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I scan the horizon for Pearl, wishing her into existence. If I can’t get Amelia out of here today, perhaps she can. Even if I’m not with her.
“Come on, beautiful. Let’s go cook these fish and have something to eat.” The words are hardly out of my mouth before her stomach growls loudly, and she nods eagerly. “When was the last time you ate?”
She shrugs her bony shoulders. “Zach brought me some berries this morning.”
“And before that?” I ask, holding her hand as the two of us walk toward my shack.
“Mommy said I get to eat when I can get my magic working. She says the hunger is supposed to mot...mov…” She struggles with the word.
“Motivate you?” I offer.
She nods, and a growl bubbles up in my throat. I sound more like a wolf shifter than an owl.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she says softly. I stop, turning and kneeling in front of her.
“I’m not angry with you, Pumpkin. I’m angry with your mother for allowing you to be treated this way. If it was up to me, you, Zach, and I would be far, far away from here.”
Her eyes shine with hope at the prospect of getting away from her mother. She may not be the reason that there are bruises on Amelia—no, she would make her underlings do the punishing—but it just cements that I need to get her out of here and soon.
After cooking both fish, which I feed to Amelia, we walk back to our special spot in the clearing.
“Look, Daddy! A mermaid!” She runs toward the water with a cheer, and I scan it once more. I do not see Pearl anywhere. As she’s running, she falls to the ground, screaming in pain.
“Amelia!” I yell, rushing to her side, roaming my hands over her body, searching for the wound, and finding none.
Shifting, my owl supplies as I frantically search for the source of her pain.
“What?” I ask out loud rather than inside my head. Now that he says it, I can recognize that is exactly what is happening.
“Breathe, baby. Don’t fight it.”
“Hurts,” Amelia whimpers, clutching at her chest.
“I know, baby. I know. It’s just your owl coming out to meet me. You have to relax. Trust her and I to keep you safe.”
Her eyes go wide in realization before nodding. Her shift is extremely painful and takes far longer than it should—probably from the lack of food—but soon enough, a small white owl is standing on the ground in front of me.
“You’re so beautiful,” I whisper, reaching out a hand to pet her feathers while she preens under my gaze, her little wings flapping.
“That’s it, Pumpkin, flap your wings,” I tell her, lifting her higher to help her with her first flight. Unlike newborn owls who need to start out in a large tree and glide down carefully, we are capable of flight as soon as we shift for the first time. Amelia is still so young, though, that I am sure she needs some help.
“I’m going to throw you into the air, and you will spread your wings. Stay away from the coven.”
Her white fluffy head nods, and I throw her up, watching in amazement as she glides around the clearing, flapping her wings a few times to keep herself in flight.
“She’s beautiful.” I hear a musical voice call out from behind me, and I take my eyes off Amelia to see Pearl standing at the water's edge, watching my owlet’s first flight.
“That she is,” I respond, my eyes moving back to the gliding owl as my feet move slowly toward Pearl.
“Amelia?” I call, raising my arm, hating to cut her flight short. She understands perfectly, gliding shakily and landing on my arm.
As she lands, fear threatens to stop my heart. Amelia has shifted. It’s time. I look from Amelia to Pearl and then back to the coven.
“I need you to take her away from here.”
“What?” Pearl asks, meeting my eyes reluctantly, as if she didn’t want to look away from the beautiful owl in my arms.
I look down at Amelia, tears threatening to fall from my eyes.
