Her Pact

Part 12

Chapter 12

“Tell me about yourself,” Adam said with a smile in her direction. 

She narrowed her eyes slightly at him.  “Why don’t you tell me about you?  Like, what is your magic power?  What do you do?  Which one are you?  Give me some info.”

He leaped over a fallen tree before turning back towards her with a shrug.  “First of all, were not superheroes.  I can’t travel the globe in ten seconds like Flash, and I can’t fly.”

“Of course not,” she said, jumping over the same log.  Her feet settled to the other side, but she kept her mouth shut, waiting for him to answer her other questions.  Before they actually ran, Adam had insisted that they go further into the woods. 

The man chuckled.  “You’re like a cub with a honeycomb.  Fine, I can move things with my mind.”

“Things, like, anything?”

“Yep,” he said, popping the ‘p’ for affect.  “I can move anything, except you, which is annoying.  I kinda liked knowing that I could throw people around without moving a finger.”

“And the Queen and King, can you move them with your mind?”

He hesitated, as if he didn’t like the answer.  “I can, but I don’t want to.  You’re not around her like we are.  She becomes a mix between an older sister, a mom, a prison guard, and a hot babysitter.”

Charlie let out a laugh, loving the way Adam thought of Ally.  “So, what you’re trying to say is that she takes care of all of you.”

“Huh,” he mumbled, “I guess that is what I’m saying.”

Adam stopped in a clearing while motioning around.  “Here we go, it’s your stop.”

“Tell me one more thing,” Charlie said, waiting for Adam’s nod before continuing.  “Why did Zeke trust you to take me?”

“I won’t disobey Ally.  If she thinks that her order will keep us safe, I’ll blindly follow her.  I have nothing else to live for and find it easy to follow her lead.  The others, they don’t know what lose feels like.  They would risk Ally’s wrath for something they believe would save her life.”

“Even if that thing is killing me?”

This time, when Adam smiled, it lacked its usual charm, or maybe, it was because his fangs were flashed as he shifted into his leopard form.  “Even if,” he grumbled before dropping to the ground.  Before Adam could hit the ground as a man, the leopard took over. 

Looking at him, she smiled.  “You’re beautiful,” she mumbled, running her hand through his white fur.  Black spots covered his body, almost overtaking the white, but he was beautiful all the same.  As she watched the large cat shift under her hands, lean into her touch, she couldn’t help but wonder what Zeke looked like in leopard form.

She stepped back from Adam and let her shift take over.  It was longer than his was, but it had always been like this for her.  It was a type of internal struggle with herself.  Her magic wanted to keep the shifting magic at bay while she wanted the change to take over.  Pushing the block to the back of her mind, she let out a sigh as her hands began turning into paws.  Dark brown fur sprouted on her arms as she dropped to the ground.

It may have taken a minute, but soon, she was standing there, her brown fur covered in large black spots.  Bumping into Adam, she let out a yowl before taking off into the woods.  Even though there was noise following behind her, she knew the man was fast on her heels.  Taking off at a dead run, she didn’t even stop when the signs told her too, didn’t listen to her instincts.

Zeke trailed his hand across the dirt and let out a sigh when he got nothing.  Usually, he could pick up something, some lingering thoughts, ones that were dropped along the way, but there was nothing here.  Whoever had left had made sure they cleaned up any magic that could be used against them.  There was only one person he knew that was smart enough to do that, Marcus.

Kicking the dirt, he growled under his breath.  It was all that man’s fault.  If he hadn’t have started this shit in the first place, none of them would be in this situation.  Glancing up at the sky, he noticed that the sun was no longer at its peak.  Slowly, it was beginning to drop from the sky, and he planned to be back at the overly large cabin before dark.

“From the left.”

Zeke’s right fist snapped over to his left before the attacker even had a chance.  The bad thing about fighting with him was that he could always read their next move.  The only way to be sure that Zeke didn’t win was to blank your mind or put a block up.  Too bad this guy had neither.  The knife in the man’s palm came swiping down at Zeke, and with a frustrated groan, Zeke used the man’s momentum to stab him in the heart with his own knife.

As the man fell to the ground, incapacitated, Zeke let out a chuckle at the irony.  “Stabbed by your own knife.”

Something whizzed by his head.  At the last minute, he dodged the object only to see it imbedded in a nearby truck.  Arrows, the idiots were shooting arrows at him.  At least whoever was doing the shooting could block their minds.  Zeke would almost be disappointed if the person didn’t.

“Come out; come out, wherever you are!” Zeke called out.

The leaves beside him crunched.  He didn’t give the intruder time to attack. Flicking one of his knifes to his left, he heard the body crumble to the ground.  He shook his head.  “I don’t even kill them anymore.  How pathetic am I getting?”

Another arrow shot by his head, narrowly missing his ear.  Letting out a snarl, he turned towards where they were being shot, only to pause.  Pain exploded behind his eyes, the most agonizing pain he had felt in a while.  Dropping to the ground, he clamped his hands over his head, trying to make the pain go away, but with the pain came images, images he wasn’t ready to give up. 

Charlie flashed through his mind.  She was running through the woods, Adam behind her, but he wasn’t close enough behind her.  Zeke saw it flash in his mind as it was happening.  Scrambling to his feet, he ignored the arrows being shot around him.  For now, the enemies shooting at him got away lucky.  He had more important things to take care of.  Steadying himself, he began running in Charlie’s direction.  He couldn’t see the future, only what was happening to her then, but he knew that if he didn’t hurry, things were going to turn out bad for Charlie.  His snow leopard form snapped into place without pause, but the pain was still there.  He refused to allow the pain, the images, to go away until he was by Charlie’s side, until she was safe.