Transformation

by Jaliza A. Burwell

  She smiled big.

  I smiled back, refusing to think that I probably wouldn’t be alive by the time she had little Cecil hellspawns. I’d have to be the awesome aunt only in name and memory.

  Landus interrupted my thoughts when asked, “Do you know where it is?”

  The old woman shook her head. “No. I wasn’t the one to hide it. I just know it was hidden in one of the safe house locations. It was Meden’s attempt at giving it extra protection.”

  “Meden?” I asked.

  “A mage,” Mage Thomas said. “He died a few years ago. According to the reports, it was of a magic rebuff. He had always been into magic research, so we weren’t surprised that he had died that way.”

  “And never thought to dig deeper,” Lady Monraya said with deep sorrow. “He was a good man, just too curious for his own good.”

  “Does that mean it’d be in a mage’s safe house?” I asked. That’d narrow it down.

  She nodded. “Most likely. We never revealed where our own safe houses were, and even if we did, he wouldn’t have been able to get the access he needed to bury the artifact.”

  “How did you guys come across it anyway?” Cecil asked.

  “We needed to use it to make him. It boosted the magic to do what we needed to do.”

  “Which is why he knows all about it,” I said. “Lady Monraya, if we find the location, will you be able to retrieve the artifact?”

  She shook her head. “No. Not I. But the mages and witches will be able to do it.” She eyed me. “Maybe you too.”

  “So then we start tearing apart some safe houses.” I grinned big. “And if Baron shows up while we’re there, then all the better.”

  “I can’t approve of this,” Mage Thomas said. “Those are secret locations. We can’t just go around and strip them apart in case they hold the artifact.”

  Landus growled. “If we wait until Baron finds it, then it’ll be too late. You can rebuild your precious safe houses.”

  “We have people in there we can’t move at this point.”

  “I hate to point out the obvious, but I’m doing it. Baron already knows where every safe house is. How do you think he’s able to attack them? You’re going to have to rebuild so to speak anyway. At this point, we have to assume all the locations have been compromised.”

  “She’s right,” Slade said. “The shifters have already begun the process, and so have the witches.”

  “We have too,” Mr. Sharo said.

  “T-that’s years of w-work,” Mage Thomas said.

  I shrugged. “Do you want your charges in danger because you didn’t want to take the time to rebuild?”

  That shut him up. I knew Mage Thomas wasn’t that idiotic. He cared about others, he just needed to be reminded when his silly stubbornness put them in danger.

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s do this one at a time. I don’t want to separate at this point. Once Baron realizes we’re checking the safe houses, he’ll most likely approach us or try to do something to throw us off or slow us down. We need to stay together.”

  Everyone mumbled their agreement.

  I faced Mage Thomas. “Lead the way.”

  He frowned, but at least he agreed.

  Excitement for the hunt flooded my body. We were close. I could tell we were. I was more than ready for this to be over.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I remember screaming. Desperate screaming of a dying soul. They wanted to live, stubbornly so, but their will was not strong enough to survive the devastation done to their body. I remember fighting, trying to get to them, desperate to protect them. They were strangers, but they deserved to live. I never made it. I was weak. I was young and I was weak.

  —Nyssa’s Journal

  We were at the third house and the tension was getting to me. The others were getting antsy too. We were on high alert since the beginning, and it was wearing us out at this point.

  The process was down now so Cecil, Maura, Mage Thomas, and Aaron waited while we made sure the house was cleared of bad guys or occupants. Then they went into the basement, said some kind of spell, and waited to see if the spell took.

  If the spell took, the artifact was there.

  If it didn’t, we needed to move on.

  I glared at the house.

  “Ready?” Slade asked.

  “I’m taking upstairs this time,” I said and rolled my shoulders to relieve the tension that had been steadily building. “And if you find anything, call me. I need to kill something.”

  “Of course,” Slade replied.

  Slade, Landus, Jamal, and I were in charge of clearing the house. Yena, Leon, and anyone else around were to wait outside in case things went to shit and they could act as back up. They also kept an eye on Lady Monraya. They were our first wave of defense if Baron showed from out there. With his gifts, I figured he’d be more direct and appear inside the building instead.

  Nodding at the group, I charged in, breaking the door with my new found gift. The wind whipped out of me, slammed into the door and forced it open. I didn’t really need to do that, I just loved the way it irritated Mage Thomas. And I was annoyed. I needed to release my stress somehow.

  Inside was nice, the mages splurging on their safe houses. I took only a cursory glance to get a feel of the layout. Once I spotted the stairs, I went straight for them, knowing the others were fanning around the first floor and toward the basement. The top floor had two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a massive hallway closet.

  It was all empty. Disappointment surged through me. The house was quiet, so I knew the others didn’t find anyone either.

  “Clear,” I called out and made my way back downstairs.

  Our magic team slipped through and I grinned as Sarina followed behind them under the pretense of being their guard. The woman was absolutely fascinated by Cecil, but I understood why. Cecil was a breath of fresh air and had a way of bringing forward anyone’s protective instincts.

  They went down into the basement. We stayed up top. I leaned against the railing for the stairs and waited.

