by Holly Martin
I sat up. ‘You’re angry at me?’
‘Yes I am.’
‘Oh.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ his eyes were filled with a hurt anger.
‘That I was feeling sick? I didn’t want to make a fuss; I just thought it was a bug or something.’ I could feel myself getting hot again now.
‘No not that, that I was hurting you. When we were together in bed this morning, I hurt you didn’t I?’
I shrugged. ‘Maybe a bit.’
Seth’s jaw tightened. ‘Quinn said it would be agonizing, that hugging you would be like stabbing you. We did a bit more than just hugging, and you were in excruciating pain, the whole time.’ He balled his fists up to his eyes. ‘You had your eyes closed, which I thought was odd, you normally keep them open, normally look at me as we lie together. I thought… I thought you were enjoying it, but you were in agony and you never told me.’ Pain ripped through every word.
I swallowed, my heart contracting at the grief I had caused him. I took his hand. ‘Because I didn’t want to hurt you.’
He looked at me incredulously. ‘The whole time I was stroking you, touching you, kissing you, it was absolute hell for you, and you’re worrying about my feelings. What about last night when we were together, did that hurt, and on the beach the first time we were together, did that hurt too? I thought it was the most amazing moment of my life and all the time you were in so much pain.’
‘No! Seth the first time was beautiful. I never realised it would be like that, it was amazing, and last night too. It was only this morning that it hurt.’ Sweat prickled down my neck, down my spine, a wave of immense tiredness drifting over me again.
Seth looked away from me angrily. ‘I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. We’re married, we’re supposed to be honest with each other, tell each other everything.’
‘I’m sorry, I just… You worry so much about me. I didn’t want you to worry any more than was necessary. You spend almost every waking hour comforting me, holding me, protecting me. I love you so much, I couldn’t bear to hurt you.’
‘Funny that, because that’s how I feel about you, but you’re talking about my feelings, I physically hurt you.’ He looked down at my hand in his. ‘Is this hurting you now?’ he said quietly.
I shook my head. ‘No, I’m not in pain anymore, I’m just hot and tired.’ Burning hot and so incredibly tired.
Seth looked at me sceptically.
‘I promise.’
Seth shook his head. ‘Get some rest. I’ll check in on you in a bit.’ He stood to leave.
‘Stay,’ I said quietly.
Seth hesitated but then walked out, his hands still balled up in fists.
I sighed and got into bed. I would have to get better at being honest with him. Or just get a lot better at lying.
I lay in bed, hot and sweaty, dozing restlessly, my heart seemed to be racing. I tossed and turned, hovering on the brink between sleep and the waking world. My duvet wrapped itself tightly around me like an octopus surrounding its prey and I writhed around, half asleep, trying to free myself from the creature that held me prisoner. A sense of panic seemed to engulf me as I fought against my captor, as I tried to force myself awake. But I couldn’t wake. Couldn’t escape. Amongst my sleep filled angst, hot hands were suddenly round my waist and I was pulled into the comforting safe arms of my love. Immediately the panic, the restlessness disappeared and I fell into a deep, calm sleep.
*
Seth woke me later, stroking my face, and kissing my forehead.
‘I’m sorry,’ I mumbled sleepily.
Seth sighed. ‘You make it impossible for me to stay angry at you, I love you too much.’
I smiled, kissing his neck.
‘How you feeling?’
‘Still really hot, still really tired.’ I sat up. ‘What time is it, is it time for us to get married again?’
‘Yes, but if you’re not up to it, maybe you should just stay in bed.’
I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up shakily. ‘No let’s just get it out the way.’
Seth smirked. ‘Such enthusiasm for getting married.’
I crawled back on the bed so I could kiss him. ‘You know I didn’t mean it like that, I just don’t want to keep that we’re married a secret any longer. I want to tell everyone about it, I want to wear my ring, I want to call you my husband, I want to be Mrs Hamilton. So let’s get married, and then I can come back and sleep for a year.’
Seth kissed me then got out the bed and went to the wardrobe. He pulled out my dress and laid it on the bed for me. I sat weakly on the edge of the bed watching him. He went to his wardrobe, and dressed in a white shirt and black trousers. He really was so beautiful.
As he fastened his tie, he turned to look at me speculatively. ‘You getting married in your pyjamas then?’
I stood feebly, then sat back down again.
Seth tutted and came over to me, helped me out of my pyjamas and into my dress.
‘It’s a good job we are already married, or I wouldn’t be able to do this without blushing.’
I smiled, as he helped me to my feet.
My wedding, my second wedding, was the most bizarre event I had ever attended. I was so glad that me and Seth had had our romantic, blissful wedding in Mexico, as my second wedding was a farce. I was also glad that only Quinn, Persia, my personal guard, Cassidy and Freya attended or more people would have seen me naked. I turned into a lioness a grand total of six times: three times during the ceremony, once as I signed the certificate and twice during my first dance.
Sometimes I had to concentrate hard to get back to my human form as Persia or Alexandria held a blanket round me. Sometimes I would change back just a few seconds after I’d shifted into a lion without me even thinking about it.
