by LM Wilson
“I don’t know how to do that without the voices coming out too loud.” I grumble walking back over to Joey.
She sits up looking strangely at Malachi. “I know you.”
“No, you don’t.” He turns his back on her.
“Yeah, I do. You were at my mother’s house last year. You and an older woman with bright red hair.”
“No, you’re mistaken, it wasn’t me.”
“Michael… No, Malcom…. Malachi! Malachi Rowans. You came to visit my mother, something about trying to change your fate.” Joey frowns into her lap. “You wanted to find a way to break a mate bond.”
Malachi crosses the room so fast that even I don’t have a chance to react. He grabs Joey by the shoulders and growls one word. “Forget.”
♡
Chapter: Raine
Chase and I follow River out into the small waiting room, he sits down in the nearest chair, but I just stand here near the door, waiting.
“While you were gone, I received a phone call, I filled Raine in on what we talked about. Miranda Rockworth has been given permission by the council of elders to enter the trials.”
“No, she isn’t the lost princess. We’d feel it if she was.” Chase growls.
“I’m not sure what to do, I could extend the training program for the trials and tell the council that Miss Rockworth needs extensive training, but I’d prefer to tell them that we have found the real princess and present Joey to the council when the time is right.”
“What if we’re wrong?” Chase asks as he glances back at the door behind me.
“I’ve got two weeks to present a training schedule for Miss Rockworth.”
“What are you going to tell Miranda, she’s going to expect special treatment and for her training to start right away?” I hedge, curious how my brother is going to play this out.
“I’m not sure what to tell her. If she is then it could mean a lot of problems for us.” River hangs his head as though he really has no idea what to do.
“I don’t think she is.” Chase adds.
River glares at Chase. “I don’t think it’s just a coincidence.” He sighs. “What I mean is, I don’t think it’s a coincidence Joey showing up with that mark, split-shifting into you three and Miss Rockworth showing up at the same time claiming to be the lost heir. I think someone thinks Joey is who we think she is and they’re try-.”
I hear footsteps out in the hall heading towards us. “Shh, someone’s coming.” I hiss. All of us breathe a sigh of relief when we spot Doc coming towards us. But then the two girls behind him trail in and we all freeze. Claire rushes over to me, grabbing onto my arm as though she has a right to. I watch absolutely dumbfounded as Miranda walks right up to my brother and begins whispering to him. He looks confused for a moment, but then he nods his head quickly. “Of course. Right this way Miss Rockworth.” Both Doc and River leave without even looking at any of the rest of us.
“So, here’s how it’s going to go. You and me, Raine, we’re now official. That slut in there is going to be shunned and your idiot friends are going to go back to whatever hole they came from.”
“Like hell!” I snarl.
“Oh, did I forget to mention the part where you have no choice?” Claire laughs as Miranda walks back in. Don’t get me wrong, the two girls are hot, body wise but their personalities, not so much.
“I like this one.” Miranda runs her hands up Chase’s chest and he backs up into the wall, trying his best to get away from her. “You like me, don’t you big boy?”
“No.”
Miranda rolls her eyes, “Let’s try that again.” Her voice comes out hypnotic and even I begin to feel something for her. “You really like me big boy, you and me are going to be the new king and queen of this place and if you’re a good boy, I might even make you a king for real.” I blink repeatedly as Chase slams his lips onto Miranda’s.
“A little help here Miri!” Claire calls out as she tries to kiss me and I back up. My back hits the door and I fumble for the handle. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but I need to get the hell away from these bitches.
“Freeze!” My entire body goes stiff. Miranda struts over to me and everything turns hazy, like I’m looking through a cloud of smoke.
Chapter: Joey
“Forget.” Malachi says in an eerie tone. Angel stands so still he looks like he’s turned into a statue. I’m not sure what the hell is going on, but I get the feeling if I don’t play along, it could end really bad for me. With great effort, I relax my face and body as Malachi’s bright eyes come into view in front of me. He studies me for a moment then turns to Angel. “You have no interest in Joey. She is so far beneath you that you won’t even acknowledge her presence.”
