Greys III - Revelations

Chapter 32 - The Truth in Red

I felt a chorus of ribs crack under a kick Malachi couldn't dodge and he jumped back with an angry noise, his face surprised. Before I could advance, fire sprang up in front of me. I quickly extinguished it, pulling the air away and starving the hungry flames, but then another sprang up, and another. I rolled back from the balls of my feet to my heels and glared at Malachi, the coward, as I felt my whole body tense with the need to continue, to dig into him and crack more than just ribs.

"What changed? How are you doing that?" He asked from the safety of the opposite side of his fire moat. "How did you make that hit? I should have been fast enough." He continued with his head cocked in the way I hated, the way that belonged to my Pair.

James.

I remembered he was still there, somewhere, and my mind clearing slightly from the haze of red. I turned to find him against the wall, leaning casually but clearly interested, his eyes on me, that cursed collar just visible from underneath his shirt. I felt my second Shift shudder at the sight of it, but I pushed it down until my world was black and white again and my breath came easier, my mind clearing along with my vision. Something about the Red Shift scared me, called to me and seduced me before overwhelming me and holding me under, until it drowned me. It was so much deeper than my normal one, fueled by something else, emotion or hunger, bloodlust or need. I realized the silence still hung in the air, Malachi's questions unanswered.

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently, trying to make my voice sound genuinely confused.

Malachi rolled his head like I was being intentionally dense, which to his credit, I was, and turned to James.

"You saw it, the change in her. Pathetic little swipes at me and then something happened, and she was faster, stronger, more vicious. She shouldn't have been able to land this." He motioned to his side, which already looked distended, swollen from the broken bones hiding under his long shirt.

James was watching me, his presence a slight current against my skin. I tentatively opened my Gift, carefully, just for him.

He's right. What happened?

I felt his mind flood mine as he answered Malachi out loud.

"I didn't see anything. You must be getting sloppy. Or maybe she's simply a better fighter than you. Less indulgent."

Malachi looked like he might try to take a bite out of James for the mere suggestion as he bared his teeth and growled. Then he huffed and raised his chin higher, indignant.

"You're fucking lying. She's doing something, using something, and hiding it."

James and I had never talked about my Red Shift. I had never mentioned it to anyone. It was just one of the many things that had gotten lost in the shuffle of my new life, this new world. I just assumed everyone's nature had two layers, but maybe they didn't, maybe only I did, or only Halflings. But then Malachi should have it too. Maybe that's what he always used, how he was so good, so much more brutal. Maybe he had just mastered it, or let it drown him.

Do you have a second Shift? A red one?

I finally replied to James' question, studying his face.

Yes. Once I became an adult I found it. After I left my father's house.

Does Malachi? Does everyone? Or every Half?

I don't know.

I let out a noisy breath at his lacking answer, still mad at him from earlier as well. But of course, he didn't know. Just like me, he had probably never brought it up to anyone. At least not our Clan, as they weren't Halfs and he hadn't wanted to let them know he had some elusive second Shift if they didn't.