fist that sent a jolt of power.

 

***

 

"What did you say?"

Ruby stood up, startled by two terrifying words: toxic fumes. The aftermath made her blood boil, quickly creeping up to her brain. Red veins bulged across the white membrane, centered on the blue irises.

A few hours ago, Shey and Thomas were exposed to the smoke from a funeral pyre. The police caught them. Thomas's superior sense of smell caused him to transform. Thomas attacked residents in wolf form, even worse, in front of the police. Thomas was tranquilized and taken away. The fact that he struggled not to transform back to keep the werewolf's existence a secret broke Ruby's heart.

"Where are they taking Thom?"

"The wildlife laboratory center," Haris quipped. "I was eavesdropping."

"Let's go there now!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Calm down." Glenn gently held the queen's shoulder. "My flock is my responsibility too, not yours alone. Thomas didn't do this out of our carelessness."

Ruby's eyes closed, her anger dampened by a subtle hint that even Glenn didn't notice.

"I know. Ah! Damn! Jay is so incompetent at running a company," Ruby grumbled, annoyed that she had brought the vampire into the mix. "What about the citizens?"

"Mayor Walles came and moved us to the flats on the city side, but as the Village Head, I asked the main group to postpone the move."

"They must be having a hard time not hunting all day. I'm sorry, everyone. I wish I hadn't wasted time receiving treatment."

"Maintenance?"

Glenn's fingers lifted Ruby's shirt collar slightly. At first, Glenn thought the black line obscured by the shadow was just a scribble. However, when he opened it, the dotted line was stitched.

"Are you hurt?" Glenn asked, his voice demanding an explanation.

The tables have turned. Now, Glenn is far from calm.

"It's okay," Ruby replied weakly. She really didn't want to discuss this topic.

"Explain what happened! Did the vampire do it?"

Haris and Barlie looked at each other. Glenn seemed to be absorbing their entire reaction.

"I'll make some hot tea," Barlie whispered to Haris. He walked into the kitchen, believing that hot tea would calm the situation.

"Glenn, this isn't the time to talk about my problems. It's not important.—"

"This is important to me, to us!"

Ruby let out a shaky breath. "Three days ago, Jay had an attack while I was putting him to bed," Ruby revealed, hoping Glenn would just say, Oh.

"So?"

"Yes, I fought them."

Haris chimed in quietly, "After successfully uploading the photo? I'm sorry. I was monitoring your upload."

"Why don't you just go home?"

"I'm trapped, Glenn. They've surrounded the villa. They're armed with sophisticated weapons! You know that's our weakness. I don't want to die a foolish death," Ruby insisted.

Glenn shook his head quickly. "Impossible. You think wolves are stupid creatures who have trouble finding their way out? No. You used to charge into anything, and look! Even though you're injured, you're alive. Because you're a Zeta!"

"That's why I can't leave him!" Ruby shouted back.

"You're protecting the enemy," Glenn growled, staggering back.

"Come on, Glenn… don't be like this."

There was too much for Ruby to comprehend. Especially when Glenn's broad back suddenly moved away, enveloped in a profound disappointment. Ruby ran a hand through her hair in resignation and sat down, dejected. She questioned how much of a mistake she had made in helping another creature. Despite her hatred for vampires, abandoning someone paralyzed in the midst of danger was also cowardly.

Ruby had no regrets whatsoever. Glenn wasn't a leader until yesterday; why was he so reluctant to understand such basic things?

"Maybe she's mentally exhausted," guessed Haris, who had joined Ruby in the seat across from her. "It's hard to stabilize emotions when someone is forced to solve problems quickly."

"Since yesterday, Glenn has been dealing with humans, helping citizens, and caring for Shey. Now that he finds out something happened to you, a Zeta who is important to us," Barlie added.

"He clearly wasn't worried about me. He thought I was siding with the vampires."

"Hmm, that's true. I don't know which one is right. I understand that your morale must be under pressure," Haris said, rubbing his chin.

"Me too. Yeah, but I can't blame Glenn. His burden is indeed heavy."

Ruby gasped at Barlie's arrival. She remembered the tiny man standing beside her, suddenly darting from the kitchen with a cup of jasmine tea.

"Thank you for your understanding, guys. So, have you formulated any plans yet?"

After a chain of unfortunate events collapses, the prime mover is exhausted in the middle of strained muscles. Ruby felt a little relaxed and wanted to think again.

"There are actually two things we need to do: bring Thomas back and gather information about the poison gas," Haris explained. "But we're having trouble prioritizing because time is of the essence for both. It's very dangerous to leave Thomas around people for too long. At the same time, Shey—" Haris turned to Barlie, the expert in explaining.

"My potion can only weaken the poison in the lungs, but can't completely clear it. The reason Shey and Thomas transformed was because they were suffocated while in human form and transformed into animals. If they were left transformed for too long, the poison would increasingly take over their blood and trick their wolf bodies into hallucinations. When they returned to human form, Thomas would be a corpse."

Just imagining it could bite Ruby's thumb. "How long can Thomas last?"

"I estimate that Thomas's limit will change tonight. Be human," said Haris. "We have to act quickly before something terrible happens."

"Why didn't you guys start Shey's operation yesterday?" Ruby whined.

"We were overwhelmed. It took dozens of people to hold Shey still while I mixed the medicine. The rest of the pack were conditioning for the risky move."

"I'm sorry," Ruby repeated, bowing her head. "I'm wasting my time."

Haris patted the back of Ruby's clenched fist on the table. "We know you're also fighting on the enemy's turf."

"But nothing's changed. What should I do now? Help with the operation to bring Thomas back? Explain the plan in more detail," Ruby requested.

Haris stood up. "I plan to sneak into the RED-EYEZ building now. I only have five hours to gather information and head straight to the laboratory."

"Is that possible?"

"We try every possibility, no matter how small," Haris replied.

"Okay, let's make it as likely as possible." Ruby let out a determined breath and confidently stood up. "Let's meet my lover."

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