by Rachel Jonas
“Sure,” I shrugged.
Before there were words, there was a deep breath. One I imagined was supposed to bring her the courage to say whatever was on her mind.
“My story’s kind of different from yours,” she exhaled, pulling the lapels of her blazer closed across her chest. “I, um… this life… it’s not really my first beginning.”
I had no idea what that meant, but she had my full attention now. I stared at her, watching the range of emotion that crossed her face. The one that seemed to show through the most was confusion. As if she still didn’t fully understand everything herself.
“I wish I had the courage to tell you all of this sooner, but… it’s not exactly the easiest thing in the world to explain. None of it.”
Her weight shifted from one foot to the other.
“I lived before this. A long time ago,” she went on. “I found out a few year ago that I’m adopted.”
The confession made me glance over toward her again. This was the first I’d heard of it, but it confirmed my theory about her parents being human.
“So, since then, I’ve been dealing with this feeling that I… that I didn’t really belong anywhere, because I had no idea where I came from. And… then I started feeling even more out of place, started changing in ways I couldn’t understand and, then I met Liam.”
The sound of his name leaving her mouth made my stomach twist in knots.
“He helped me figure some things out,” she shared. “He knew me. From before.”
The breath I was about to take seized in my throat. What did that even mean?
“Back when I lived before, he was extremely close to my family and—”
“Extremely close to you?”
The question was never supposed to leave my mouth. Yes, it was in my head, but that was supposed to be the end of it. However, now that it tumbled out… Evie said nothing.
The silence between us was so loud.
I wished I could take it back because it sounded like I was accusing her and, while I suppose I was in a way, it shouldn’t have come out like that. Mostly because I barely understood what any of this meant—this talk of a past life.
“If I could explain it all to you, Nick, I hope you know I would. There are just so many questions I haven’t even gotten answered yet. For instance, I don’t even know why I’m back.”
The end of her statement weighed heavily on me, hearing her question why she was here. As if she needed there to be some greater purpose beyond just existing.
A pang of guilt struck me in the gut. Here she was, baring her soul to me and I couldn’t see past my ego to try to understand what this must have all been like for her. Finding out she was adopted, feeling like she didn’t belong, shifting without warning and without family who understood, not knowing where she came from.
I got it. I didn’t love the role Liam played in it all, but… I at least understood Evie’s side of it.
None of it could have been easy, especially finding it within herself to tell me the truth.
She looked up when my fingers touched hers. Slowly, I gathered her hand in mine and brought her closer. She let me, not hesitating for even a second to wrap her arms around my neck when I took her waist.
The hairs on my arms stood on end when the unshakable feeling of being watched filled my senses. Glancing up toward the screen door, I understood why. A set of eyes were locked on Evie and I from inside, from the couch where Liam sat. If I hadn’t already guessed before, I definitely understood now with that hard, angry look set on his face…
He felt something for her, too.
Something deep.
And I was in the way.
I ignored him and focused on her. Only her. “No more secrets,” I breathed into her ear. “From here on out.”
She nodded against my shoulder. “Okay.”
I came to an abrupt conclusion as I stood there holding her. With our resolve to rid ourselves of all secrets, I wanted her to come with my brothers and I to the meeting. I was sure she wanted answers and that was the place to find them. I was also sure her scent would alarm a few, but I’d deal with that if it came to it. We were in this together.
Come hell.
Come high water.
My lips parted to extend the invitation, but I never got the words out. My thought was stolen by a sound. That of distant howling that rolled in with a cloud of fog. It seeped between the trees quickly, like water, approaching the porch as the couch inside creaked. Liam’s heavy footsteps came closer until his silhouette darkened the doorway.
He breathed deeply, a single word leaving his mouth. “Inside.”
Evie listened right away and I followed behind her, glancing back when a menacing growl echoed from some unseen place. I crossed the threshold and had my phone in hand the next second.
“Don’t come here. Something’s in the woods,” I texted Richie, feeling my heart thunder inside my chest. “They’re coming.”
*****
Evie
Two walls stood blocking my view of outside, both hellbent on protecting me because I had no idea how to protect myself. Liam made it clear that, one day, I would be stronger, would know better how to utilize my abilities, but, for now, I felt like a sitting duck.
“Is there someplace for her to hide?”
The question came from Nick and it was one of the few times he’d addressed Liam directly.
“There’s no basement, but I can maybe get her down into the crawl space before they find us, but I’m not sure there’s time.”
Nick nodded. “We have to try.”
Liam took my hand and I snatched away. “No.”
The single, defiant word brought four eyes my way—two blue, two hazel, all confused.
“Evie, we—”
“Tell me how to shift,” I blurted, staring at Liam. “I don’t know how to activate it myself, but… tell me how so I can help.”
Neither of them said it, but, from the way it sounded, there were more than just a few mutts out there, closing in on the house. And there were only three of us.
“If they get through the two of you, I’ll be helpless,” I reasoned, knowing the only way to appeal to either of them was to point out a hole in their plan to protect me. “And then what?”
