When It Breaks

| TWELVE |

"The robber at the convenience store, he didn't try to kill you, did he?"

She bounced on her heels like a kid, noodding gleefully. "He was the store keeper who I compelled. A necessary sacrifice for the bigger picture."

Disgust and anger were the only things I could feel for her at that moment. She truly had no heart.

"You made me kill an innocent man because of your games?" I asked, appalled at thought.

"It was a much needed sacrifice. You needed to unlock the spell," she responded with a pout.

"What is all this talk about sacrifices and spells? What happened that night? What did you make me promise you?"

She laughed again making my blood boil.

"You promised me nothing. It was just a illusion spell copied from the magic of the promise marking. A perfect copycat but any mage would have seen how fake it was."

It felt like a load was taken off my shoulder and I couldn't help the relief that washed over me.

"So you mean I promised you nothing?"

She waved her hand carelessly. "It was just an illusion spell, sweetheart. Why do you think I bought you that special drink, to befriend you? The bartender was a pet of mine. It only took a mental compulsion to make him slip in the sweet potion."

I didn't react, I couldn't. My body had reached its limited ability to be surprised. If I survived this, I would never got to the bar again and never accept drinks from strangers.

"Shocked?" She asked in a mocking tone but I didn't reply. "Well, that is enough chatting. You will come with me, which ever way you chose it up to you."

At the end of her statement, her voice had turned darker and more powerful.

Squaring my chest, I turned up my lips in defiance. "And if I choose not to come with you?"

She grinned, a dark and evil grin. Suddenly, her eyes turned black and empty. She had no irises and nothing could be seen in her gaze. She looked to her army of Fledglings and they started walking towards us. It seemed like she was controlling them with her mind.

Then she turned to me. "I can be persuasive."

With that, she vanished in a blink of an eye.

(•)

The Fledglings kept on advancing slowly and I edged closer towards Ray like a north pole of a magnet to the south pole. Recalling what he said earlier about them feeding on fear, I tried to will myself to be calm. I glanced at Ray to see him still frozen.

Luciana followed my gaze. "Oh, him. Well, I guess I could let him at least try to save you. I owe Hunter that much."

She waved her hand again and released Ray who immediately pulled me behind him. I peered at Luciana from behind Ray, not taking my side glance away from the stealthily iapproaching Fledglings.

"I will not let you take her," he declared, and I detected only seriousness in his tone. I was unable to understand why he would risk his life to someone he had only just met.

"You two are so sweet," she gushed, holding her cheeks.

Her smile disappeared and her eyes turned black again. She spun to face her minions.

"Get the girl and bring her home," she instructed before turning back to Ray and I. "I would do it myself but I have to get my book. Mother has gotten enough headstart now."

"We can't get out of this can we?" I asked with a sad smile, releasing his arm and coming out of his back to stand beside him as the Fledglings neared us even more.

"Do you trust me?" He asked and I nodded without missing a beat.

It was at that moment, that I realised why I was so comfortable with him even though we had not known each other for long. We were destined to fight by each other's side just as our parents before us.

"Then trust that I will not allow you to die in Luciana's hands."

Looking into his brown eyes, I could feel nothing but familiarity and security and I smiled despite the situation.

"Don't freak out, Princess," he warned abruptly and crouched low.

I watched with interest as his spine hunched back, curving out till it was shaped like a 'c' with his shirt ripping with a cringing sound. He ripped the shirt off him, growling as fur began to emerge from his now open back.

My eyes became as wide as saucepans.

He was a shifter.

I never knew modern day hunters could be shifters. It was probably due to his being an original hunter.

The only explanation was as written in the books that early hunters could take animal forms. The ability was probably passed through the genes.

A crack snapped me back to Ray. His legs had bent and began elongating. His legs became longer and curved at the knees, ripping his pants from the knees down.

I could see his talon like claws digging into the ground from his toes. His face lengthened as he tripled in size and form. Finally fur covered his entire body and he rose, standing on his hind legs.

His fully shifted form was similar to that of of wolf shifters but it was more than that. Much more powerful and bigger than a normal alpha wolf.

Lycan.

He thought I would freak out but I wasn't freaking out, I was in awe. I stared at him in astonishment but had to look away as the fledgelings reached us.

It almost seemed like they took their time on purpose. Perhaps it was just Luciana toying with us. Reaching into my bag, I pulled my box out and grabbed some pins for paralysis.

Fastening the blunt ends in between my fingers on both hand, I readied myself. I already expected the worst and prepared myself for a battle which we had almost no chance of winning.

My nervous gaze met Ray's fierce face or rather, his Lycan's face. He nodded once at me before diving into the sea of Fledglings.

Watching him slash fledgeling after fledgeling with his claws was as astonishing as it was scary but I didn't have the time to dwell on that as two fledgelings rushed at me.

Dodging their grabby hands, my thumbs pushed out the pins in between my index fingers of both hands and I stuck them into their chests, stopping their hearts immediately.

Both fell to the ground and stilled. Then the familiar tingling began on my thigh and back. I knew two tattoos had disappeared.

A fledgeling snatched my arm and before I could use a pin, Ray slashed his claws through their chests and pulled his hands out prompting blood to splatter on me.

We fought fledgeling after fledgeling but they seemed unending. There werein no way experienced but they had the numbers advantage.

Thanks to Luciana's order, they were coming after me more than Ray and he realised that so he switched to defence mode.

I reached into my box to grab another pin but was met with nothing.

(•)

Thank you for reading.