Guardians Of The Shifters (16 page)

Walking around in a swamp was boring and I would rather be fighting because at least I would be doing something. God, does this path ever freaking end?, I’m starving. The boys stopped up ahead and I thought that they were just waiting for me to catch up. When I got closer I saw three different wooden signs. KEEP OUT. PRIVATE PROPERTY and another that said TURN BACK. Yeah, if that doesn’t get your short hairs to stand, I don’t know what does.

Beyond the signs I saw a wooden bridge that didn’t look safe for crossing…By the looks of it, I guess we finally made it. Good thing to because I wanted to sit and rest. Caden looked at me over his shoulder as he unsheathed a dagger. I pulled one out from the strap on my thigh. Kevin nodded his head and Caden took the first step onto the rickety old bridge.

                                           Chapter 13

The further we walked the skinnier and higher up the bridge got. Seriously? How in the hell was a person able to get a bridge this high? I watched each step I took because some of the boards looked rotted and not so promising. Caden and Kevin were a few feet ahead of me and concentrating on their steps. I blew out another breath as I took another step.

The board creaked and groaned under my weight and just as I went to take another slow step, the sound of the wood snapping echoed around me. My eyes widened in surprise as my foot fell through it, first my foot, then my knee and lastly my thigh. I tried to pull myself back up but my hands kept slipping from the ropes. I looked up to see Caden trying to move past Kevin but Kevin kept pushing him back. I was a little confused by that and thought surely he wouldn’t let me fall to my death.

Kevin pushed Caden back one more time before he turned and headed back towards me. I’m not sure if that was a safe idea because this bridge was pretty shitty and I didn’t feel like falling to my death from the added weight. I almost yelled for him to turn back but the determined look he had on his face kept my mouth shut.

When he reached me, he hooked his arms under my arm pits and pulled. At least he didn’t say, well while you’re down there, if he would have said that I would have had to stab him in the thigh. He grunted in his effort to pull me up. With all this moving and extra weight, sounds of wood breaking gave us pause. Kevin’s eyes locked with mine. “Come on Cora, push up with your free leg…quickly.” I did as he said while he tried pulling me up again.

The bottom of my pants ripped when it got caught on the splintered off part of wood. I could feel it biting into my leg as I came unstuck. Kevin and I stood there for a few seconds trying to catch our breath but the sound of cracking wood got our feet moving. Caden was waiting for us on the other side. As soon as I stepped off the wooden death trap, Caden pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me in a vise like grip.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Good.” He kissed my forehead. “I wanted to punch him for not letting me go after you.”

“I saw that.”

“We should keep moving.” Kevin said.

We nodded. “Okay.”

I had to unstrap another dagger because I lost my other one, I’m glad that I’ve got more. Kevin took the lead while Caden stayed by my side. A few feet from the death bridge were stairs leading up a tree. My eyes followed the steps until they stopped on a tree house. “Oh my god! Swamp people do exist.” Caden and Kevin gave me the same none amused looks. Well at least I thought it was funny.

The steps were only big enough for one person at a time, I shrugged my shoulders as I took the rear. I was surprised to find that we didn’t have to go very far, only forty steps and that was about it…unless you wanted to follow the rest of them up to the very top of the tree. The make shift porch was just big enough for the three of us to stand side by side.

Kevin’s voice came out shaky. “So, who’s knocking?” Caden and I both gave him a look. Hey, it was his idea so it’s only fair that he did the knocking. Caden and I stood in a defensive stance because we didn’t know what to expect. Kevin brought up his hand and rapped his knuckles three times against the door. We stood there holding our breaths waiting for the person to answer. The seconds ticked by making me grow nervous.

Finally the door slowly creaked open to reveal an old woman that looked to be in her early sixties if not older. A rope of long white hair circled her head and was held in place with twigs. Her sky blue eyes slowly took us in and after a few seconds a smile spread across her face revealing yellowing teeth. Talk about creepy. When she spoke I was expecting her voice to crack, nope, it came out clear as day.

“What do we have here, two shifters and a guardian?” Her keen old gaze looked me over a second time. “Ah…a guardian who also happens to be a hybrid shifter.” She looked back at Kevin. “Make that two hybrid shifters and a regular shifter.” She clucked her tongue and moved aside. “Please…come in.”

We hesitated for a second before walking through the door. The sound of the door clicking into place had me looking over my shoulder at the older woman. The longer she smiled at us the creepier she was. I gripped my dagger in my hand until my knuckles turned white.

                                        Chapter 14

She motioned for us to follow her, but I couldn’t bring my legs to move. A few thoughts raced through my head. What if this was a trap? What if she lured us in there and she skinned us alive? I don’t know about you, but I’m against cannibalism.

The old lady disappeared around a corner with Kevin right behind her. I was half expecting Kevin to yell for help or to yell run, but neither of those came. The only thing there was was silence. Caden nudged me in the arm with his shoulder. I let out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding and followed slowly behind him. I don’t know what I was expecting to see when I walked around the corner, but what I saw, I sure wasn’t expecting to see. I mean, I figured there would be tree stumps for seats and tables, but nope.

There was a tacky brown couch tucked against the wall with two comfy looking chairs in the same tacky brown that was on the other side of the room by the wall. The inside wasn’t very big, just big enough to fit a family of six or seven. In the center of the room was a fire pit with a table built around it. I guess that’s how this woman stayed warm. To the left side of the room, there were four big packs of water bottles stacked on top of each other.

