A True Soul
Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Jack let me take the next handful of weeks off from his personal teachings. The month of February and most of March was a blur. I spent my time in a mixture of only half way paying attention in class, eating dinner with the twins and Faux, and starring at my phone at night waiting for Dax to call again, who’s phone calls were few and far between.

It was mid-March, when Spencer surged into my room. I was laying on the couch reading a book. His unexpected burst through my doors and accompanied by a horrified look on his face made me extremely uneasy.

“Spencer? What’s going on?” I jumped into a sitting position.

“Amelia just called, she’s on her way. With Dax.” Spencer clutched his chest and was straining to get the words out. He’d obviously ran all the way to my room from wherever he had previously been.

“What’s going on? What do you mean Amelia’s on her way with Dax?” The book slide the floor and I stared at Spencer, unable to move.

“She’ll be here in less than 8 hours.” He was finally breathing normal again. However, the distressed look never left his face. “Dax finally cornered Cain. Candice was with him. It’s my knowledge that when Dax grabbed Cain, he pinned him to the floor by his neck. Cain stabbed him in his thigh right before he passed out. When Dax was pulling the Knife out, Shawnda shot him in the left side of his chest close to his heart.”

“Is Dax going to live? Who got him out?” My heart pounded inside my chest.

“Amelia told me that Dax went into the building before Candice, so when Candice got to Dax she hit Shawnda in the back of the neck. Candice got Amelia’s help getting him transported to the hospital. Candice removed the bullet, and Amelia is flying them here now,” Spencer explained.

“What about the other guardians that went with him? Where were they? Is he going to be okay? Is he going to live?” The words flew out of my mouth jumbled and spastic. It was a wonder that Spencer could make out what I was trying to say.

He just stared at me for a few seconds, before shaking his head. “I don’t know, Angie. He’s in critical condition. I really just don’t know.”

I stood outside the windows that over looked the lake. It was agonizingly hot outside. I sifted from one foot the other.

The glass door opened. Sadie and Faux came out. Faux was carrying a basket of fruit and some water bottles.

“How long have you been out here?” Faux asked handing me a water bottle.

I looked at it, not knowing if I was even thirsty in this heat. “I’m not for sure. Has Spencer heard anything else from Amelia yet?” I refused the fruit she offered.

Sadie shook her head. “He’s informing Blair what’s going on now.” She grabbed my hand and gave me a sympathetic look. “If it’s any consolation, Amelia’s probably the one who’s piloting the helicopter. She won’t be able to contacted Spencer.”

I sat and tilted my head back and dumped the full water bottle on my hair. My head rested against one of the windows and water left streaks on the glass.

Faux scooted next to me. “Dax’ll be ok. He always pulls through.”

“We’re supposed to heal faster right? He can make it through this?” I asked. After everything I refused to lose Dax. I didn’t know what we were exactly but I knew that he couldn’t die on me. Dax had become part of my family. It was a small family that was slowly getting bigger, and I wanted it to stay that way.

“Most of us do heal faster, so that’ll be in Dax’s favor, but we’re not immortal.” She looked at me, her cheek pressed into the glass. “Angie, if anyone can recover from being shot it’s Dax. I’m sure he’ll live. He’s too much of a pain not to pull through.”

“Ha, I love the way you worded that,” I said sarcastically.

Sadie sat on my other side. “Well, Faux does have a way with words.” She tried to force a smile. “He’s in good hands.” She squeezed my shoulder.

“Who else had the guts to stitch him up before me?” Faux asked.

“What’d you mean?” I asked her.

“When he got in... confrontations with other people he still refused to go to the hospital. So, it was my mother who was left to patch him back together,” Faux explained.

“He’s always managing to get himself into some short of trouble.”

I managed a small laugh, and for the next half hour we sat in silence.

The door swung open again, this time it was Blair and Spencer.

Blair met my troubled gaze. “They’re almost here.”

I stood and looked at the sky. I hadn’t heard or saw anything. “How?...”

“Queen, remember? I can feel him.” She turned to me. “He’s alive Angie, try to remain calm.”

The girls stood behind me. The five of us heard it at the same time. A helicopter in the distance. A few seconds later we saw it come into view. My heart raced as I watch the plane land in the grass. Spencer and Blair ran to the helicopter, but I was frozen were I stood.

Faux squeezed my arm, I shook her off and made my way towards Dax. The blades quit running as the life in the helicopter slowly died. Two of the guardians from Dax’s team jumped out. Blair nodded at them, and they ran inside toward the medical ward.

I saw Dax lean forward against Candice as they hobbled out.

