“I did,” a strong, feminine voice called out nearby.
When I turned, I noticed a girl close to my height approaching. She wore an old-fashioned gown, one from a different style than I had ever seen. Long black hair had been braided, and it lay over her shoulder. The closer she got, the stranger I felt.
Trying not to forget my manners, I quickly stood to greet her, but a chill ran down my spine once I finally got a good look at her face.
“Wow,” she said, though the uninterest in her voice didn’t escape me as she turned to Tristan. “You weren’t wrong. Itiseerie.”
It was like a mirror had been placed in front of me, and I was seeing a slightly older version of myself. Sure, there were slight differences—a freckle here, a smile line there, but from her blue eyes to her black hair, Gods, she could have passed as my sister.
“Who… Who are you?” I asked, and the warm air seemed to have been chased away by a sudden crispness.
“Mara.”
Neither of us reached a hand for the other, but instead, Mara plucked a curl that hung over my chest and examined me in a way that made me feel a little less human. “They really outdid themselves, didn’t they?”
“I’m sorry?” I responded, not understanding what she meant.
When she laughed, it left a bitter taste in my mouth that made me more uncomfortable than I wanted to admit.
“I wish I could have seen his face.” These words came out as more of a whisper, and she wasn’t even looking at me as she spoke.
“Mara,” Tristan warned.
I was getting slightly more irritated by the second. Why did this woman look like me? Why was she speaking as if she knew me? And who was she even talking about?
A sound caused the bushes to rustle near the tree line. Instinctively, I pulled Mara behind me and stretched out a hand, feeling the flame ignite faster than it ever had before. “What was that?” I asked, my eyes glowing so brightly that it illuminated the space around.
A deep, reverberating snarl echoed from the darkness, a sound I had heard when Azrael and I ran into that creature in the woods. And, as I hadsuspected, two large paws peeked through the shadows, stepping into my light, and a large beast entered the garden.
I instantly recognized its pale, grey eyes as they stared into mine, a challenge playing on its bloodied lips.
“Would you tell him to stop?” Mara said behind me, yanking away from my hand like it offended her. “He’s going to scare the poor?—”
Before she could finish her words, the beast lunged, jumping in the air so high I had to crane my neck back. I shoved Mara to the side before lifting my hands to try and block his attack. But just as a scream tore from my throat, I felt a woosh of air over my head, and something fell to the ground behind me. Then, laughter.
When I turned, a man lay on the ground, clutching his stomach as his body practically convulsed from laughing so hard. My chest rose and fell in panting heaves, and the power still buzzed in my hands as I gaped at him. He had white, messy hair with dirt clung to its locks. His skin was paler than anyone I had ever seen before, and as I looked down at his body…
“Gods!” I yelled, quickly turning away and clamping my hands over my eyes. “He’s… He’s… Why is there a naked man on the ground?!
This caused Tristan to chuckle a little as I listened to feet shuffling behind me. “Would you put some clothes on, Mal?” Tristan said to him.
Mal?
“I got her good, didn’t I?” The man continued his laughter, almost maniacally. “For a second, I thought she was actually going to kill me!”
“You’re so damned childish, Malakai,” Mara groaned. “You can turn around. The shirt is covering his…leastfavorable parts now.”
“I’ll have you know, most women consider them mybestparts,” he—Malakairesponded.
Nervously, I turned my head over my shoulder and peeked through my fingers. The shirt came down enough to cover him, and I let out a breath of relief.
“Did that scare you?” he asked, his smile somehow brighter than his hair. “That glow in your eyes? He let out a groan as his eyelashes fluttered. “That was exciting. I mean, if you want to see proof?—”
“We’re leaving,” Mara suddenly announced, digging her fingers into his ear as she began to drag him away.
Malakai yelped like a wounded animal, but followed closely behind her. “You make painnotfun, you know that?”
The entire interaction between the both of them happened so fast, I felt like I was experiencing whiplash. It took me a couple of seconds to recover before moving from where I stood. Eventually, I turned to Tristan. “Okay, what was?—”
