by G. Bailey
“Millie, Millie, it’s me!” I recognise Hunter’s voice. Isn’t that just dandy -- the man who broke my heart is now trying to pry me away from my dead foster mother. “Come on, we have to get out of here!”
“Get off me!” I shout, leaning forward over Mollie’s body as if that will somehow change the outcome.
“Millie, please.” He’s imploring now, that same voice he used when he tried to talk to me last night, and god, it hurts. Everything hurts, from my pounding head to my heart, and I’ve never been so tempted to just curl up on the floor and let death come to me as I am in that moment. I’ve not only managed to drag a bunch of innocent people into my mess; I’ve also gotten one of them killed. “Come on!” He leans into me, using his vampiric strength to haul me to my feet. I struggle futilely against him, but I don’t have the energy to fight him off, my eyes still lingering on the corpse on the floor.
“We can’t just leave her,” I protest, tears streaming down my face and leaving clean trails in the soot on my cheeks. “We can’t -- we have to do something, we have to…”
“Boots.” Hunter takes me by the shoulders and forces me to look at him. “She’s gone.” His normally blue eyes have gone red with his transformation, making him look borderline inhuman, and I want to scream at the injustice of it all.
Still, something in the way he’s looking at me pierces through the cloud of grief that’s surrounded me, and somehow I’m able to make my legs work. Nodding curtly to him and wiping my streaming eyes, I allow him to lead me to the door, guided by his superior vision. One by one, we rush out of the apartment, Hunter and I in the lead, and the guys following behind. Xander and Hazel are already outside, and it’s not until I hear an explosive roar from behind me that I realise Ruby has been singlehandedly holding the rest of them off. She unleashes a last burst of flame from her powerful jaws to cover us while we make our exit, but moments later I hear a different roar. They have a dragon of their own.
Ruby goes flying out the front door, thrown like a ragdoll and suddenly back in her human form. “Ruby!” Xander yells, letting Hazel go to run to his sister and help her to her feet.
“Too many of them,” she pants. “Where did they come from?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he replies. “We have to -”
But the sound of a telekinetic burst -- Edith’s doing, I’d bet a fiver -- makes it impossible to hear the rest of what she says. Except instead of sending us flying away, it drags Ruby and Xander back into the apartment. Hazel yells something, but I can’t hear it over the commotion, and before I know what’s happening, she’s shifted back and is charging headlong back into the flat. “No!” Silas protests, lunging for her. “We have to stay together!”
“Go!” Hazel yells over her shoulder, barely audible in the chaos. “I’ll cover you!” Silas hesitates, but then she repeats her command, louder, in her siren’s voice. “Go!”
That gets him moving. The big dragon shifter takes me by the hand and pulls me toward the stairs. I try to argue, but Hazel knew what she was doing -- the other guys are hopeless to ignore her command. We forgo the lift and race down the stairs. By the time we emerge back out onto the street, I’m bracing myself, half-expecting another pack of shifters to be waiting for us in ambush. Instead, all I see is a crowd of humans rubbernecking, trying to get a good look at the disaster happening on the top floor. In the distance, I can hear the sounds of police sirens and fire engines, and lights are coming on all over the neighborhood. Worse yet, the spectators all have their phones out to record the scene which makes using our powers a problem.
“Lie low,” Shade suggests, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt up.
“Hey!” shouts one of the people watching, a woman trying to herd two young kids. “What happened up there? Do you guys need help?”
“No,” I call back to her breathlessly. “I don’t know. Please let us go…” In a single file line, the five of us snake past the rest of the bystanders, doing our best to keep a low profile despite the fact that we’re all a mess. I steal one last glance over my shoulder: the top floor of the building has caught fire by now, and there’s no sign of the others. It’s too late to go back up for them, and all I can hope now is that between the three of them, they’ll be able to escape. The odds aren’t in their favour.
