Sere from the Green (The Shape Shifter Chronicles Book 1)

by Lauren Jankowski

  Ocean stood from her seat and looked to Adonia. She was dressed in her regular royal blue dress that perfectly matched her sparkling eyes. She had wavy light brown hair that was pulled back in a bun with two dolphin-shaped barrettes holding it neatly in place. Her skin had a slight shimmer to it, like all guardians. Her motions were as graceful and smooth as the water she watched over.

  “How long is Aneurin staying?”

  “He will be here two days,” Adonia replied. Ocean nodded and took her seat again.

  “Is he bringing anyone else with him?” Ivy asked. Ivy was the lead guardian of plants and therefore always wore green. She wore a dress the color of moss and her eyes were the color of grass. She had long red hair that she tied back in a tight ponytail.

  “Yes. Merrick will be assisting,” Adonia answered, sitting back even further.

  “Oh, come on,” Passion grumbled, sitting back in a huff.

  “Passion,” Adonia tried to soothe her granddaughter.

  “Did he just get bored and decide it would be as good a time as any to annoy me?” Passion asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “I mean, Merrick and him? That is awfully convenient. It is well known that the male water guardians hate me more than any other guardian.”

  Passion glanced toward Ocean. “Apologies, Ocean, but your masculine counterparts are terrible individuals.”

  Ocean shrugged, not offering any defense or disagreeing with Passion’s statement.

  “Passion, do you just not like anybody?” Calida spoke up from the seat behind her mother, Blaze. Phoenix sent an icy glare at her older sister while Electra just ran a hand over her face and tilted her chair back. Calida wasn’t rebellious like most of the younger guardians. Electra and Phoenix looked up to Passion, whereas Calida saw the feisty guardian as a rule breaker and therefore a bad example to the younger generations.

  “All Merrick does is make snide comments about how much of a whore he thinks I am. When he’s not too busy talking shit about Jet and Lilly, that is,” Passion said, ignoring the young fire guardian. The guardians remained quiet, already used to Passion’s colorful protests. It was just business as usual.

  “Perhaps if you conducted yourself more appropriately,” Artemis began, interrupted by Passion’s laughter.

  “Ah yes, I forgot our people’s long and distinguished history of placing the blame solely on the victim,” Passion remarked. “The problem isn’t that Merrick is an awful person. It’s my fault for wearing a dress with a V-neck and taking multiple lovers.”

  Phoenix snorted, earning her a warning glare from her mother. Electra sighed, knowing that her mother and grandmother would probably continue baiting each other with little barbs until it became a serious fight.

  “Mother,” Electra murmured as she covered her face with her hands.

  “That’s a bit of an over generalization, don’t you think?” Artemis remarked coolly.

  “I don’t know the polite way to say ‘being a wanton whore,’” Passion responded, matching her mother’s icy tone.

  “Don’t use that language in here,” Artemis reprimanded.

  “I don’t see why not. It’s what you were implying,” Passion shot back.

  “Okay, meeting dismissed,” Adonia stated before the usual argument could ensue. It was going to be a very long couple of days.

  *~*~*~*~*

  Isis struck a punching bag, her fists smacking against the firm red surface. She was sweating buckets but still had energy to burn. As she was just about to start practicing kicking, Isis heard movement behind her. She turned around and watched as a silver light formed in the center of the room. In seconds, her sister stood before her.

  “Electra, what’s up?” Isis asked as she unwound the tape from her knuckles, striding over to the benches where she kept a towel and a water bottle.

  “I came to give you a heads up,” Electra replied as she followed her sister.

  “End of the world?” Isis quipped with a grin as she placed the tape on the smooth bench.

  “Worse,” Electra responded. “A guardian man is coming for an evaluation, assessment, whatever you want to call it.”

  “Oh?” Isis said, unscrewing the cap off her water bottle. “The guardian men? Haven’t met any of them yet. They’re the ones who dislike the two of us for existing, right?”

