Changed

by Jean Booth

  “Natasha, know that this is just business. You can’t help who you are any more than I can help who I am. Just do yourself a favor and do whatever Nicholas asks. You may eventually walk out of here if you do.” Marie met my eyes briefly in the mirror, and for a split second, I saw remorse. It was quickly covered by a slight nod of her head, followed by a sharp bite to my side, jolting my entire body. It was the worst pain I’d ever experienced in my life. I blacked out for the second time that night.

  I WOKE slowly this time. My face still hurt, but it wasn’t throbbing to the beat of my pulse anymore. I gave quick thanks for my new healing abilities and prayed I’d be finished with testing them. My side was tender, my throat was scratchy, and the taste of vomit was present in my mouth. I realized I was lying on a leather couch in some sort of office. I sat up slowly, allowing my head time to adjust to an elevated position. Leaning against the arm of the couch for support, I surveyed the dim room. A small lamp on a massive desk in front of the couch lit the area. A large, wide leather chair swiveled behind the desk to reveal an equally wide man.

  “I was starting to wonder when you’d come around. I sincerely apologize for your treatment thus far. Marie assured me it was absolutely necessary to render you unconscious. I hope you weren’t harmed too badly. My healer had a look at you and declared you healthy enough. She said it would just be a matter of time before you regained consciousness. I’m pleased to see she wasn’t mistaken.

  “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nicholas. When we’re through, I’m certain that you and I shall be the greatest of friends.” His smile made me shudder. It was a smile that held perverted satisfaction, filled with confidence and knowledge of things I prayed I’d never know. He appeared to be short, probably not much taller than myself, but wide. He had the tanned skin of someone from the tropics, close cropped hair, and a nicely trimmed goatee. He was unassuming and somewhat attractive, if you ignored the creepy smile.

  “What do you want with me?” I croaked out.

  “I want to liberate you from your bond. I want to return you to the life that was cruelly taken from you.” He handed me a glass of water and two pills. “It’s water and aspirin. If you wish, I can have Maurice bring some food to your room later.”

  “You mean you’re not going to kill me?” I didn’t trust him. I sniffed the aspirin, recognizing the familiar chemical compounds, and took them with the cool water. It felt like heaven on my abused throat. He waited until I’d taken the pills to continue speaking, with a look of pained shock that would have impressed anyone in theatre.

  “Of course not, my dear! I simply wish for things to remain as they are. Having Atlantis rise would be catastrophic. If we succeed in removing the bonds you have with your mate, we can prevent the prophesy from ever coming to fruition. This would prevent Atlantis from rising, prevent humans from knowing the existence of creatures they relegated to fiction, and prevent a war that would end all life on this planet. Can you not see the effects your actions would have on the masses? Your mate desired you, selfishly. Imagine what that selfish act could do to the rest of civilization. It would be devastating. I simply wish to prevent war.”

  “You’re too late. I’ve already given my tears, mated, and left Atlantis. The prophecy’s been fulfilled. It’s just a matter of time until Atlantis rises, and your people join the rest of civilization.” I spoke with certainty, but inwardly, I could almost see his point of view. I’d never even considered how humans would react with knowing that supernatural beings really did walk among them. I had to believe that humans would eventually come to accept the Atlantean people. Above all else, I had to hope. He looked at me with confusion and pity.

  “You mean you truly don’t know?”

  “Know what?” He looked at me with such pity, I almost felt as if he truly cared about me. For a brief second, I felt his remorse for kidnapping me, having me beaten, and now for telling me something that would cause me grief. Then I remembered that he had me kidnapped and beaten into unconsciousness—twice. This man could not be trusted.

