Chapter 2 Sold to the monster gods
“Grandma. Please do something.”
It had been an hour since the doctor left, and my parents followed without a single word to me. I had gone through all stages of grief: screaming in denial, lying in sullen silence, and finally the tears came, slicing through my eyelids like hot swords.
My breath hitched with another hiccup as I moved my eyes to where she sat to my left. I could not even turn my head without help.
“Grandma?” I pleaded.
But my grandmother, the elder of her coven and the most powerful witch since three generations past, shook her head at me. Her eyes were red-rimmed and bleak.
“I cannot help you," She clutched the hand I couldn't feel. “You know I’d give my life for you, but not even gods can fix this, sweet Lys.”
Those words lasered my heart open and my throat tightened around a whimper. The growing realization that I really might never be able to dance again made my chest begin to constrict in panic. The door burst open then, slamming hard against the wall behind it.
My father stood tall in the doorway. “Dad has a surprise for you.”
I watched him walk fully into the ward, studiously avoiding the hateful glare of his mother-in-law. He still did not meet my gaze.
Was this how Gianna felt all these years? Unseen? Did that justify doing something so vile to me, her own sister?
A nurse guided a smart wheelchair into the ward. It was pink but sturdy, padded with lush cushions I just knew would feel buttery.
“This here, my girl, is a science miracle. The smartest piece these engineers have made. You can do just about anything with its voice control.”
I felt a sudden queasiness as my chest continued to heave. This sudden gesture of friendliness… He and Mom had treated me with unconcealed contempt from the moment I fell, why this sudden change of attitude? “What’s the correct command for nerve healing?” I asked.
The room went quiet.
His head jerked back in surprise, staring at me where I lay like some lifeless eggplant. And for half a second, his eyes were unable to mask his disgust. Then he laughed warmly, just as Mom walked in.
“You’ve still got the humor.” His legs ate the distance between us in a few strides, and he pushed a button that moved my bed into a sitting position. More air instantly rushed to my lungs.
Mom halted at the foot of the bed, staring down at my toes peaking out from beneath the covers. My discomfort grew, and for the second time in the last few days, I felt a strong sense of approaching disaster.
“That chair cannot give you your body back, but there is someone willing to.” Dad sat on the bed space beside me.
Coming from my father, I knew this was not the good news it was supposed to be. Rhea stirred and shifted just beneath my ribcage. She felt it too. My father held my gaze for a heartbeat, and then moved his hand to the spot where my wolf was nestled.
“You can go on to complete the Grand Ascension and make Dad and Mom very proud.” He nodded in the affirmative when my pulse thumped. “Rhea is a strong girl,” his hand moved over my ribcage and I had no doubt that he could almost feel her. “She will help you heal faster than any other young woman has.”
“What’s this about, Jonas?” Grandma cut in.
“Let him finish, mom.”
“We love you and want the best for you. The Heartthrown Alphas made a request for you, and your mother and I consented.”
My heart stopped.
“What?” Grandma flew off her seat.
The door crashed open, and the ward seemed to expand in the presence of the violent wolf. Light glinted off the gold buttons on his jacket as Arthur crossed the threshold. He turned his head slowly to take in the room, and then he roared. “You’ll not sell my sister like a whore!”
“Did you miss your way to the bar?” Mom's voice came out icy.
The smell of alcohol clinging to my brother was overwhelming even from this distance, and his tie dangled as he swayed on his feet.
He squinted as if trying to concentrate on her face, and then he started laughing, laughing at her. “I never knew y’all too-proper folk had it in you.” He walked up to my bed. “You know what those monster gods are famous for, right? They only fuck a woman if they can do so together. They’ll not touch a chic they couldn't press their cocks into at the same time.”
I flinched.
“Enough!” My father sprang to his feet. A sudden gust of wind rushed in through the window, knocked a wooden vase down, and blew my hair into my eyes. “How much lower can you get, speaking such filth in the presence of your sisters?”
My gaze stopped by the door where Gianna now stood quietly, arms crossed.
“Filth?” Arthur growled low, yanking my attention back into the room. “You’d rather keep her in the dark? How’s my saying the words worse than your plans?”
“Arthur, stay out of this,” Mom called a warning.
All at once, he snatched a bottle of red wine from the pile of gifts that fans had sent to my ward. I gasped. Mom shrieked as Grandma called his name in alarm. Dad jumped in front of his dear wife to shield her with his body.
Arthur spun around at the last second, and sent the bottle flying at the wall instead. “Want to sell her out to your sex gods, you’ll have to kill me!”
I stared, stunned.
Arthur and I had never been friends, not because I treated him with disdain like the rest of my family, but because Arthur did not spare me in his hate for our family regardless.
“She’s a grown woman.” Gianna’s quiet voice cut through the mayhem, as effectively as if she had yelled. “You should ask her what she wants, before making a fool of yourself.”
Everyone in the ward turned to me with an expectant look.
