[COMPLETE] [[**Sequel, The Hybrid Harold, is up!**]]
The first generation past the war has settled and the result is something no one from the past would recognize. In the United Human Alliance, the human run country that takes up much of the land m...
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The door to the roof ripped off of its hinges when the director forced it open. Since Katie was behind him looking guilty it was obvious what happened. He knew, our whole plan was down the drain. This was happening now. No warning, no time to take a deep breath. I shoved my laptop aside, ignoring the fearful concern from my blood family, and jumped up.
The director was livid, rage palpable as he slammed Michael with force into the force field on the edge of the roof that prevented us from jumping off. A disturbing crack was audible and a scream ripped from my lips before I could think. "MICHAEL!"
He stirred slightly and forced himself up, locking eyes with me. He was alive. Oh- thank god he was alive. I didn't know what I would do without him, and the split second I'd thought he was gone had been agony. We still had so much to look forward to, he couldn't die now.
He. He couldn't die now. Realization hit me and I grinned and narrowed my eyes at the director.
"What?" I spoke casually, though there was an undeniable edge to my voice.
"You think you can break free?" The director asked, his voice a dangerous low. "You think this is a cage you can leave?"
I laughed at his ignorance and pointed my open palm to Michael. Or, more accurately, the force field around him. It burned and fell, bits of flaming magic drifting away on the breeze. "Yeah, I do," I said. Michael stood and shakily made his way to me. He wasn't off the hook entirely, but he was alive. If only I had the ability to do more than destroy. "That's why we're going to burn this place to the fucking ground."
"Arrogance isn't going to win you any favors," The director said confidently. Even still, I could tell that he hadn't known I could burn down his barriers and it rattled him. Sam must have been right about the force fields. They're made by innate magic, they're the most powerful tool in any harold's arsenal. "Your petty plan ends here."
"Oh, so you're going to kill me?" I said, taking the confidence and strength that Michael was projecting beside me. This wasn't control, this was an empaths battle plan. No part of me worried, with Michael beside me we could do anything.
"Yes," The director said. I noticed Katie behind him stiffen. Why had she betrayed us? I forced those thoughts, those stabbing pains of deception, out of mind- I didn't have time for this right now.
"You'll go through me first," Michael spoke with his trademark icy tone.
"You won't go through either of us," I snapped. "We've got the Oracle equivalent of plot armor, we don't die yet."
The director laughed, actually laughed. A part of me worried he was unhinged. "Oh? Do you?" He glanced down at the laptop screen, no doubt seeing my panicked family, and grinned. "Samuel! Long time no see- You'll get a kick out of this. There's no prophecy. We made it up."
"Wait- what?" Michael asked, his eyes darting over to Katie.
"I- I'm so sorry," Katie was openly bawling and refusing to lock eyes with us. Fat tears rolled down her blotchy skin and her body shook with the effort. "He's- he's my father! I had to!"
"So, you see, you don't have anything," The director said. I felt my flame get out of control for the first time since Michael had healed me. "Except a dragon's mate, and a bond that we are very excited to experiment on."
"JUSTIN!"Sam's yell was limited by the speakers on my laptop but I could tell he was yelling loudly. "DON'T YOU DARE! Alli would be ashamed!"
"Alli is gone," The director, who was apparently named Justin and known by Sam, said ruefully. "She's one of many lost by people insistent on leaving their family, their church."
"Save the sob story," Michael cut him off before he could say any more. "We're not mated, check my body for the mark if you want, pervert. You're not a god, you haven't masterminded our lives."
I kept the grin off of my face but the fact of the matter was simple: I was elated. Michael and I weren't forced together, our relationship wasn't a requirement for survival. Everything we did from here on out was because we wanted to. The weight of responsibility and obligation was gone and I couldn't feel better about it because... Well, at the end of all of this, I still loved Michael.
Not like a sister, not like a friend, well- kind of like a friend. Like an ally or teammate you also wanted to plan your life with. Michael was the only person who could have talked me out of this war, because I would never do it without him by my side. Prophecy or no, our lives were together now.
I reached out to hold his hand, to let him know that the elation he felt coming from me wasn't because I wanted to leave him behind. It was because I wanted to be with him and the lack of control left me free to do that. When our palms touched I felt a new kind of warmth fill me up and I instinctively knew that Michael felt the same. It soon met my flame and spread to my wings, making me struggle to keep them in. This was amazing, this was fantastic, this was-
I looked Michael in the eyes, his and mine both wide in shock. This was mating. Naomi had told me that sex was what solidified the bond and I'd believed her but now it was clear that she was wrong. Accepting the bond, choosing to be in it, and loving one another- that activated the bond. It had given me the strength to fight even though the prophecy that initially drove me to do it was fake. If Michael standing straighter and no longer grimacing beside me was any indication it had also healed him up.
"You've mated," Justin said with absolute certainty. Suddenly I felt a lead ball in my gut- we'd mated in front of the man who wanted to experiment on the bond. He'd tear Michael apart trying to find the link. Even if we got away he would tell others, the entire UHA would be after us. "And I just can't wait to learn everything about it."
We needed to get out of here, now. Certain that Michael felt the same way I tilted my neck back and let out a yell. Fire danced with it, more fire than I had ever let lose before. I could feel the way the flames suffocated the invisible dome that prevented us from escape. It was now very clear where the walls were, as they were now coated in my flames. They didn't last long and soon the burning flakes of a once impenetrable barrier fell.
I smirked at Director Justin. Not only was his trump card destroyed but everyone in the school knew something was happening. Margie, Christine, Jamie, even Hank would all know what to do. Katie had taken our element of surprise but, in that moment, I felt hope.