  “A lot of them,” Electra agreed as she sat on the bench, stretching her long legs in front of her. “They’re probably going to want to question the both of us. You have to be on your best behavior, which is much more difficult than it sounds.”

  “Don’t tell them to go fuck themselves, got it,” Isis jested as she screwed the cap back on the water bottle. Electra gave her an unamused look. Isis shrugged, spreading her hands in front of her.

  “I know how to behave, Electra,” Isis reassured her, feeling more than a little insulted. Electra leaned forward.

  “I hate it when they do their ‘observations,’” she spat out the word as though it left an awful taste in her mouth.

  “You said they weren’t all the same,” Isis mentioned as she sat down next to her twin. “I remember you mentioning Alister and Donovan in particular.”

  “Donovan is part of the High Council, but he tends to be as hands off as he possibly can be, and Alister is busy,” Electra replied. “It’s being done by Aneurin and a water guardian, Merrick.”

  Isis leaned back, cringing when the frigid bricks touched her bare shoulders. She wasn’t thrilled with the idea of meeting more guardians, particularly ones who already didn’t like her. She hadn’t even settled entirely into her new life and already she was going to be questioned by another complete stranger. It seemed like whenever she came to terms with one new aspect of her life, another curveball was thrown at her. The grilling was just another stress that Isis didn’t need.

  “I’ll get you if you’re summoned. Expect to be,” Electra stated as she stood up again.

  “Okay,” Isis replied, not able to offer much resistance.

  Electra disappeared and Shae walked in. Shae made a beeline for her cousin, hopping up on the bench next to Isis. Isis shook her head, recognizing the peppy look in her cousin’s eyes. It usually signified the beginning of a headache for Isis.

  “Whatcha doin’?” Shae asked playfully. Isis stared at her. Her cousin always sounded like she was fresh out of high school when she was feeling mischievous. Sometimes it was endearing; other times it was just plain irritating. Today happened to be the latter.

  “What does it look like?” Isis replied as she wiped the sweat off her face.

  “Daydreaming. Getting lost in that pretty head of yours,” Shae said as she stretched out across the bench in front of Isis, who rolled her eyes again. Her cousin knew how to get on her nerves. She’d be a rich woman if she were paid for it.

  “I was not,” Isis argued, as she ran the towel over her face and chest. She glanced up to the window. There were still a few hours of daylight.

  “Were too,” Shae replied in her sing-song voice.

  “All right, I was thinking, not daydreaming. Not about what you assume I was, anyway,” Isis admitted. She had given up long ago trying to hide what she was thinking from her cousin. Shae was just too good at reading body language.

  Shae snickered. “I’m sorry. I must’ve missed the day you became telepathic.”

  “You always think I’m daydreaming about some fairytale romance when the truth is I’m not like you, never have been. You’re an extroverted pansexual. I’m an introverted Gray-A, leaning toward aro most of the time. Romance isn’t particularly appealing to me,” Isis stated. “Please tell me I’m wrong.”

  Shae turned her head to the side, grinning. “Who said anything about fairytale romances? You’ve really got to do something about those overdramatic tendencies, Ice Queen.”

  “So I can get me a man and settle down?” Isis concluded her cousin’s thought with a painfully bad southern accent. Shae laughed loudly at her cousin’s sourness. She looked at Isis with her spark
ling green eyes and Isis couldn’t help but snicker at her own statement. She had a sense of humor and was usually able to identify when she was being dramatic.

  “You’re not averse to all relationships,” Shae replied as she sat up. “What about Steve? You guys have been friends since elementary school. I always thought you two would hook up, with how protective you are of each other.”

  “And then he went and came out as gay—”

  “Bi,” Shae corrected, waggling a finger at Isis.

  “You’re right: bi,” Isis agreed. “The guy is like my brother anyway.”

