by Lisa Daniels
Bree couldn’t hold in a sob at this point and she put her hands over her face. She felt Calixto waiting for her, unmoving from his spot. Brushing the tears from her face, she focused her eyes on the ground, “So I did. I let him go, and I have been afraid ever since.”
“You were afraid others would blame you for letting him go?”
Bree’s eyes met his, “No. I am afraid of what I will do if I hurt too much.”
A warm hand touched her cheek and oved around her head. Without a word, Calixto pulled her face into his chest and held her as she cried.
Chapter 9
Responsibilities and Obligations
Calixto was heating up Bree’s food as she stared into the fire.
His eyes darted to her for a moment, “Are you feeling better?” His voice had returned to the usual coolness.
She shrugged and gave him a little smile, “I would feel better if you would be a good shifter and just let me go.”
“I am being a decent person and following through with my obligations.”
Bree shook her head. “Are all shifters like you this stubborn?”
“We are all stubborn, but each clan takes a different approach to mating. Ours has been called the most extreme, but it has made us far more stable than any of the other clans.” He gave a derisive laugh, “If you can call having only nine shifters go insane in a 20 year period.”
Bree gave him a questioning look, “That seems like a pretty low number to me. Most of the shifter communities I know, it is a much higher rate.”
Calixto put the food on the make shift plate and handed it to her, “Well, most shifters are far less dangerous when they go insane. If my kind had that kind of mental instability, the world would be an incredibly dangerous place.”
“You don’t think that maiming children and eating travelers is particularly dangerous?”
“It is a different degree of dangerous.”
Bree put her chin in her hand, “What is your original form.”
“Big.”
Bree laughed, causing Calixto to look at her out of the corner of his eyes. She saw a faint smile pass his lips as she responded. “You plan to stay we me until you die, yet you aren’t going to tell me your other form? Are you planning to stay looking like a human forever?”
“Not if my life depending on it would I retain this form.” He stood up, “and I’m sure you will see my other form soon enough. You stay here and eat, I’m going to go check outside the cave.”
Bree did as she was told, her mind pondering what kind of shifter Calixto could be. Usually she could tell by their movements and mannerisms what their usual form was, but there was nothing about Calixto that seemed particularly animalistic. He was very cold though. Bree stared at the wall and wondered if he were perhaps some kind of cold creature by nature. Though she had never heard of a Yeti shifter, if they existed, she could understand how people in colder climates would be at a lot more risk from unstable shifters. That would be particularly frightening.
By the time Calixto returned, Bree had finished eating. “Does it look safe to leave?”
His eyes darted to her plate before he answered, “Yes, it looks safe. I don’t know if that is actually the case since demons are not one of the creatures with which I have much experience.”
Bree gave him a big smile, “You aren’t missing anything.” Standing up and stretching, she said, “I guess we should pick up first.”
“There is nothing for us to do. All of this was here when we arrived.”
Bree gave him an incredulous look. “That seems incredibly unlikely.”
Calixto gave her his typical cold look, “I clearly do not haul this kind of stuff around with me, and I have no idea how to access your walking wardrobe and goods.”
Bree raised her eyebrows as she answered, “It still doesn’t seem very likely that the stuff was here.”
“It doesn’t matter to me if you believe it or not. You can pack it up and take it if you don’t mind stealing. I have enough to do without trying to prevent you from being a thief too.”
Bree looked around, “I think we have enough to worry about without dragging a bunch of stuff around. Since you say it isn’t yours, I am fine to leave it. If you are ready, we can go.” She reached out her hand to extinguish the fire, then she stopped, “Right no magic.”
Calixto picked up a bucket of water that he had stored off to the side away from the fire. As he poured it over the flames, he asked, “How is your burn?”
Bree looked down, “It’s tolerable.” Then she looked up at him. “Did you not get burned?”
He put the bucket down, “Not at all.”
“That’s good. I would rather not cause you any more trouble than I already have.”
“Do you mean that?” There was something in his voice that she didn’t quite understand.
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“Maybe a little. But it was still a serious question.”
“Yes, I mean it. You are cold and stubborn, but I don’t dislike you, Calixto.”
“Nor do you particularly like me.” There was definitely a tone of resentment in his response.
“I wish you would give up on me because you are not going to be happy if you continue to insist on staying with me.”
“I don’t expect to live very long by your side either.”
“And yet you won’t leave.”
There was a rumbling again as he turned and looked at her, “I have told you that I cannot leave you.”
