by Bailey, G.
“No, flying pixies did. I just watched,” he sarcastically replies.
“I will thank them then. It’s pretty good,” I tell him.
“Thanks,” he grumbles under his breath. I catch Liam smirking at Mason, and when I look at Mason, he has a similar smirk on his lips.
“I was wondering where you all grew up,” I ask, because I’ve never recognised their accents from any particular place.
“I grew up in a village near the Scottish border. It was a multicultural town, so my accent is a rough mixture of all the places,” Mason explains to me. “My parents are both teachers at the high school in the village, and you know I have a younger sister. Her name is Heldi.”
“You must miss her,” I gently reply, finishing my food. He simply nods, going back to his food without saying anything else. I glance at Liam next, who sighs and nods his head.
“I guess it’s only fair when we know everything about you. I lived in London—on the outskirts, mind you—in a small flat. My dad left when I was two, we didn’t ever see him again, and my mum brought me and my half-sister up alone. She is a cleaner at a local nightclub. It wasn’t an easy upbringing, but we made the most it,” he explains to me, and I suspect he is a little embarrassed by that when he shouldn’t be.
“Your mum sounds super brave, and I bet you had a brilliant childhood,” I reply, tugging my feet up on the leather sofa.
“We did, yeah.” He smiles at me. I glance at Alex next, and Mason stares with Liam at Alex as well, all of us hoping he will tell us about his past.
“Liam, are you going to get the chocolate cake?” Alex asks, cocking an eyebrow. “I’m not into sharing stories around the non-existent bonfire.”
“You are such a douchebag at times,” Liam snaps.
“I prefer you call me smart. Telling a stranger all about our past is stupid,” Alex replies, and the room drops into silence.
“I think I’m going to call it a night and go to sleep,” I say, feeling strangely hurt by Alex. The room is tense as I walk out and head up the stairs to the kitchen. I clean my plate off and quickly wash it up before leaving it to dry. Just as I dry my hands, Alex storms up to me and places his hands on either side of the counter, boxing me in but not touching me at all. His eyes stay locked on mine, somewhat scaring me.
“I grew up as a rich kid with a silver spoon stuck in my mouth. So did my sisters, and fuck, it screwed us all up. Coming here is the only story about my past I like to talk about, so get over it.” He pushes away from me and goes back down to the basement. My heart beats fast all the way back to my room, where I shut the door and breathe out the breath I was holding.
Bad dreams are sweet reminders of a past we don’t remember.
Smoke drifts around my legs like it has control of itself, choosing to swirl in circles that press closer to my jean-covered legs with every second.
“It can’t be you.” A man’s voice drifts to me. It’s achingly familiar to me, like a voice I’ve always known and never forgotten.
But I don’t know who it is.
“Hello?” I ask, and my voice echoes—hello, hello, hello, hello, hello—before a second voice joins mine, but it isn’t familiar.
It’s a voice that scares me more than I’ve ever been scared in my life.
“I will find you, I will find you, I will find you.”
A scream catches in my throat as I wake up, sitting up straight as I gasp for air. The door to my bedroom is pushed open, and Alex rushes in, looking around the room for any danger. My mouth feels dry as I realise Alex is only wearing low hanging grey joggers, and his chest is bare and muscular beyond anything I could have imagined. He has that V thing on his stomach that girls go mad over and a six-, possibly eight-pack of muscles on his stomach. My eyes drift up over his defined pecs to his large arms, where there are two tattoos. Roses wrap around his upper arms, the thorns so well drawn that they almost look like they could hurt you if you touched them.
“What happened?” Alex demands, crossing his arms, still eyeing the room like it’s about to jump out at him.
“Nothing. Sorry,” I shakily say, tugging the sheets over myself. Alex does not need to see the dogs in yellow suits pyjamas I have on. This is just another reminder I need new pyjamas.
“Clearly wasn’t nothing. You screamed, and I heard when I went for a piss,” he counters. “What the fuck happened?”
