“Shit.”
“Shit is right. And that’s not all. There’s a mob of factions standing in front of the castle walls demanding to know what has happened to their children. And that is exactly where he was standing when he learned of this. Now, with all of them demanding answers from him, answers that affect his daughter’s well-being as well, he’s about to go fucking apeshit and explode out of his Bran suit and into demon mode.”
Without any further ado, Chandler flashed away and was immediately back with Bran in tow. Good thing too, since as soon as they were back within the confines of the living quarters of the orphanage, gone was Bran; he shifted that quickly into all his seven feet tall, onyx-scaled, Demon wonder, tail and all. He bellowed so loudly the walls literally shook from the vibrations, his tail whipping about so wildly he would have knocked Anya off the curved portion of the couch where she lay if it hadn’t been for Kierra going on the quick defensive and protecting her wife. The problem with that? Going off nothing but instinct and terror at seeing Anya in the crosshairs of a demon had her other side coming out as well, her eight-foot wingspan slapping into him as her wings hovered protectively over Anya.
Luckily, that was the only part of her that had a chance to transform. Kierra’s mother wasn’t any type of demon, but a changeling. While Kierra hadn’t yet gained the full abilities of her mother to change into anything or anyone at will, and might not ever, considering she was not a full-blooded demon. No, she was a creature ruled by emotion when it came to her mate, and only transformed from male to female depending on her mood; something she didn’t have much control over when under extreme duress. And since extreme emotion made it almost impossible for her to flick that switch to turn off her emotions, it was a good thing Anya quickly came to and pulled her down for a deep kiss, nicking her own lip with her fangs in the process to help tame the beast within before Kierra’s male essence took over.
While their families might be in on all their secrets at this point, the few children who had yet to evacuate from the orphanage were now standing in the doorway screaming at the sight of one demon already. That screaming was made worse by the fact that one of them was part banshee. Her scream was so loud and shrill that from the sounds of bones cracking and breaking, they must have triggered the change of two other orphans who stood beside her; one part wolf, another a preteen demon.
Just as chaos was beginning to reign, a beautiful waif of a girl flashed into the room. Her long blonde locks floating upon the waves of magick, her blue eye sparkling like two celestial stars captured within the retinas in a crème-brûlée-colored heart-shaped face as she used her siren voice to sing a soothing lullaby that tamed all the savage beasts who were about to explode. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks, all shifting reversed until everyone, including Demon Bran, went back to their everyday, more normal facades.
Next, an awkward-looking twenty-four-old with a massive black afro tinged with red, skin so light it could almost pass for white, and slight freckles along her cheekbones, wearing an oversized sweatshirt hanging off one shoulder and a pair of cut-off jeans came barreling through the door. In a high-pitched voice, she shouted at the siren who had quite possibly saved the orphanage from completely tumbling down. “Genie! I told you to wait for me. You know I can’t half-ass flash.” Noticing all eyes on her, she tried to settle, giving a shaky little, “Hi,” to everyone else in the room.
Elyssa, who had regained consciousness from where she lay on a plush chair in the corner of the massive room, went to gather and usher away the remaining orphans and figure out how they’d gotten left behind in the first place. Upon realizing they were indeed the most powerful ones who lived in the confines, the possible cause had her somewhat relieved but worried at the same time.
All but Genie and Deelah, who she didn’t have the heart to even attempt to force out of the vicinity. Instead she gave them a loving warning on her way out, “Speak nothing of what goes on here outside of these walls. But tell them everything you know, anything you think might help.” When the two of them looked at her in utter confusion, she sighed and flashed on her “seer” robes for an instant.
As they gasped upon recognition of who she truly was, who they grew up thinking her to be, she flashed back into her Royal Guard attire. “Yeah, babes. I’m Princess Elyssia, not a damn seer. And yup, over there is your queen, and her twin sister, my other big sister.” As their eyes grew wider and wider like a pair of saucers, she laughed a little. “Betcha didn’t see any of that coming, huh? That’s not the half of it. And while there’s a lot of explaining to do, the main thing you need to focus on is this: While you two love Jelissa very much, as much as you would have had she been your kin, she is our kin. Yeah, your queen is her mother, so we don’t have time for any formalities. Fuck bowing, get over there and help us find my niece.”
Elyssia watched as Genie and Deelah took another double take at her, the woman they had grown up thinking must have looked like a shriveled-up old hag since the robes never came off. From the expressions on their faces, she knew they couldn’t quite come to terms with what shocked them the most; that she was actually the
