Chapter 28
“There is something seriously wrong with your whole childhood,” David commented lightly as he stroked the skin on my back. “I mean, you’ve never seen Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or The Matrix. You haven’t even seen most of the Disney movies!”
I smiled at him, draped over his body as he lied on his back on the forest floor. One hand was wrapped around his, and the other was doodling invisible lines over the panes of his chest. We were still naked, but the chill of the night didn’t bother us. I warmed the air around us with magic, and David’s own heat kept me warm.
“I never even saw a TV until I was eight. First time I went to the movies was with a friend when I was twelve. My mom was pissed.”
“That’s ridiculous,” he mumbled. “What did you do with all your time? No video games, no TV or movies. Did you sit around reading or something?”
I shrugged. “Or something. I wasn’t really allowed to leave my house until I was nine. My earliest memories are in the basement. I don’t think I went upstairs in my own house until my seventh birthday.”
He sat up slightly, his eyes bugged with shock. “That’s a twisted form of child abuse,” he said lowly.
“No,” I argued, “they were protecting me. If I had been exposed to the outside world I would have drowned in my own mind. All the auras and minds of the people around me would have driven me insane.”
David’s hand traveled from my back to my cheek. “It’s still sad,” he said seriously, “that you lost out on so much.”
I shrugged. “What you see as restricting, I see as protecting. Witches view Shifters as careless savages for letting their children roam unaccompanied at a young age.”
David’s eyebrow lifted. “Careless savages?” A slow, mischievous smile grew on his face. “I’ll show you savage.”
Growling, he flipped me over so he was on top and grazed his teeth along my shoulder. I squealed in surprise and a shiver ran through me. David pulled back and hovered over me, our eyes locked and energy cracked at my fingertips.
Of all the faces in the world, it was hard to imagine one better than David’s. His straight nose was all smooth and monochromatic except for one little freckle right above his nostril. His jaw was strong but not too wide. And his eyes were the purest brown, speckled with every emotion he ever felt. I couldn’t read it aura well, but I could read his eyes.
I wrapped by arms loosely around his neck. “You know,” I commented lightly, “for a savage, you’re not so bad.”
“Not so bad?” He repeated, theatrically appalled. “Excuse me, I believe you are down-playing my savagery significantly. I am mighty! Fierce! Terror of these vast forested lands!”
I laughed wildly, taken by David’s dramatic flair.
“Terror? I think I’m more terrified of a large squirrel than you.”
He growled. “I’ll show you how a squirrel can’t comp—”
David cut off suddenly and all mischief and lightness slipped from his face. He stared ahead into the forest for a second and breathed deeply, tension tight across his body.
“Get your clothes on,” he whispered. “Someone’s coming.”
I rolled out from under him and concentrated, hoping to feel for who was coming. I creeped my consciousness further away and searched for another mind. After a second I felt the edge of something. Reaching a little further but trying not to get caught, I probed the mind in the hopes of finding out who it was.
I touched the mystery mind for just a second, but even that was too long. The aura grabbed at me, and I recognized who it was immediately. I pushed against it and backed off, retreating to my body.
A second later a blue flair went up over the forest not too far from where we were.
Topher was coming. And he brought an army.
“Shit,” I muttered as I scrambled into the pajamas I had discarded a few hours before, “it’s Topher.”
“I’m going to rip that guy’s fucking throat out,” David growled.
“And he probably has my whole coven with him,” I added, ignoring David’s aggressive tidbit. I mentally cursed myself for being such a fool. I should have been more careful; should have realized Topher would be keeping close tabs on me. He would have noticed the second I vanished from my house.
David had partially shifted. Half his body was covered in fur and his teeth and nails were elongated. His ears were more pointed and pushed away from his head and his nose was snouted. It was strange seeing David like this; he looked ready to fight but that only made the urge to protect him stronger.
I grabbed his arm. “David, you need to leave. Right now.”
“I’m not leaving you,” he growled.
“David they might punish me but they will kill you. Please, leave.”
He turned to me, pupils large and yellowed. “I’m not leaving without you.”
I heard shouts. Whoever was coming was getting closer. I pushed on David’s arm.
