by Ovidia Pike
“I thought I was funny-looking,” he said.
“You are. In a handsome way.”
“Thanks,” he said with a chuckle as we walked, speeding up more the closer we got to the house. I glanced over my shoulder occasionally to make sure that Gerend wasn’t following us, glad when we approached the house. Gabriel stripped out of his clothes and shifted, sniffing the ground. I pulled my gun out and started to follow him as he walked quickly toward the back of the house, looking at me before pawing at the back door. I tried the knob.
“It’s locked,” I said. He shifted and frowned.
“Touch my hand,” he said, offering it out to me.
“Why?”
“Take my hand, Sophie,” he said as I slipped my palm against his. He squeezed it gently, closing his eyes, and a moment later he pulled away and barreled into the door with his shoulder, knocking it easily off the hinges. I followed him in with my gun up, nearly running into him when he paused.
“Holy shit,” he breathed, taking a step back. He glanced at me over his shoulder.
“Run, Sophie,” he commanded. “Go.”
“What is it?”
“It’s—go,” he said, and shifted into wolf form. Once he was down I could see what he was referring to, and I instinctively stumbled back from the six massive snakes that were slithering down the stairs, each one at least ten to twelve feet long. Each of them had their mouths open, hissing and revealing long fangs as they piled down the stairs. I aimed the gun and pulled the trigger, hitting one between the eyes as another tried to strike Gabriel in the face. Two of them came toward me as Gabriel tore into one with his teeth, ripping into its scales. I kicked out at the closest snake, pulling the trigger again, but it dodged away and struck at me as its tail curled around my legs.
I shot at it again as I tripped and it slumped to the ground, letting go of my legs. I slipped away as Gabriel dove toward me, shifting, taking the last snake in both of his hands and ripping it in half.
“Did you get bitten?” he asked, turning toward me, patting down my body. “Sophie, please tell me you didn’t get bitten.”
“I didn’t. I’m fine.”
“Okay,” he said. “Jesus. Snakes.”
“Were they shifters?”
“Yes,” he said. “And shifter venom is lethal to humans. Always.”
I shuddered and looked up the stairs.
“Do you think there are more?”
“I don’t know. Let me go up there first.”
“No,” I said. “What if there’s more than one? You could get bitten.”
“It won’t kill me,” he said. “Please, Sophie.”
“Okay,” I replied and sighed, watching as he crept up the stairs in wolf form.
“Chelsey!” I heard him gasp when he got to the top and around the corner, and I ran up the stairs before he beckoned me up. I got up there to see a door open and Gabriel in a room, lifting Chelsey into his arms. She gave us both a blank look, not speaking as he started to carry her downstairs. He stopped at the bottom and this time I did run into him, noticing his eyes widen when he saw the massive tiger standing in front of the door. It was even bigger than Gabriel was in wolf form, and the comparison was stark as Gabriel put Chelsey down and shifted.
“Go upstairs,” I said to her quickly. “Go hide.”
“Okay,” she said dully, walking slowly up the stairs as I pulled out my gun again and aimed at the tiger. Gabriel and the other shifter circled around each other in the open back room. I aimed the gun and pulled the trigger but missed as Gerend leapt and pounced on Gabriel with a hiss, tearing into his shoulder with his sharp teeth. Gabriel growled loudly and jerked away, snapping at the tiger, latching on to its throat. And then suddenly, Gerend shifted into a bear, a black bear so big that it nearly reached the ceiling. I shot him in the back, but he kept going as if the bullet hadn’t hit his thick skin, swiping at Gabriel, sending him flying across the room in one blow. I pulled the trigger again, cursing when the gun jammed and the bear turned to me, roaring, knocking the gun out of my hands. Its claws scraped across my arm as I fell, ripping through the skin. I saw Gabriel fly toward us, sinking his jaw into the bear’s arm and wrenching at it with a fierce growl, and I scrambled up the steps as Gerend stumbled forward, his arm nearly completely torn off at the shoulder. He shifted again, this time into a small bat, fluttering out of Gabriel’s reach and darting out the door.