Silas takes my hand and pulls me gently away. I realise I’m crying again as we round a corner onto a side street, this one less hectic and more out of the way. Before I even notice that I’m shaking, my knees give out on me and I slump to the curb. Putting my head in my hands, I let out a harsh sob.
The guys turn around, exchanging worried glances. “Hey.” Hunter tentatively rests a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay.”
“Don’t touch me,” I snap, but there’s no fire in it.
Hunter, to his credit, doesn’t let up. Instead, he pulls me into an embrace that feels like it’s my last lifeline. One by one, the other guys approach me the same way, putting their arms around me and surrounding me protectively. I let the tears fall freely, clinging to them like a drowning person clings to a life raft. If they weren’t here, I would truly have nothing left.
After what feels like an eternity, Landon is the first to pull away. “I hate to do this,” he says quietly, “but we’d better get out of this neighbourhood. If there are any more hunters around, they’re going to be sweeping this whole area.”
“Where do we go?” I protest.
“Anywhere,” the siren shifter replies. “Anywhere that’s far away from here.”
Silas gives a stiff nod. “He’s right. Soon this place will be crawling with humans -- bystanders, if not hunters. Better we move now.”
I let out a long breath, but I know he’s right. Shakily I begin to walk again, the guys forming a protective circle around me the same way they did earlier. Everything has fallen apart in the space of a few minutes. Some part of me wonders if I’m going into shock from it all. My normal life has never felt so far away.
For all our precautions, though, none of us are listening to our surroundings very closely, and by the time I’m aware of footsteps behind us, the paralysis spell has already taken hold. My muscles seize up, spasming uncontrollably, just as the guys are blasted back by a wave of magic. Straining against the magic, I look over my shoulder to see Edith approaching, flanked by two of the Academy hunters. She’s looking a little worse for wear, but her green eyes are just as piercing as ever, and they flash with hatred as she stares me down.
“You treacherous bitch,” gasps Shade. He’s had the wind knocked out of him, but just as he starts to get to his feet, Edith flicks her hand and moves him back another few steps. The others are struggling against her magic too, and although I can sense that she’s flagging, she’s powerful enough to keep us all at bay.
“Why?” I croak out. It’s the only word I’m able to say.
“Things must come so easily to you, don’t they?” Edith hisses, slowly walking towards me. “The school. The shapeshifting. Them.” She nods in the direction of the guys, and I suddenly see something on her face, something that’s been here this whole time without my noticing it: jealousy. “It must be nice, having a harem of guys following you around, being able to shift into any form, having the whole world watching what you do.” Her mouth twists with contempt. “You can’t blame me for wanting to shake things up a little.”
As she speaks, I close my eyes, drawing on my reserves and reaching for my witch magic. If I can just shift my hands, that will be enough. Slowly, red begins to creep up my arms, and with a hoarse yell, I let out my own bolt of magic. It’s not much, but it’s enough to temporarily pierce the entrapment spell and get the guys moving again. “Get out of here!” I yell at them.
“Millie -” Shade shouts, but upon seeing the look in my eyes, he trails off.
“Don’t let them get away,” Edith yells to one of the hunters, who takes off after the guys as they disappear around a corner.
I feel a pang of regret, but I don’t want
anyone else getting hurt because of me. Especially not them. At least this way, they’ll have a chance.
That’s the last coherent thought I have before the rest of the hunters are on me.
Chapter 18
I put up a hell of a fight, if I do say so myself. This is the first time I've transformed different parts of myself into different forms at once, and I'm not sure whether it's due to my rage or my exhaustion. One arm is that of a dragon, the other is that of a witch, while my mouth, now a siren's, lets out a scream loud enough to rival Landon's. It's not enough though, none of it's enough, and the fact that the attackers are all women renders my commands to let go basically useless.
