Even Lux eyes me in confusion. Did they not notice the giant shadow that was trying to eat me?
"I—"
A twig snaps, interrupting my sentence and causing me to jump. I inhale a breath, my eyes widening as I dig my fingers into the soil. Leo and Vul leap to their feet, low growls rumbling deep in their throats as their nails elongate into sharp claws. Lux flutters closer to me, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
My fingers fumble around my cloak and to my boot, grasping the handle of the kitchen knife that I stored there.
Is he back? Is he actually going to take me away instead of toying with me?
"Who's there?" Vul asks, his voice slightly muffled from his teeth growing longer and sharper in his mouth. It seems as if the brothers are slowly shifting into their animal forms, most likely wanting to see if it is a threat.
We are met with silence.
Fear grips me in it's tight, bone-shattering hold as my body begins to heat up. Who is out there? What is out there?
I watch Leo tilt his head up and take a deep breath through his nose before cursing under his breath.
"Sepi," he growls.
Vul swears as he turns to me and tugs the hood of my cloak over my head.
"They've seen her. We have to get out of here now."
Vul nods at his brother as Leo shifts into a lion and motions for me to get on his back.
I go to stand, but my legs are like mush so I fall to my knees, leaning forward with my palms resting on the dirt. My body is getting warmer, unbearably so. Strands of my hair sticks to the side of my face as sweat trickles down my spine.
"I—I can't get up," I gasp, wondering why my body isn't cooperating with me.
Maybe I'm still in shock from my encounter with Mortem.
Vul swears again and swings his bag over his shoulders before hurrying over to me. He places one arm under my legs and uses his other to support my back as he lifts me up and carries me the few feet to Leo. He sets me down on Leo's back, both seeming completely unaffected by my over-heated body.
I wrap my fingers in Leo's mane as Vul shifts into a fox. Lux buries herself into my pocket.
Why am I so hot?
As my body temperature seems to increase, we race—no, more like fly—through the trees at an unnatural speed. The scenery around us becomes a blur and my eyes water at the corners from the wind slapping me in the face with such intensity that I have to lean forward and press my face into Leo's mane so the hood of my cloak won't fly off.
"We have to lose him," I hear Leo say, but I don't lift my head up in fear that the wind would knock me off his back altogether.
How am I not burning him?
"Lux," I manage to say. "Why does my body feel so hot?"
"Leo take the lead. I have an idea," Vul shouts as I feel Leo put on a burst of speed.
What could he be doing? I think to myself just as I hear an explosion a ways behind us. I gasp, my head snapping up.
Big mistake.
The wind flings itself at me with such force that I fly off of Leo and slam into the trunk of a tree somewhere behind me.
I hear him call my name as pounding footsteps grow closer. Lux flies out of my pocket to check if I'm all right, but I'm too busy watching the large grizzly bear that's charging right at me.
My arms fly up as it lunges and I let out a piercing scream. All of a sudden the world turns white, practically blinding me.
For a moment, everything's quiet. The white slowly fades to the greens and browns of the forest and I lower my arms, finding the grizzly on its side at the base of a tree. He looks to be unconscious as he fades from his animal form to his Arco form, eyes closed.
I glance down at my hands. Did I do that? The fire that seemed to burn through my veins is gone, maybe that's what caused the white light.
"You did it!" Lux exclaims and claps her hands.
Vul flies out of the shrubbery and skids to a stop beside me, his eyes never leaving the fallen Arco as he changes back to his original form.
"What the hell?" he mutters as he cautiously approaches the Arco. He places his first two fingers on the Acro's neck. "He's alive."
I let out a relieved breath as Leo helps me to my feet.
"Lux," I say as I brush off my pants. "What did I do, exactly?"
"You tapped into Beata's power." She flutters in front of me and rolls her eyes. "I mean finally, that took you for ever."
Vul comes up beside us. "We need to go. There will be more Sepi after us and that one will be up soon."
Leo nods at his brother as I tug the hood back over my head. "Where are we going to go?"
"We have friends who live just outside of the Fallows, toward the West. They'll help us," Leo says as his eyes scan the trees surrounding us.
Vul gives his brother a questioning look. "Are you sure?"
Instead of answering Leo shifts back into a lion and gestures for me to get on. As I do so I glance over at the unconscious Arco and frown.
"Lux," I say as Vul shifts and Leo rises to his full height. "What did I do to him?"
