His expression is one of horror, of helplessness, and I don’t feel an ounce of sympathy for him.
Not after what they did to me.
The python tightens his grip around the officer’s neck and something breaks, the light in the man’s eyes vanishing. They don’t stop, though. If anything, they’re even madder, hissing and biting, and when I finally meet the eyes of the cobra, my world stops.
“Marcia, your brother is going to kill you. Get down from that tree.”
“But, Gabriella,” she whines, using a tone that makes me cringe from her perch on a low branch. She’s one of the few people I’ve forbidden from using my title.
I see her family as my own.
“Don’t ‘Gabriella’ me.” My brow arches and Marcia looks down, a bit contrite. “You have a date tonight with those lessons, and there’s no getting out of it.”
“But shape-shifting is hard.”
“Life is hard, kid.”
At that she scoffs, her jet-black hair rustled by the wind. “Tero doesn’t struggle like I do, Gabby. And by the way, you’re only three years older than me.”
My response is a roll of my eyes and a tap to my watch. “That’s because he studies and takes his lessons seriously.”
“You’re not letting me off the hook…are you?”
“Not on your life, my friend. Not on your life.”
Reality slams back into me when the man is tossed aside and hits another car, the alarm going off. What I saw, what I felt looking at that girl, was friendship. Affection, and my hands clench as the need to reach out and touch the cobra becomes nearly unbearable.
What the fuck?
I take a step forward. My feet carry me without my permission.
“Pretty girl, this isn’t considered running away.” My head whips back, and I find Theodore standing against a pillar near the entrance watching me. “Or are you done fighting something your heart is secretly yearning for? We are your home, Gabriella. We are your family.”
“Please let me go,” I beg, his words hitting harder than the memory.
“I’ve waited a century for you.” His sad expression hits me in the chest, and I get a pang—this pain that comes every once in a while—that nearly doubles me over. “You have sixty seconds left, Gabriella. Make them count, because once I have my hands on you…I’ll never let you go.”
“I’m not who you think I am.” You are. A voice whispers in my head. My eyes snap to the cobra, and I know it’s her. She’s speaking to me. I’ve missed you so much, Gabby. We’ve all needed you. “Make it stop. Make it all stop.”
“Be specific, sweetheart.”
My eyes flick to his, the tears in my eyes making him a bit blurry. I try to wipe them away, but more fall. “The voices. These thoughts.”
“I can’t control your subconscious, Gabriella. This is all you.”
Remember me. Remember your family.
“I’m nothing but an orphan who paints and—”
“You are and will always be a queen. My Queen.”
We were walking through the castle’s corridor; Tero was to my left and Marcia to my right, much like they’ve done since I came to live here, my ever-present shadows, and I know Theodore cares for them too. He wouldn’t trust them to be around me otherwise. He wouldn’t have brought them to live here under his protection when their parents died when they were mere kids.
They’ve been arguing all day, complaining about some guard who asked his sister out on a walk around the garden, when various voices begin to shout.
I can’t make out what they’re saying, but a second later it doesn’t matter as the ground shakes and a wall to my left crumbles. The sound is loud, hurts my ears, but I’m being pushed aside before a large boulder can crush my left side.
“What the hell?” Tero yells, his voice frantic as I sit up and try to gather my bearings. I’m trying to take inventory of the situation, my hands shaking and chest feeling so heavy for some reason. It feels as though— “No. No. No!”
The gut-wrenching pain in his voice makes me look over, and the sight that greets me breaks my heart. My beautiful, sweet friend is on the ground with a large portion of her body buried beneath the rubble.
She’s not breathing, a large gash on her forehead.
“Marcia! Sister.” Tero’s body shakes, his voice cracking. “Please open your eyes. Please.”
“Tero, move.” He doesn’t hear me, trying to push the wall off himself. “Tero, move!” Those sharp light-blue eyes snap to mine at my pleas, so much like his animal, and in them I find so much sorrow. So much need. “I can’t help her if you don’t get out of my way.” His head tilts. He’s not the one here with me anymore, but rather his snake, and I’m thankful that the beast took the forefront. I’ll need its strength. “Help me move the rubble and then go and get Theo. Please. Can you do this for me, my friend?”
His head bobs while his human body begins to remove the heavy rocks one by one, only stopping once to glare at those responsible. Three men and they all look worried, scared. I’ll question them later. Right now, I need access to her full body.
For a few minutes, no one speaks. No one moves.
But I feel the energy all around me, the shift in temperature, and it begins to drop as I center myself. I can’t call upon her spirit if I’m not in control or I will lose myself, something that I’ll never allow to happen. Theo needs me.
“Done. My Queen.” Tero hisses and steps back, his muscles coiled and ready to attack if anyone comes near me.
Nodding at him, I get down on my knees and place my hands above her chest. Her energy is missing, but there’s a tether still lingering in the earth, fighting to stay, and I focus on it. My hands begin to shake as I give some of my life’s force to it, feeding it my essence.
There’s another commotion near us and the skies above rumble, lightning striking a few feet from me. I know the voice but choose to ignore it and continue to nurture the energy—make her a part of me. And as I do, it grows stronger. It becomes stable. “Resurgemus, Marcia,” I breathe into her mouth, and her chest expands but her limbs do not move. She’s hurt, her scream of pain filling the now silent space. If she doesn’t shift, she’ll die. “Shift.”
I’m feeling faint, my nose bleeding, and Theodore rushes to my side. He tries to pull me back, to stop me, but I’m not done.
“Pretty girl, I need you to stop. She’s back.”
But I’m shaking my head before he’s done talking. “If Marcia doesn’t shift, she’ll die for good and I’m too weak to help her. I can’t finish until I recoup. I gave her too much.”
“Tero, coach her to shift. Get her—”
Her body convulses, blood pouring from her mouth and I drop to my knees, pushing my husband’s hands away. Crawling until I’m hovering over her, I press my forehead to hers and exhale, a breath she inhales and clings to. “Shift now, Marcia. Now!”
Oh God.
Oh God.
I’m shaking as I move back, and tears continue to pour from my eyes while they watch on with sadness. What I saw can’t be real. This must be a figment of my fucked-up imagination, and I take off running before anyone utters a single word.