Exiled - 01 (38 page)

“Are you sure she can’t shift? It looked like she was going all the way this time.”

“I was...I’m not so sure anymore. For now, as always, we’re treating this like she’s a hunter and the shift will kill her. Whether or not that’s the case, I don’t know, but we don’t have the liberty of experimenting.”

“I’m not suggesting we risk her life and see what happens. I’m saying maybe we should look into it. No hunter could’ve made it that far into the change. They’d be dead. Something’s different here.”

Marcus sighed. “I know…I’ll look into it.” He turned and walked down the hall. His massive black form disappeared into the shadows and the white door closed, leaving the latch to click into place.

The cold hardwood felt strange against my feet as silence engulfed the condo. The moon outside shone faintly and shadows wrapped themselves around me. I went to my bedroom and flicked on the lamp.

This room was nicer than my previous one. The wood floors glistened and the walls were a warm mocha color. The dark brown dresser was clean, smooth wood. Not scarred and faded like my old one. My bed was a mattress, on a box spring, on a frame. Not a weathered sponge on a stained carpet. I even had a night table with a lamp. Compared to my old room, I might as well be at the Hilton.

I fell on the bed and stared up at the perfect ceiling. It was missing the cracks and nicotine stains of the apartment, and I still hadn’t gotten used to it.

The silence followed and I felt its presence linger against me. It was nights like these that I missed my neighbors. They swore, they screamed, and they smashed things against the walls, but after three years it had become my lullaby. I’d give anything to have that apartment back, and the life that belonged there. The life I had with Mom.

I opened up the wooden case that sat on my nightstand and stared at the two daggers inside. Beneath the blades lay the folded up note that came with them, and just looking at the polished silver made me sad. It was the last gift and the last note my mother would ever give me.

Chills shuddered through me at the thought of her and goose bumps rode up my body. Rai fluttered in through the door and found her way to my shoulder. She puffed out her chest and white feathers ruffled themselves. The gold that lined her spine and tail sparkled under the lamp, and lightning crackled in her eyes.
 
Rai stretched and her white feathers were soft as she moved both pairs of wings against my face.

“Hey girl,” I said.

Rai tweeted softly in my ear, nipping at it before flying to the open cage on the dresser.

I lay back down, and as my eyelids fell, I could see Mom’s face. There she was, smiling at me. Warm hazel eyes swallowed me and instantly I felt better. Soft brown hair fluttered in front of her face, bending to the will of the wind that moved around us, and still she smiled.

It warmed me from the inside out and tears welled beneath my eyelids, but I didn’t dare open them. I wouldn’t lose this image just to release the tears that fought to be free. But as quickly as it came, Mom’s expression changed, and the warmth was stolen from me.

The gentle smile that held me so often disappeared, and fear took over. Her skin turned a sickly green, and a bright orange light reflected off her eyes before flames engulfed her.

My eyes shot open and I jerked myself upwards. The tears I desperately fought to keep back broke free and fell over my face. Her voice rang in my ears, screaming my name and begging for me not to leave her.

I shook my head to escape the sound and it shattered around me.

Silence rushed back into the room and I took a deep breath, trying to clear my head. That image sent waves of panic and fear through my body, jolting awake any part of me that wanted to sleep. I wasn’t going back to bed. Not tonight.