"You put up a sort of shield that he bounced right off of," she says as she gets comfortable in my pocket. "Beata's power is kind and nurturing and can't do any real harm. In other words, it's more a defense than an offense."
"Oh," I say as we begin to make our way through the trees, each step light and quick.
As we race further and further away from the unconscious Arco, I notice that we are also moving away from the sun.
"I thought you said your friends live in the West." I say as I cast quick glances around us.
"I lied," Leo deadpans. "I wanted to make sure that Ravus wouldn't follow us in case he was faking it."
"Ravus?"
"The Sepi after us. He watches over the grizzly bears and has been a trusted guard for the Veti for centuries."
"Oh," I say stupidly, not knowing what else to say.
"There," Leo says a few moments later gesturing to a cluster of overly large trees that resemble those in their neighborhood.
We slip behind them, coming to a stop at one on the outskirts of the others, its roots nearly brushing the start of the Fallows. Vul shifts, makes his way to the back door, and gives three swift knocks as I climb off of Leo.
The door opens, revealing a tall and slender woman with striped skin and whiskers.
Tiger, I think instantly when I see the orange and black and slitted pupils.
She looks between the three of us as Leo shifts into his original form. "Come in," she demands, her voice thick with an accent I don't recognize. She steps to the side and gestures into the house as Vul slips inside. I follow at his heels.
"What's going on?" a new voice says as we enter the kitchen. I peek from under my hood at another cat-looking Arco. I'm not entirely positive, but he looks to be the Arco of bobcats.
"We need a place to hang low," Vul says in a low tone as the woman shuts the door behind me. "The Sepi are after us."
"Why would they be after you?" the woman asks. Leo turns to me and gives me a reassuring nod so I grab the edge of my hood and tug it off of my head.
I stare back at the two Arco who are openly gaping at me, trying my hardest not to cringe away from their stares.
"A human?" the woman gasps as she moves to stand beside the man. "You both know bringing a human to Caelum is forbidden, how could you be so stupid?"
Vul scoffs. "Okay I didn't bring her here, that would be him," he says as he points over to his brother who rolls his eyes.
"I had to," he says as I fidget with my cloak. "For starters her mom was trying to kill her, and there's the fact that she's, you know, Beata's host."
"She's what?" the woman gasps as I clutch tightly onto my cloak, wishing I could disappear inside it.
"I know," Vul says and sets his bag on the table. "I didn't believe it either."
"How do you know it's her?" the man asks from where he leans against the counter. "I thought it was the other one they got two years ago."
My head perks up at that. What does he know about my sister?
"Show them Lux," Vul says and I nod, tugging on my pocket to signal to Lux.
She shoots upward and hovers near my shoulder. "This is Lux," I say, gesturing to my new friend. "She's a light pixie and was set by Beata to help me learn my powers."
The man narrows his eyes at Lux, as does the woman. They're skeptical, the two of them, but I have no other way to prove my hosting Beata since I've only used my powers once.
"Well," the woman says as she uncrosses her arms and places them in her pockets. "You're safe here." She turns to the man. "Rufus get the curtains. I'll make some tea, you all seem a little shaken."
The man—Rufus, makes his way past me and to the windows, quickly tugging the curtains closed. The woman gestures to the table and I take a seat beside Vul as Leo rests in the chair on my other side.
"Are you taking her to the Bratus?" the woman asks as she places a pot on the stove.
"Yes," I say before the other two can respond. "We have to get my sister."
"You're sister?"
"She was the one taken two years ago. If we don't get to her soon, she'll die." My voice cracks on the last word and I quickly shut my mouth as Lux sits on my shoulder, sending a comforting warmth throughout my body.
"I see," she says while placing teacups on the table. "And what do you plan on doing to get her back without disrupting the balance?"
Vul and Leo share a glance as I frown.
"We haven't exactly gotten that far," Leo admits after a moment of silence. Rufus takes the seat beside him.
"We were going to wing it," Vul adds and the woman rolls her eyes.
"That won't get you far," she chides and begins pouring the tea.
"What do you expect us to do?" Leo asks and leans forward. "We have no idea where she is being held or how to get inside without Ari being seen. Most importantly, how would we get the two of them out of there without getting caught?"
Rufus grins at us, showing off his pointed teeth. "That, my friends, is why it's good that you have us."
The woman gives Rufus a sly smile before turning to us. "I've got a plan."