“Bad dream,” I eventually tell him. “Can you leave now? Thank you for checking on me.” Deciding not to give a shit about my pyjamas, I push off the covers and stand up, my arms crossed tightly. Instead of leaving like I expected him to, seeing as it’s silly o’clock in the morning, he walks right up to me. Our chests are inches away when he reaches a hand out and touches my cheek with the tips of his fingers, making my breath halt and a buzz stretch over me from the simple contact. Like he feels the same thing, his eyes close for a second before he drops his hand and walks out of the room, slamming the door behind him like his ass is on fire.
What the hell?
Rubbing my tired eyes, I consider pinching myself to check that I’m not still dreaming as I look at my alarm clock, seeing that it is two in the morning. After quickly having a shower and using the bathroom, I get back into bed and stare at the ceiling until my tired body gives in.
* * *
“Wake up!” Alex demands from somewhere nearby. I groan at the blinking light flooding the room as I open my eyes, seeing Alex standing over my bed, glaring down at me like I’m the bane of his existence. I try to smile at him as I look around, double-checking that I am indeed in my bed.
The memories of my sleepwalking at age ten flash back a little then. I woke up in the garden once, and then in the middle of the road a week later. Grandma Pops then double-locked all the doors and windows so I couldn’t get out.
Somehow I tried the cat flap one time in my sleep, and I woke up with my head stuck in it.
Which resulted in my youngest sister calling me kitty for the rest of time.
“Why the hell are you in my room?” I demand, running my gaze over his soft brown eyes that remind me of chocolate. The milky kind that melts in your mouth, not the dark stuff that feels like its job in life is to burn you. “Get out!”
“We have training. I’m going downstairs to make coffee, and you have until the machine is done before I come up here and drag you outside,” he threatens, and I don’t doubt him for a second. He still stares at me, but his eyes lower for a second to my bare leg which is hanging out of the quilt, and the tense room seems to just get worse for a brief second.
I clear my throat, catching his attention. “Training?”
“Yes,” he drawls like I’m stupid as he walks out, slamming the door shut behind his perfect ass. God, I hate this guy. Though I still hightail my ass out of bed, because I know Alex wasn’t joking, and I don’t want to be dragged down the stairs. After washing up in the bathroom, I pull on my new skin-tight joggers and a purple crop top with a built-in bra. I slide my trainers on as I tug my hair up into a messy bun and brush wayward strands out of the way before I open my door. I jog down the stairs, where I pause at the sight of the open door and the fact Shadow isn’t in here. Silver is curled up by the fireplace, and she lifts her head, meeting my eyes. I smile at her as she nods her head towards the door.
“Thanks. You can go back to sleep now,” I softly tell her, and she lays her head down, an almost purr-like sound escaping her seconds later. Pulling the door shut behind me, I step outside into the freezing cold air. Looking up, the clouds are so dark even as the sun rises behind the trees and casts brilliant bursts of amber, yellow and burnt pink light casting on the trees.
“If you scream, I will be fucking disappointed in you,” Alex’s slightly amused voice huffs as I turn to the left and my eyes widen. I catch the scream in my throat as I take in the giant red snake curled around where Alex is stood with Shadow sitting at his side. The snake slithers towards me, its head the size of a car before stopping not seconds away. W
hen I meet its eyes, they are almost human-like with their soft brown colouring, and I know exactly where I’ve seen them before.
Hauntingly soft.
Unforgettably cold.
Dangerously attractive.
“What is your familiar’s name?” I ask Alex as I keep my head high and step closer, holding my hand out. Shadow finally seems to remember my existence and runs to my side, jumping over the snake.
“Ki-Ki,” Alex murmurs as Ki-Ki lets me touch her scaly skin, which is colder than I would have expected.
“Hi, Ki-Ki. You know, there was a safari park near my foster home. My foster grandmother used to volunteer there, and in exchange, any of her foster kids could visit the safari whenever we wanted. My older sister loved the penguins, my youngest sister was a massive fan of the giraffes, but you could always find me in the reptiles, with the spiders with big eyes, the lizards that blended perfectly into their surroundings, and the snakes with brightly coloured skin that reminded me of my favourite flowers.” Ki-Ki bows her head at me, just for a second, and in that moment, I know I never have to be scared of her.
