by Bailey, G.
“My name should be lost and forgotten, like the blood I carry which has caused so many problems,” he whispers back to me. He lifts his hand, placing it on my cheek. “Protect yourself, Anastasia, and the baby inside of you. I sense he will be the future of the Familiar Empire.”
As I stare in shock, knowing in my heart his words are true and I’m pregnant…a god dies with his hand in mine.
Chapter 22
Anastasia
A secret hidden within.
My hand falls to my stomach, like it has done for the last month since the god told me the truth and died seconds later. I don’t know how I am pregnant, not with what Mason told me, and I believe him. He wouldn’t lie to me…so perhaps it’s an ancient familiar-immortal thing? Maybe conception just doesn’t work for us. My mind flashes back to hiding the god’s body in the attic as it wasn’t an easy job, but I couldn’t risk anyone finding him and using his blood like he said. Thank god for Google…and hopefully no one is tracking my internet searches as “how to hide a body and make sure it doesn’t smell” is something the police would turn up for.
Maybe not in the Familiar Empire though.
I stand at my aunt’s side, my hand resting in Skye’s as we watch my sister get married. Phoebe walks down the aisle as the little flower girl, sprinkling rose petals everywhere as I search for any of my men.
I need to see them, to tell them I’m pregnant, and then we can figure out the rest later. The massive dome room is made of glass with flowers all wrapped around the pillars that hold it up. Sunlight beams through the glass, making it bright and warm in here but still empty for the reason it’s a wedding that doesn’t make sense.
I know my sister…and this isn’t what she wants, but I can’t figure out what exactly. The little bit of information about how we are immortal stays firmly in my mind, begging me not to tell anyone, because the idea of living forever sounds insane.
Forever.
With my guys? Well, that doesn’t sound too bad now I think about it. But forever with Bethany? My sister who I can’t predict or begin to understand at all? I don’t know how to process that little fact. What about Phoebe? Is she like us, or will she be mortal and die? There is so much to understand.
The music changes, and I look back with everyone else as my sister appears on Archibald’s skinny little arm. I will admit she looks amazing in her wedding dress, and some deep part of me wishes mum could see Bethany now. Her wedding dress is true Bethany style, flared out like a princess gown at the bottom while being tight and low cut at the top. Her veil covers her face and falls around her in a wave of silk as she walks down the aisle. Her long hair is up in a bun with a literal crown made of red crystals holding the veil on her head as she gets to Damon at the end of the aisle under a handmade archway full of red and white roses.
The priest starts the ceremony, and I blank out as they both say, “I do,” and whatever else they declare as I still search around for my guys, but it becomes clear they aren’t here right now. Skye squeezes my hand tightly, and I look down at her, seeing my mother’s necklace hidden under her purple dress. I knew exactly the best place to hide the necklace, and I couldn’t leave it in the attic. I wink at Skye just as one of my uncles starts to cough. Archibald coughs and coughs, spitting out blood as the room fills with chatter. I step into the aisle just as he collapses onto the floor with a thud. I look up just as my other two uncles fall onto the floor, blood spilling out of their mouths and their eyes wide open as their bodies twitch.
“AAAGH!” Damon screams, drawing my attention up to see Bethany stabbing Damon with a long dagger. I rush to her, pushing the people who are running away out of my way until I come out of the crowd and stand between the bodies of my dead uncles. Damon falls slowly, and Bethany kneels with him.
“Did you think I was clueless?” she asks in a mocking tone. “I knew they trusted you with everything, far more than me. I was to look pretty at your side and never, ever rule. But I don’t want that, and I certainly don’t want you. Good luck in Hell, Damon Dawn.” He falls to the ground, and I look out the window just in time to see his animal fall onto the grass, dying together.
“Why did you do that?” I ask Bethany, practically shouting as she stands up, looking pleased with herself.