Liam breathed deeply, glancing at Nick right after.
“I’ve got a point, don’t I?” I cut them both off before they could deny it. “If you help me shift, it improves all our chances.”
Outside, the hum of an engine caused Nick to exhale sharply. “My brothers,” he breathed. “I told them not to come, but they’ve never been good at following directions. “Let me try to get rid of them.”
He took a step toward the door before Liam stopped him.
“Get rid of them? We need them,” he explained. “If it was that simple, I would’ve suggested we hop in my truck and just take off, but these things don’t give up that easily.” His eyes locked with Nick’s. “You send your brothers away with the mutts so close, you may as well sign their death certificates. They’d be hunted down and killed before they even knew what hit them.”
Nick’s chest heaved with each labored breath he took, his expression giving way to one far more solemn as the reality of Liam’s words hit home. He seemed to be torn between heeding Liam’s advice and sending his brothers away like he originally intended to.
“All I’m trying to say is we all stand a better chance of surviving if we stick together. Evangeline included,” was Liam’s final plea and, for that fraction of a second, I thought he might grant my request.
“Just… give me a second to talk to them,” Nick said before trudging out through the front door and down the steps, leaving Liam and I standing alone in the confined foyer.
As soon as he was gone, the very next second Liam was in my face and my shoulders were taken forcefully. He leveled a penetrating glare on me, one I felt down in my bones.
“Listen to me. I don’t have time to give you a crash course on shifti
ng, but… you’re right about our chances being better,” he admitted. “Even if I still hate our odds.”
I nodded, listening.
“These things are gonna come at us like a hurricane and there won’t be much time to think or calculate what your next move should be, so get it out of your head that you can outsmart them in some way. It won’t happen. The only thing any of us can do is come at them harder and stronger than they come at us.”
His hands moved from my shoulders to my cheeks and I couldn’t blink. All I could do was stare at him as he said more.
“You were powerful once, Evangeline. Stronger than me in many ways.” A faint smile ghosted on his lips and I felt my pulse quicken at the sight of it. “I planned to teach you how to get back to that, but… there’s no time,” he breathed. His eyes slipped away from mine for a moment, but then came back with a question. “Do you trust me?”
Without even having to think of an answer, I nodded, my cheeks warm beneath his palms.
“…Then close your eyes,” he said softly.
I breathed—heavy, deep—eventually letting the room around me go dark beneath closed lids. My skin buzzed with electricity as the atmosphere changed, filling with a powerful charge I didn’t understand.
…until I did.
Heat spread through my cheeks, covering me completely when Liam’s mouth pressed against mine. I should have pulled away, meant to pull away.
I just… didn’t.
He took a step closer, forcing me backward until my heels were to the wall. I breathed him in deep and was too greedy to exhale right away, wanting to savor his scent as long as I could.
My fingers danced up his biceps when I found the courage to touch him, moving across his shoulders until finally settling at the nape of his broad neck. My lips moved with his as I tasted them. He bit and tugged at mine gently with his teeth and the feel of it sparked something primal within me that couldn’t be quenched. It reverberated from the center of my chest outward. The soft, velvety feel of his tongue touched my lips as he teased them apart. It was almost a shame how willingly I submitted, allowed him to have his way, but I was helpless. That side of me that wanted him, always wanted him no matter how hard I fought against it, made resisting this impossible.
There was no fighting it.
The sensation of kissing him was only foreign for a moment. It didn’t take long for my body, my soul, to remember what it felt like to be connected to Liam in this way and many others.
The rush was nearly too much and emotion overwhelmed me as several decade’s… no, several century’s worth of feelings flooded my heart. Like the dam they were once hidden behind suddenly broke.
Tears spilled from the corners of my eyes when it all got to be too much, but they didn’t fall far. The droplets sizzled and evaporated in flames.
My flames.
His.
I had no idea when we shifted, how this worked, or how he knew it would, but I was grateful that it did. I didn’t want to sit idly by while two people I cared for deeply fought to protect me. I’d rather feel useful and less like some damsel in distress.
I was more than that.
I could feel it.
I simply didn’t know how to access it on my own.
Our light burned so bright together, fading only a little when he pulled away. I hadn’t fully shifted since the first night and, because I wasn’t conscious for most of it, I barely remembered what it was like, how it felt. I was, perhaps, more alive and free now than ever.
And Liam was… beautiful.
There was no other word to describe him. Fire moved over every inch of his skin just like it did mine. In his flames, the silhouetted outline of his majestic dragon was subtly visible—almost as though his human form was contained within it. He once said our shifted forms were truer than our fleshly forms. I could see that clearly now. His eyes burned completely white and I imagined he could have said the same of mine. Beneath the almost blinding light covering him, his tattoos shone through, their ink like lava-laden images stamped on his skin.
I had to touch him.
He didn’t move when I reached toward the words on his arm, written in his native tongue, now brightly etched as though light illuminated them from behind. His heat mingled with mine, but I never felt the burn. I moved my hand to his chest and my fingers spread over his heart, feeling it pounding against my palm.