  “It truly pains me to be the one to burden you with this knowledge. It was not my intention to cause you grief. I fear you were not told everything when you were mated. The entire prophecy goes like this: ‘A lesson must be learned for gods and men to live in harmony. Atlantis shall descend to be hidden from gods and men. Until the time the soul mates and willingly chooses to break, you shall be apart from your heart. Atlantis will join the ranks again when tears are freely given. Death created devastation; death shall be your preservation.’” He paused for effect. “Do you understand what that means?” I shook my head. No. A terrible feeling started in my chest, squeezing my heart painfully. “I cannot believe no one has told you. That is even more cruel than forcing you to become the mate of an immortal. You and your mate have come closer to satisfying the demands of prophesy than any other mated pair in our history, but there is still one more thing that must be done. One more sacrifice to be made.”

  A chill crept over my skin. There were only two of us involved in the prophecy, Raif and me. I didn’t want him to say it. I couldn’t hear it, but I couldn’t stop him either. My throat was dry, my heart thudding in my chest. I couldn’t hear the lies my heart already believed.

  “Your mate must become a willing sacrifice on Poseidon’s altar. His blood must flow, coating the steps of the altar in penance for Atlas’s betrayal of the gods. He must willingly die. Death created devastation; death shall be our preservation.”

  “No, you’re wrong. He’d have told me. He said we’d be together again when Atlantis rose. He promised. You’re lying!” I was shaking. I couldn’t believe him—I wouldn’t! There was no way Raif would mate with me, knowing it would cause his death. He wouldn’t hide something that important from me; he couldn’t.

  “I’ll give you until tomorrow to think about things. The only way to save your mate’s life is to remove the bond that was created, to return you to your humanity. You would both live as you had before you met. Our two civilizations would continue in the peaceful ignorance they’ve had for centuries. Think about it.” With that, he nodded to someone behind me and left the room. I turned to see who had entered the room without me noticing. Tommy—I could tell from his tattoos, which were opposite from his brother’s—was leaning against the wall next to the door.

  I shrank back in fear. I knew I shouldn’t, that any sign of submissiveness I showed was a weakness, but after the abduction, he and his brother terrified me. His posture finally registered in my confused, terrified brain. He was leaning with shoulders turned away, his eyes downcast, and arms casually hanging by his side, palms open. He was doing his best to appear nonthreatening and submissive to me. I couldn’t figure out why he’d want to do that after establishing that he was okay with abuse.

  “Forgive me for what happened earlier. We were only supposed to ask you to join us, not cause you harm. Marie and Ben get carried away sometimes. Allow me to escort you to your room.” He held the door open for me, keeping his eyes downcast. I would’ve been stupid to trust him, but I also knew I needed a place to think. I couldn’t stay in Nicholas’s office all night. Besides, they had to think I was at least willing to accept their proposal if I had any chance at escape or rescue.

  He led me down a hall to a door on the left. There were doors lined on either side of the hall, all closed with no indication of stairs either up or down. From the windowless office to the monochromatic hallway, I had no idea where I was or how to escape. I did know that I had to try to figure these things out and figure out how to contact Stephan. Silently, I cursed him for not training me more in Dream-Walking.

  Tommy opened the door, keeping his eyes lowered in submission. His demeanor didn’t fool me. He’d already showed that he was comfortable with abuse and mild torture by not doing anything to stop his brother. The room itself was small, sparsely decorated, with a private bath. There were two small windows flanking the bed that had curtains covering them. I avoided looking at them
too long, hoping that Tommy hadn’t noted my excitement at a possible escape route.

  “Don’t bother changing. Nicholas placed a charm on you to prevent that from happening. There are armed guards both in the house and on the property for your safety and protection. The windows are electrified and alarmed. We’re also five stories up, and while you’d survive that fall, it would hurt like hell and take time for the bones to heal.” He recited the information like he was bored and did this all the time. For all I knew, kidnapping and torturing women was an everyday occurrence for him. My heart dropped at the mention of the electrified windows. I thought that was all, but he continued in a softer voice.

  “Do yourself a favor, Natasha, just do what he says. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to go back to your old life? To be human again, and to know that by doing so, your mate would live?” He finally looked at me, and the pain in his eyes surprised me. Before I could answer, he bowed and walked out of the room.