  “How many safe houses do they have again?” I asked.

  “Nine.”

  “This is going to be a long day. I swear, the artifact is going to be in the last location. Isn’t that how it always is?” I asked.

  “I hope not,” Slade said, sounding tired.

  “The spell work,” Cecil said, popping her head up. “Bring Lady Monraya in.”

  “Got it.” Slade disappeared out the front door and reappeared in minutes with Lady Monraya in his arms. He went downstairs with her.

  “Now the fun begins,” I muttered.

  “Will you take this seriously?” Landus asked.

  “I am taking this very seriously.”

  “No, you aren’t. You keep turning it into a joke.”

  “We all have our own way of dealing with shit. You get all dark and broody, I laugh it off. Frankly, laughing about it and throwing around jokes is a healthier avenue.”

  He glowered to prove my point of his broodiness. I was about to say something when all the hairs on my body stood on end as the familiar sensation of energy danced around the air, all twirling to one location.

  I pushed off the railing and went for one of my knives, going down into a crouch. Landus knew better than to question what was going on. He didn’t sense it yet, but he knew what to do. He joined my side, prepared to remove heads from necks. Shuffling from behind me told me others were joining, but I didn’t bother looking back, keeping my focus where it needed to be.

  A moment later, the gate formed right in the living room.

  “About damn time,” I muttered.

  “We need to keep them distracted long enough for the others to extract the artifact.” Landus said.

  “I know the plan,” I muttered. “I bet the asshole waited until we found it and planned to steal it from us.”

  “I knew you were too smart, Nyssa,” Baron said as he came through the portal.

  I gro
wled.

  His minions flooded the room and the energy in the air became oppressive. Baron came here with his best.

  “More people to slaughter. You are too generous with your gifts,” I said.

  “I had hoped you’d join me, but this is getting tedious.” With his eyes still trained on me, he gave the order to end my demise. I thought I’d look into dead cold eyes, or ones filled with madness. Instead, I saw something I rarely saw in an expression. I barely recognized it. Regret. He truly hated that he was going to have to kill me. “Kill them.”

  His men surged toward us. Landus growled and used angry looking claws to swipe open one of their stomachs. I dove into the crowd, ready to release all my anger and frustrations.

  These men were a lot harder. They were just as determined to make their master proud just as I was determined to continue living.

  I took a hit to my side and grunted, before turning around and burying my knife into someone’s chest. I went to pull it out and realized it wasn’t the knife in the chest, but my claws.

  Damn. They’d come out to play again. They were sharp and deadly, and I was more than happy to use them. I didn’t have to worry about losing my knives.

  Never stopping, I made sure my claws cut through flesh and scraped along bones. I didn’t care what I hit, I just made sure it hurt. And if it killed them, all the better. The only aim was to keep moving. If I stopped, I was going to be overwhelmed. Pains melted away into numbness as I pushed it back. They were a distraction and I didn’t need a reminder of the hits I had taken.

  My eyes met bright green ones full of magic. He opened his mouth. I stabbed my claws through his mouth before he could utter a single world. His teeth bit into my knuckles as I ended his life. The brightness bled from his eyes and I yanked out my claws and moved on.

  Someone grabbed my arm and yanked hard, trying to pull it off. I tumbled back, losing my balance. Another person rammed into my stomach and I grunted, gritting against the pain as ribs broke inside of me.

  They were determined and I briefly wondered whether dying this way would be easier than dying from losing my mate.

  A flash of Cecil’s face crossed my mind.

  No fucking way. She was down there and I refused to let that bastard get his hands on her. My strength renewed and I roared.

  Landus’ familiar growl echoed through the room and it was shortly joined by Slade’s. Someone released a battle cry and I knew the others outside had joined us too. We were going to hold them back.

  I moved faster, forcing my body to move beyond my limits. I was not going to stop until every last one of them were killed. I went into that headspace that was all too familiar, it was the only place that matter when in a fight, the place that kept repeating “survive” over and over again. I would not go down, not without taking them with me.

  And if I couldn’t, then I was at least going to make them all regret being my enemy.

  I spun, my arms out, claws slicing through everything without resistance. When anyone got within reach, I was making sure to end them. Someone slammed into me and I went to the ground hard. The breath was forced out of my lungs.

  My energy responded, creating a tornado all around. People yelled, and I fed into it, letting the winds pick up to a speed that could cut through anyone it touched. They were fast to back off after they saw the first man cut up when he tried to get to me. They remained surrounding me, but no one was brave enough to brave the winds. I stepped toward them and they shuffled back, unsure of how to combat this.

  Landus and Slade continued to fight, working their way toward me, trapping them between us. They had nowhere to go.

  I met Baron’s dark eyes and smirked. He looked furious.

  “You’re finally waking,” he said.

  “Maybe.” I didn’t expand, deciding to cut out all the chatter and go for the kill. I charged after Baron, ignoring the yells of the others for me to stop. Baron did something, drawing energy and magic to himself and just as I was almost in reach, he pushed his hands out. Pressure smashed into my chest and shoved my back. My wind disappeared.

