The front door slammed closed, shaking the house. Sophie’s eyes widened, and her body froze for a second as she cocked her head to the side, listening. She always knew what type of mood he was in based on how he walked around upstairs after he came home from work. Tonight, the heavy sound of his boots meant it had been a bad day. She licked her lips and knelt on the cold floor and slid under her bed to hide.
She let out a frustrated sigh. She’d been counting on today for months. She had planned down to the very last detail. Everything had to be perfect in order for it to work. If it did, she would finally be free. This always brought a smile to her cracked lips. She could nearly taste the freedom she had craved for so long. It wasn’t the first time that Sophie had plotted her escape, but it was the first time she would succeed. This time, she wouldn’t be stuck in this house of horrors. She was going to free herself. No one would do it for her.
She folded her body tightly and wrapped her thin arms around her legs. She shivered in the dark, holding her breath while hoping he would keep on moving. Her eyes widened when the footsteps stopped in front of the door. She always knew when he debated. He’d pace in front of the basement door as if he couldn’t decide whether or not he wanted anything from her. Sometimes, the clink of the lock opening would shatter the illusion of her waking up from a nightmare. Other times, she’d hear his heavy body drop into the upstairs recliner.
She let out a breath as the latter happened this time. Slowly, she crawled out from underneath the metal bed frame. She held the screwdriver in her bony fingers. They were covered in scabs and bruises. She clenched them around the tool and tiptoed to the hanging rug. Behind it was her escape. It was an old, metal door. She’d been working on it for over a year now. Getting out wouldn’t be easy, but if she could just pry that heavy door open she would be free.
She gasped when she finally scraped a hole out of the wall. She pushed her finger through and smiled. Her black hair was held back from her face, and the tip of her tongue stayed glued to her upper lip in concentration as she worked her fingers to make the hole bigger. The pain was excruciating, but this was the last night. Her mother was coming to see her tonight, and that was all she needed. Her mother always brought her clothes and extra food, and, best of all, she kept her stepfather distracted for hours.
The woman was so out of it; she never even realized what she was doing. If she did, she would stop. Sophie had waited years for her mother to take them away, but after so long she accepted the fact her mother would never help her – at least not knowingly. So instead, she was able to talk her into bringing her things – all of the things that would aid her in gaining her freedom.
Julie Weston depended on Ronald, and Ronald depended on her. It was a sick relationship, and it wasn’t until she had turned 15 that the basement had become her permanent home. Before Sophie realized how her life wasn’t like other people’s, she’d had a bit of freedom until she called the police. That was the last time she felt the sun on her face, and it was the first time she’d felt Ronald’s wrath – and far from the last. Never again would she touch the phone. She’d promised herself her mom would see everything and take her away. But she gave up once she realized her mother didn’t love her either. She’d always been lonely, and the basement became her solace.
For eight years she’d been locked in the basement. Eight years she’d lost, and eight years she’d had to plan her escape. A part of her wanted revenge, and she’d admit that she’d fantasized about all the things she would like to do to him, but in the end if she had to choose freedom or revenge, well, she’d pick her freedom any day.
Sophie used to try to figure out why he kept her imprisoned, why he hurt her. What did he get out of turning her into a victim, and why her? Was it because she was an easy target because of her mother? She’d asked him once before, but he didn’t answer her, not really. He hurt her really bad that day. She didn’t ask again. Sophie gasped and kept digging. She had to get out. This was the last chance; if she failed she might as well die, and that was her backup plan. Did she want to die? Not even a little bit, no matter what he did to her, she still fought to live, but if she failed to escape again, she would die before she let him take her life. He’d taken too much already. She wouldn’t give him that pleasure. She was certain that if she failed to escape and was caught this time, he would kill her. But first, he’d make her suffer, and he’d enjoy every minute of it. He was a sick man. Ronald wouldn’t be able to control his anger like so many times before, and she couldn’t take that again – never. She wouldn’t let him touch her. She cringed when she thought about all the times he slid his meaty, dry hands over her skin and promised her everything would be okay. Well, it wasn’t okay, and it wasn’t right. She thought about all the scars that covered her body, and all the times she fought until she couldn’t any more.
She slammed her hand against the crack in the wall and sobbed.
“No more,” she whispered. She let the tears slide down her cheeks, until she heard the lock.
Sophie scrambled back to her bed and tossed the screwdriver under it. Then she went into the tiny bathroom and washed the dirt from her hands. The light steps down the stairs relaxed her. She was terrified her mother wouldn’t show, but it was the night they always had dinner together. For all the things that her mother forgot or ignored, she remembered their weekly dinner. It didn’t make sense, but she wasn’t going to pick a battle. She wasn’t sure how she managed to keep all her bitter anger locked up inside, but she knew this was her last night.
“Sophie, baby,” Julie said. Her words were slurred, skin was dirty, and her hair was greasy. Wrinkles had begun to cover her face, and Sophie wondered how her mother managed to live through each day.
She held her breath and allowed her mother to pull her into a loose hug. Her mother was weaker than her. When she stepped back, Julie was crying.