“He needs a stretcher.” Candice grunted at Blair. Dax’s arm was pressed tight against his test. His bandages were fresh, no blood. Spencer stood next to Candice and took Dax away from her, letting Dax lean on him instead. He winced when he moved, his head hung a little

“I don’t need a stretcher. I can walk.” Dax lifted his head when he got closer to me towards me, “Hey, girly.”

“Oh, Dax...”

“I’ve had worse.” He smiled at me, pulling the scar on his face up. He turned to Blair, “We need to talk.” The smile gone, a hunted look now covered his paling face.

“Get him to the medical ward quickly.” Blair ignored what Dax was saying, and followed them inside. Spencer looked back at Amelia who was stepping out of the cockpit. She was short, really short, probably not even 5 foot. Her hair was cut short in the back and spike, but she had long bangs in the front. The tips of her hair were white, but the rest of it was black. She had on huge aviator sunglasses and an extremely baggy aviator’s jacket.

Amelia put the sunglasses on top of her head, she had big doe brown eyes. And walked to me. She was shorter than me, but carried herself with a kind of poise I’d rarely seen. It was as if she was taller anyone else here. “I’m Amelia.” She held at her hand. I shook it, but weakly. I was nervous. She cocked her eyes at me. “Dax’ll be fine.” She headed inside without another word with Sadie right behind her.

“Mom.” Faux ran and hugged her mother. They were so much alike, but so different.

Candice hugged her daughter back, tightly. “Hey, baby girl. How’s dad doing?” Candice said as she placed her hands on her daughter’s cheeks.

“Not good mom.”

I walked over to them. Without thinking I wrapped me arms around Candice in a hug. “Thank you. Thank you for saving him.”

She was astonished, and hesitated before hugging me back.

They put Dax’s bed next to William Rivera’s left side. I sat on Dax’s right. He was asleep and had been since they stuck an I.V in him. Amelia and Candice were talking to Blair on the other side of the medical doors. The twins and Faux were listening to the conversation. As curious as I was to know what exactly happened, I wasn’t going to leave Dax.

Freddie came through the doors. He was dressed in a white doctor’s smock, equipped with a stethoscope. I watched him. “Are you here to help Dax or are you just playing dress up?” The words were bitter and harsh.

His mouth formed a firm line, but his eyes looked apologetic. He pulled out a rolling stool from the corner and sat at the end of Dax’s bed. “Candice was able to remove the bullet with the help of Dax’s team.”

“But isn’t that like major surgery?” I asked Freddie, this time the words were softer.

He gave me a small smile. “Candice may be a midwife, but she was a doctor before that. She’s actually one of the best doctor’s I’ve run across, but she knew his best chance was here. She was able to remove the bullet, and keep Dax alive.”

“It doesn’t look like he lost that much blood for being shot so close to the heart. He’s only hooked to an I.V. There isn’t any blood going into him.”

Freddie shook his head. “I don’t know how to explain that one, other than Dax got insanely lucky.”

I nodded, and looked over at Bill. “Candice can’t figure out what’s wrong with her husband though?”

“Whatever is making Bill sick is caused by the experiments that were done. She hoped it was anything else, because if it was than they could treat it.” He stood and moved Dax’s arm just enough to hear his heartbeat. Dax grunted a little in his sleep.

Freddie put the stethoscope to Dax’s chest and listened. He leaned back. “He’ll be fine. It was close, but no irreparable damage was done. He’ll still need to take it easy for a couple of days.”

I grabbed Dax’s right hand. “When will he be awake?”

“Probably in a few hours. Go get something to eat.”

I forgot I hadn’t really eaten all day. I opened the doors, but turned back to look at Freddie. “I thought you weren’t a doctor anymore.”

He smiled at me. “I’m decent at tracking people, at being a private investigator, but the only thing I’ve really been good at is being a doctor.”

“Dax trusts you.” I stepped all the way back into the room.

Freddie nodded. “He does. You did once to.”

“I don’t hate you,” I said. I knew deep down in my gut that this was true. I was mad, pissed, completely enraged, but I didn’t hate him. “I have to know something though.” He looked at me from his stool.

“Anything.”

“Does Dax know? Does he know I was an experiment?”

“No. He has no idea.” We both looked back at Dax laying in the hospital bed, dosed up on pain killers and anesthetics, sleeping.

“Angie,” Blair stopped after I’d gotten something to eat. I was heading back to see Dax. “Come with me.” She led me to her room, where she pointed to a seat and we both sat.

She looked solemn, very serious. “Dax and his team found Cain and Shawnda in a hotel in London. Dax waited until Cain was alone, he thought he could take Cain on his own.”

“But he was wrong, Cain wasn’t alone...” My eyes burned.

“Dax saw Shawnda leaving the building and he went in. Candice, unknown by Dax, followed him to the hotel in case something...”

“In case something like this happened?” I finished for her.

