Chapter 213\u00a0<\/p>\n
Athena\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room we\u2019ve set up looks nothing like the cozy guest room it was this morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek and Orion moved all the furniture against the walls, pushing the bed frame and dresser into the corners like we\u2019re preparing for something violent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah covered everything with plastic sheets that crinkle every time someone moves, and the sound makes my teeth hurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a mattress on the floor in the center of the room, positioned under the overhead light so we can see everything clearly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clean white sheets that won\u2019t stay white for long, and I try not to think about what that means.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Towels are stacked nearby in neat piles, more towels than any normal situation would ever need.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Medical supplies that Derek brought from somewhere I don\u2019t want to think about are arranged on a small table like we\u2019re setting up an operating room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the knife.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s sitting on a small table next to the mattress, gleaming silver in the afternoon light coming through the window.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
The blade is long and sharp and coated with something dark that makes my stomach turn every time I look at it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The handle looks ordinary, like something you\u2019d find in any kitchen, but I know what it really is.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A weapon designed to kill werewolves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wolfsbane mixed with silver, Derek explained earlier, and the combination would prevent Tristan from healing and make the wound fatal within\u00a0<\/p>\n
minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The wolfsbane would stop his body from shifting to heal itself, and the silver would make sure the wound stayed open and kept bleeding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Within minutes, that\u2019s how long I have to figure out how to use this power to save instead of kill. Minutes to do something I\u2019ve never done before,\u00a0<\/p>\n
something I\u2019m not even sure is possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hands won\u2019t stop shaking, and I keep wiping them on my jeans even though they\u2019re not actually wet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah keeps glancing at me with worry in her eyes, but she doesn\u2019t say anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion is pacing back and forth by the window, running his hands through his hair over and over again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek is the only one who looks calm, but I can see the tension in his shoulders, the way he keeps checking and rechecking his supplies like he\u2019s forgotten something important.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to watch,\u201d Tristan says quietly. He\u2019s standing next to me, fully dressed still, but I know that won\u2019t last long. His voice is steady, but I can hear the underlying current of fear that he\u2019s trying to hide.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I do,\u201d my voice comes out stronger than I expected, and I\u2019m surprised by my own determination. \u201cIf I\u2019m asking you to do this, the least I can do is\u00a0<\/p>\n
9\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
17:52 Tue, Jan 13 GRM\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 213\u00a0<\/p>\n
watch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He nods like he understands, like he knew I\u2019d say that. There\u2019s something in his eyes that looks almost proud, and it makes my chest tight with\u00a0<\/p>\n
emotion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you ready?\u201d Orion asks, and his face is pale, almost gray in the afternoon light. His hands are shaking slightly, and I realize this is just as hard for him as it is for me. Maybe harder, because he has to be the one to actually do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He has to be the one to stab his best friend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thought makes me feel sick, and I have to swallow hard to keep from throwing up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is insane, what we\u2019re doing is completely insane, and I can\u2019t believe we\u2019re actually going through with\u00a0<\/p>\n
it\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan pulls his shirt over his head and drops it on the floor next to the mattress. His chest is bare now, and I can see his heart beating under his skin,\u00a0<\/p>\n
fast but steady.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The muscles in his chest and arms are tense, and there are small scars scattered across his skin from old fights and accidents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For now, his heart is beating. For now, he\u2019s alive and whole and looking at me with trust in his eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a few minutes, that might not be true anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d Orion asks, and his voice cracks on the single word. He\u2019s holding himself stiff, like he\u2019s trying to keep from falling apart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek points to a spot just below Tristan\u2019s ribs, on the left side where his heart is. \u201cHere, it\u2019ll hit vital organs but give Athena the best chance to reach him before it\u2019s too late. The angle needs to be straight in, no hesitation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 213 Chapter 213\u00a0 Athena\u2019s POV\u00a0 The room we\u2019ve set up looks nothing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}