I climbed to my feet as a grizzly bear appeared in the doorway, a single bat wing hanging out from between its jaws. The bear slurped it in, crunching and swallowing before shifting back to human form.
“Did you find her?” Arthur asked as Gabriel rushed to me, trying to stifle the blood pouring out of the claw marks on my arm. He was covered with blood as well, teeth marks in his shoulder, but he seemed to not even feel it as he glanced over his shoulder at Arthur.
“Can you go get me my shirt? It’s outside.”
“Yeah,” Arthur said, hurrying out, then back in with the clothes. Gabriel took the shirt and wrapped it around my arm, giving me a solemn, serious look.
“Hold that there,” he said. “I’m going to get Chelsey.”
“Okay,” I said to him, watching him go up the stairs. He reemerged holding Chelsey’s hand, leading her down where Arthur and I were waiting. Again, she gave me a blank look, walking stiffly back outside of the house. I looked at Gabriel to see anguish on his face as he looked down at her, worry and tension in his features.
Chapter 11: Gabriel
“Are you sure you want to come with us?” I asked Arthur, though I knew the answer already. He clapped me on the back with a grin.
“Yeah, buddy. I’m in.”
“It’s dangerous,” Sophie added.
“I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself. You need me.”
“We do need you,” I admitted. “We need everyone we can get.”
“So I’m coming,” Arthur said, glancing over at Chelsey where she sat in the backseat of the car.
“You sure she’s okay?”
“She says she’s not hurt or sick. That’s all we can get out of her,” I told him in growing frustration.
“Poor kid,” Arthur muttered.
“Yeah,” I said as we got into the car, me sitting up front with Sophie as she drove. It was quiet in the car, tense as we drove back to the park and pulled along the access road to the village.
“God, it’s been a long time since I’ve been here,” Arthur said. “Smells so good.”
“You’re used to city smog by now.”
“The city smells like piss. You’re right. I’m glad to be back.”
“We have empty huts for you this time.”
“You mean you don’t want to have a slumber party?” he asked, ruffling my hair. “Stay up all night gossiping about girls—”
“No gossiping,” Sophie said with a giggle. “Plus, I’m staying there.”
“Right. You two are...together.”
“Just while we’re here,” said Sophie. “Not actually, though.”
“Got it,” Arthur said, nodding with a sympathetic look that I pulled away from, looking down at Chelsey.
“Are you excited to see your sister?” I asked her.
“Yes,” she said in a dull voice.
“What about Lily?”
“Lily...” her voice trailed off, as if she didn’t recognize the name.
“You remember her, right?”
Chelsey nodded, but spoke no more. I silently rumbled with frustration as we entered the village, walking Chelsey to Lily’s cabin. I knocked and Lily threw the door open, pulling Chelsey into a tight hug.
“Oh, baby,” she whispered. “Oh, you’re back.”
“She’s back?” came a small voice from behind Lily, and then Jane darted out, tackling her sister to the ground. For the first time, Chelsey let out a sob and wrapped her arms around her sister as Jane wept and held her tight. Lily wiped away tears as she helped the girls climb to their feet.
“You look like you could use some sleep, Chelsey,” Lily said. “How are you feeling?”
Chelsey shrugged, again with a dull look on her face now that she wasn’t looking at her sister.
“I’ll make you something to eat. Go in and sit down.”
“Okay,” Chelsey said, about to head inside.
“Wait,” I said to her, taking her arm gently. “Chelsey, I—”
“I’m sleepy,” she said in a monotonous tone, pulling away from me and disappearing inside. The knot in my chest grew tighter when Lily gave me a soft look.
“She’s just tired,” she said. “She’s been through a lot.”
“I know,” I said through a tight jaw. Sophie took my hand and I remembered her arm then, the t-shirt that I had wrapped her with soaked with blood.
“We need to get to Alicia’s,” she said softly. “Your shoulder is still bleeding.”
“Okay,” I agreed. We left, Arthur trailing behind us. I looked at him over my shoulder.