“I did it for us,” she replies with a sweet smile, even as the blood of a man she claimed to love drips onto her wedding dress. “I poisoned our genius uncles and then got rid of the last heir, their precious Damon. Now it’s just us and the Empire we can rule. Together.”
“Rule and do what?” I growl, and Shadow crashes through the door behind me, with Dawn jumping through the glass window behind Bethany at the same time. Shadow gets close to my side as I realise the room is empty other than Bethany and me.
And our wolves.
“Rule the world, of course,” she replies like it’s just that simple. “We are immortal, Ana. We are, you have to believe me, and that means we need to make our castle our home, and the humans will never let us have that. I realise it now; I did the second they took you from me.”
“This isn’t the way, Bethany,” I say, shaking my head.
She grits her teeth, getting angry as guards flood the room. Like they know Bethany is in charge, they stay around the side of the dome, waiting and watching for her order. God, she planned this well. “We will have war, a war the familiars will win. Any humans that survive can have their children turned into familiars, like the twins. My uncles made this plan for war, and it’s flawless, but they didn’t see me watching and waiting for the right moment.”
“I won’t be part of this.”
“If you stand in my way, you become the prophecy. You will be the end of the Familiar Empire, and I can’t have that!” she shouts.
“Side with us, Anastasia,” Aunt Courtney pleads, and I slowly turn around, seeing her holding Phoebe’s and Skye’s hands. They both look scared out of their minds, but Courtney looks happier than ever.
This was all planned. Bethany never left Courtney for my uncles, she simply became the perfect spy. Shadow senses my answer way before I even speak it, and he growls low, the sound filling the room.
“Never.” My one word makes the room drop into silence, and it’s the calm before the storm. Within seconds, Dawn is running at me, wide teeth looking ready to bite, and Bethany screams. Shadow jumps to knock Dawn out of the way, both of them crashing chairs and glass, and smacking into a pillar. Worry fills me as Shadow bites Dawn’s leg, but Dawn is the same size and just as strong, giving Shadow one hell of a fight.
I can’t lose him.
The guards all rush towards me, and I freeze, having no idea what to do next, just as Ki-Ki slams through the glass, falling into the room. Glass cuts into my skin as it falls around me, and I cover my head with my arms. Ki-Ki knocks the guards out the way before curling around me in a protective way as I turn to see where Phoebe and Skye are.
“Ana!” Skye screams as Courtney pulls her and a crying Phoebe out of the room. Liam and Mason are suddenly there, more welcome than I could ever admit, and I smile for the first time despite everything. Courtney looks back at me with so much venom in her gaze, but Liam takes one step closer, and she wisely lets them go before running away, out of one of the doors as Silver jumps into the room.
“Get them on Silver and out of here!” I shout, and my guys do just that as Alex jumps over Ki-Ki’s huge tail and tugs me into his arms.
“Are you okay?” he asks me, but I shake my head. I don’t have time be okay.
“Alex, get to the basement and find a pair of twins—babies with polar bear familiars—and get them all out of here…I’m going to deal with my sister,” I firmly say, and he goes to disagree with me, but I kiss him before he can. “Do this for me. Trust me and do not come back.”
“Always a pain in my ass, Tassie,” he grumbles but nods at Ki-Ki. “Don’t you fucking die.”
“Not happening,” I grin, and he nods, no smile back for me, but he climbs on Ki-Ki as she
slides around me and out of the way, leaving me alone with my sister. Something explodes nearby, and I smell the crackle of fire, hear the sound of distant gunshots, and know this is how a war is going to start.
Two sisters. Two wolves…just like it did once before.
Chapter 23
Alex
Trusting is the art of falling.
Ki-Ki crashes through the middle of the entrance hall near the lift, finding the tunnel that leads to the basement, which is a hell of a lot bigger than I thought.
