Chapter 71
She had arrived in front of Astra’s door. Bloodied, tired and with no shred of hope left in her. She thought the pain would take her away. She wanted it to.
She had even risked going up to the penthouse. But no… she couldn’t risk Gabriel seeing her like that. Not in that condition.
Especially when she wasn’t sure if she was still being followed by Sabine’s men. She wanted to make sure she was as safe as possible.
Sabine had her ways… and she didn’t want to put all of them in jeopardy. So she had cleaned up herself as much as she could in the bathroom and rushed
out.
She took a taxi to Astra’s place. Despite feeling uneasy about going back to the woman’s place. After everything she had told her and how she had rejected her, Lori wanted nothing more than to stay far away from her.
But she was nephilim. And she was just like Lori and Lori couldn’t avoid or deny the fact that she would be better suited to helping her than Gabriel ever would.
She had to at least try.
She was surprised when the lock on Astra’s door had clicked open and the woman pulled her in, while the taxi man in the background yelled for his payment.
Astra had hurriedly ran inside her apartment and rushed back out out and paid him off to avoid him calling too much attention to them. Lori didn’t have any
money.
Astra walked back inside her apartment glaring at Lori.
She shrugged off Lori’s coat and made her take off her blouse then examined her back.
It was bloodied and it looked like Lori had done a sloppy job of cleaning it with tissue. Tiny bits and pieces of tissue clung to her skin but the blood had stopped. The skin had healed nicely and the stumps were growing, at a slower rate.
Astra couldn’t even deny how fascinating it was to watch a nephilim’s wings grow. She never had wings. She only knew of a few nephilim’s who grew wings.
She frowned. But she didn’t say a word.
Lori stood still, searching her face for a reaction… silently pleading in her head that she would help her.
Astra still wasn’t speaking to her, she just mindlessly examined her back.
Lori didn’t want to come back, in fact she didn’t plan to go back to Astra. Left to her she would have rushed back into Gabriel’s arms. But she had to be smart. She couldn’t be stupid anymore and put them all in trouble. Not again.
“What’s happening to me?!”
Lori asked as she panted.
Astra shrugged.
“It’s not unusual for a nephilim to grow wings but it’s quite uncommon. This might have something to do with the werewolf bite you were given.”
‘How?”
Lori asked as Astra folded Lori’s coat. She threw Lori a towel to use to cover herself.
Lori wrapped it around her chest.
“It also triggered your shape shifting abilities. But you know… instead of you turning to a wolf… you turn into nephilim.”
Lori nodded.
“How long will this last?! How do I stop this?!”
Astra looked Lori over again. Her eyes raking over the small strange woman.
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Chapter 71
She had promised herself that she wouldn’t help. In fact she was in the midst of packing her bags and leaving town for a while. She already had a destination in mind, at least until the dust settled and that was when she heard a knock on the door.
She knew it was Lori when she smelled the blood as she neared her door. The only reason she had helped her was because any other supernatural within a five mile radius who could smell a nephilim would be able to detect her and they would trace her back to her house.
Astra helped her to keep herself safe. Not out of the benevolence of her heart.
Even though she couldn’t deny that she pitied the young woman. The kind of things she had been through… even Astra herself who had her fair share of life’s troubles and woes had not experienced half of it.
“We can pause the process. But we can’t stop it, it is inevitable. You’ll get your wings… and then you’ll have to painstakingly shift back into your normal form.. all of this can take a while. At least a few days.”
Days?!!!
Lori didn’t have a few days.
She also didn’t want to spend that long amount of time growing feathers. Not when there was so much to do. Not when Gabriel was probably worried sick about her.
Not when Sabine was on her neck and her son was being held captive.
She was slowly starting to regret asking Elliot for the bite, it was bringing her more stress than she ever thought it would.
“How do I slow it down?”
“Tell me what I need to do and I will be out of your sight immediately.”
Lori demanded and Astra raised her eyebrow.
“You don’t want to learn how to shift or shift back?”
She asked and Lori shook her head.
“I don’t want to bother you. You already said you didn’t want to help me…”
“Now. If there’s something to stop this process. Please help me with it and I’ll be well on my way.”
Astra sighed.
“Very well then.”
She murmured as she left Lori alone and walked into her room.
Lori sighed as she collapsed on the nearest sofa. She felt weak… a kind of weakness she had not felt in a while.
She needed to be on the move as soon as possible but her legs felt like lead.
She could do with a little bit of rest. The only problem was that she had no time for that… not not not yet.
Few moments later Astra came back out of her room with a pile of clothes in one hand and a bracelet in the other.
It was the second change of clothes she had offered Lori. Lori would have declined if it wasn’t for the fact that her clothes were unwearable. She couldn’t wear them anymore. Not without the blood and dirt stuck on them.
“What’s that?”
She asked. Her eyes on the bracelet.
Astra shrugged.
“It’s a cursed object. Completely blocks you from using your powers…”
Lori reached for it and Astra pulled back.
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Chapter 71
‘The careful with it. If you wear it for too long it can be dangerous. It’s black magic… the worst kind..”
Lori nodded.
“As long as it’ll stop whatever’s growing on me from growing…”
She murmured and Astra sighed.
She gestured for Lori to extend her wrist and clamped the bracelet around her wrist.
The bracelet looked simple, it looked like it was made from iron but Lori couldn’t really tell. It was almost plain, but a wave of dizziness washed over Lori the minute it was on her wrist,
“You can change out of your clothes in the bathroom. You should eat before your go… I suspect you haven’t eaten anything in a while.”
Suddenly Lori felt sharp hunger pangs in her belly. She had gone days and hours without proper food but now that the bracelet was on her wrist she was feeling the full weight of the hunger on her.
She staggered and Astra supported her with a strong firm hand.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll make you something before you leave. Then you can be on your way and never come back here again.”
Her tone was serious. Deadly even and Lori nodded.
“I’m serious Lori. This is the last time… look around.”
She asked and Lori looked around. Boxes, a suitcase at the corner, Astra was leaving.
Her jaw dropped.
How did she not notice that before? She had been so engulfed in her own problems that she didn’t notice that the room was near empty.
“You’re leaving.”
She said and Astra shook her head.
“Not leaving. Fleeing.”
Fleeing?!
Was it really that serious?! She asked herself and Astra nodded as if she could hear her thoughts.
“I’ve lived here peacefully without any complications for close to eight years. And now you’re here and I have to leave… just because of you.”
“So. This is the last time. Do you understand?”
She asked and Lori slowly nodded.
“Last time.”
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