The Last Shifter (a Loki romance)

Chapter 10

Merry/Happy   Christmas, Fröhe Weinacten, and Jolie Noël!   This is my Christmas   present to all of my loyal readers: an early  update!

My heart stopped.  No.  This couldn't be happening.  Not now.  Not when I have everything.  Not when those soon-to-be baby dragons are going to depend on me. 

"What are you talking about?  The Shifters are extinct!" Loki tried to cover for me.

"Don't try and convince me that she's not a venomous snake!"

"Loki, don't.  Don't cause more trouble."  I let the illusion fall–save for the one around my eyes– and allowed my true look to show.  I didn't put up a fight as the guards came forward, ripping away my staff and all of the visible daggers before putting a pair of bronze handcuffs on my wrists.  Smart.  Every Shifter had at least one metal that would prevent them from using their powers, mine just happened to be bronze.

"Lead her away." I reached out to Loki's mind, despite the pain I was put in.

"Promise me you'll take care of those dragons and don't let anyone in my room.  Please!"

"I will.  You have my word.  But I won't rest until you're free.  I–"  The connection was broken as I was dragged around a corner and out of his line of sight.  Odin accompanied us to the dungeon.

"Change your eyes back to blue." He commanded.  Last time, I had used a charm to make my eyes blue as that did not require as much effort as brown.

"Well I would if your goons let go of my hands." I shot back, "The eyes aren't magic.  They're contact lenses, Midgardian technology." I wrenched my hands free, popped one out, and handed it to him.

"What are you arresting me for anyway?" I removed the other one.  The guards seemed to be afraid of me once they saw my red irises.

"Lying to the King of Asgard." One of the guards answered.

"I didn't lie.  On Earth, I am known as Arista, the form I was in when I arrived here is scarred and Loki offered to put an illusion over my face.  He didn't want me to waste energy with it."

"He knows what you are?!"

"Not by my choice but Frigga convinced him to not pry.  How did you find out?"

"Thor misspoke last night after you left the meeting.  I want to know everything.  How, why, who, what, and when?  Who, or what, is going to attack, why, when, and how."

"Well, I wish I could tell you but I don't know.  I haven't been to either type of village and the map should automatically highlight the villages that, theoretically, be in the most danger but from the pattern I saw, it's going to be pretty unpredictable.  Don't you think that if I knew, I would be trying to exchange that information for my freedom?"

"But you did lie.  You said Loki put an illusion over your face last night but now you say he only offered to."  Oops, "You will be put in an isolation cell for a week, no visitors allowed."

"Fine."  Better than the year-long sentence I would've received otherwise.  Just for lying!  I mean, jeez! "I have only one request.  That you remove these infernal handcuffs.  If you want, you may replace them with a different pair, just anything but bronze."

"No.  This a part of your punishment." Well damn.  I was fighting to keep the whites of my eyes white and it was making me rather woozy.

When we reached the cell I was to spend the next week in, I was shoved rather harshly inside and the screen was activated behind me.