133. Gamma

Callista.

"Hey, Callista!" Haden's voice comes, and I see the man himself approaching me, carrying a heavy looking cardboard box. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing," I comment, falling into a lazy walk beside him. "I'm just going to my room to get something."

I'd taken my breakfast trays back to the kitchen so as not to bother the maids, and in my haste, I'd forgotten my ring. I only noticed that after I'd opened the door to go into the kitchen. It felt wrong not to have my ring on me. The crystal piece of jewelry had grown on me in such a short time. I feel almost naked when I don’t wear it.

"Oh, good, I'm going the same way. I need to deliver these to the guards near Elias's room."

"How is Elias, by the way?" I ask and immediately regret it when Haden sighs sadly.

"He gets worse by the day," he says. "He's gotten to the point that he bites his own hide just to release the bloodlust he feels, and we don't have a way to treat his wounds. It sucks, to watch your friend turn to that. I