**Update-Sequel has been posted**
I promised a bonus chapter of some sort when I hit 1000 followers, and the book most requested was Forbidden. So, to answer a question I get a lot.- yes, there will be a sequel, and here is a look at the first chapter.
Chapter One: Livy
He was screaming again. No. Wailing.
Livy nodded to herself in the dark. Wailing was a much more appropriate word to describe the sounds Abe Van Helsing made on and off all day-mostly on during the darkest hours of the night. He'd started not long after they locked him in a cell. Those who had been there when it began said it was like watching a switch flipped. One moment, he was unconscious on the cot, and the next moment, he sat up, eyes wide and mouth stretched in an endless scream. Only a strong sedative silenced him, and even then, he thrashed and whimpered.
She turned in her bed and stared at the paneled wall, for once wishing she had human hearing. The moonlight slipping through the curtain crack was weak and did little to beat back the darkness, but she could see clearly with half again as much light. Her night vision was even better than Luca's, something she used to enjoy rubbing in his- and every other male shifter's- face whenever the chance presented itself. Now, she knew it was because of the Protean blood running in her veins.
Sitting up, she stretched out her arms and watched as white hairs pierced through her human flesh, growing longer and thicker until all the tawny bronze skin was gone. Her blue painted fingernails fell away as thick black claws sprouted from the tips of her fingers. If she let the shift continue to its completion, the girl she was would completely disappear, replaced by the snarling polar bear she'd envisioned in her mind.
Livy let the shift go and drew her knees to her chest. Turning into other animals wasn't like shifting into her panther form. Her panther was part of her- a half of herself she kept tucked away until she could be safely released. But when she became a bear or leopard, or- she shuddered at the memory of the disastrous attempt at flying- a bird, it was only her changing forms, not trading places with the hidden part of her. She supposed she ought to be grateful. She couldn't imagine sharing headspace with everything she could become. Madness would be a certainty.
Xandra tried to help her understand. Shifters were as much the animal they became as they were the human they lived as. It was the Protean magic that gave them the ability to slip between forms. It was the magic that was a separate entity inside of a Protean, and thank the gods, it was not sentient.
Abe's wailing increased in volume. There was a scuffle, and then silence. The Supreme would be lucky someone didn't "accidentally" slit his throat to shut him up one day. Most people were unhappy with the decision to keep him alive, but Xandra made a valid point. Without him, it would be difficult to undo the years of brainwashing. Killing him would make him a martyr.
After another thirty minutes of trying to sleep, she decided a walk might help. Throwing back the covers, she pulled on the pajamas she kept on the nightstand, having learned quickly that most humans were shocked by someone prowling about in the nude.
Despite the late hour, the Helsing Estate was a hive of activity. Updates from the field didn't wait for daylight, not when there was a war to be won, but Livy supposed it didn't hurt that half the occupants were nocturnal. A woman whose name she struggled to recall walked by and smiled. Lux? No, Luce. She was a witch who'd joined the rebellion two years ago after falling for a Slayer.
Livy returned the smile, and it lingered on her lips as she wandered the hallways. That they were using their enemy's favorite home as their new base amused her to no end, but it had less to do with pettiness and more to do with necessity. She paused at the base of the stairs.
It had been three weeks since they captured Abe. Three weeks since Van fell into a coma and a week since Livy had gone up the stairs to check on her. At first, she'd stayed in the room with the girl, her own body frail and weak after being abused by the Slayers, but as she grew stronger, it became harder to watch Van decline.
The once vibrant- if moody- girl became more like a shadow with every day that passed. Her skin turned waxy, her hair lost its shine, and her cheeks sank into dark hollows. The fever that had raged so fiercely when she first collapsed was gone, but now the girl's skin made ice cubes feel like summer breezes. If it wasn't for the slow rising and lowering of her chest, Livy would be convinced Van was dead.
And if it was only that, Livy might be able to stomach visiting the girl. The part she couldn't handle was Luca. In the early days, he had been a beacon of hope, infusing everyone who checked on Van with unwavering confidence that the girl would pull through. She'd never seen her cousin express such emotion. Van had been good for him- slowly eroding his stoicism until he became more balanced, less afraid of the fire of his emotions. Only now, he was burning out, and she was terrified if Van didn't make it, the ember Van lit would die, turning Luca into something far colder than he'd been before.