“Please,” I begged. “I can get out of this but you can’t.”
“Can you guarantee me we’ll see each other again?”
I stared wide eyed and frightened at him, words stuck to the sides of my throat. He heard the truth in my silence.
“Last time you left, I thought I would never see you again. I’m not taking that chance this time.”
I felt a tear pool over onto my cheek. “David, they’ll hurt you,” I whimpered.
David shook his head, his lips upturned at the edges in a half-smile. “Nothing hurts when I’m with you.”
I knew it was a lie but I had no time to argue because a second later Topher was in front of us. His skin glowed in a way that made it look like it was sucking the light away from everywhere around us. He was breathing forcefully, tension building in him with each breath.
David pulled me behind him and growled at the intrusion. My heart was beating so frantically I thought it would get stuck in my throat.
“I warned you, Leila,” Topher spat lowely. “I told you not to see this trash again.”
I sensed people closing around us. I could see familiar faces forming a circle, enclosing and trapping David and I. People I had grown up around my whole life were preparing to force our surrender. Friends I had trusted were friends no more.
It was over. We were trapped.
But that wasn’t enough for Topher.
“Mutts are too stupid not to get caught,” he muttered.
The next few minutes happened in a passing blur. David launched himself at Topher and transformed to full wolf in the air. Before David could so much as touch one hair to Topher he was thrown back with a blast. I screamed. David soared over me and landed a few feet away, writhing and twisting. He was transforming as abnormally fast and irregular rates. He was a mosaic of wolf and man, tortured and pained.
“No!” I screamed. I looked to Topher and was sickened by the fascinated glee expression on his face. “Stop it!”
I heard David growling and moaning as he thrashed. With a burst of energy I didn’t know I possessed, I yelled “STOP.”
And it did.
An orange dome of aura exploded from me and engulfed David and I. The dome cracked and I became aware of other witches pushing on it with their own magic. I stared around in wonder at what I had done, amazed that this sort of thing was possible.
The amazement lasted a second before I rushed over to David. He was still twitching on the ground, but he appeared to be almost completely human, except for a few patches of fur and elongated nails. There was a pile of puke next to him and smeared over the top part of his body. I didn’t care. I knelt down next to him and pulled his head and torso onto my lap.
“David?” I croaked, crying without realizing it.
He cracked his eyes open and looked at me. “Doesn’t…h—” his words got cut off by a cough.
“Shhh,” I said and stroked the side of his face. “Don’t talk, it’ll hurt more.” I tried to pull the energy of whatever Topher had thrown in him out, but there was nothing left. It seemed like my strange energy shield had taken Topher’s magic out of David already.
David shook his head in my lap. “Doesn’t hurt,” he whispered, his brown eyes intent on mine, “because you’re here.”
Despite my tears and the pain I knew he was in, I smiled. “Liar,” I whispered.
His lips twitched in a smile but were quickly taken away by another cough. David looked over my shoulder and at my orange energy dome.
“How?” he asked.
I shook my head and looked at what I had made. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly, “But I don’t think I can keep it up.”
Already I could feel myself weakening. The effort to protect us was pulling at my body physically. People of my coven were surrounding us, each pushing into the dome with their own magic. Topher was the most forceful, throwing pounds of energy against my stronghold. My neighbors and friends I had grown up alongside were surrounding us, each hoping to be the one to break through. I could see the disappointment on their faces.
My eyes locked with my aunt, Jaquie. She was the coven leader, and the strongest one among my coven. She was my teacher, and the most well rounded witch I knew. She was standing still, the only one not throwing herself against my barrier. She looked sad, and I had a feeling she was conflicted about what was happening. She raised her hands, and I knew it was all over. Slowly, her fingertips touched the edge of my energy.
I’m sorry, her voice whispered in my head as my magical shield shattered. The energy exploded everywhere and I fell into darkness.
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Do I feel guilty for leaving it off like that? *shrugs* Only slightly. I hope you liked this chapter! As always, thanls for reading. I hope you all have a nice weekend. (I know I will be busy eating chocolate and spending time with my family)