  She almost shuddered at the thought of being romantically linked to Steve. True, he was a great guy, one whom his boyfriend was lucky to have, but she had just never seen him that way and knew Steve felt the same way about her. She still owed him a beating for scaring the hell out of her, though. Isis hadn’t been able to get a hold of him on the phone since she’d had the altercation with Blackjack. He had called her earlier that day and left a message to let her know he was all right, just out of town for a couple days. Isis had been so relieved to hear his voice that she had forgotten to call him back to chew him out. She made a mental note to do so later.

  “Hmm, if I remember correctly, he left in the middle of the prom because he knew you weren’t going and planned to spend the night alone,” Shae recalled, bringing Isis back to the present. Isis sighed heavily and rolled her neck. She should’ve known Shae was going to bring that up.

  “Once again, you’re rewriting the narrative of what actually happened. He decided to skip out on prom because our stupid high school wouldn’t let him go with his boyfriend at the time because the administrators were a bunch of goddamn homophobes,” Isis reminded her. “He wound up at my house because we were both bored out of our damn minds. We watched movies while I prepared my photography portfolio.”

  “Oh yeah,” Shae replied. “That entire evening is a bit of a blur.”

  Isis stared at her. “Because you got wasted and proceeded to make out with half the student body?”

  Shae waved her hand dismissively at the question, though a knowing smile danced on her lips. Isis shook her head and stood up, intending to leave the workout room. Shae followed, staring at her cousin. Isis turned her neck just before they reached the stairs and looked at her expectantly.

  “You’re hiding something,” Shae said as she continued to scrutinize Isis. Isis smiled and shook her head.

  “No, Shae. I’m really not,” she replied. She didn’t give Shae a chance to respond as she turned and jogged up the stairs. Her mind drifted briefly back to Coop, but she had already decided that some things were better left secret.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  In the lower levels of the Pearl Castle in the Meadows, there were many doors. Most led to various sections of the dungeons — which were mostly empty, but there was one that led to a small hallway. Down the small hallway there were doors leading to different rooms. Each room had two metal chairs and a matching metal table. There was one light that hung from the ceiling, which hummed whenever they were illuminating the dreary rooms. The bricks were painted soft colors and there was a two-way mirror that stretched across one wall. It was in these rooms that interrogations took place. Aneurin loved using the rooms whenever he came for an observation.

  In the second room, two figures sat. One wore a dark blue tunic with gold trim, signifying he was someone important. The other wore a crimson dress made of the finest guardian silk. Her honey-colored hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, and her arms were folded in front of her on the table. The woman sat still, watching as the man sorted through some parchment. They both smiled politely whenever they’d meet each other’s eyes, but there was always something off about the expression. To any casual observer, it would soon become apparent that the two didn’t like each other, despite the civility. To the schooled eye, it would be rather clear that the two couldn’t stand each other.

  Passion bit the inside of her cheek, forcing the polite smile to remain on her face. Aneurin watched her with his soft blue eyes, tapping a fancy glass pen on the table. He was getting under her skin and he knew it. Running a hand through his dark hair, the guardian man continued to smile at her. They had already gotten the pleasantries out of the way and now he would try to go in for the kill, but he was going would take his time and toy with her for a bit first. He wanted her to understand who was in charge.

  “So, you see how trying to prevent your daughter’s destiny looks a little suspicious,” he finished in his usual cordial tone, baiting Passion. She cleared her throat and kept the courteous expression on her face, though it almost slipped. Already her face was starting to ache from the constant smiling and Passion was beginning to wonder how much longer she could hold the expression.

  “If you don’t mind my asking, exactly what does this have to do with my job?” she asked, making sure she maintained a deferential tone. For Passion, that was a very hard thing to do. She was so used to rebelling against his snide attitude and frequent insinuations. The interrogation room had a hostile air to it. The bricks soaked up anger and hatred, and it would ooze out when there was tension. The light illuminated the guardian glow in both Passion and Aneurin’s skin.

  “Of course,” Aneurin responded with an understanding nod. “It is well within your rights as a guardian to ask me such a question.”