"That's enough out of you," Edith says, waving her hand lazily and inducing paralysis once more. I'm shaken back into human form like someone might shake a bothersome bug off their arm, and I'm helpless to fight it as the other shifters surround me, pinning my arms painfully behind my back. I let out a cry of pain as Edith strides up to me, her emerald eyes flashing. "I'm sorry it had to work out this way, Millie," she says, although I don't hear any real remorse in her voice. "It would have been fun to get to know you, but you know what they say ... nothing personal." She pauses, her brow furrowing, and then adds, "Actually, what am I talking about? Of course it's personal."
I glare daggers at her, fighting uselessly against her magic, but she seems to be done taunting me. I guess that's something, at least. She turns her back to us. "Keep her still," she commands. "We have a long way to go to get to the safe house." Raising her hand, she releases a haze of pale magical light, and I immediately begin to feel drowsy. I've seen Josie do this once before, to subdue the guards outside our room when we were trapped at the Academy in Boston, but I've never been unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end.
My eyelids suddenly feel immensely heavy, and despite the voice in my head that's screaming for me to move, move, fight it, do something, the clutches of the spell are unshakeable. Little by little, the life goes out of my limbs, made useless by the paralysis, and within moments the world has faded away around me.
I feel like I'm in a dream. Colours drift in and out, as well as vague bits and pieces of dialogue: "Get her set up."
"She has to wake up first, Sir."
"I don't care! We've wasted enough time already!"
"The procedure won't work unless she's conscious! We found that out the hard way with those other boys…"
"Fine. I want to know as soon as she wakes up. Are we clear?"
One of the voices sounds oddly, ominously familiar, but the fog that I'm in is making it hard to listen, even harder to figure out if any of this is real. More images drift through my mind: Mollie's glazed-over eyes. Edith kissing Hunter. Hazel and the twins, trapped in the burning apartment. Most of all, though, I see visions of the guys running for their lives from the pursuing hunters. My heart aches - I was so cruel to Hunter, and now I may never see him again. What if I never see any of them again? The most precious thing in the world to me, they've been torn from my grasp by one treacherous betrayal.
And then I lose consciousness once more.
I'm surprised to find that I'm not dead when I finally stir, my eyelids fluttering against the bright fluorescent lights. The pain in my skull has come back with a vengeance, and for a moment I'm struck by a wave of agony so intense that it makes me want to retch. I double over, clutching my stomach and dry heave . How long has it been since I've eaten something?
My head spins, my ears ringing, and it's all I can do to sit there in a shaking heap as the dizziness starts to clear. Eventually, I'm able to force my eyes open, although the harsh lights make it hurt to do so, and look around.
I'm in a room as nondescript as it can get. The walls and floor are made of concrete, and the lights make me think I'm in some sort of basement or storage facility. What did Edith call it? A safe house?
Seems pretty far from safe to me.
I'm surprised to discover that I'm not restrained. I'm slumped forward in a hard wooden chair. My clothes are the same soot-stained ones I had on when the apartment caught fire, and my hair is hanging around my face in dirty clumps. Slowly, agonizingly, I struggle to my feet, having to pause with my hands on the chair to keep myself from passing out from the pain in my head. Once I'm sure I'm grounded, I straighten up and take a slow, shuffling step towards the door in the back.
Even before I reach it I realise it's a pointless exercise. It's padlocked shut on my side, and I'm willing to bet it's been enchanted. Why else would they leave me in here alone with no restraints?
Still, I can't resist the urge to summon a burst of flame from my dragon form, breathing it directly into the padlock for several moments. The metal doesn't even change colour. Of course. Why would it? It's not like I've ever been able to catch a break before.
I let out a yell of frustration and drop my head against the door, banging it uselessly with my hand as if that will somehow change my situation. The gesture sends a fresh stab of pain through me. God, my head hurts -- I go down hard.
The sound of bolts shifting on the other side makes me jump, and for a single crazed second I wonder if my frustration actually worked. But then there's the sound of shuffling feet and I take a few steps back. I'm still weak from the spell and my injuries, but I'm already preparing to fight, my hands clenching into fists as I back up a few steps.