“There is nothing physical tying you to me. There is no magic that keeps you with me either. That means you simply feel an obligation to do so. And I release you from that.”
Calixto moved so fast that she almost didn’t see it. As he looked down at her, Bree felt tiny. The man had an intimidating presence when he was angry. It was the first time where Bree felt vulnerable with him, not because he was going to harm her, but because he was angered by her continued attempt to get rid of him.
“Perhaps you can be so easily released from obligation and responsibility. Gods know the stories you have told show that the world would be a safer place without you. But I do not take either obligation or responsibility lightly. They are every bit as binding as if we were physically or magically bonded, and I would appreciate if you would stop pretending that they were so easily ignored.”
Bree swallowed and looked up at him, “I am not trying to downplay their importance. I am trying to save your life.”
Calixto blinked a couple of time, “You can do that very easily by acting more intelligently instead of acting like a human.”
Bree took a step toward him so that their bodies were almost touching. Her eyes were narrowed as she asked him a question, “Do you know why my kind will never fully die out?”
“Because you are too irresponsible to stop procreating.” She could see his regret at the words almost as soon as they were out of his mouth.
A cold smile spread across her face, “Any child I have will probably be a mere witch or wizard. Sorcerers and sorceresses are not born through any one species, but by mixing many of them. There is no predictable combination that will result in a sorcerer or sorceress either. I never knew my parents, but the one thing I can tell you about them is that neither of them was what I am. In all likelihood, they were both mixed species, and that is what gives rise to my kind.” Calixto took a step away from her, and she quickly closed the space, “It’s a secret that we never share with others because it would lead to wars and genocides like this world has never seen. You talk to me about obligations and responsibilities. Anything I do can have devastating repercussions, yet I manage to not destroy the world every day.”
Calixto folded his arms across his chest, “You can’t expect to be given credit for not destroying the world.”
“Yet I can expect all of the blame if I put it at risk.”
“It’s the problem that everyone who has power faces. Doing the right thing should be expected, there is no prais
e in that. You know better what the consequences are, and you choose to do right or wrong. The fact that you continue to live is your reward for doing what is right.”
Bree let out a cold laugh, “I find it a poor payment considering I have to spend my entire life hiding what I am.” Her eyes flicked to the man’s mouth. They were so close.
His eyes watched her for a brief moment, but there was nothing he could say that would persuade her. Words were a type of weapon he did not wield well.
Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and began to kiss her. At first, Calixto’s actions did not register. Bree stood still for a moment, then her body began to move on its own. Her hands began to unfasten Calixto’s clothing. He picked her up and pressed her against the wall, his mouth completely covering her own. Bree sucked on his tongue as he slid it into her mouth, and he reacted by pressing his hips into her. Bree wrapped her legs around him and ran her hands through his hair. As soon as he drew back, Bree grasped his soft hair and pulled his head back. She began kissing his neck. Calixto slid his hands up her dress and pulled her against him.
Then as suddenly as he had started, Calixto stopped. He put her down quickly, his face slightly red.
“Your body will react on its own to every circumstance you face, just as you did now. It will react long before your mind does. Please, stop trying to push me away again when I can help you control your instincts.” Though the light was dim, she could see the sincerity in his eyes. “You have no one you trust, and you are losing control of yourself. I can help you, but you have to let me.”
Bree panted, her hands running down his stomach and trying to slip under his shirt. Calixto may have been able to stop without wanting more, but Bree was not accustomed to stopping. As her hands tried to explore his body, Calixto grabbed her wrists with one of his, then tilted her head up so that she was looking at him. “Promise me that you will let me help you.”
Staring into his eyes, Bree found it nearly impossible to refuse him. Not just because she wanted him, but because she knew that she was reaching the end of her endurance. Instead of offering a refusal though, she responded in a near whisper, “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I can handle it.”
“I am not talking about physical pain.”
“I can handle it.”
Bree closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at him one more time, “I don’t want to live and I don’t want you to die.”
He pressed her hands to his chest, “Then let me help you find a reason to live.”
“I don’t want anyone to die because of me.”
“Then act in a way that doesn’t risk others.”
She took a deep breath, “Do you understand what kind of power I have to control every day? Do you know how hard it is?”
“I understand how difficult immense power is to control. How there are days when it feels like it will swallow you whole. Pretending it isn’t there will not remove it. But others can help you carry the burden. It is why I am still here.”
“You must be terrifying in your other form,” she whispered.