  Passion almost flinched when he said the word “guardian.” Aneurin always managed to say it with a subtle revulsion in his voice. He hated that she still held that title after what she had done and made sure that she knew it. Passion forced herself to remain calm and civil. If she let Aneurin tear her apart, he might not have time to question Electra and Isis. She would do anything to spare her daughters his passive aggressive bullying. They didn’t deserve it and Passion would do anything in her power to protect them from it.

  “I just have to make sure your loyalties are in the right place,” Aneurin answered as he tapped the end of his pen on the parchment laid in front of him.

  “I see,” Passion replied. “In that case, yes. I do see where one might draw that conclusion, but I assure you my loyalties have always and will always remain with my home and my people.”

  Aneurin let out a quiet laugh. “There was a time when a question like that would’ve sent you into quite a temperamental fit.”

  Passion smiled and laughed behind her clenched teeth, not trusting herself to speak. She rubbed the back of her neck. Her back and neck were killing her; she was so tense.

  “Yes, your younger years,” Aneurin continued, spotting the tautness in her posture. “My, how you must miss them. All those exciting . . . indiscretions.”

  Why doesn’t he just call me a slut or a harlot or whatever and get it over with? Passion thought as she played with her fingers, doing her best not to fidget.

  “Those days are behind me,” she stated, keeping her mask of pleasant obedience in place. “I’m a mother now. New set of priorities.”

  “Plenty of guardians still court their spouse after they decide not to have any more children,” Aneurin stopped abruptly and put a hand over his mouth, putting on an impressive horrified face. “Oh, Passion, I do apologize. I forgot. Please forgive me.”

  Passion bit her cheek so hard that she tasted blood. How could he forget? The sentence was mostly his damn idea, she thought as her smile fell. She cleared her throat again and shook her head.

  “It was a long time ago,” she responded, her voice soft.

  “Quite and I’m certain you have found other lovers for when you desired intimate company.”

  “Could I possibly get some water?”

  “In a minute,” Aneurin stated as he looked back to the parchment in front of him. Passion glanced over to the mirror, knowing she wouldn’t see a drop of water while she was in that room. Aneurin had a funny way of forgetting simple requests during questionings. She began to tap the chair arm with her fingernails, longing to smack the irritating grin off his face. Aneurin always smi
led, but something about it was always so cold. Especially when directed at Passion.

  Aneurin shuffled a few more sheets of parchment, as if he were actually doing something besides taunting her. “You do seem to get into an awful lot of arguments with your mother, Lady Artemis.”

  Passion was unable to prevent a bitter laugh from escaping her lips. She hated being in this room. She was a guardian. Guardians needed to be with nature to be happy and content. Passion had heard stories about guardians dying because they were cut off from open air for too long. That would be my luck: I’d die in here, with him, and he’d say I died of guilt or shame or something along those lines, she thought as she ran her hands over the smooth arm rests.

  “What are those arguments about?” Aneurin asked, bringing Passion out of her thoughts. She started to tap the metal chair arm again, as she struggled to keep her fiery temper under control. She couldn’t lose it here, not with him. Passion refused to give Aneurin the satisfaction. Besides her daughters, she also had her pride. A narrow-minded parasite like Aneurin shouldn’t be able to get under her skin with his childish taunts and insinuations.

  “My mother and I have always had our differences,” Passion answered, already feeling drained. “Most mothers and daughters do. Electra and I have disagreements too. I’m sure Artemis and Adonia have some as well.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” Aneurin was obviously humoring her, talking down to her, a surefire way to get on both Passion and Electra’s nerves. “So how are your daughters?”

  “They’re fine,” Passion replied, smiling a little.

  “On our side?” Aneurin asked, not looking at the guardian across from him.

  Passion’s eyes flashed and her smile dropped. “Just because Roan is their father doesn’t make them an enemy or mean they’re at risk of becoming one.”

  “Passion, I would never imply such a thing,” Aneurin said, another one of his infuriating smiles splitting his lips. He had found her weak spot.

  “I know exactly what you were implying,” Passion growled. She’d had it with his games.