“Yes.” There was a silent paused. “Candice thought Dax had everything under control, until a few minutes after Dax enter the hotel. Shawnda drove back to the hotel. Once Shawnda was inside Candice followed her to the room.”

“But Candice was a few seconds late. That Dax had already been....”

Blair nodded. “Candice didn’t have time to try to get the gun away from Shawnda. She grabbed a flash light that was sitting on an end table and smashed it into the back of Shawnda’s neck. Candice than called Amelia and got Dax out of the hotel.”

“How does Cain know I’m here at all? And since he knew why would he be staying in London this whole time, why not just come after me?” I asked Blair.

She shook her head, “I don’t know.”

“Is he dead? Is this over?” My voice was cold and unfeeling.

Blair held a distant expression. But, her pale green eyes looked dead into mine. “No, it’s not over. When the guardian team went to clean the mess, Cain and Shawnda were gone.”

I had nothing left to say, so I moved to leave.

“Wait just a second,” Blair said, and I hesitantly sat back. “I’ve talked with my advisers about what to do with Mubaka.”

“Aren’t they the same advisers Mubaka had?” I really didn’t care at this point what the royal advisers were thinking. Even if they did nothing, I would find a way to convict Mubaka for all the suffering she’d caused. It didn’t matter that my life was apparently still under the threat of annihilation. I was use the rage that was building inside of me to do something about my situation. All this training would not go to waste.

“I chose my own when I became Queen, she wasn’t expecting that,” She still looked very serious. “They agree with me that there should be a consequence for what she’s done. It’s just difficult to know what the consequence will be because a former queen has never been under prosecution before. Until her fate is decided she is not allowed to leave the palace grounds, and shouldn’t have any contact with you.”

I curtly nodded. Somehow I doubted that Mubaka would get anything more than a slap on the wrist from anyone in charge at the palace.

I felt a hand on my head, with fingers running though my hair. I lifted my head. Where was I? I blinked a couple times before Dax’s face came into view.

“Morning girly,” Dax said looking at me, he was sitting upright in his bed.

“Morning,” I rubbed my face with my hands. “What time is it?”

“I have no idea.” He looked around. “There’s no clock in here, and my cell phone seems to be missing.”

I pulled out mine from my pocket, it was almost dead. “It’s nine thirty.” I looked back at Dax. “Were you watching me sleep?”

Dax smiled at me. “Maybe I was, girly.” The way the light hit him made me stare. As I gazed him, I no longer saw the scars. They disappeared from my sight, it was just his face. When I saw him, he was just Dax.

I blushed and looked away, but I knew Dax was laughing at me. “How’re you feeling?”

“Ready to leave. I hate being in hospitals.” He scowled at his I.V like he was going to yank it out.

“If the bullet didn’t kill you, than I’m sure neither will the hospital”

Dax ignored what I said and looked over at Bill.

“Has he woken since you’ve been here?” I asked.

“No.” What little cheerfulness Dax had left him. To see him watching a man who had been like father to him hooked to all those machines, dying, was heartbreaking.

“I’m so sorry,” I told him. Dax curled his hand into a fist.

“You did nothing wrong, this isn’t your fault. Don’t apologize girly.” His eyes never stopped looking at Bill.

Dax was allowed to leave, after he threaten to remove the I.V. himself. But he had orders to return later. Dax refused any more help, he was convinced he could get around just fine and no one argued with him. Any argument against Dax would have been moot anyway. We went to go have breakfast with Faux and the twins. I hadn’t felt much like interacting with anyone, but Dax needed someone to monitor him. I couldn’t trust him to take it easy on himself.

“Where’s Amelia?” Faux asked Spencer.

“Sleeping. She’s not a morning person, and she had a late night talking with the queen.”

Sadie looked at her food. She had been frigidity all morning, even for Sadie, who was almost constantly in motion. “So I have some news. Blair offered me a permanent job position at the palace.”

Faux smiled at her, as if she already knew what was going on. Spencer dropped his fork, apparently this was news to him as well. Dax leaned back on the bench looking indifferent.

“That’s awesome! Isn’t it?” I looked at Sadie, she looked excited and nervous at the same time.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but it also means that Spencer and I wouldn’t be able to be Guardians together anymore.”

“Sis, that’s doesn’t matter as long as you’re doing something that makes you happy! This is amazing, congratulations!” Spencer was beaming at his sister. Once Sadie had her brother’s approval we could all see the excitement displayed in her eyes.

Dax leaned forward, intrigued now. “What position did Blair offer you?”

“I am going to be the new Head Guardian!” For a second I thought she was going to break out in dance, but surprisingly she held her composure.

“Congratulations Sadie,” Faux threw her arms around her.

“Thank you! Blair said that she was going to announce it tonight at dinner.” Sadie beamed.