“I’m so sorry. I forgot your bag.” She paced and slapped her head in agitation. “Stupid, stupid, I’m so stupid.”
Sophie’s heart nearly stopped. Her mother forgot the bag. The last thing she needed. She wanted to cry to, but instead she gripped her mother’s arm. “It’s okay, Ma; you can go and get it, right?”
This perked her mother up. “Oh, of course.” She didn’t wait to hear anything else and climbed back up the stairs, leaving Sophie alone and wondering if she would remember to come back.
Everything was ruined now. Sophie knew she couldn’t leave yet, unless she could get that door opened, but everything else would fall apart. She had a plan, and her mother had it all in a bag for her: money, hair dye, clothes – everything she would need to get a start on her new life. Without it, Sophie couldn’t leave. She wouldn’t survive without the bag she managed to talk her mother into making up for her. Ronald hadn’t caught on or anything. It made her wonder how stupid they had to be. Hell, she’d been digging a hole in the wall for a better part of the year, and all the times he came down to the basement he never realized. She shuddered trying not to think about the reasons why he might not realize what she was doing.
CHAPTER 3
That night, Aris lay under the stars. Something told him he needed to be one with the night – to bask in the glory of the full moon and star-filled night. The pains from before were nearly gone as he tried to focus on the good. He lay with his hands clasped behind his head and stretched out as far as he could reach. It felt good to not be confined. It was the perfect spring night. The wind blew over his skin sending a shiver through his body.
He was about to drift to sleep when a golden light shimmered before him. He shot up to his feet ready to fight as he watched the shape of a woman materialize before him... She smiled at him and held out her hand.
“Aris, my boy,” she said.
He stood frozen in front of the apparition. He couldn’t speak, but his eyes shifted, and that’s when he saw it: how much she resembled him. “Mother?”
She nodded and ran her hand along his skin, not touching him, but he felt he
r warmth just the same. “You have grown, my son, but now you must save yourself and the others.”
Aris gulped. “Save us, how? I don’t know what we need.” He basked in the warmth of her touch. It reminded him of his earlier vision. “That was real? What I saw earlier?”
She nodded. “Yes, you are coming into your full powers.” She sat on the ground and patted the grass. “You see, my son, you and your friends – there is more to you than meets the eye. You are what we call ‘Halflings.’ There are two sides to each of you, both of which each of you must embrace in order to survive and fulfill your destiny. The Council doesn’t accept you because they don’t want the prophecy to be true, but now in their midst the five of you stand. Each of you has something the other does not. You are meant to rule them all, but without acceptance you will all surely die a horrible death. Each one of you is missing the third part of yourself, and that will be the key to your survival. Without the key, the door will stay locked.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will. Call to your second half, the golden one, the side you get from me. It will lead you to the answers you seek, and help you save her before it’s too late. She needs you now—she’s almost given up, and if she dies, you die.”
His mother started to disappear. He didn’t want her to leave. He didn’t even get to find out anything about her, but she couldn’t leave without telling him who he was supposed to be saving. “Wait, who am I supposed to save?”
She shook her head, and her eyes filled with tears. It was as if she couldn’t tell him. “She is the one who will make everything clear, but first you have to accept that you are two parts of a whole, as are your brothers. Each of you will be coming into more powers, and you need to be prepared, because they are going to come for you. Only if you work as one and are able to be both sides of yourself shall you succeed.”
“Pay attention to what you see; they are more than mere dreams, my sweet boy.” The voice came to him as a whisper in the wind as she disappeared.
She didn’t tell him much of anything, and worst of all, he was more confused now than he was before. Aris shook his head and sighed. It was time to speak with the others. There was someone he had to save, but he also needed to tell them what he learned. They were destined to rule…what?
Aris went inside, and the scent of fear wafted over him as he shifted his eyes. The house was full of prey. He shook his head. No, not prey. Family. Once his dragon realized this, he lay down and let out a huff. He was itching for a fight. He strode into the den to see Zarin on the couch. Zarin looked worse than him. He was younger, not by much, but why did he seem sicker? It was just another sign he wasn’t doing whatever it was he was supposed to be doing.
He leaned down next to him. His breath came out in short pants, worrying Aris. “Don’t panic, you’ll make it worse,” he said, and laid his hand on Zarin’s forehead. The fever nearly ripped through his flesh. Aris yanked his hand. “We’re going to figure this out. I saw something tonight.”
The others stared at him, waiting to hear what he had to say. They were loyal to a fault and always followed his lead. “I saw my birth mother tonight.” He held up his hand to hold off any unwanted rebukes. “She materialized as some sort of divine spirit. I don’t know. All I know is what she told me. She said we are going to be coming into more power. There is another side of each of us we don’t know about, and there is a woman I must save.” Glancing down at Zarin, he frowned. “And this woman is going to help us. I’m supposed to ‘listen to my dreams.’”
“What the hell does that mean? We wait for you to dream while Zarin lays here and dies?” Ilias yelled.
Aris glared at him. “No, but what else are we supposed to do? I’m sick, too. We need to learn about this other side of ourselves that my mother spoke of.”