I wasn’t afraid of what I saw, of what I felt. Only that I’d never find a way to bottle such intense feelings again. There was a certain rawness between us now, something I wasn’t sure how I ever managed to contain in the first place. As he stared at me, I was positive he felt it, too. Maybe he had all along.
A deep, guttural roar just outside the house made me pull away, letting my hand fall to my side again.
“They’re here. Stay behind me,” Liam instructed.
As he moved toward the door, I peered around his arm, watching as four tall, silhouetted figures morphed in the fog, one at a slightly slower rate than the others.
Nick.
There was this sickening sound of bone cracking and breaking as they shifted and human features transformed into beasts right before my eyes. They were formidable in size, their dark fur matching the tone of their hair.
Except Nick’s.
He was a peculiar shade of silvery gray that shimmered a bit even in the sun’s absence. He was larger than his brothers, too. Not by much, but I noticed.
Liam stopped before me. Abruptly. Causing me to slam right into his back.
My eyes darted around, expecting to see his locked on a one of the mutts, but… no. There was only Nick.
“What is it?” I asked.
Why was he watching him like that?
“That can’t… be right.” The statement fell from Liam’s mouth as he ignored my question.
I looked toward Nick again, at this new form he’d taken. His glowing, yellow eyes were set on me, too, and we shared a long glance before what sounded like a thousand thundering feet approached the edge of the woods.
It was time.
The first of the beasts broke through the fog, its dark, thick fur rustling as it barreled toward us. Liam braced himself in front of me, his shoulder meeting the mutt’s when they collided. The force moved his feet through the dirt, but he didn’t waiver. Within seconds, he managed to position his arm around its chin and, with one fluid motion, snapped the neck. The large body fell to the grass and Liam resumed his stance in front of me, a barrier.
I looked in every direction for the next incoming threat.
And then it came. They came. Two dark shadows emerged and all three of Nick’s brothers charged at them. The collision was deafening. Large, frightening bodies meeting in midair and I couldn’t believe this was all real. It was like a page had been ripped from a storybook. Only, in those stories, good was guaranteed to win over evil.
But in our reality, there was no such guarantee.
Another mutt, a quick one, shot out into the open like a torpedo, taking Nick down beneath its weight. A breath hitched in my throat and I only managed to take one step in that direction before Liam caught me by the wrist, stopping me.
“But he needs help!” I reasoned, yelling above the commotion.
A breath of frustration puffed from Liam’s lips when he exhaled the words, “Stay here.”
With that, he darted to Nick’s aid, knocking his assailant flat on its back before twisting its head backward. As soon as it collapsed, Liam was back on his feet and headed my way, but not without sending Nick a message by way of a look and I didn’t miss it. In short, he wanted Nick to know he didn’t think he was worth saving, but did so to appease me.
It was just us again, the six of us watching the woods like before. Waiting.
A thunderous stampede charged our way, this time, seeming to come from all directions. I clenched my fists and tried as hard as I could to steady my breathing, but it didn’t work. I was afraid and there was no getting around it.
One by one, more mutts appeared and Nick’s brothers took the first. Liam’s shoulders heaved with a surge of adrenaline and I was sure he only stood back because of me. He didn’t look like the type to sit out of a fight.
Another mutt came at us and Nick had it this time. And then there were three. We were officially outnumbered.
I took a step forward when Liam did, prepared to do my part, but a stern, “No,” halted me.
I didn’t get to debate with him because he took off toward the creatures and I stood there, watching as he took two by the throat, causing their fur to slowly catch fire. The flames would eventually consume them like I’d seen him do to the ones who came the night before, but it would take time. He’d still have to fight until the fire rendered them immobile.
And the third... it… was gone.
I took a step back and scanned the yard, wishing I knew how to properly tap into my abilities, but I couldn’t quite access them all yet. But, if I could have, I might have been able to sense or hear or feel that the thing was standing right behind me.
Coarse, rancid-smelling fur brushed against the backs of my bare legs beneath the hem of my skirt. I barely got a scream out before my throat was taken in its massive hand and squeezed. A flicker of a flame ignited on its arm where I grabbed and on its chest and legs where we made contact, but it wouldn’t do enough damage quickly enough. It would’ve been useful to have at least basic fighting skills, but I had zero.
So, I could only dangle from the things claw as it lifted me several feet into the air.
Pitch black eyes stared into me and I was only mildly aware of my name being yelled from someplace distant. Two voices. Both filled with terror as they watched the life being choked out of me. It’d be impossible for either to get to me, so… I had to wonder.
Was this it? Was this where my life would end?
My heart was beginning to slow and my surroundings grew dim. It felt like every good memory, every good thing, came rushing in all at once. A lifetime of ups that made the downs seem so insignificant.
Birthdays with my dad guest starring as the clown.
Mom and I cooking dinner together the night before Thanksgiving, my favorite tradition.