Dax laughed, and opened his mouth, but Sadie spoke first, “Dax I don’t care that you’re hurt, if you making any snide comment or rude remark I will take you down.” Sadie glared at him.

“No need to get so defensive girly. You’re a better teacher than I am, that’s way I held my pride and asked for your help with Angie,” Dax pointed his thumb at me, to which I rolled my eyes. “However, I don’t recall you, or Spencer ever beating me during a mock battle.”

Sadie’s eyes hardened their glare at Dax. “I could take you any time, any day.”

Spencer held his arm in front of Sadie. “Now, children, lets behave ourselves before someone gets butt hurt. He’s trying to get you worked up Sadie, you’re just enabling him.”

“Dax, why do you insist on starting things?” Faux rolled her eyes at him.

“Come on my flesh wound here would give her fighting chance.” Dax smirked.

“Oh, you call getting shot a flesh wound?” I said as dryly as I could manage and turned to look at Dax.

“Let’s do this, Dax. I don’t have a problem kicking you when you’re down and out.” Sadie stood.

Dax crossed his arms and leaned forward. “Don’t make idle threats you can keep.”

“Enough!” Faux yelled at Dax.

“I will put the two of you in separate corners,” Spencer threatened.

“If she can’t handle me, how is she gonna handle a bunch of teenager in training?”

Sadie took a deep breath, and refused to justify him with an answer.

Spencer pushed his glasses on his nose, laughing to at the two of them. Faux just shook her head.

I looked at my friends around me and smiled, they had had a rough childhood and never really got to be kids. Even though they were ten years older than me, there were times I forgot we weren’t the same age.

Before dinner there was a knock at my door, a new body guard, Samuel, open it. “Angela, you have a visitor,”

I stepped out of the bedroom and into the sitting area. “Let them in.”

Dax stepped though the double doors, he was wearing a dark gray button-up shirt with the first three buttons undone and black cargo pants. There was stubble on his face.

“Dax? Why aren’t you in the medical ward?” I’d made sure he went back after breakfast.

“I thought I’d walk you to dinner,” he said. His arm was still in sling pulled to his chest. He caught me starring at it, my lips pressed in a hard line. “This comes off tomorrow. The wounds have closed. And the stitches will be out in two or three days. Then it’ll be just another scar. I’m fine girly.”

Dax was my guardian, he was doing his job. He knew that Cain was still out there and if Cain had left London it was only a matter of time before he found his way here. “You’re doing this to protect me aren’t you?” I fought the urge to cross my arms. I didn’t want to seem defensive. None of this was his fault.

He stiffened his posture, trying to judge my expression. “That is my job.” Dax’s expression stiff and unforgiving.

How the hell was he gonna protect me in his current condition? But I didn’t argue with him. “Fine, okay. Let’s go.” I slipped on my white sandals. The emotions from the past week had been building up inside of me.

“What’s going on Angie?” Dax didn’t make a move towards the door.

I looked up at him. “Nothing. You said you wanted to walk me to dinner because it’s your job to protect me, so let’s go.”

Instead of heading out the door Dax moved in front of me. “Would you rather me have told you that I want to walk to you dinner, not only because it’s my job, but because I wanted to spend time with you?”

I felt a small smile come to my face, as much as I wanted to hear Dax tell me that, I felt uneasy.

“Angie, if you’re scared that Cain is coming after you, stop worrying. I won’t let anything happen. It’s my job, girly.”

“You keep saying that! It’s your job! Well, your job is what almost got you killed. You went after Cain alone, even though you had a team to back you. Why would you do that?”

His voice was soft, not harsh or angry, which surprised me. “Why are we even talking about this? You didn’t say anything at breakfast or in the medical ward about this. What are you trying to get at?”

I closed my eyes. “I was scared you weren’t going to make it. I was scared when I heard you’d been shot. But I’m not scared that Cain is coming after me, because he’s been after me all my life. I didn’t want to have this conversation in front of the others. And I didn’t want it to be our first conversation after you woke up.”

“You haven’t even seen me since breakfast. If you wanted to talk you should have said something girly. But it’s like you’ve been avoiding me all day,” Dax looked irritated.

“I know. I’m sorry, look can we just go to dinner and forget we had this conversation.”

He cocked on eyebrow at me. “No.” Dax shook his head slowly.

“No? You’re saying we’re not going to dinner? I’m sure Sadie will forgive us when we’re dead.”

“Something’s up and you’re not telling me.”

“I can’t...” I sat on the soft plush couch. I put my hand against my forehead.

Dax sank into a cushion beside me. “You can’t? What kind of answer is that?” Now he was annoyed.