At least we won’t have to drink swamp water re-filtered for drinking water. A bunch of oil lamps were placed around the room and cast a homely glow. Caden and I sat on the couch next to Kevin, with me sitting between them. I bounced in my seat to get the feel of the couch and settled back when I decided that it was comfy enough. The old woman/assassin took a seat on one of the chairs. It didn’t take long for her to get down to the point.

“I understand that there is a reason you came to see me…most people wouldn’t venture out this far, but again, you three aren’t most people.”

Boy, she’s quick. “Yes ma’am--.”

“My name is Kayla.” She cut me off. How rude.

“Kayla.” I said. “We came because we heard that you might know the history of hybrid shifters.”

She smiled. “I know a lot about a lot of things.”

“So we’ve heard.”

Kevin elbowed me in the ribs and I turned to glare at him. He cleared his throat.

“Sorry about my friend here, she has no manors. I’m Kevin, this is Cora and Caden.”

“Oh, I know who you three are. Just because I live out here doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on out there.”

“Why do you live out here?” I blurted, earning myself another jab to the ribs by Kevin.

She leveled a stare at me. “Because it’s quieter…I’ll let you ask your questions and then you’ll need to leave…I’m a bit antsy with you here.”

She wasn’t looking at Caden nor Kevin, she was looking directly at me when she said the last part. Gees, she acts like I’m about ready to jump up and stab her in the eyes. I found myself asking a question instead.

“What do you assassins call yourselves? Last we heard, nobody knew.”

“We call ourselves Swiftstrikers.”

Swiftstrikers? Really? “Okay.” Odd name for people that sucked. “Can you tell us about the hybrid shifter, why are we hybrids?” A good question if I don’t say so myself.

A thoughtful look crossed her face. Really, she had to think about that? And here I thought she was all knowing. Go figure for thinking that. I really hope that she can tell us something useful and nothing that we already know. If she couldn’t, then this would be a wasted trip.

My leg started to bounce the longer she sat there in thought. It was more out of a nervous habit than anything else. From the corner of my eye, I could see that Caden was starting to get a bit nervous too. A light started to shimmer around his hand and I quickly covered his hand with my own to keep him from shifting. He gave me a grateful look. Our attention went back to Kayla when she started to talk.

“Hybrids aren’t as bad as everyone claims them to be. Some are good while others don’t care. Two hundred years ago, there was a hybrid shifter named Levi. He was a strong lad. His strength was what some people feared the most about him. In the beginning he wasn’t a bad person, but one fateful day changed all that.” She paused. “You see, he was in love with a woman who also happened to be a guardian. Her own people turned on her when they found out who he really was…they killed her viscously. That my friend, was how we Swiftstrikers came to be.”

Okay, that told us nothing, but apparently she wasn’t done because her mouth started moving again and I tried to quiet my thoughts to pay attention.

“The hybrid was hunted down and eliminated, not because of who he was, but because of what he could do. There is a dangerous type of fire that is buried deep down in every hybrid. That kind of fire can swallow everything that is who you are and consume you. It can make you do awful things.” She looked at Kevin and me. “The rules were set in place so that a shifter and a guardian couldn’t fall in love and mate because of what would come out of it. Of course, throughout the years those rules have been broken. As far as I know you and Cora are the most recent of those couplings, but I’m sure there are more. Rules are always meant to be broken. There isn’t very much on Levi but from what I’ve told you, well besides another thing…”

She trailed off and we waited for her to continue, but she didn’t, she just sat there shifting her gaze from me to Kevin and finally her gaze just stayed on me. I had to look away because I couldn’t hold her gaze any more. It was probably weak on my part, but what was I to do? I had to clear my throat a couple times before I was able to speak.

“What um…what was the other thing?”

She cocked her head to the side. “You don’t already know?”

I looked at her confused. “No.”

“You child, are related to him, which makes you the strongest of your kind.”

I felt my eyes go wide. “But…” I had no words.

“Why do you think your eyes are the color that they are?”

“But my father--.”

She shook her head. “Your father’s eyes were a lighter shade of amethyst.”

“So…Levi had a child?”

She nodded. “Levi and his guardian had a boy but gave him up for adoption to give him a better life. That was how Levi was found out. It was the fire dancing in the depths of his eyes. When his true love was murdered, the fire within came out and consumed him. He destroyed everything in his path to get his revenge, but in the end…he was destroyed.”

“So what does that mean for me and other hybrids?”

Her brows dipped. “I’m afraid in the end you all must die.”

That was like a big ole’ slap to the face and then some. I guess we got what we came for. I’m sorry to burst her bubble, but I’m not dying anytime soon and nor will the other’s. “Thank you for having us.” I said as we stood up to leave. We rounded the couch before her voice drew me back in.

“Oh, and Cora?”

I turned. “Yes?”

She gave a warm smile. “If the three of you stick together, you can stop this war that’s between us. In all honesty, I’m tired of the fighting, that’s the main reason I live out here.”

I nodded. “We will do our best.”

“That’s all anyone can ask for.”

We didn’t bother with hugs and goodbyes, we just left. I’m guessing the sun started to go down because it looked a bit darker in the swamp. I chewed over everything that she had told us and from the looks on Caden’s and Kevin’s faces, they were thinking about it too.