I feel tears burning the back of my eyes, but I shove them down, refusing to let them escape. Malachi turns back to face me and frowns, “What the hell am I supposed to do with you now?” He shakes his head as he steps closer. My bottom lips trembles as his hand cups the side of my face. “I know you won’t remember a thing I say but I truly am sorry that you got mixed up in my sisters bullshit.” He sighs and stares right into my eyes. “Keep your head down and don’t go against anything Miranda or Claire say. You have no interest in Angel, Chase or Raine. You will not go to the principal or any of the teachers when you see something wrong.” Malachi presses a soft kiss to my cheek. “You won’t remember anything from today. You are not a split shifter; you are a wolf shifter with fire powers.”
I watch him walk out of the room; his broad shoulders slumped as though the weight of the world is upon them. Angel staggers forward just as the door closes. He glances around the room a frown on his gorgeous face. “What the hell am I doing in here?” He growls.
“Malachi just tried to make us forget everything.” I rush across the room and wrap my arms around Angel’s waist, burying my face in his shirt.
“Um, look, I don’t know what we had but it’s over now, okay.” He gently pushes me away by the shoulders and walks out without looking back. I back away from the door until I hit the wall. My legs give out and I slide down until my ass in on the floor burying my face in my hands, I let the tears come. I don’t know anyone else at this school, I thought I was making friends, but Angel seemed to remember something and still he pushed me away.
I’m not sure how long I sat on the cold tile floor for, but my back begins to ache and I finally get up. Walking through the empty halls of the school is like walking through a ghost town. I don’t see anyone as I make my way to my room. My head hits the pillow and despite not wanting to sleep, I’m out like a light in seconds.
♡
Rather than risk another run in like the one I had with Angel. I decide to give the guys some space. Hoping that their memories would return and they’d come back to me. Days turn into weeks; with the only times I see them being during classes and in the cafeteria. Each time I see them they’re surrounded by girls and never together. Not only that but they’re acting so unlike themselves that if I didn’t know better, I’d say they’d swapped bodies with someone.
It’s almost as though their friendship with each other doesn’t exist anymore without me.
I spend most of my evenings in the library attempting to find out what my mark means and ways to control my shifting abilities. Strangely enough, I haven’t switched with any of the guys since the day Malachi took their memories of me. It’s almost as if he somehow took that ability from me at the same time.
I’m just on my way to the library almost two weeks after the Malachi incident when a man in the senior’s uniform grabs my arm. “Are you Joey Kale?”
“Yes. Why?”
“The lady from the office asked me to give this to you.” He pushes a small box into my hands and takes off before I can even say thank you. Staring at the box, I keep walking towards the library. With careful movements, I gently pull the tape off the outside and lift the lid.
My face collides with a solid object. The box falling from my hands. M
y mother’s sapphire necklace spills out of the box right at Angel’s feet. He turns to pick the necklace up off the floor, turning his back to me. I edge backward, determined to get to the door. Quicker than I can blink, he grabs my wrist, preventing me from getting away. He hauls me backwards away from the door with a strength that’s breathtaking. I grab his shirt near the collar and lift up. Twisting, I drop to the floor, collapsing beneath him. The second my knees hit the floor, I pull on his shirt, sending his body over my shoulder. For a second, I’m not sure if he’ll fall. His own weight works against him. He goes down. Before I can blink, I’m pinned beneath him. His hips aligned with mine and my arms above my head.
Everything becomes clear in seconds. He let me try to throw him. He knew he could pin me. My breath heaves as he stares down at me, a cocky smile on his lips. “What the hell is that?” He glares at my hand and I frown.
“My mother’s necklace.” I growl. “Give it back.”
