Forbidden

Proteans

Luca

Tears clouded his eyes, and he looked away so Van wouldn't see them. He knew this was the reason they were meeting, but reading texts was different from hearing the words. A small, warm hand tightened over his.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," she said, squeezing his hand before letting go. Standing, she reached her hands to the sky, rising up on her toes until her muscles quivered from stretching. Then, she dropped back down and spoke without looking at him. "I don't know how much I can do. I've only just started training, and I know nothing about this world. Not really."

"But Van, you have what no one in my family has- access to the Holy Asylum of Light. You've seen him. You know where he's being kept."

When she turned, she chewed on the end of her thumb. "Yeah. The place looks like an old castle on the outside, but below the main property is a lab. But Luca, it's huge. I've only been in a small part, and I'm watched like a hawk. Trixie goes with me everywhere. She's responsible for my training."

Luca remained sitting, but his eyes moved frantically across the cemetery as his mind whirled. "Van, are you helping me or not? You sound like you're trying to talk me out of this."

"No, never that. I just want to be realistic about what I'm bringing to the table. I will do whatever I can. No one should be put in cages, least of all children."

He leaned forward and snagged her hand. Drawing her between his knees, he grabbed her other hand and looked into her face, letting a bit of his panther out so that he knew she could see the unnatural gleam in his eyes. He waited for her to flinch or pull away, but she held his gaze, a green glow of her own flashing so bright and fast he wondered if it was a trick of the moonlight.

"Van, you don't have to worry. I'm realistic about this. If I thought this would be easy, I would have already saved my brother, but with your help, we might really have a chance. And I'm not asking for you to storm the castle tonight. We're going to have to gather information."

She nodded. "I can do that. My father has already ordered me to attend the school full time, and I think he's so desperate to see me embrace this new life, he wouldn't question any interest I show... as long as I do it carefully."

"What about Hailey? She's going to be suspicious." Luca once thought he could trust the young Slayer. She seemed different than the others, but last night made him question everything.

"You know her better than I do, but she seemed to be telling the truth when she told me she wouldn't tell anyone about what happened at your place. She said she liked you and your family."

He mulled that over. Maybe he hadn't read Hailey wrong. "And Trixie? Is she like all the others?" And by that he meant unfeeling, hard asses who didn't care if it was a bloodsucker or a baby they were putting in cages or in collars.

A fond smile tugged at Van's lips. "Actually, I think she's okay. She's fierce. Fierce enough that my father hand picked her to train me, but she's not like the others. She doesn't kiss my father's ass, and she seemed genuinely bothered by the situation with your brother."

"So, we can't call them allies, but at least you have people around you that you can trust to some degree. Here, come with me. Let me show you something."

He looped her arm through his as they picked their way around the headstones, but despite the uneven ground, she moved with as much grace as a shifter. As a Helsing, she was bound to possess superhuman abilities, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something he was missing.

Pushing the thought aside- he had enough worries to occupy his mind- he focused on the names engraved in stones. While he hadn't met everyone who was buried in this graveyard, he knew each of the names as well as his own. From a young age, his father had brought him here to remind him of the consequences of stepping out of line, and he could point to any plot and know who was buried in the cold earth without reading the headstone.

Shifters lived long lives if they weren't slaughtered, and that meant nearly all of the plots were well tended to, often by a loved one who could still remember the warmth of the deceased's touch, the timber of their voice, and love in their eyes. Many burned with a desire to destroy those who'd taken someone precious from them. It was an emotion not easily hid. Those like Bane and his family didn't even try to hide it, but for the first time, with Van on his arm and Brantley kidnapped, Luca understood. He would see the world burn if it meant protecting those he loved, and he whispered a prayer of forgiveness to his father for abandoning his teachings of peace.

"Where are we going?" Van asked as they kept pushing to the back of the cemetery.

"Just a little bit further."

Their destination wasn't one of the neatly kept graves in the front. It was a grouping of chipped headstones in the back corner, the graves kept in constant shadows by the cove of Willow trees clustered around them. Van stiffened as she realized where they were headed, and he could see the question in her eyes when she looked up at him.

"These are different. Old."

Very old. And below the yellowed grass and damp dirt were creatures who predated shifters and the Helsings.

"I wanted you to see this before you made your decision."

"Luca, I told you-"

He cut her off by cupping her face and shaking his head. "Listen to me, please."

"Okay," she whispered, her eyes wide with an emotion that made his gut clench.

"The people buried here are my ancestors. They're the ancestors of all shifters."

"So, they're not shifters?"

"Yes and no. They were called Proteans."

Van's face brightened with recognition. "Hailey mentioned them, but she said-" darkness stole the light from her eyes, "That they were gone."

"In Greek mythology, Proteus was a sea-god, and he could change his form at will. To whatever he wanted. A lion, a serpent, a pig... even into water or trees. His children possessed his gifts. There were those who exploited the Proteans, and used their powers to create monsters. Corrupted creatures like Vampires and werewolves."

Van swallowed hard and dropped to her knees to get a better look at the headstones. She ran her finger over a name, moving slowly over each loop and curve. "How?"

Luca didn't have to ask her to clarify. "The Helsings originally worshipped the Proteans. They worked with them to fight against the evil in the world. Together, they created the first shifters. Men blessed with the gifts of gods, but they could only assume one form. But when they discovered the Proteans were immortal, they began to fear them. They were unnatural creatures and too powerful. And besides, with the shifters who were so much more easily controlled, they didn't need the Proteans. One by one, they hunted them down until they were all dead."

Tears fell freely down Van's face, and she spoke so low, he could barely hear her. "They're obsessed with labyrinths. One way in and one way out. Life and death. Natural order."

"It's the Slayer motto. Those collars you mentioned. Do you remember them?"

She tucked her hands beneath her armpits and nodded. "Yes. My father has some in his basement."

Bile rose in Luca's throat at the thought. "They fashion them from the skin of slain Proteans, and when they're put around a shifter's neck, we can do nothing but obey."

"Oh god," Van choked out. "Why are you telling me all this? What's your point?"

"My point is that even when you think the Slayers are on your side, they're not. They turn on their allies, and if they find out you're working against them, they will do everything in their power to destroy you. So, I need you to be very sure before you agree to this that you understand the danger, and if we succeed, we're going to be running for a very, very long time."

She looked back at the headstone and gripped it until her knuckles turned white. Dragging in a deep breath, she unleashed a growl he felt rumble in his own chest, and when she stood, he knew he wasn't imagining the fire in her eyes.

"Just tell me what you need me to do."