Different.

Chapter 12: Negotiation

Chapter 12

Negotiation

"What do you mean it's none of my business!?" I shouted, fists clenching into tight balls.

I heard the table creak as if it was about to snap in two, and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down before I broke everything in sight.

"I have every right to know. I'm just as much one of you as everyone else!" I tried again, my voice lower but still not disguising the white hot raged that flowed freely through my body.

"No Kaylee, you are not." Akshana said tiredly, rubbing her temples. There were dark circles under her intense eyes as she leaned against the table and crossed her arms over her small chest.

"Just because I've permitted you to advance in your training here does not mean you are a citizen. You did not grow up here, you are not accustomed to our ways, and you're far too immature."

"This isn't about whether or not you deem my maturity level fit for your high class standards of living in a glorified ditch!" I spat, and her head snapped back, eyes narrowing to a poisonous glare. "That is a living, breathing, suffering human being down there! What kinda place are you down here running lady?"

In a flash, I felt myself thrown back by some sort of invisible force. Not enough to slam me into the wall, but enough that I stumbled and fell back on my butt.

It was only later that I realized it was Akshana using her shifting against me.

"You will not disrespect Valerod!" She practically screeched. "I spent years and years all on my own to get it to its glory as it is now, and if you ever, ever say something like that so help me god Kaylee I'll throw you right in there with the prisoner!"

"His name is Adam." I responded defiantly, not letting her threat phase me.

"And you will certainly not disrespect me!" She continued as if I hadn't said anything. "You know what you were before I let you in here? Huh? You were a sniveling little girl running around playing with a power that you shouldn't even have! That you were too ignorant to know how to control! And look at you now, I feed you and train you and this is the thanks I get?" By now her voice is just as loud as mine, only it's much deeper and echoes on the stone walls.

"I will not thank someone who tortures other human beings for sport." I responded a bit more calmly, standing up and dusting myself off.

She sighed and let her head drop, cradling it in her hands before straightening up and looking me in the eye again.

"Kaylee, I'm sorry for losing my temper. But I do not like being disrespected." She began in a voice that sounded like she was straining to be cool and collected. "The fact of the matter is, yes. We are keeping him prisoner. But you don't understand, he isn't just some innocent bystander."

She paused and glanced sideways at me. "You might want to sit down."

I glared at her for a moment longer than necessary before huffing and sitting down on the same bench I had when she first told me I was a shifter. It already felt like forever ago.

"You see Kaylee, what you fail to understand is that his father is Ezekiel," She explained in a tone that said that that sentence should've clarified everything. Once she saw my blank expression she smirked triumphantly before continuing.

"Ezekiel used to live here in Valerod, and he led alongside me. We were the best of friends. He had the beauty of an angel, and with nothing but his words he could move mountains within people and change lives." A small sad smile brushed over her face as she lost herself back in time.