It’s a damn science lab. I lift my head and jump off Ki-Ki as two guards run at us, and I smile as I place my hand on Ki-Ki’s back, pushing power through my hand. Blue energy slams through my fingertips, sparking alive our connection and slamming into Ki-Ki, changing her into a big red furry lion who jumps on the guards before they can even raise their guns. I step over their bodies once Ki-Ki is done, and an older man with greying hair, a willowy form, and thick glasses on his nose steps out of a room with two babies in a basket.
“I believe they belong to me. Put the basket down, and I will let you go,” I say, and I take my eyes off the man for a moment to see the lab is on fire on either side of us. They are burning it on purpose. The man shakes his head, and Ki-Ki lets out a long roar just as I hear explosions in the distance.
It freaks the man out enough to put the basket on the floor and make a run for it. Ki-Ki looks at me, and I nod once, and she chases after him. His scream fills my ears, and I lean down to look at the twin babies wrapped in a blue blanket, and the tiny baby polar bears at the bottom of the basket.
What the hell has Tassie got to do with these babies?
I cover my head as part of the floor near me caves in, slamming rubble onto the floor and making an opening for us to escape. “Ki-Ki, get here now!” She is at my side in seconds, and I place my hand on her again, changing her into a red hawk this time. I climb on her back, holding the basket down with my chest and arms as she takes off through the gap, dodging the fire and rubble until we get outside. I look back at the fire, and I pray to god Ana has gotten her hot ass out of here by now.
I’m not leaving without her, one way or another. Ki-Ki flies us right to the back of the property where the helicopter Liam and Mason have hijacked is starting up. I climb off Ki-Ki, and she flies into the air to join the other animals as I rush to the open doors of the helicopter with the babies. Mason takes the basket from me, and I climb in, looking for Skye and finding her in her seat, tears falling down her cheeks as she holds Phoebe close. Liam nods back at me from the pilot seat, and Dorothy takes the basket from Mason without asking a single question about whose babies those are. I’ve always loved that chick.
“Liam get us out of here,” Mason says.
“What about Ana?” I grab Mason’s jacket, and he doesn’t fight me off.
“We aren’t leaving without her, I swear it, but we need to get in the air. Once we are safe and the children are, we can jump out on Hex and Ki-Ki and get our girl,” Mason counters.
“Ana would never forgive you if the children are hurt,” Dorothy reminds me, and reluctantly I look back at the mansion on fire.
“Just fucking go.”
Ana get out before I walk into the fire and drag you with me.
Chapter 24
Anastasia
When family breaks, it hurts more than the deepest cut.
Bethany stands on the platform, her eyes locked onto mine with zero emotion showing in the depths of them.
And I still love her like I always have done. I will still fight to find my sister under all the chaos she has smothered herself in.
“End this now, Bethany. We can build a future on peace, on love. We can do this, we always have!” I plead with her as I step closer. Shadow’s whimper catches my ears, and it takes everything in me not to look away from Bethany to see if he is okay. I have to believe he is.
“We can have a family, a real one. There is so, so much waiting for you if you just stop this.”
“An eternity, huh?” she finally speaks, but she sounds nothing like my sister. “An eternity in your shadow, sister?”
“Bethany, I’ve always been in your shadow! I’ve always admired you, hell, wanted to be you!” I shout back, and she laughs as she takes three steps closer to me. The fire is spreading now; I can feel the heat under my feet and surrounding the room as smoke sneaks in. I almost think I can hear my guys shouting my name…and the panic in their voices, but I might be imagining that. If they haven’t gotten the kids and left, I’m going to be so mad. I don’t need a hero to save me…I can save myself.
To do that, I need to get out of here before it all burns down. I glance over at Shadow and Dawn, thankful to see Dawn is injured and Shadow has her pinned down.
“You will never let him kill Dawn, even when you know it will stop me. It’s the only thing that will stop me,” Bethany whispers to me. I look back at my sister as tears escape my eyes.
“What happened to you?” I softly ask. “And how do I save you?”