  “You still have a lot to learn before you can use your talents against me, baby bird.”

  “We need to clear out,” Landus bellowed. “We’re all set.”

  Baron’s lips twisted into a snarl, the madness finally slipping through. I recognized the insanity for what it was, a last-ditch effort. Whenever you’re about to lose something important, there is always a last-ditch effort to get it. The energy in the room all sucked into him. So much this time that it felt like he stole the breath from my lungs. All the small hairs on my body were up straight, alerting me to the complete chaos he was about to unleash.

  “No!”

  I jumped toward him just as he released it all. My own energy reacted to my desperation and whipped out of me, smashing into his. There was a moment of wills, as one attack smashed into the other’s. Our eyes locked, neither of us willing to look away.

  “You don’t get to win,” I snarled, pushing more out. Everything I had went into the attack, and in the back of my head, I knew that was a dangerous thing. If I used everything up, I could kill myself.

  I didn’t care.

  I needed to hold the attack back.

  Magic filled up the space behind me and I recognized the flavor as Cecil’s. Her magic pushed against mine, giving it the boost it needed to overwhelm him. Baron’s eyes widened when he realized what was going on.

  I had backup and with her help, we were going to win.

  He saw that. Knew it.

  For the first time, I got to see what fear looked like on his face. It was a beautiful sight, his eyes wide, his lips parted as he realized that the end was coming right at him.

  The heady mixture of energy and magic overwhelmed his attack and shoved him backward into the wall. I ran toward him, determined to not give him a moment to breathe.

  Smoke curled from his body and then pooled all around making it impossible to see. I felt the air shift.

  “Dammit, portal!” I called out and tried to move through the screen of dark smoke. Except it wasn’t smoke and did a good job of pushing me back, keeping me away. It was a barrier I had never dealt with before and its determination to keep me away was a success.

  “Fuck.” I rammed into the smoke again, but it was determined to keep me from gaining a single foot. The energy snapped into place as the portal closed and I knew without needing the smoke to clear that he was gone. Of course he was.

  The smoke lost its thickness and hardness, become what it should have been in the first place. Frustrated, I sent out my energy clearing it out so I could see everyone.

  “Where is he?” Landus growled.

  “Portal.” I looked around. There was a huge pile of bodies, none of them alive.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I said. I glanced at Cecil over my shoulder. “Do we have the sex artifact?”

  Someone spluttered. I guess I was supposed to show more respect for something capable of wiping out family lines.

  Cecil nodded and lifted a small satin bag up.

  “Clear out,” Landus said, and that got everyone moving.

  I turned around. Landus’s eyes widened as he froze. A weird expression crossed his face and I wasn’t sure how to identify it. Cecil’s expression was one I understood though. Her eyes were wide, her mouth dropped open, her face pale.

  She was horrified. I just didn’t understand why.

  “Nyssa,” Slade said cautiously.

  “What?”

  “You might want to sit down.”

  “I’m fine.”

  Slade’s expression said otherwise. Wondering why they were looking at me like I was a crazy person, I looked down.

  “Oh.” I blinked. “Oh. This is bad, right?”

  I touched the deep cut along my stomach, still bleeding. Someone had almost gutted me. I felt none of it. Still didn’t feel anything, but I was pretty sure everyone had a good look at the inside of my stomach.

&
nbsp; “Nyssa,” Landus tone was cautious and I looked up at him. He approached slowly, hands up. “Please sit down. And call back your claws.”

  I looked at my hands. Oh. They were still out. I thought about human hands, how it felt when I opened and closed them. The claws slowly receded until all that were left were my normal fingers.

  “Now sit down. Slowly,” Landus said, closer now.

  I blinked up at him. “I feel light headed.”

  My vision slowly faded and the last thing I saw was an expression I recognized on Landus’s face.

  Panic and fear.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I remember pain. So much of it, all over my body. I had found a cold stream and waded into it, hoping to numb my body. I remember crying as I washed the blood from my body and wounds, wondering why. Why did this happen to me?

  —Nyssa’s Journal

  I recognized Cecil’s bedroom. My nose tickled from the smell of healing herbs. They weren’t the best scents to wake up to.

  “Oh good, you’re awake,” Maura said as she walked into the room. She hovered over me and I let her do her thing as she took my vitals and marked things off on a notepad. She made positive sounds as she hummed and mumbled to herself, nodding every now and again. That had to be a good sign.

  “I get to live another day,” I said, when she finally finished.

  “Not that funny,” she said and sighed. She went over and closed the door before pulling up a chair and sitting down.

  “Nyssa, you were as good as dead. My team was barely able to heal you and since we couldn’t use magic on you, we had to be extra careful.” She reached my hand to do the whole grandmotherly support. I pulled it away and rested it in my lap, not wanting her touching me. She froze for a moment before sighing. There was no way I’d fall for her fake act ever again. “We saw some concerning damage to your body and don’t know what to make of it.”

  “Probably from the fight.”

  She shook her head. “They were not consistent with those type of wounds. When we were trying to, uh, close you up, your body fought it. We weren’t using magic either. Your body was reluctant, like it preferred to fall apart instead.”