Then the door swings open and Hawthorne, the man who started all this, strides into the room. The smug bastard is smirking, like this is all some big joke to him. And he doesn't look the least bit intimidated by my posture.
I raise my hand to cast a spell, but he shakes his head. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Ms. Brix,” he says, his tone as self-righteous and condescending as ever. “We’re underground right now, miles away from anyone who will be able to help you. And we’re not alone.”
He steps aside to reveal the hulking form of another man, who immediately shifts into a siren. Before I have time to react, he’s already growling, “Don’t. Move.”
For the second time this week, I’m under the thrall of a siren, and I drop my hands weakly to my sides. Still, I’m able to force myself to speak. “Where are we?”
“Nowhere special,” Hawthorne replies. “The important thing is that we’re safe from prying eyes. Like your boyfriends, for example. We’ll find them, I have no doubt, but it’s nice to know that they won’t stumble across this facility themselves.”
I try to lunge at him, but I’m held in place by the command. “Leave them alone.”
“You really are feisty , aren’t you?” Hawthorne says. “I guess it would take someone with your personality to do all the damage that you’ve done. Still, that’s all in the past. Chin up, right?” He gives me a toothy smile before nodding to his henchman. “Take her to the testing room.”
The man turns to me. “You heard him. Follow us.”
My feet begin to move on their own as the two men turn and lead me out into a long hallway, their footsteps echoing ominously against the high walls. I struggle, but it’s in vain, and this time, Landon isn’t here to override this siren’s command. The men unlock a door at the far end, and what I see on the other side makes my heart stop: it’s a medical examination room, exactly like the one under the Academy where Silas was being kept. A table stands in the middle, manned by a meek-looking woman in a lab coat. The siren grabs my arm and thrusts me onto it, not bothering to be gentle as he secures me in place.
“Thank you, Hugh,” Hawthorne says. “That’s all we’ll need of you.”
The siren leaves, taking his magic with him, but by now I’m stuck in place, and even without his magic, I’m not going anywhere. “What are you going to do to me?” I demand.
“The same thing I’ve always been trying to do,” replies Hawthorne. “Level the playing field.”
“You just want to give yourself shifter powers,” I spit.
“I want to give everyone shifter powers!” Hawthorne snaps. “Don’t you understand? I’m working
towards egalitarianism, Ms. Brix. A world where everyone has the same abilities. And if sacrifices have to be made for that, then…” He shrugs. “It’s a worthy cause.”
I open my mouth to protest, but there’s a sharp pain in my arm; I look down to see that the assistant has put a needle in my vein. “Sir,” he says, “I still have reservations about using a hybrid for -”
“We’ve been over this,” says Hawthorne.
“But-”
“Do. As. I. Say.” His dark eyes flash, and I feel a lurch of terror as the machine connected to the IV whirs to life, strange blue liquid shooting through the tube and into my arm. My reaction is as immediate as it is violent; the pain in my head is negligible in comparison to this. It feels like acid is running through my veins, dissolving everything in its path. I barely even feel the assistant putting a separate IV in my other arm, which he connects to another machine, but I do see my blood beginning to move sluggishly out of it and into the collection beaker. It looks wrong, though, too thick: like it’s corrupted.
Or already dead.
The pain rips through me, blocking out all conscious thought. I thrash against my restraints, crying out against the agony, feeling the strength going out of me, but it’s futile. Time slows to a crawl, my eyes clench shut. I think of the guys, their grinning faces, their gentle touches, and latch onto the image like it’s my last hope. That eases the pain, even as I feel tears streaming down my cheeks. I don’t know how much time has passed when I hear the assistant’s voice. He sounds far away. “Sir,” he says, “look at the blood concentration.”
Hawthorne steps closer to examine one of the monitors, and then lets out a roar of frustration. “What the fuck is wrong with her?”