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The problem was that visual cue didn't feel right to Zori. The night her magic worked, it wasn't a lake. It was dazzling darkness and an ocean of stars. It was fear and instinct. It was the goddess moving through her.
Zori changed tactics and focused on the stars and how it had felt to shift. She felt a tingling in her fingertips, but nothing she did would draw her swan out.
"Perhaps we should call it a day," Zori sighed in frustration.
"You can give up if you wish." Irina inspected her nails. "But I'm going to forbid you from seeing Vladislav until you shift."
Hot anger punched through Zori. "You can't do that. I'm not your prisoner."
"I'm the high priestess. I can do what I like," Irina replied, unmoved by her glare. "I need to see you in your swan form if I am to assess your abilities. You need proper motivation to try and bring it out. Vladislav is probably too busy to see you anyway. He is very popular, and the ladies of Kitezh have missed his absence."
Panic and jealousy mixed with Zori's anger. If anyone laid a finger on Vladik, she was going to tear it off.
"Vladik is mine," she hissed, the heat in her hands searing its way up her arms.
Irina's lip curled. "Don't be naive, Zoria. He is an unmated male. He is anyone's to claim. Just because you two fooled about means nothing. Gargoyle males have a high sex drive. They will fuck anything."
"He's not like that," she said through gritted teeth.
"Really? And of the two of us, who actually has the most experience with gargoyles?" Irina replied.
Black mist rolled out of Zori's skin. She’d had enough of this shit. She wanted Vladik. Needed to see for herself that he wasn't with anyone else. If he was…Zori didn't know what she would do. She had to get out of there and find him. Pain tore through her, splitting skin and cracking bone.
"He'smine," she repeated and let the agony drown her. Feathers exploded through her skin, her arms transforming into wings. She beat them angrily, hissing and squawking at Irina. Her grandmother's eyes were wide.
"Fly to him, Zori. See if you can find him before another swan does," she said.
Zori wasn't listening. She wouldn't stay there a second longer. She needed to see her… The human inside of her hesitated. The swan didn't. She knew what he was to her.
The swan beat her wings again, lifting herself in the air. Stars and darkness swirled around her, and she soared through the air. The golden light was back, leading her to the place she felt safest. She was vaguely aware of creatures in the air with her, swans and gargoyles soaring and looping in curiosity when they saw her. Another swan tailed her, but she didn't care.
The golden light ended at a house that had been painted a gray blue color. She could feel him, moving about inside. The gargoyle she would claim as her mate. The one who would protect her best.
The swan dropped onto the wooden landing on the roof and squawked loudly. A door swung open almost immediately, and Vladik stepped out in his human form. There he was.
"Zori?" he knelt down to pick her up. The swan rubbed her head against him.
Another swan landed and shifted into Irina. "I knew she would come here. I apologize for how angry she's going to be when she figures out how to shift back."
"What do you mean?" Vladik asked. The swan that was Zori snapped her beak at Irina, and the high priestess smiled.
"I may have used you as motivation to get her to shift. She came here, just as I knew she would." Irina gave him a hard stare. "You had better be worthy of her, Iron Heart. Bring her home by sunset." With that, the high priestess shifted and flew away.
"Okay, Zori, you have to focus on changing back now so I can kiss you," Vladik said, placing the swan back on her feet.
Inside the swan, Zori stretched and clawed. Kissing was good motivation. The swan relented, knowing it was where it should be. The feathers shifted, changing back to sweater and jeans. Zori came back to herself, crouching on the cold wooden boards with the cape around her shoulders.
"Are you fucking other people?" she said, the anger still riding her.
Vladik reared back like she had hit him. "What? How could you possibly think… Bloody Irina. Did she say that to make you shift?"
Zori straightened up, her face flaming. "Maybe? She basically said that gargoyles are super horny, and because I haven't claimed you, you would be out fucking other people."
Vladik slapped a hand over his face. "Your grandmother is the worst sometimes. She purposely made you angry to force your swan out. It was a shitty thing to do."
"Yeah, well, it worked, so I suppose she knew exactly what button to press," Zori grumbled, crossing her arms.
A grin spread across Vladik's face. "Were you flying over here in a jealous rage, puppy?"