I slowly turned in his direction. “Fine. I don’t want to tell you. Not right now.” Because I don’t know how. Because I scared you’ll think less of me.

He looked as if he was considering my redefined answer. After a second he nodded, “Alright. Fair enough girly. What do you want to do? Do you want me to leave?”

Did I want him to leave? I had to ask myself that question before answering him. “No, because then I’ll be alone.”

“So you don’t want to talk, but you don’t want me to leave? Girly, let’s not play games.”

“You know what I want? I want to be able to go back home with my dad. I want to be able to breathe again. I want to feel safe. I want to be a normal 16 year old girl, who is falling for someone she can’t have.” I looked him dead in the eye, not wincing away from his stare. My voice was hash, harsher than I had intended it to be. I was angry and I was taking it out on him, which was stupid.

To my surprise he didn’t get up and walk away, instead he moved closer to me. His eyes were so dark, so intense. “Angie, you’ve never been normal, you’ve always been so much more special. Being ‘normal’ is over rated, girly. But, you will be able to go home again. And I’ll make sure you’re safe. The only thing I can’t figure out is how you’re falling for someone you can’t have.”

I looked away. I couldn’t stand the way his eyes had burned into mine any longer. I didn’t want to hide how I was feeling “I knew from the moment you walked out of the door back home that I needed you. I wanted you to stay in my life. I also knew that I was falling for you. Hard. I don’t know why. And I don’t know if I should have kissed you because you’re my guardian. How can we be anything when I’m your charge?”

He sighed. “I am your guardian. However, in no way do I have any authority over you. I can’t tell you what to do, I can only suggest you do things to keep you safe, but it’s my job to protect you from any outside invaders. Even though I do a crappy job of it most of the time,” Dax laughed a little, “And even if I did tell you what to do girly, you wouldn’t listen anyway.”

“So where does that leave us?” I said meekly. I no longer had that surge of courage, it was lost to me. I stared at my hands.

“Well, that’s up to you, girly. Out of all the girls I’ve....” He paused like he wasn’t for sure how to phrase his words. “You are strong willed and hard headed, but I respect you. You know... You know how I feel, but if you told me to go away and leave you alone I’m gone.”

He saw that I wasn’t looking at him. My throat was closed and went dry. Dax slowly twirled a strand of my hair in his hand. “Angie...”

I put my forehead against his. His breath was warm against my skin. “I don’t want to play games. I’m not that girl. But all I know right now is that I don’t want you to leave.”

“Fair enough, I’ll stay.” He pulled me closer, my head resting against his right shoulder. I swung my legs across his. I was careful not to hurt him. Dax kissed my hair but nothing else. He put his good arm around me and rested his chin against my head. He held me like that until I fell asleep.

The next morning I awoke to the worst snoring in life, right next to my ear. Dax’s arm had come out of his sling and was lying across my stomach, his hand hanging over the couch. I realized that we’d fallen asleep… together.

The snoring stopped. Dax’s eyes fluttered open. “Are you staring at me girly?”

“No.” I felt my face flush. “You snore.”

“And your hair’s really frizzy.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “We fell asleep here.”

He looked around the room. “Well that’s pretty obvious, girly…”

“Sadie’s gonna kill us,” I stated. My body felt really warm from being next to him.

“No one’s going to be too happy I was in here all night either.”

“Nothing happened, and no one has to know,” I said and gave him a half smile.

Dax kissed my forehead before leaving to see Freddie for permission to permanently ditch the sling. And I was on my way to get a late lunch, while trying to avoid people. It turned out we’d slept in pretty late.

The dining hall was pretty much empty. I grabbed some of the left overs that were still displayed on the table, but I wasn’t as hungry as I thought. I ate and quickly left. Dax would probably still be with Freddie. I made my way towards the medical ward.

I stopped. I could feel someone behind me. He had stepped out of the shadows that he’d grown up with all his life.

“Hello Angela.”

“What do you want Naeem?” My body tensed, he was last person I expected to jumped out at me.

“Nothing much, just a little chat.”

“And why would I want to chat with you?”

“Because I’m not giving you a choice.”

“There’s always a choice. I’m leaving.” I turned to walk away.

“I wouldn’t go if I were you.”

I turned around but didn’t walk closer to him. “Why not?”

“Because my mother doesn’t play by the rules.”

“Wha -” My back stiffened. There was a sharp pain in my back.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you.” It was Mubaka.

I closed my eyes, a small smile spread a crossed my face. After all these months of training I was not going to let her scare me with a little knife. Being an ex-queen, she shouldn’t have been allowed to hurt me, but what did she care? I lifted my heal quickly and slammed it into the top of her foot. She clenched her teeth, but didn’t scream. I felt the knife shake in her hands. I turned around grabbed her wrist, twisted until the knife dropped and rammed my fist into her nose. Naeem grabbed me tightly and picking me up and dragging me away from his mother, who staggered backwards, blood dripping down her face.