He flashed a small smile, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
His hand went around her back and pulled her close. Hesitantly, he pulled her to him and leaned down. This time his kiss was gentle and comforting so that Bree felt that perhaps she would finally be safe. Instead of trying to remove his clothing, Bree forced her hands to slide over his shoulders and clasp behind his neck. The feel of his body against hers was warm and comforting, and for once she didn’t want anything else. When he pulled away, Calixto put his forehead on hers, “Please let me help you.”
Bree gave a little nod and opened her eyes to look into his. “Ok. I trust you, Calixto.”
The shifter said nothing as he took her hand and pulled her out of the cave.
Chapter 10
A Sudden Drop
As soon as they were outside, it was almost impossible to imagine that the exchange in the cave had been real. Calixto was back to his usual cold self. Bree looked around and saw that they were not at the base of the mountain as she had thought, but somewhat higher up.
She turned, “How did we get so far from the base?”
“I carried you.”
“Did you transform?”
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, then returned to scanning the mountain for a way up. “Would you be disappointed if I said yes?”
“I would be for two reasons – because we should not be using magic and because I missed it.”
He waved her to him and put a hand on her shoulder. Calixto’s face was near hers as he pointed toward a very narrow path. “We can go up that way.”
She turned to look at him “You still haven’t answered my question.”
His face turned to hers. A slight smile spread across his face and instead of answering, he leaned over and kissed her. His hand slid down her arm and grabbed her hand. “We need to move before they realize we are on the move.” He pulled her along behind him.
“Demons don’t have a lot of power around mountains.”
“What about volcanoes?”
“That would be a complete disaster for us.”
“Then we need to get moving.”
Bree squeezed his hand, “You don’t need to be paranoid. This area hasn’t been active for so long that they may as well just be mountains.”
“And you don’t think that demons can change that?” There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“Ok, that was clearly sarcasm. You are getting down right feisty Calixto.” Bree beamed as she squeezed his hand. “But I get what you mean. More speed less talk.”
He turned and gave her a quick smile, “We don’t have to be quiet as long as we don’t allow conversation to slow us down.”
“That is rather magnanimous of you.”
“I’m trying.”
Bree couldn’t keep a light laugh from echoing around them. Pressing a hand to her mouth, she collected herself, “Sorry. I’m surprised you know how to be funny.”
“I wasn’t trying to be.” He pressed ahead without looking at her.
“So how did you know that these used to be active? That knowledge was lost eons ago, back when there were a lot more of my kind roaming Letera.”
“I can feel the magma.”
“You what?” The pull of her hand reminded her to keep moving.
“I can feel it, but now is not the time to explain that.”
Bree watched the muscular back of her companion and she wondered just how much there was to learn about it. Practically everything, she thought. “I thought that changing form was the only magic a shifter could use.”
He turned his face toward her a little as he dodged a tree branch, “We have any innate abilities of our original form.”
“So a wolf shifter has a keen sense of smell, even in human form?”
He nodded.
“I’ve still never heard of any species having any magical a-Oh god’s!” Bree exclaimed as she realized there were plenty of species that could have two forms. “So if there is a fairy shifter, you could potentially have a person that could fly?”
She bumped into him as Calixto came to an abrupt stop. He turned and gave her a look of disbelief, “A fairy shifter? That’s ridiculous.” He pulled her hand and started back up the mountain. “Humanoids aren’t shifters. They have their own kind of magic.” He shook his head and Bree could hear him mutter, “Fairy shifter. Unbelievable.”
Bree smiled at his back. She had known about humanoids and shifters, but he was so closed when it came to talking about his abilities, she wanted to see if there was any way to get him to open up. Now she knew that there was a way – a way that she knew well. All people loved to feel smart, so all she had to do was play dumb and he was bound to let it slip up. Otherwise, she might never find out what his real form was.
They were relatively close to the top of the mountain by that point and she thought it best to focus because down was
usually a lot harder than up.
Calixto stopped and checked out the other side, “Alright, I think-”
Whatever he was thinking, he never got to say, the ground below them shifted and a large crack formed beneath their feet. Calixto immediately grabbed Bree and pulled her to him as the mountain crumbled. Bree put up a field around them as they slid into the yawning opening that went down for miles, well below the base of the mountain. As they tumbled down the mountain, she buried her face in Calixto’s chest.
They landed on a ledge some ways above the magma flowing under them.
Bree looked up into Calixto’s handsome face. His eyes were darting around, his attention clearly focused on finding a way out.
“I’m sorry Calixto, but getting out of here is not our biggest problem.”
His eyes looked down at her.
Bree pointed a finger to their left, “The demons are here.”