“Should I release it?” I shouted over the snap and pop of the lightning arrow.
“We do need to see what it will accomplish. Hold on.” Emerald light burst from Lucus’s hands. Vines shot from the gym’s floor amid the powerful scent of pine forests and rain-wet moss. The plant life tangled around the heavy bag to create a thicket. A lighter green bloomed around Corliss’s fingertips and wrists, and then vines of what looked like English ivy, tipped in white, rose from the cracks in the flooring. Her vines curled around Lucus’s like snakes, thickening the bracken that would, I guessed, absorb some of my arrow’s blast. The thicket glowed and cast green light over the pulled shades on the windows and the ripped mats on the floor.
Sebastian motioned to Hekla to keep Oliver around the corner where the restrooms were. “When you’re ready!” he said to me.
I loosed the arrow, magic ringing through my bones.
11 Hekla
Hekla gasped as the point of Coren’s arrow stabbed the thicket. The lights in the gym flickered and went dark. Lightning erupted from the thicket and branched out, amethyst and blinding, as dense smoke poured from the fae vines.
Smoke choked the air out of the room, and Lucus ran for the door, flipping the lock with a loud click and shoving it open.
Hekla’s skin went icy cold, and the world grew hazy.
Oliver shrieked and ran to Coren. He clutched her leg and stared back at Hekla like she was the monster here.
Her body quaked.
“What’s wrong?” Coren called from inside the dark cloud.
The smoke spun around the incoming draft from the door, but the haze around Hekla went white, and there she was, surrounded by…
“Snowflakes?” Coren waved at the black plumes, eyes wide.
It was snow. What in the…
Hekla’s skin buzzed like Coren had shot her with magic instead of the target. She held out her arm only to see the flesh become transparent and crystalline. She was becoming the miniature snowstorm. Heart rapping against the base of her throat, she called out for help.
The snow whirled around her, and the sound of the wind swallowed the others’ voices.
“Hekla!” Oliver and Coren shouted as one.
The snow disappeared and all was…not okay. The room was huge, Coren a giant above Hekla. The open door called to Hekla with the promise of fresh air, free of smoke and whatever the magical snow was.
She ran.
Her feet weren’t feet. Paws. White paws. Her mind raced, unable to sort out what was happening. Fear pushing her, she ran, moving faster than ever. She was on Main Street before she realized she’d made it out the door. Tires screeched behind her, and she turned to see a large black SUV roaring through the light at five points. Hekla tried to scream, but the sound didn’t come out like it should have. Her throat was tight, her teeth needle-sharp against her tongue. The SUV was going to roll right over her. This was it, and her brain couldn’t even wrap its way around anything.
A blur of movement flashed across the intersection, and then strong arms lifted her. In a matter of seconds, Kaippa had her in his grasp and safely out of the road on the sidewalk. The SUV sped into the night, tires squealing.
Gulping air, mind a riot of confusion, she set her now small and furry head against Kaippa’s chest and let him stroke her back.
Sebastian’s voice rumbled over her head. “She is a shapeshifter.”
Someone tugged at her back leg. She peeked and saw Oliver’s massive child face. “A fox! Hekla is a fox!”
“An Arctic fox,” Coren said. “Oh my God.” She stumbled, and Lucus caught her. “Please tell me I’m hallucinating.”
Hekla wished they both were imagining this, but the shift felt real, incredibly, unbelievably real.
Kaippa set Hekla on the ground, a funny grin on his blood-red lips and one lock of black hair hanging over his pale face. “Wheat girl, you are full of surprises.”
But she wanted to stay in his arms, to feel his strength even though he was a murderer. He had saved her. She tried to speak, but the words came out as a growl and a squeak. Kaippa smiled and lifted her again. She dug her nose into the crook of his arm, not caring at the moment who he had been before this. Her racing blood wouldn’t let her choose the right move over the comfortable one.
“Like dandelion puff,” Oliver said, playing with Hekla’s tail.
I have a tail. Aaaahhh….
“Will she be okay?” Coren asked Lucus. “She’ll switch back, right? Please tell me good things.”
“She’ll change back,” he said, and Hekla breathed out a massive sigh. “I don’t know when, but she will.”
Coren touched Hekla’s cold nose. “Damn it, Hekla. Did you know you were a shifter?” Coren didn’t sound angry, just completely freaked out for her.
Hell no, she hadn’t known she was a shapeshifter! She would’ve told them!
“Remember,” Lucus said, his voice gentle, “my presence as an alpha fae ignites the magical blood sleeping in mages and shifters. Because Hekla has been around me and my brothers, her powers are rising. It’s also likely that the Yew Bow increased the intensity of her awakening magic.”
Coren pet Hekla’s snout, and it felt nice. She smelled different now, still like sugar, but also like herbs and maybe magic?
“Does Hekla get some additional perk for this aside from becoming a freaking fox on occasion?” Coren asked. “And will she always shift into a fox, or can she become other creatures?”
Hekla started and swallowed hard. What other horrible experiences would she have to live through? What if she shifted into a bug and was stepped on? Or maybe she could become a more useful creature like a lion, something better for the fight with the demon wyvern. A fox wasn’t going to help them much. She sighed and perked her ears to listen for answers.
Kaippa looked Hekla over. “She’ll only turn into the fox. But she’ll grow faster and stronger. And she’ll live longer. Not as