  I had to get out of here. No way was I allowing them to sever the bonds I had with Raif. I didn’t believe he was supposed to die. I refused to. Bad guys always tell you things to scare you into doing what they want. It was bad guy rule number one. I just had to get out of here.

  I started checking the windows. Sure enough, we were five stories up, and I could hear the hum of electricity next to my cheek. I swore softly, remembering the jolt in the car. I didn’t even care if I would live through it; the threat of that pain was enough of a deterrent. I noticed the armed guards patrolling the compound. Some had lights, and some wore strange things on their heads. All were armed with huge guns.

  I went to the bedroom door to see if I could try looking for the stairs. I didn’t remember seeing anyone patrolling this floor, so maybe they were all outside. I opened the door, revealing Tommy on the other side. He was sitting sprawled out against the wall across from my door, settling in for a long night of boredom. He raised an eyebrow, and I quickly shut the door again. I really was trapped.

  I sat on the bed. Doubt was creeping over me. I’d known for a while that Stephan was hiding something from me. What if it was the second half of the prophecy? I didn’t want to believe that Stephan or Raif would hide something so huge from me.

  I thought about returning to humanity, leaving all the craziness of Atlantis behind. It was very tempting. If there was one thing I’d gained from all of Stephan’s trainings, though, it was a love for being a Changer. The freedom, the simple joy of running—it was all so intoxicating. I didn’t think I could go back to being simply human, knowing what I knew now.

  If Nicholas was telling the truth, Raif would die unless I allowed our bonds to be severed. For the first time, I allowed the thought to take root in my mind. If I allowed our bonds to be severed, Raif wouldn’t have any reason to die. He could live and thrive as he had for centuries. I could finish out my meager existence on this planet knowing that when I died, he would still live a long and happy life.

  Despite myself, I scoffed. Raif hadn’t lived a happy life before we’d met. He’d simply existed. He was hated for his position, lonely and alone. His only friends were Michael and, strangely enough, Atreyu. Even if I did sever the bonds, when he left Cleito’s protective castle, his people would kill him for deceiving them. If he stayed in her castle and Poseidon found out about me severing the bonds, I was certain he’d find a way to destroy us both in a fit of rage.

  I had to get out of here. That was my only solution. I had to escape, find Stephan, and have him settle this. If Nicholas was telling the truth, and there really was a way to sever the bonds, Stephan would know. It would hurt beyond measure if Nicholas was right, but I had to hear it from Stephan before I’d allow myself to believe it. As of this moment, all I was certain of was that I absolutely had to get out of here.

  I tried to change. I thought about being something small enough to blend in and hide from everyone: a mouse. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pull off something so small, but I figured that if I could gain mass to be a large cat, I could theoretically lose mass to be a mouse. I felt the trickles of the change start, followed quickly by a sharp shooting pain from my ankle. It was bad enough that I cried out and stopped my transformation. Pulling my pant leg up, I found the charm Tommy had told me about. Around my ankle was a tiny cuff made of what looked like braded iron, silver, and copper with little emeralds and sapphires dangling from the braid. I couldn’t find a clasp and wondered how such a small thing could prevent me from changing.

  I radiated with anger. It was the final straw. First, they kidnapped me, then knocked me unconscious—twice. They imprisoned me in some room, and now they’d removed my ability to change. Apparently, this was the cost of finding your soul mate and wanting a life with him.

  My anger reached its breaking point. I’d been hunted and attacked more since meeting Raif than I had in thirty years as a human—even a human doing questionable genetic research. I was pissed and scared, sick and tired of being left in the dark. If what Nicholas said was true, I didn’t want to be a part of it. I didn’t want to know this deep connection, only to have it be severed so that a race of people could continue to survive. We’d gotten along just fine for eleven thousand years. Atlantis could rot for all I cared.

  I knew I didn’t want to be a part of this culture anymore. Why in the world would Raif want to liberate these people, to add unstable Atlanteans into the human population? I knew what I had to do, what needed to be done. My decision was firm, doubt completely obliterated from my soul at the sight of that tiny little anklet.

