AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And yet, he wasn’t. Worse, he was…
Morphing?
I couldn’t believe my eyes as a younger, stronger pair of hands emerged from the holes he’d torn into his flesh. They ripped through his body until a new man appeared; like a snake shedding its skin, Gotham had taken on a new form and a new skin.
He was leaner, taller, younger, and alabaster-skinned, with long, flowing black hair glowing with dark magic, similar to Rei’s light.
This man was different from the old man who greeted my mate every night. Yet he still felt as ancient as, to my horror, he cast the skin into the pile. The hair consumed it, shivering, moving like one giant living beast. Then, Gotham reached up, spikes jutting from his new skin like prism root’s flowering bushes.
“It is time,” he said, voice like a bottomless abyss, looking up and up until I was sure he locked eyes with me. “It’s time I make my pet mine. He is so perfect, so deliciously poisonous. When I surrendered my soul to these woods, I asked only to breed a mate worthy of my seed and soul. Now it’s time for us to become one.”
Jerking, I flew from the branch and barreled away straight to the tower, putting up seal after seal for Gotham to break through. There was no time left. He was on to us, I knew it, and all the king's men were not here. Not yet, anyway. Hopefully soon. By sunrise. But until then, we had to make a last stand.
I rushed through the forest, my wings carrying me faster and faster until the treeline disappeared, and I was merely a shadow soaring over the woodlands.
Rei!
CHAPTER SEVEN
REI
Ziran?
A sharp pain slammed into my chest, causing me to drop my enchanted scissors. I doubled over before collapsing to my knees, afraid I was dying, paralyzed by fear. But just as quickly as it came, the searing pain fled me.
I sucked in sharp, uneven breaths, abandoning my nightly routine. Ziran said mating between the Elohime differed from Kindred, especially humans. He told me our connection was more profound, and now I believed him.
Because as I threw my head out of the window, a dark shadow circled my tower. I knew for a fact it was him. And instead of registering as pain this time around, I knew what I was feeling was Ziran’s intense fear.
Throwing my arms open in greeting, Ziran’s body rematerialized from the mist, taking us both to the bed. I grunted, his larger body crushing mine underneath him. However, as he tried to pull away, I held him close and refused to let go.
Whatever had spooked him in those woods almost killed me. I needed him to calm down before letting him out of my embrace. He was shaking like a leaf, and between the odd morning sickness that had plagued me since last and now this, his fear was sparking terror within me.
“Rei! Rei, release me now. We have to run. We have to—” he rambled, panting, sweat droplets hitting my forehead as he lifted himself over me.
I realized Ziran was much stronger than he let on, and he quickly broke through my arms in a panic.
Reaching up, I cupped his cheeks and ordered him to, “Calm down, Ziran. I’m here. I’ll listen. But you and I both know I can’t run away. You sent word to the king, correct? Remember the plan. We hide out. We wait.”
“He means to murder you, Rei. He means to harvest your soul when your usefulness ends. You can’t stay. You just can’t.”
Silence. That was the only thing that filled the space between us. Every noise from nature was muted; our pheromones and the air cleared away.
I had never considered I’d die at Gotham’s hands. Maybe from old age? It was likely in my limited imagination. I assumed he would keep me trapped here forever by extending my life bit by bit with his superior magi.? Why yes, I figured that was Gotham’s plan. But what use would there be in killing me? He’d lose access to my oh-so-precious enchanted hair.
Rubbing his back, I tried to make light of the situation to shield my heart from the morbid reality of it all, “At least smile. You aren’t the one about to be killed.”
“No, no, you don’t understand. That disgusting pervert... that beast. It’s… Gotham means to force a bond with you.”
He couldn’t describe the unspeakable, but I knew what he meant. It had only been once, many moons ago, when Gotham’s eyes registered with something more profound than disgust.
“That old man–” I began.
“It is not a man! Not human. Not Kindred. I reject it being claimed as part of the Elohime, but it is. Gotham is. And his plans for you are much grander than your hair.”
His crypticness was confusing me now.
“Fine then, say we escape. My heart will stop by the time we reach the bay. But I’m willing to die in your arms rather than his.”