I phased. My clothes ripped to shreds on the floor. My paws hit the ground.

“Ember?” Naeem whimpered my mother’s name as he stepped back.

“Ember’s dead you idiot, it’s Angela in Lion form. Cain!” Mubaka screamed. Neeam pulled out his own blade and charged at me. On instinct, I reared back and sank my claws into Naeem chest. Blood spattered on my paws and drenched the floor. Naeem sank, Mubaka ran in his direction. I turned around.

His face was similar to Dax’s, without the scars. They could have passed as Dax brother not just his cousin. His hair was the same dark brown, his face just a little round, but it’s his eyes that were different. They were an haunting icy blue.

“Cain.”

“I believe we’ve met before.” He gave me that crocked smile that he shared with Dax, only Cain’s face displayed so much hatred. He held some type of gun in his hand. I paused looking at the gun for a few brief seconds until I realized what it was. But it was a second too long.

Cain pointed gun at my face. I charged at him. If I could get to him before...

My head pounded. My vision was blurry. I was sitting on something cold, my back pressed against a wall. My head tilted sideways before it hit the top of my arm. Why did it hit my arm? I tried to shake my head but couldn’t. I realized my arms were being tied up with chains above my head. There was also a chain wrapped around my neck as well. I could move my head side to side, but was otherwise I was stuck in this sitting position. The chains held my arms up, but their weight was getting heavy. My heart raced. I was stuck I couldn’t move. I tilted my head as far as I could, which wasn’t more than an inch.

I had a white linen sheet place over me. At least I wasn’t totally naked. But nudity was nothing compared to the fact that I wasn’t dead yet. Yet being the key word. I tried as hard as I could to get hands out of their chains.

I pulled and pounded against the wall until I felt blood dripping from my wrists. Tears filled my eyes and my hair fell in front of my face.

My vision cleared. I could tell I was in a wooden cabin. There was a bed shoved off to the left. What looked like a closet door was in the far left corner of the room. To my right was a small stove with a beaten and rusted looking refrigerator, a rusted sink sat between them. The cabin was in bad shape. The walls looked like they were pealing and there were boards missing from the wooden floor, spilling dirt everywhere.

I whipped my face against my arm. I heard a door creak open. It was the closet. A pairs of eyes gaped at me.

“Who’s there?” I asked.

A head slowly poked itself out. “My mom says you’re a bad lady.” As the light hit her just right I could see it. Her mark, it was darker than her skin. It was displayed across her dark face. The crescent moon wrapped around her forehead to the end of her cheek bone, two feathers fanned out to the bridge of her nose.

I tried to hold back a sniffle. “What’s your name?” She was just a girl. Probably no more than ten. What was she doing here?

“Lori.” She said just loud enough for me to hear. After she told me her name she darted back into the closet.

“Lori, where am I?”

“I’ve said too much. I’m not supposed to talk to you.” It was too dark in the closet for me to see her.

“Please talk to me, you might be my only chance of surviving this place.”

“My mom says I can’t talk to you because you’ll hurt me.”

My head it the back of the wall. “I can’t hurt you. I’m chained up, and I’m not going anywhere. Who’s your mother?”

“Shawnda. She’s says you’re the bad lady who’s hurt a lot of people.”

Of course she was Shawnda’s daughter. “Please help me. I’ve never meant to hurt anyone. I promise I won’t hurt you. I have no way to hurt you…Please… Cain is going to kill me.” I begged.

There was a long pause. I thought she wasn’t going to say anything else to me. I hung my head. This is where it ends. But surprisingly she spoke, “What do you want me to do?”

“Can you get me some water?” That’s what I wanted most right now. My throat hurt so bad.

She stood, slowly made her way out of the closet and headed towards the sink. She pulled out a cup from a cabinet I hadn’t notice before. She filled it with water from the rusted sink. I opened my mouth as she poured the water in, some liquid ran down my chin.

“Thank you Lori. Where am I?” I asked after I gulped down the water.

“I don’t know for sure. We’re in the jungle somewhere,” Lori informed me. It started to pour outside. The roof of the cabin leaked. Water droplets sprinkled on me. I blink the water from my eyes.

“Where are they? Cain, Shawnda and Mubaka?” I asked.

She shook her head. “They didn’t tell me. Mom just told me to stay in the closet or you’d hurt me. Cain said if I didn’t listen he’d beat me... I’ve never see the lady that was with them.” She was so brave. I didn’t know what made her disregard what they said, but I was so thankful she had.

There were footsteps outside.

“Get back in the closet. Take the cup with you.” Lori grabbed the cup and ran in the closet, shutting the door tightly.