“You’re unexpected, Tassie,” Alex almost whispers to me.
“So is the nickname,” I retort, and he chuckles, a real chuckle that seems to die on his lips as he remembers something. Straightening his back, he walks away, Ki-Ki and Shadow following along. Not wanting to be left behind, I follow too. We walk around the house, my feet crunching on the leaves and twigs. Alex never stops or pauses to look back as he storms through the forest until I can’t see the cabin anymore. I know what direction it is in, which is important as I have no faith that Alex won’t just disappear and leave me here. We pass three giant, deep holes dug into the forest, mud scattered everywhere. I gather it must be where Ki-Ki sleeps, remembering what Liam said. Eventually, we come to a clearing in the forest which is covered in frost-covered dead leaves, and Alex stops dead in the centre, finally turning to me.
“I promised Hugh I would train you to the best of my ability, and I will not go easy on you for that fact. If you are not trained and do not bond with your animal, then you will die. I’ve seen it happen far too much for my liking,” he explains to me.
“I saw a YouTube video of a familiar man dying. It was like the earth sent waves of green light that surrounded his body, and then he was just gone. Was that real? Is that what happens?” I ask.
“Unfortunately, yes. The same happens to your animal, so it is in the best interests of you both to bond,” he coldly replies.
“Got it. What do you think, Shadow?” I turn to ask him, and he sits on his butt, looking at me with interest, but I can’t quite figure out what he is thinking.
“There is your first mistake, expecting your familiar to make the choices. That is your job. Think of the relationship between you and your familiar like a car and its driver. The car has all the power, but without the driver, it really isn’t going anywhere. The driver makes the choices,” Alex tells me. Turns out the asshole is the perfect wise teacher.
Looking back at him, I ask, “Who taught you that?”
“A wise man who I wish was teaching you today instead of me,” he mutters, though I catch what he said. That must have been the tutor Liam told me about who died a while ago. “Come here, Tassie.”
“Why are you calling me that?” I ask as I walk over.
“Everyone calls you Anastasia, and I prefer to stand out,” he muses. “Plus, you remind me of the dog from the Lassie film and, as a kid, I always called it the Tassie film. You always run when someone clicks their fingers, and you’re blonde too.”
“Are you seriously calling me a dog?” I ask.
“It’s a compliment, I loved that movie.” He furrows his brow like he can’t figure out why I would be pissed off.
“How do you ever get a date?” I ask, crossing my arms.
“Trust me, I get plenty.” He smirks and curls a finger. “Now come here.” I tighten my hands into fists and try my very best to calm myself down. He is working me up on purpose, the total asshole. I stop right in front of him, and Shadow stays where she is. “Turn around.” I do as he asks, not because he is right and I’m like a damn dog from a movie I’ve never seen, but because I don’t want to argue with him.
“What now?” I ask, looking at Shadow.
“Close your eyes and try to imagine a line connecting you and Shadow, then listen to everything I tell you. Do exactly what I say, got it?” he asks, and I give him a thumbs up, which he chuckles at. I close my eyes, and I imagine a line between me and Shadow. The line is purple and almost looks real enough that I could reach out and touch it.
“Good. Now wrap both your hands around the line, and feel the magic and energy that exist in the bond,” he commands, his voice sounding concerningly close to my ear, and I can feel the heat from his body against my back. “Focus, Tassie. You can do this.”
“Didn’t have you down as the cheerleader type,” I reply.
“In actual fact, I love cheerleaders in short skirts. Now fucking focus,” he demands, and I resist the urge to say something cocky back as I focus on the line still strongly pictured in my mind. I reach forward with both my hands, my eyes still closed as I actually feel something real in my hands. I blink my eyes open, and I almost stumble back at the sight of an actual glowing purple line of energy connecting me and Shadow. Alexander’s hands grip my waist, holding me in place like he knew I would stumble, but I can only focus on the energy. It starts in my chest and connects directly to Shadow’s chest. It feels like water in my hand, warm water that buzzes like it’s alive.