He wasn’t used to Ilias’ anger, especially towards him. When he stormed away, Aris wanted to follow him and make him understand that things were about to change in a big way, but he could only do so much. He wasn’t always going to be able to fix everything on his own. It wasn’t that simple – not anymore.
***
Zarin was resting, and he needed some sleep if he was going to save the woman. Since his mother told him it was his job, he needed a sign – anything to help him know which way to go. Aris slumped back against the wooden headboard of his bed. The chill of the wood against his bare skin didn’t even faze him. He felt as though he was numb. Everything was falling apart, and everyone expected him to fix it. But for once in his life, he wanted someone else to take the reins, someone else to give him hope. He was tired of always being the strong one. He closed his eyes and exhaled a heavy breath. Now was the time he needed a vision. One that would show him what to do next.
As if the gods heard him, images forced themselves into his eyes.
Harsh cries and the stench of fear slammed into his head, pulling him into a swirl of darkness.
Aris gripped the sheet tighter with each whimper. It was almost as if he was there, and each step led him closer to her. This time, he didn’t fight it. These visions were as real as him and his brothers were.
Following her cries, he came to a large and open area. It smelled of damp mold. He wrinkled his nose and shook off the cold that sunk into his bones. He knew then he was underground somewhere. He kept walking, and around a corner he saw a bed with a wrought-iron frame and a dirty mattress that had seen better days. On that bed, he focused and saw a form. Once his eyes landed on her, he didn’t care about anything else. She was curled up with her back facing him. Her body shook, and her sobs grew louder. He couldn’t see anything other than the dress she wore and her long, midnight-black hair. His heart rate picked up, thumping wildly in his chest. A musty scent swirled around him, and his eyes shifted from honey brown to pure white. Now, he could see everything even more clearly. The hair on the back of his neck rose, tickling him. Everything in him awoke. The scents were stronger, the dim light was no longer dim, and he could see that her dress was pale, but covered in dirt – and blood. He clenched his hands and growled when his claws dug into his palm. He was in the midst of shifting. Never before had he lost control so easily.
She turned towards him. Her light green eyes were filled with tears, and the bruising around her eye was different shades of healing, as if she’d been hit on several occasions. Again, he growled, but then she held out her hand. Could she see him?
He stepped towards her and reached for her until he saw he was still shifted. He pulled back, but she shook her head and reached for him again. This time, he brought his hand to hers, and she ran one finger along his scales.
“You’re coming for me, right?”
Aris nodded, and in that moment, he realized two things: she was his mate and she was human.
Her small lips tightened before she whispered, “Hurry, before it’s too late.”
She laid back on the bed with her back to him. He heard a clink of something and then the rough pull of the door. Heavy footsteps came down the creaking stairs. Aris moved back into the shadows, knowing he needed every clue he could find. He searched the large room and realized it was a basement.
A man with greasy, brown hair came into view, standing over his mate. The man put his hand on her shoulder and her body tensed. Aris wanted to kill this man, but it was at that moment that everything went black, and the woman was lost to him.
“No!” he screamed, and when he opened his eyes the others were staring at him as if in anticipation.
“What happened?” Max asked, his brows pulled together like they always did when he was worried about something.
Aris gasped and looked down at his hand. His claws were still out, and he could feel her light touch on his scales. She hadn’t seemed scared at all, and he still wondered how she even saw him.
“I found her.”
“Found who?” Max asked.
“The woman – the one who is supposed to save me. The one who will make the sickness go away.”
; Blane perked up. “Well hell, let’s go get her then.”
Aris jumped out of bed and wrapped his clawed hand around his friend’s throat. “She’s my mate,” he said through clenched teeth.
Blane gulped and tried to nod. Aris gasped and dropped him to the floor. He’d never hurt anyone before. “God, I’m so sorry.”
Blane rubbed his neck. Aris knew he didn’t hold it against him, and his mood never swayed, as normal.
“Does this mean we all have mates, and that we’ll need them to survive?”
Aris willed his body to shift back to human fully. “I don’t know, but it would make sense. There’s only one problem.” Could he handle the rejection all over again?
“Well what’s the problem?” Max asked impatiently.
“She’s human.” He felt deflated. Finding a mate was every dragon’s dream. He didn’t have to be raised with his kind to know that. It something he just knew deep in his bones.
Max slumped against the wall. “Oh, well, that could be problematic.” He ran his long fingers through his hair. His wasn’t much different than Aris, except it was a shocking black with hints of blue. “She didn’t mind in your vision, right?”
Aris sat back on the edge of his bed. He wouldn’t be able to let go of the tension in his body until he found that delicate human. “No, and she told me to hurry, but I have no clue where to find her. I have her scent but that’s it. I know she’s been hurt, too.”
How was he ever supposed to find this woman? Was she even in Stratham? There had to be a way to reconnect with her, find out where she was so he could find her. Anger surged through his body when he remembered the bruises and the man, the one who touched her before he was pulled out of the vision.
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(Shadow Claw Book 1)
Ilias: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Stratham Dragons Book 2) Page 47