“No, not this silly trinket. That on your hand.” He shifts his grip so both my hands are captive in his much larger one. Then tucks my mother’s necklace into the pocket of my shirt, grazing my boob slightly.
“Watch it.” I hiss. He ignore my warning and repeats his question. I sigh. “It’s just my shifter marking, fire like all the other fire wielders.”
“No, it’s not, you have one on the palm of your hand and one on the back of your hand. That’s not normal.”
“What this?” I ask, opening my left hand so he can see the odd burn on my palm. All the research I’ve done since being here has told me the mark is a combination of the original elemental symbols. “I was cursed before my first shift.” I close my eyes, unsure if I should tell him anything else. Before Malachi did that mind wipe thing of his, Angel knew of my mark.
“What clan are you?”
I gulp. That’s not a question I can answer without giving away the truth, unless…. “Wolven.” I say, giving him my mother’s clan. Technically it’s not a lie. Until I shift into an animal form, I’m still from my mother’s clan.
“Who were your parents?”
His question renders me mute for a moment. Not once did any of the guys ask that question back when they were switching bodies with me. “What?” I finally manage to croak out.
“Your parents. What were their names?”
“Walter and Nina Kale.”
“Their parents?”
“What is this, an interrogation?” I buck my hips, trying to throw him off balance enough to get away. “Let me go!”
“Yeah, no. Until you answer my questions, I’m going to keep you here.”
“Fine.” I close my eyes, picturing the flames I brought out in my last Elemental studies class.
His gasp has my eyes flying open only to find him staring at me with a wickedly sinful smile on his face. “You tried to burn me.”
“You won’t let me go.” I deadpan.
“You won’t answer my questions.”
“You’re a dick!”
“No baby, I have a dick, there’s a big difference.” He pumps his hips into me to prove his point. A very hard point at that. “Baby, tell me what curse you were talking about earlier.”
My heart skips a beat at his use of the endearment. He leans his chest down, staring me in the eyes as he inches closer. His movements slow and cautious.
“What are you doing?” I hiss as he stops a breath away from my lips.
“I’m not sure. Have we hooked up before?”
“What?” I almost shout until I remember we’re still in the library. “No, we haven’t I would never hook-up with a jerk like you.”
“I swear we’ve been in this position before.”
Does he remember the night we spent together in Raine’s bed?
“I guess it was just in my dreams.” He pulls away, cocking his head slightly as though he’s thinking. “Have you ever had that déjà vu thing?” I frown and he adds, “You know, when you are so certain something has happened before, but you can’t remember where or when.”
“Nope. Never happened to me before. Now let me up, I’d like to leave now.”
“What is going on in here?” At the sound of Raine’s voice, Angel releases my wrists and finally lets me go. I scramble to my knees as quickly as I can before giving Angel a glare and running for the door. Unfortunately, the door is right behind Raine. My shoulder brushes against his as I try to squeeze past him. He grabs my wrist, pulling me roughly to a stop. “You know you’re nothing special. Slutty Angel over there will sleep with anything with a pulse.”
“That’s not. We didn’t. Nothing happened.”
“Yeah and I’m a saintly virgin. Keep telling yourself lies and you’ll start to believe… I’ve told you that before.”
My once again skips a beat. This time with hope. If Raine remembers, maybe Angel’s déjà vu wasn’t déjà vu after all.
“You’re that girl from Elemental studies. The one with the unstable powers that Doc has to keep a close eye on.”
I groan. “There’s nothing wrong with my powers. Someone keeps messing with me every time I try to cast in that class.”
“No one’s messing with you. You just suck.”
“No, I don’t suck. I’m an igniter, just like you.” I emphasise my point by flaring my fire until it covers my arms from my wrist all the way to my elbow. I know the flames won’t hurt Raine because I can control them enough to keep the heat out of them now.
He still hisses, letting me go quickly. “Who are you?” I don’t bother replying, I simply sidestep him and run. I have every intention of running all the way back to my room, except I don’t make it that far. I literally run into Chase’s hard chest just as I exit the library.