  I did the only thing I could after that. I bathed and went to bed. I tried to search out Stephan in my dreams, to tell him what was happening and how to find me. Certainly, if I could Dream-Walk to him, he could guide things from there. I wasn’t sure if my captors knew I was a Walker, but since they were allowing me to sleep, I figured it was still a secret. I tried my best to contact Stephan, giving myself a splitting headache as I concentrated. Nothing happened. I couldn’t find him, couldn’t find Raif. Hell, I didn’t dream at all. I tossed and turned on the bed until Tommy came to get me the next day.

  It was close to noon when Tommy walked into my room carrying a small tray of food. After what Stephan had been providing me the past couple of weeks, this was pitiful. My stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since noon the day prior. I was starving and tired from my restless sleep.

  I thanked Tommy for the food. Somehow knowing I wouldn’t be offered more, I desperately tried to pace myself and not look like a ravenous animal. If they were trying to treat me like a guest, they really should have taken a lesson from Stephan on how to properly feed a Changer. I was hungrier after the small meal than I was before I started. Maybe starvation was a part of the process of breaking my bond with Raif, and Nicholas had decided to eliminate that decision from me as well.

  When I was finished, I followed a silent Tommy out of the room. He led me down the hall in the same direction we came from last night. It was as monochromatic during the day as it was at night. I had no idea how he knew what door to pick. It seemed as if he opened one at random and walked through, expecting me to follow. I caught a glimpse of stairs below, so I hurried to keep up. It appeared he was taking me closer to the ground floor.

  Each floor was the same as the one before it. We’d go down one flight of stairs, open the door to a hall of doors, go through another one, and repeat the process until we reached the ground floor. I was tingling with anticipation. All I had to do now was find the front door and make a break for it. The front door would have to be different from all the rest; front doors were always different from interior doors. Tommy opened the door to the first floor, and my heart stuttered. The floor was identical to all the others.

  He led me farther down the hall this time, going almost to the last door before deciding to open one on our right. Behind this door was a decently sized library filled with books, a large cherry wood desk, and large, soft-looking chairs. Nicholas was sitting behind the desk, cl
icking away on a laptop. He barely glanced my way as Tommy directed me to have a seat. My giddy feeling immediately disappeared, leaving only a hollow pit of unease nagging at my psyche.

  “Good morning, Natasha. I trust you slept well.” He was perky and full of cheer as he lowered the lid to his computer.

  “Actually, it was awful. This thing on my ankle itches. Would you mind taking it off?” I tried not to snip. I coated my words in honey. I tried to ignore my irritation, anger, and hunger to imitate his good cheer, to show him I could be reasonable and kind, just like him. It didn’t work.

  “I am terribly sorry for the discomfort, unfortunately we must maintain our safe practices for both you and us, at least until you finish the cleansing process. Have you come to a decision?” The cleansing process. That was a cute term for separating Raif and me forever.

  “Yes, I have. Remove this thing and I’ll tell you.” I could be stubborn, too.

  “Natasha, what guarantees do I have of you not changing into some horrible beast and murdering all of my people that I so dearly care for? Everyone here relies on me to keep them safe, to protect them from the danger other Atlanteans pose to them. If I were to release you, without a guarantee of their safety, I would lose my reputation and my followers. Certainly, you can understand how the poor humans would feel if I let you loose to snack on them?”

  “I wouldn’t eat a person if they were the last thing available. That’s disgusting. I give you my word. Until I’m off your property, I won’t change. That should be acceptable. I’ve shown myself to be agreeable to things so far. Besides, you have Tommy right there. If I start to do something you don’t like, he’ll just knock me out again and solve your problem for you.” I smiled politely back. I wanted this thing off.

  I knew it was the reason I wasn’t able to Dream-Walk, and I knew that was going to be my only way out of here. I had to contact Stephan. They weren’t going to let me simply walk away. I had to hope that whatever they were going to do to me would wait until tomorrow and I’d be given a night without this anklet to try and reach Stephan.