I felt a bit sorry for Quinn who had to watch almost the whole ceremony with his hand over his eyes, peering through a gap in his fingers, not wanting to see his little sister naked. But he was laughing by the end, as were most of the other guests. I had to laugh too, it was so ridiculous.
The poor chaplain was very flustered by the end, mopping his brow after I’d changed so many times. Luckily he was aware of the strange world we lived in; otherwise I think he would have had a heart attack when trying to marry Seth to a lion.
I was actually glad when the day was over, as Seth walked back with me to our room. We stopped at Quinn’s door and he hugged me and Seth before going back into his room with a big grin on his face.
I was so exhausted, shifting had worn me out. I got changed into my pyjamas and lay down, curled up on top of the bed as Seth got changed.
‘I think I’m legally married to a lion now,’ Seth chuckled.
‘You know, in some countries that would be ok,’ I murmured, my eyes closing against my will.
‘I’m just glad we had our own wedding first.’
‘Me too,’ I mumbled, sleep swallowing me, pulling me in.
I felt Seth lean over me, his hands either side of my head. He kissed my cheek softly, then my neck, then my collar bone. I could feel his soft hot breath on my face. I was falling deep down a well, falling further and further away from the waking world. Seth rolled me onto my back and then scooped me gently into his arms. My eyes opened in shock.
‘Hello baby,’ Seth pulled me to him, kissing my nose.
‘Lo,’ I slurred incomprehensibly, snuggling against his neck.
He held me with one arm, and pulled the duvet back with the other. He lay me down on the bed and lay next to me, pulling me tightly into his arms, and pulling the duvet back over us. I fumbled round to find his lips as the darkness took me, I kissed him softly and then I knew no more.
*
It took two days of me shifting before I managed to get control over it. Two days where my temperature fluctuated between hot and scalding, where I was so hot I thought my skin was burning to a crisp. Two days where I slept almost none stop. Two days where Seth didn’t leave my s
ide, his patience unending as he woke next to a lioness more times than I could count.
But in my barely conscious haze I was aware of the angst from my Guardians. Hushed whispered conversations happened in the corner of the room. They were worried and it wasn’t about me shifting. Something had happened and I didn’t know what. I couldn’t focus on what they were saying, but I caught the word ‘Oraculum’ a lot.
And then like a storm passing and the sun coming out and glistening on the wet pavement, drying up all the puddles, the transition period had passed. The second night I felt relatively normal again. Quinn said my body had now got used to the changes and I was unlikely to shift now unbidden, though it wasn’t impossible.
I woke on the third day with a renewed sense of strength. I was surprised to see Quinn, Persia and all my Guardians sitting waiting for me.
‘Feeling better?’ Alexandria smiled weakly.
I sat up. ‘Tell me.’
‘The Oraculum have summoned you again.’
‘What for?’
‘They’re furious over something, though they won’t tell us what.’
What had I done to anger the Oraculum now? Was it the shape shifting, though that was hardly my fault?
‘Eve, they’re sending the helicopter now, you’re to go alone,’ Eli said.
Chapter 15
I knew why they didn’t want me to bring my Guardians with me. The breaking of the Oraculum happened when my Guardians were present, but with some of the Oraculum ready to kill me and what happened last time with the shape shifter, Sophia, I wasn’t going to go back there alone.
‘No, I’m not going alone,’ I muttered. ‘I promised the Oraculum that I would always take you with me, wherever I went. They can’t change their minds when it suits them.’
‘I really don’t think it’s a good idea to anger them. They’re really mad over this.’
I clenched my teeth angrily. ‘Eli I am not going alone.’
Eli went to argue again but changed his mind. ‘How many do you want?’
‘All of you, my personal guard and Seth.’
Eli nodded. ‘Isaac?’
I hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. ‘And Noah and Jacob too.’ I added obstinately.
‘I’ll make the arrangements,’ Eli said and he left.
‘I better get changed,’ I said and the others quickly left too.
I quickly got changed as did Seth. When I went to the door they were all there waiting for me.
We walked down the stairs. The fort was silent, which disturbed me. What if this was it? What if the breaking of the Oraculum happened today? Samuel and Nereus could die today. But what else did the breaking mean to me? What did it mean to the world? As soon as we stepped outside I could hear the helicopter waiting for us, its rotor blades whirring, seemingly louder than it should be.
My step faltered as I drew close, remembering the last time I had been on the helicopter, when I had been kidnapped by Sophia and James. James apparently had not been seen since but that wouldn’t stop a Putarian, shape shifter or bounty hunter pilot from infiltrating the ranks. If it had happened before then it could happen again. And if it was a Putarian they would be quite happy to crash the helicopter into the side of the mountain, killing themselves in the process, as long as I was dead.
I realised I had stopped short of the helicopter, my legs refusing to carry me any further.
I saw Lucas and Eli communicate with each other silently and Eli nodded.
‘I can fly us there if you want Eve?’ he said gently.