“Harley’s hut is open. Go ahead. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Gotcha,” Arthur said with a nod, wrapping me in a one-armed hug. “See ya later, baby boy. Bye, Sophie.”
“Bye,” Sophie said with a wave, then started with me back to Alicia’s. I felt her eyes on my face as we walked.
“She’ll be okay. She’ll go back to normal.”
“We don’t know that,” I said, trying to keep my voice from cracking as we knocked on the door to the medical hut. Alicia appeared, a deep frown spreading over her face when she saw that we both had blood on us.
“What happened?” she asked, ushering us inside and into the exam room. She started to look at my shoulder but I shrugged away, gesturing toward Sophie’s arm. “Hers was a bear.”
“God, you got into a fight with a bear?”
“A multi-shifter, actually,” I told her as she took the shirt off of Sophie’s arm and grimaced.
“Claws?” she asked. Sophie nodded and Alicia glanced at my shoulder.
“That was not a bear.”
“No, it was a tiger.”
“That’s wild. I didn’t—I wasn’t even sure that multi-shifters really existed. I’ve never come across one.”
“It was unpleasant,” I said, taking Sophie’s free hand when I saw her flinch as Alicia started to clean the wound. Alicia looked between us.
“I heard you two are together,” she said with a sly smile.
“We’re not,” Sophie said. “We’re just pretending because it’s what Harley wants.”
Alicia paused for a moment, peering closely at us.
“So you haven’t bonded?”
“No,” I admitted.
“We’re not going to,” Sophie said.
“That’s too bad,” Alicia said, looking away from us both. “I’ll be right back. Gonna get you stitched up.”
After she was gone, I shot Sophie a look.
“You shouldn’t have told her the truth,” I said.
“Why not? No way is Alicia working with Harley.”
“We don’t know that. I’m just trying to be careful.”
“Are you?” she asked, studying my face. “Is that what this is?”
“It is,” I told her.
“This relationship isn’t real. I need you to remember that.”
“I know, Sophie,” I said as Alicia walked back in. I took Sophie’s hand and held it between both of mine as Alicia began to stitch up the wounds on her other arm. Sophie winced, tensing between my hands, and I moved one of them to her shoulder to knead at the muscles with the knuckles of my finger. She sighed and relaxed into my hand as Alicia finished up, then switched places with her so that the doctor could take care of my shoulder. When we were done, we said goodnight to Alicia and left, going back to my hut.
“You should take a shower,” she said.
“You can go first.”
“No, it’s okay. You need to relax.”
“Are you sure?” I asked her. She gave me a small smile and a nod, and I felt more than grateful as I disappeared into the bathroom and stepped into the hot shower. I closed my eyes as my skin rinsed clean of the blood, not worrying about the stitches, not caring at all in that moment. I didn’t hear the door open, and I almost jumped out of my skin when I felt Sophie step in the shower behind me. I turned to her and she gave me a shy look.
“Hey,” I said to her dumbly, trying not to stare at her naked breasts, her hips and her thighs. She reached for the shampoo and lathered up her hands.
“Kneel down,” she said. “You’re too tall for this.”
“Okay,” I agreed as I moved to my knees, my face level with her breasts. She put her hands in my hair and started to massage my scalp with strong fingers, looking into my eyes with the sweetest look on her face. I closed my eyes, sighing in relief as she continued to wash my hair, running her fingers through it thoroughly, pushing my head back to rinse it with the water. She did the same thing with conditioner, and it felt so good, so tender that it made emotion well up in my throat.
“Stand up,” she said softly. I did as she told me, looking down into her eyes. She held my gaze as she grabbed a bar of soap and lathered her hands with it, then began to wash my skin with her soft hands, running them over my chest, my arms, my fingers and my hips. She moved to her knees to wash my legs from bottom to top, and my cock stirred and grew hard the closer her hands got. She looked up at me with a coy expression on her face, but didn’t touch it, only turned me around to wash the backside of my body. Her fingers massaged my back and shoulders as she lathered me up, then rinsed me off. When she was done, she looked up at my face, planted a kiss on my cheek.