“Look who’s awake,” Cain sneered.

Mubaka was behind him. Anger displayed clearly on her face. She ran to me and punched me as hard as she could in the face. Intense pain covered the side of my face, but I refused to cry out. Blood ran from my nose. “You killed him! You killed my son!” My brain didn’t have time to process this. I couldn’t comprehend that I’d killed someone.

Mubaka however, did make a sound. She tried to suppress a scream and grabbed her hand.

“Don’t be an idiot. You’re an ex-queen, you can’t hurt her physically.” Cain spat at Mubaka. “That’s why you came to me with this brilliant idea. I’d get rid of this failed experiment for you, while I got my revenge.”

“I didn’t kill your family, you asshole!” I growled at Cain. The sheet was slipping and there was nothing I could do about it. “And you.” I looked at Mubaka with all the hatred I could muster. “You never loved Naeem. You only loved Hasani.”

“Don’t talk to him like that you bitch!” Shawnda kicked me in the gut. I groaned and my body tensed.

Cain knelt in front of me, “You’re more moronic than you look. I would have finished my task of killing you the first time if Dax hadn’t so rudely interrupted us.”

“How did you know where to find me?” I did my best to keep the sheet from slipping even more.

He reached for something in his pocket and pulled out a syringe. I stared at it. I didn’t want to be injected with poison again. My breathing being ragged.

He tilted the syringe back and forth in front of my face. “Oh, so you recognized this uh? Well, you see the first one Shawnda shot you with was a tracking device. We could monitor you wherever you were. I assumed that my cousin would be taking you here, but you see I had to be sure. I had to have a backup plan in case I wasn’t able to kill you that night. Which is also why Shawnda took a vile of your blood.

“The poison she gave you was design for Natural Born s. It formed by experimenting on Natural Born s while Mubaka’s father was King. Pretty useful poison if you ask me, but I had no idea what effect it would have on you. So while you’ve been enjoying your time here at the place I used your blood to do a little readjusting to the poison. Now when I give this to you, it won’t kill you so fast. I’ll get sweet, slow, painful revenge as this kills you over the next day or so.”

“You’re a sick bastard.” I spat at him. I tried to pull away from him, but it was impossible. I pressed myself as far against the wall as I could.

“Yes, yes I am. You’re finally seeing the real picture.”

“I didn’t kill your parents! It’s not my fault their dead!” I screamed at him. “You mother, Lonna LeSage, was cheating on your father with Mubaka’s husband! Mubaka wanted revenge for her cheating spouse, so she told your father, Russ, about Lonna and Asim. Russ his got vengeance by killing Asim. Don’t you see? Mubaka set her own husband up to die! She’s also the one who told Lonna it was my mother who killed Asim. Mubaka had Hasani murder your father to cover her tracks. But her plans back fired! Russ was fatally injured but he was still able deliver one last blow to Hasani’s temple, killing both of them.

“It’s sad really, your mom didn’t love your dad. She loved Asim. Mubaka didn’t love Asim, she just didn’t want anyone else to have him. She used your mother’s hatred of True Souls to convince you that’s why she died fighting Dax. Not the fact the she had died because of a jealous affair. It had nothing to do with me. You’ve been brainwashed. She hates you like she hated your parents. She wanted you to kill me, so that Dax would in turn kill you. It’s a vicious circle that you’ve been loped in.

“You should know that the only thing the King and Queen agreed on was their hatred of True Souls. But if Mubaka could create True Souls herself, genetically engineer us, than she thought we could control us. She’d have her own True Soul army that only she would have power over. But that failed.” I looked into Mubaka’s appalled expression. Her eyes shown with more hostility than I had ever seen. The fear in her eyes disappeared. “Yeah, I figured it out. You have no control over me at all, and you never will. You experimented on all those people, you killed people without a second thought. Faux will never have children because of you, and you don’t give a shit about any of it.” I spat at her.

“You think you’re so clever because you figured out what I was planning with True Souls. I hate to brake this to you, but you’re going to die anyway. Cain won’t fall for your lies, he’s much too clever. He doesn’t believe you. True Souls are lying, manipulating people and that’s why they deserve to die. I was wrong for following in my father footsteps, trying to create a True Soul army. What I should have been doing is figuring out how to kill you off once and for all.”

“Why bother injecting her with poison at all Cain? Just kill her. Finish her off and be done with it,” Shawnda said walking over to me. She wrapped her hands around my hair and pulled. It fell like she was trying to pull off my scalp.

“Why do you hate me? That’s what I can’t figure out.” I glared at her.