"Does someone need to tell you how stairs work?"
If she'd been in panther form, the hairs on her back would have stood straight up at the sound of Bane's voice. Turning to him, she smoothed her features into the frosty mask she wore at school, but the mask slipped when she saw he was shirtless.
"I thought you left," she replied.
He shrugged. "Father wished to leave, and I wanted to stay. So, here I am."
"How very unlike you to want to be a team player."
He raised his arms over his head to stretch, pulling his black skin tight over enviable abs. His lip twitched as he dropped his arms. Bastard knew exactly what he was doing.
"My motivations are purely selfish, I promise. I want to be the one to watch the light fade from Abe's eyes," Bane started, reminding Livy of her earlier thoughts of someone slitting the Supreme's throat, "And, I have... other reasons for being here."
His voice warmed, leaving her in no doubt about his other reasons. Face heating, she stuttered, "Just because you and I tolerated one another while we were captives-"
She stopped short as she caught scent of another person. Knowing she was busted, Hailey stepped out of a room to the right. A closet, if Livy remembered correctly. The ex-Slayer's top wasn't buttoned properly, and her blonde hair bore the distinct look of hair that had been in someone else's hands.
"Oh," Livy said, trying to recover.
Hailey bit her lip and looked down, and Livy wondered why she was so bothered by Bane's choice of companion. She'd barely talked to Hailey over the years, preferring to steer clear of the girl because of her allegiances, but they'd grown close during their time at the Helsing Estate. Did she feel betrayed by someone she thought of as a friend, or was it something more?
"I need to go," Hailey said, waving her phone in their faces. "Mom texted me she had some news. I'll talk to you both later? Yeah, K- bye."
"Livy," Bane said.
She raised a hand to stop him. "I'm tired, and I say things I don't mean when I'm tired. Goodnight."
His thick hand wrapped around her arm- his touch shockingly gentle. She kept her eyes closed as she raised her head to meet his eyes, knowing she couldn't afford another glimpse of his chest. Not with the moon so close to full. That was it. It was shifter hormones. That's all it was.
"Don't," she begged.
A shout from upstairs drew them apart, and Luca barreled into view. He looked unrecognizable. Hair long enough to curl around his ears and bits of stubble covering his jaw. But it was the fire in his eyes that had her gasping and dashing up the stairs, Bane two steps behind her.
"What?" she demanded. "Van?"
Luca wrapped Livy in a hug. "She's awake. She's finally awake."
He took her by the hand and pulled her to the bedroom. Already, voices were growing louder downstairs, and Livy could make out Xandra's in the mix. Walker, too.
Bursting into Van's room, Luca released her and went to Van's side. The girl was sitting up, her willowy body swaying with the effort, but saying she was awake was a stretch. Her eyes remained pinched shut, almost as if she was afraid to open them rather than incable of opening them.
"Van," Xandra shouted, pushing past Livy to come into the room, but she halted at once, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed the room. "Something is wrong."
"Luca, you said she was awake. She's just sitting up," Livy said, touching her cousin's shoulder tenderly.
Luca rolled his shoulder away from Livy, and he shook his head so hard his hair whipped around his face. "She gasped, her eyes popped open, and she sat up. I don't know why she won't open her eyes again."
A tear rolled down Van's face, and Livy looked around the room, trying to figure out what might have caused Van to act this way. Bane followed her lead, his eyes darkening with thoughtfulness.
"What if she's blind?" he said, delivering the idea with his usual callousness.
Everyone drew in a deep breath. Luca's grip on Van's hands tightened until his knuckles turned white, and the girl didn't even wince. For a moment, Livy thought Bane was right. Until she noticed the mirror on the wall directly in front of the bed. The first thing Van would have seen upon waking would have been her reflection, and even the least vain girl would be distraught over seeing herself in such a state.
"Van," Livy said, walking around to sit on the other side of the girl. Xandra and Luca tensed but didn't stop her. She touched the girl's face. "Van, it's okay. You'll get better. A lot of greasy hamburgers from Wanda's and some fresh air will fix you right up."
"How?" Van cried out, turning her trembling body in Livy's direction. Slowly, her eyelids raised, but instead of the vivid green Livy remembered, Van's eyes were the color of fresh snow in the moonlight- pure, glowing white rimmed in rings of black. "How can anyone fix this?