“Can I have a minute?” she asked before I could return the favor.
“Of course,” I said regrettably, stepping out of the shower, letting her clean herself as I dried myself off and went into the front room. I lay down on the bed, my eyes moving to the bathroom door when it opened and Sophie came out wrapped in a towel, her hair wet and dangling over her shoulders.
“Hi,” she said with a little wave.
“Thank you,” was all I said. She nodded.
“Goodnight,” she said, going into her room and shutting the door.
Chapter 12: Sophie
After breakfast, we walked through the village. Gabriel sped ahead of me quickly, eager to get to Lily’s. He had spent all morning pacing as I ate, his whole body tense, and without asking I knew that he was thinking about Chelsey. I felt nervous the closer we got to Lily’s hut, knowing how bad it would crush Gabriel if things hadn’t changed with Chelsey. I glanced over at him to see his lips pulled into a thin line as he knocked on Lily’s door. She opened it and gave him a grim look, shaking her head before stepping out and shutting the door behind her.
“Gabriel,” she said. “I—”
“She’s the same, isn’t she?” he asked dully.
“Not quite. She’ll talk to me now. She’d probably talk to Sophie. Just not...to you.”
Gabriel cleared his throat, looking away but not speaking.
“Did she say why?” I asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach seeing the agony of Gabriel’s features.
“She says that they said Gabriel was the evil enemy of all witches. That he was cruel and wouldn’t stop until all of them are dead.”
“Why would she believe that? I took them in.”
“I don’t know,” Lily told him with a sympathetic look on her face. “She hasn’t talked much about what actually happened when she was with them. I haven’t started asking her questions; I didn’t want to press her.”
“I’ll talk to her,” I offered. “I can talk to both of them.”
“I’ll see if they want to go with you. But Gabriel, you’d better go.”
“Okay,” he said, and there was real sorrow in his voice. He hurried away from us and Lily opened the door for me.
“Come in,” she said. I followed her in to see both of the girls sitting cross-legged on the rug playing a card game
. Both of them looked up when I walked in.
“Hi, girls,” I said in a gentle voice.
“Hi, Sophie,” Jane said with a wave, but Chelsey remained quiet. I turned my eyes to her and offered a gentle, friendly smile.
“How are you feeling, Chelsey?”
“Did you bring him? Mr. Gabriel?”
“No, he’s gone. It’s just me.”
“Is he still your boyfriend?”
“He is.”
“You should break up with him,” Chelsey said. “He’s a bad man.”
“He’s not a bad man. He loves you both very much.”
Neither one of them answered and I glanced at Lily.
“Do you girls want to go swimming with me?”
“Yeah!” Jane exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She helped her sister up, and I felt relieved when Chelsey gave me a small smile for the first time. The two girls disappeared into their room to grab their swimsuits, then followed me out of the hut with a wave at Lily. Jane bounced on her heels ahead of me, but Chelsey walked slowly at my side, looking up at my face.
“Does Mr. Gabriel kill people?”
“Um... I... no,” I stumbled over my words, the lie coming out clumsily from between my lips. “I mean, not unless...he has to. And he would never hurt you.”
“The big shifter man. The one who can turn into anything.”
“Gerend?”
“Yeah,” she said in a slightly fearful voice. “He said that we can’t trust Mr. Gabriel. That his goal is to ex—exterminate the witches.”
“But he took you in, gave you homes. Gabriel loves you girls,” I insisted in a soft voice.
“He wants to train us for his war. He wants to sacrifice us.”
“I promise he doesn’t. You have to trust him. He’ll keep you safe. He’s not going to use you like Gerend did.”
She stared at me for a long moment as we approached the pond by the rocks.
“You trust him. Always,” she said.
“I... yes,” I told her. “I trust him to keep me safe. And you.”
“How do you know he’s not a bad man?” she asked in a whisper. “Maybe he’s pretending. That’s what Gerend said.”