Forbidden Law (An Alien Love #1)

Chapter Twelve

I tried to lift my foot, to move forward and get to his side. He clearly was going through something, and he was still Jace. My friend. But my body wouldn't move, superglued to the earth. Naturally, I panicked.

"Stay there, Skyler," Jace said. I didn't even recognize his voice. It was rough and strangled, as if speaking hurt. My concern doubled as my arms ached to wrap around his waist and comfort. I tried harder to fight against the invisible restraint that held me in place to no avail. I got the impression he was acting and speaking through some sort of haze.

He suddenly, in a swift fluid movement, ripped off his shirt. My breath caught in my chest. He was so beautiful, literally breathtaking. His skin glowed in a paper white sheen, soaking in the moons wake. I could just make out the lines of his ribs, the hard line of muscles strained against...pain? He was faced away from me, head cocked towards the waters' edge in a sort of agonized prayer. Before my eyes, it was as if he molded into a clay statue of an anguished angel. Frustration boiled out of me in a harsh sigh.

"Jace? Are you okay?" My voice resounded like a thunderclap.

He didn't answer, just sat there kneeling in front of the mirrored surface of water. The abnormal stillness he possessed sent my instincts into a red alert of his otherness. Periodically, over about ten minutes of not moving, the beams of green light would flash onto the water in front of his face, his eyes blinking and then shutting again. I knew that look-the one people got when in utter pain, that if they moved or opened their eyes, it was too unbearable to handle. Tears wet my eyes.

A crack echoed around the land we were on, making my ears ring. Then I blinked. He was changing.

As if before he hadn't looked as healthy, he radiated...life... and an unearthly energy now. His spine gleamed in the soft starlight, and I studied what could be changing without actually putting my finger on it. Ever so slightly, his muscles looked extra bulked, his shoulders widening somewhat. His torso was now a perfect V, top contrasting with the narrowness of his hips. Even in this hunched state of crushing pain he was in, it was clear that he was nothing to be trifled with. A sense of foreboding nagged the back of my head. An instinct in my brain activated, one that is only set off in the presence of some unknown danger. It chilled me to the core.

"No. It is here. My Morphing." he murmured through gritted teeth. One of his fists was knuckled down in the dirt.

Suddenly, his head snapped back, and the most bloodcurdling scream erupted from his chest. Not knowing I had stood, I fell to my own knees, hands clapping to my ears as my insides seemed to melt. It was the sound of men wounded in battle, aware of impending death, shattering bones piece by piece, of salt under peeled skin, nightmares crawling from under the bed grabbing for a child. Of a parent watching their child die, unable to help it. It wasn't just pain in that scream, it was hopeless sadness.

Oh Jace...What could I do? I couldn't move! I had no clue what Morphing was, but right now all I cared about was getting to him.

He screamed again and I covered my ears, trying to block it while knowing it was a futile attempt. Of course it didn't work. Nothing worked. It was seared into my head, sealing the deal with a fury signature of misery. He fell to his back, digging his nails into the earth as if that would hold him down.

"Skyler!" he screamed. "Leave!"

Panic spiked my heart. Leave? I couldn't! Nor did I know if I could willingly leave him in this state even if I could. For the love of God. My feet were clearly pinned to the cold ground, my hands shaking and uncontrolled. First thing I'd do is take him to a hospital if we made it through whatever this was. Tears ran down my cheeks, the wind whipping them away almost immediately. My skin was numbed with winter. I could feel my knees quake, the bottom halves and hems soiled with damp earth.