“That doesn’t really matters.” Shawnda slammed my head against the wall. The room spun. I was pretty sure the back of my head was bleeding, but the longer I kept them talking, the longer I thought I could live. “My husband hated True Souls. Not everything that night was about those fucked up affairs. There was also a legitimate war going on. Mubaka tried to have you killed that night along with all the True Souls supporters. I was one of ladies in waiting, along with Eve. They killed my husband because he sided with you. My husband defended your kind and he died because of it! I never liked True Souls and sided with Mubaka when she wanted to kill you, but I loved my husband.”

I laughed, I actually laughed. “The three of you have some messed up logic. It’s Mubaka’s fault I’m even here. I’m an experiment! Nothing more. It’s her fault not mine!”

“But by killing you, it’ll fix everything. Shawnda’s much kinder than I am though. She’s willing to kill you quickly. On the other hand, I am not.” With those words he pulled the syringe out again.

“NO!” Lori ran out of the closet. Cain back handed the small girl, flinging the poor girls body backwards onto the rotted wood.

“Don’t you touched my daughter!” Shawnda growled at Cain. Her body flung in the air and transformed. She had a broad chest, massive head and her hind legs bugled with tense muscles. Her teeth were barred directly at Cain, and I realized I was staring directly at an extremely belligerent pit bull.

“Relax or I’ll shove this poison into you instead.” Cain looked disgusted. “You’re kid’s too retarded to understand what the fuck’s going on anyways. Who has their mark on their face. You should have gotten rid of her when I told you too.” He attention was drawn back me.

“Don’t do this. Please!” I begged him. Tears streaked my face, I hadn’t been ready to die.

“You’re so pathetic. So maybe I will end you’re life sooner than planned.” My eyes widened as he shoved the needle directly into my heart.

Immediately my vision became fuzzy. My body tried to phase on its own, but could not fully complete the transition. The chains were cutting into my skin making my throat and wrists bleed even more.

It was over. As much pain as I was in now I could relish in the fact that it would soon end. They would win. They would get their revenge for all the pain my very existence had caused.

I closed my eyes to drowned out the pain. The convulsions would be begin any moment. I thought of my father and how much he would miss me. I was his only family. He wouldn’t have anyone when I died. Would he know how much I loved him? How much he meant to me? How much I missed him?

I thought of Blair, who I’d barely gotten to know. She was part of my family now. Did she know where I was?

I thought of the twins. They were almost complete opposites but somehow they completed each other. They had become my friends, some of the people that I held close to me. I thought of Jack and Freddie. I should have told them that I forgave them. Why hadn’t I told them that I forgave them?

I thought of Faux. She had become my best friend. She had stuck by me these past several months without hesitation. How could I leave her?

And, I thought of Dax. Did I love him or didn’t I? I guess I would never figure it out. It didn’t mattered anymore. I wouldn’t even be able to say goodbye. Even now in my dying moment that’s who I wanted with me, and I didn’t even know if I loved him. Maybe I was pathetic. But I didn’t want to die.

I opened my eyes. I was sure I was hallucinating. I thought I saw him. There he was. Maybe I was already dead. Maybe I got lucky and the poison worked faster than Cain thought it would.

The convulsing shot sharp piercing pains throughout my body. I wasn’t dead. The pit bull leaped at Dax. Dax grabbed her in mid jump, by her neck and twisted. I heard a snapped and the dog’s body cascaded to the floor, her head smashed against the ground. I could make out a little girl scream for her mother. And I saw Dax carrying some short of sharp object, possibly a blade. He hit Cain in the head with the butt of the blade. Cain fell, and screamed for Mubaka, but she was gone. I couldn’t see her anywhere, which didn’t mean much because my vision was so blurred.

A searing scream echoed through the room as the blade entered Cain heart. The scene darkened before me, I blinked and my sight unclouded.

“Dax?” I thought I heard Faux’s voice somewhere far off. “Angie!” She screamed my name. I couldn’t focus on anything. My vision had become increasingly murky. I could still feel that warm blood that dripped from my wrists and neck down my body.

Someone placed their hands on my face, they were firm, but gentle and warm. Hands that I could fall asleep on. Hands that I never wanted to let go of me.

“Angie! Angie, stay with me!” The hands went away and I felt cold again. suddenly the chains around my writs broke, my arms fell to the ground. Relief spread through my muscles, for a brief moment my arms felt weightless. The chain around my neck was pulled apart, leaving me free to move my head. But I had hardly any strength left and my voice was shot.

My eye lids were open just enough to see the Faux was carrying something in her arms.

“Dax? Are you there?” I mumbled the words out. I tried to focus on him, but I was losing control.

He put his hands back on my face and turned me to face him. “I’m right here girly. I got you.” He wrapped the blood covered cloth around me and lifted my convulsing body. For a split second I thought that maybe I was going to live, but I lost all control and everything went dark. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

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