Sinister Secrets Book. 3

❅ Chapter 4 ❅

Clance bolted, turning up mashed down leaves and sticks in his wake. Shea's golden eyes fixed on him, narrowing slightly, and I knew she was going to give chase. Just as her body tensed to spring, I jumped in front of her, shaking a little when I landed on my feet.

The stallion turned to look at me, no panic in its eyes. Just a blank stare of calm - of knowledge, it seemed. As if it knew what was to come of the future. It snorted, shaking it's dazzling mane, before trotting off into the bushes once more.

Shae didn't follow, not even glancing at the horse as it disappeared under the brush, a branch snapping back into place.

She hissed, drawing back, her predatory gaze sizing me up before looking back towards the disappearing Clance over my shoulder. Realizing he was too far away, I felt all her attention, all of her rage, settle on me.

The roar she gave split open the trees, ringing in my ears, in my blood. I wasn't sure what to do when she crouched, her strained trousers stretching arounds her knees and thighs. I had no weapon and I couldn't reach my magic for the life of me. The only thing keeping me upright was the amount adrenaline in my bloodstream.

So I did the only thing I could do - I tried to reason with her.

With arms up, palms facing her, I lowered myself ever so slightly, careful not to go fast enough to provoke an attack. Shea's hair, which seemed more silver, shifted in the breeze as she cocked her head, confusion written clearly in her features.

"Shae," I said, my voice low enough to rumble in my chest. "Shae, it's me."

I bowed my head, offering the vital and vulnerable part of my neck, where my skull met my spine. When nothing sounded, I risked a glance up.

The growl had died in her throat, but she was still staring at me as if I was something to eat. Her lips were pulled back, and much to my horror crisp, white fangs caught the light through the shadows of the leaves.

I looked at their size, the curve of the canines, and realized they weren't like Akan's - like mine, I had to remind myself. Ours were of something sinister, something evil that was eager to steal your life, your blood, your breath. Hers were simple.... Elegant, even. Beautifully crafted tools to take life away, quick, almost painless.

I lifted my head more. "Shae?"

The resonating growl returned, and I watched as something like hair sprouted from her skin through her pores, along the bridge of her nose and made its way upward, towards her hairline.

By the Gods... Something shifted in her features - anger to fear. She retreated a step, sinking lower to the ground - out of crouch and into something more vulnerable. It was as if she turned from the predator to the prey in seconds. And as soon as the resonating snap of a bone breaking rang through the clearing I knew why.

She was changing into something new.

Shae arched her back, a scream ripping from her throat into the canopy above, scattering the birds from their perches on the branches. Another pop of joints, ligaments, and bones as the fine, silvery fur grew thicker on her face, snaking its way down her neck and across her body.

The distant sound of cloth ripping, and her claws seemed to melt off of her, falling silently to the forest floor in a shredded heap.

Her fingers shortened, the thumb almost completely disappearing until what sat on the end of her arms seemed like... paws. Large, claw-tipped paws.

Her screams melted into the undeniable yowl of a cat. Through it all, her eyes had opened, her slitted pupils dilated against the pain, her breath coming in ragged gulps around the screams. I caught her gaze for only a moment, and much to my surprise, all the feral, lethal intensity had melted away into nothing but cool fear. And recognition. Through it all, she recognized me.