“Now pull at the line with both your hands, holding the energy in both,” he commands, and I do as he asks. The line pulls apart like a web, sticking to my hands with dozens of webs of energy that cover them. When I pull far enough that my hands rest in the air at my sides, the line all but disappears, leaving glowing webs of purple energy in my hands. “Now let them go, let the energy fade into the earth. That is enough for today.”
“How?” I ask, lifting my hands into the air in front of me. Suddenly I get an urge to strike my hands together, and before Alexander can tell me how to let the energy go, I clap firmly.
“NO!” Alexander roars, but it’s too late of a warning. A shock wave of purple energy slams into the line between me and Shadow, knocking me to my feet. I watch in horror as the ball of purple energy crashes into Shadow, smothering him with power. It flickers around him for a moment, and to my shock, Shadow changes from a wolf into a black lion. The lion roars, shaking the ground around us, and it only lasts a second before Shadow changes back into his wolf, lying on the ground and not moving. Crawling to my feet, I run over and fall to my knees in front of Shadow, who lifts his head and rests it on my knees. I breathe a shaky sigh of relief that I didn’t mess things up.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what I did,” I whisper to Shadow just as Alex leans down next to me and roughly grabs my chin, turning me to look into his eyes. The warmness of the brown is gone, and now I wonder if there was ever a hint of colour in the darkness of his eyes. His mouth is seconds away from mine, his fingers digging into my chin, but not enough to really hurt me, as he speaks.
Somehow his words are spoken more darkly than the look in his eyes.
“If you ever, ever tell anyone what happened here today, you will be dead. Do you understand me?”
“Are you going to kill me?” I ask, my voice stronger than I feel. I don’t back down as he lets me go, standing over me.
Alex looks down at me with a mixture of disbelief and pity. “If you think I’m the one you need to fear, then you have a lot to learn.”
“I hardly believe you’re on my side, Alexander,” I snap.
“I never said that,” he all but chuckles, turning on his heel and walking away from me. I knew he would leave me in the woods on my own. Alexander is no gentleman.
“And I’ve never watched Lassie. You asshole!” I feel the need to stupidly shout at his back, knowing I should have kept m
y mouth shut. God, I’m even embarrassed for myself. I rest my head on Shadow, wondering what exactly it means to be able to change Shadow’s form.
Is that even possible?
And why would I need to keep it quiet?
To lose a stranger can be a passing heartbreak.
The next week passes almost effortlessly, even with Alexander flat out ignoring me since I found my way back to the cabin. Liam and Mason are acting strange, even to me when I don’t know them that well. After the one training incident, I found a DVD of Lassie outside my door and a note that Mason will be training me from now on. The DVD made me laugh as much as it insulted me. Mason and Alex’s ideas of training are very different, which I soon learnt yesterday, and I somewhat wished to have Alex’s moody ass training me once again. Mason believes the art of connection with our familiar is found in meditation and silence with our familiars. It has helped me learn how to effortlessly call a line of energy from Shadow, but he never let me use it like Alex did.
I took Alex’s advice, and I haven’t said a word to anyone about Shadow changing forms, and I’m not sure I know how to explain it to anyone. I’ve been too scared to try it again on my own, especially when it seemed to tire out Shadow. I dig my fingers into Shadow’s fur as I sit on the rug in the lounge with him, watching the burning fire in front of us with Silver. Since I came back from work, I haven’t seen the guys around yet, and my hands itch to take Shadow for a walk in the woods and try to do what we did again.
“What do you think, Shadow?” I ask. “Want to break some rules?”
“Never had you down as a rule breaker, Ana,” Liam’s voice chuckles in my ear, and I nearly jump off the sofa, never having heard him even come into the room. Liam laughs as he walks around the sofa and to Silver, stroking her head as she pushes it into his stomach.
“That was a private conversation with Shadow,” I huff.