“Stop her. I want to ask her something.” Raine shouts from the open doorway of the library. Chase looks from my wide eyes to Raine’s narrowed gaze then back to me again.
“Run.” He whispers before giving me a gentle shove in the opposite direction from Raine. My feet obey him, running as fast as I can all the way back to my room.
Chapter: Chase
I watch her run down the hallway before turning my attention back to Ray. “What?” I ask as he glares at me.
“I asked you to hold her so I could ask her something.”
I shrug and turn my back on him. Not the smartest of moves, but he doesn’t remember her. Not like me. I remember being her. I remember actually inhabiting her body two weeks ago. Whatever those girls tried to do didn’t take with me. It did with Gel, Ray, Riv and Doc though. None of them remember Joey as anything but an annoyance.
I’ve kept my distance from them for the last two weeks. Careful not to draw attention to Joey while still watching over her. She’s spent most of her time hiding out in the library or over at the practice fields. She’s getting pretty good at using her powers, she hasn’t shifted as far as I can tell, but she’s come close a couple of times. Once while Miranda was harassing her, during math class and once when she was tripped in the hall after lunch.
Miranda has been making Joey’s life hell this last week and the only reason I can think of is that Gel and Ray are starting to grow bored with her. I need to help Joey get through this but I haven’t been able to figure out how to do that without giving away the fact that I remember everything. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if Joey knew, maybe then she wouldn’t feel so alone.
The risk of Miranda finding out is too great though. That bitch has been threatening everyone away from Joey.
I start heading towards Joey’s room to check on her, when I notice someone lurking in the shadowy alcove near her door. Malachi steps out just as I approach. “You and I need to talk.” He points towards the empty room across from Joey’s. After hesitating only a moment, I follow him inside.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you forget. I don’t think I even could if I tried.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I’m struggling to keep her shifting under control. It’s like her body needs to sh
ift. I thought maybe if I let her shift into you, then it might settle down for a time.”
“You’ve been forcing her shifts to stop?” My voice raises above the normal rumble and I pause, listening intently to the sounds coming from across the hall.
“I’m trying to help her. You don’t understand what my sister will do if she finds out that Joey is a Split-shifter.”
I glare at him. “How do you even know that?”
“Because when I healed her, I found out that someone else had tried to suppress Joey’s powers. She’s not just a split shifter Chase. She’s also an Elemental Quad.”
“No. She’s only got the fire mark.”
“For now. Once that suppressor wears off, she’ll start showing more marks and with how strong she is…” He trails off, staring at the door across the hall. “I think Joey is the Lost Princess.”
“No. If she was then…” It’s my turn to drop what I’m saying. I back up a step and sigh. “Swear by blood Elemental oath that you want nothing more than to protect Joey.”
“I swear on the spirit of all I am, I wish no harm to Joey Kale.” I hold my hand out, my power flowing along my arm and into my hand, splitting the skin open. Malachi does the same, repeating the words I spoke. As our hands clasp an audible only to us, bell tolls.
“I think she is the Lost Princess too. She has a mark on her left palm. The same mark I have on my hip.” I lift my shirt and pull the side of my school pants down an inch or so, exposing the mark.
“You’re one of the four Guardians?” The look of awe on his face has me dropping my shirt and stepping away from him.
“Three. There are only three Guardians.”
“There are four.” He lifts his shirt and my jaw goes completely slack. Right on his left breast above his heart is the exact same symbol as the ones on my hip, the back of Ray’s thigh, Gel’s forearm and Joey’s palm. I used to joke about the positions of our marks before the seriousness of what they mean really sank in. With mine being on my hip, I used to say I was the one the lost princess would bed, Ray would be the muscle and Gel the one to hold her hand. The second I saw Malachi’s mark the same old joke popped into my head, except it’s not a joke anymore.