“You can’t,” she replies just as softly as me, but in the same breath, she lifts the knife she killed her husband with and tries to stab me. I scream as I block her attack, but the knife slips down my arm from my shoulder. With strength I didn’t know I had, I manage to shove Bethany, and she trips on her wedding dress, falling across the floor. Shadow growls loud enough to hurt my ears and, at the same time, throws Dawn across the room and out of the glass.
“Leave her, Shadow,” I command, my voice breaking. “Help me.” Shadow is at my side in seconds, and I use my good arm to pull myself up. “Get us out of here,” I whisper to Shadow, digging my good hand into his fur, and he runs off through the fire licking the walls of the hallway, destroying this monster of a home. We come out of the fire and straight around the corner, where a giant army style helicopter is starting to take off, dozens of guards with guns are firing at the helicopter. I see Alex, Mason and Liam inside, and I have no doubt Phoebe and Skye are there as well.
Above them, three hawks fly in the air, following the helicopter, and I know one is Hex…the others are Silver and Ki-Ki. They changed them. Without thinking, I cry out as I place my hands over Shadow and call that power I haven’t used in ages. The guards turn at my cry and lift their guns at me. Thinking only of a hawk, purple energy blasts out of my hands and surrounds both me and Shadow. The energy sends a shockwave away from us, and the guards’ screams are all I can hear as Shadow is changed into a giant black hawk who waits for no one and shoots into the sky after our family. I lie down and take a deep breath as I stare at the sun setting over the city…the calm before the storm.
A storm they have no clue is even coming. My eyes drift shut, and I sigh as I let darkness happily take me away.
Chapter 25
Anastasia
You always know your true home. It’s felt in your soul.
The beeping of a machine wakes me up, and I feel groggier than ever as I blink my eyes a few times at the white ceiling, hearing shouting very close to me, but I can’t understand the words. I sit up, my head spinning as I feel pain shoot down my shoulder to my arm, and I remember everything in a flash as I look at the bandages covering my arm. I stare at the infirmary I’m in, knowing straight away I’m back home, even before Estelle walks through the curtain, her face lighting up in joy the second she sees me.
“Oh my, it is good to see you awake, dear,” she says and rushes to me. “Quickly, before they come in. Do you know you’re expecting? I did blood tests to make sure you were okay and found out.”
“Yes, and I’d rather tell them myself. Is the baby okay?” I ask her, and she nods just before she carefully hugs me. I hug her back with my one good arm, and she relaxes against me.
“I’m so happy for you, and I missed you. I heard what happened, and I’m so sorry, Ana,” she whispers to me, and my reply catches in my throat, the thick emotion of shame and pain swimming before my eyes. I feel Shadow waking up nearby and almost feel his relief for bei
ng back home.
“Hey, Tassie,” Alex says, and I lift my head from Estelle’s shoulder to see my guys all waiting at the end of my bed, silent and yet perfectly my family. Mason moves first and rushes over to me as Estelle lets go. His lips are on mine in a blink, and I melt into his embrace, not even thinking about Alex and Liam being here, seeing us like this. Alex’s hand falls into mine, and Liam comes close to the top of the bed and rests his forehead against the side of my head.
“When Shadow fell out of the sky, my heart was in my chest. Thankfully, Silver and Hex caught Shadow and flew him home, and Ki-Ki caught you,” Liam admits. Oh god. “We had to set the helicopter off, but we knew Shadow would get you out. I never thought you’d be hurt.”
“Bethany…” I whisper, and it’s enough for them to understand. I clear my throat, knowing there are more important questions. “Who did you get out? Skye? Phoebe?”
“Skye, Phoebe, and the nameless glowing twins are being looked after by my mum, Raine and even Hugh who came to help. We have put the place on lockdown for now, but it’s only been a few hours since we got off the plane and took a second helicopter to here. Dorothy had nurse training and helped you on the plane. Thank god for Liam’s army friends he made years ago or this wouldn’t have been possible,” Liam answers me, and I sigh in relief. “Who knows what Bethany and Courtney are doing right now but they are a problem for when you’re feeling better.”