I’d forgotten that Eli could fly. I’d seen him fly that little plane on our way to the fort. Flying lessons were all part of the Guardian training, it would seem.
I nodded. I didn’t like that I had been reduced to this, but there had been so many attempts on my life, it paid to be cautious.
Eli moved forward to talk to the pilot and with much confusion the pilot got out and Eli got in.
Suddenly feeling safer, I boarded and sat down with my personal guard around me. I smiled slightly when Persia and Quinn stubbornly got on as well.
We took off, the helicopter slicing quickly through the clouds. We seemed to arrive much quicker than I hoped and softly touched down just outside the portcullis. There was no member of the Oraculum to greet me this time, just a green eyed Guardian who said nothing. He turned and walked back towards the castle, expecting us to follow.
I didn’t like the silence so I turned to Eli as I walked. ‘How come you can fly a helicopter, is that part of the Guardian training?’
Eli smiled. ‘No, I trained to be a helicopter pilot. I thought ferrying the Oraculum around, the Guardians, you, was quite an honourable thing to do. Taking you to safety, well that would be a proud moment, especially since I had failed at being your friend.’
I gasped. ‘Did you see it as a failure that you weren’t my friend at school?’
‘That was the only reason we were there, to be your friends, but you didn’t connect with us.’ He shrugged simply.
I took Eli’s hand. ‘You’re my friend now.’
Eli smiled. ‘Anyway,’ he pressed on, clearly embarrassed by this. ‘I was training to be a helicopter pilot, you know evasive manoeuvres and the like, but we all have combat training as well. It seems I was quite adept at that side of things. The Oraculum were apparently impressed by my, erm, brutality, my swiftness to kill. They asked me to lead your personal guard. Of course I said yes, it was a great honour.’
I smiled.
We had reached the main entrance by this point and the Guardian pushed the doors open with a great echoing clang. We walked down the black marble corridor. I felt a sick, uneasy feeling in my stomach. Nothing good was going to come from this meeting. But I wasn’t going to be scared of them anymore. I had enough people against me with the Putarians, Reapers and bounty hunters, I didn’t need those that had created me to turn against me too. This had to end, one way or another. I just felt very uncomfortable about which way it might end.
The Guardian pushed open the gold inlaid doors at the end. We walked into the great chamber, my Guardians so close around me that I could barely move forward. The Oraculum all sat on their plinths, sitting in stern judgement.
I stopped before them and Samuel stood, angrily. ‘We told you to come alone, something you clearly chose to ignore. Such arrogance,’ he said, looking round at the other council members, waiting for a reaction he never got. ‘No matter, the end result will be the same, unless you pledge to us, of course. If you pledge to the Oraculum you will be allowed to go.’
I didn’t need the collective growled ‘no’ in my head from my personal guard to know it was not a good idea, but I was surprised to hear a ‘no’ from Cain and Matthias in my head too.
‘Can you explain what I have done wrong,’ I said. I had to play for time, maybe I could talk them into calming down. Surely what I had done was not that bad.
Jonah cleared his throat. ‘Two days after you promised you would take more care with your life, you went to Mexico without a single member of your personal guard.’
Oh crap.
Eli looked at me to see if this was true and the disappointment in his eyes was evident when he saw my guilty face.
Seth squeezed my hand then stepped forward. ‘That was my fault; I take full responsibility for that.’
‘Seth, no, I wanted to go alone. It wasn’t his fault, it was mine.’
‘It doesn’t matter who suggested it or who agreed to it…’ Jonah’s eyes deliberately fell on Lucas. ‘The fact is you went.’
Cain knew about my wedding, he had deliberately shown me a prophecy of me getting married on the beach in Mexico. He practically pushed me down the aisle. Leon had handed me the rings. They wanted me to get married. But they were both looking down at me as angry as the others. Maybe going alone had not been part of the arrangement, but Cain had certainly seen the lack of Guardians in the prophecy. Had they encouraged me deliberately to anger the Oraculum?
‘T
ell them to pledge to you,’ Matthias said in my head. I stared at him as his eyes burned into mine. Was he insane? I flicked my eyes to Cain and he gave the tiniest of nods.
‘This has gone on for long enough. You are foolhardy, reckless, and arrogant. You will pledge to us today,’ Nathaniel said.
I shook my head. ‘No I won’t.’
Samuel stood, cold anger and hatred filling his eyes. ‘You will pledge or you will die.’
I stepped back in shock. I had known that some of them had wanted me dead; I never expected them to come right out and admit it.
Cain stood, furiously. ‘You do not have the authority to issue that order. We must all agree to something like that and I, for one, will never agree to her murder.’
Nereus stood too. ‘You will have to go through me first.’
‘We do not all need to agree to pass that edict, we have always gone with the majority vote,’ Nathaniel said, calmly, as if they were discussing which was their favourite topping of pizza, rather than whether to kill me or not.
‘Tell them to pledge to you,’ growled Matthias.
Isaac stepped forward. ‘This is ridiculous. You created her, gave her all this power to ensure she fulfilled her destiny, so she could save the world and now you’re trying to kill her. If she dies then the end of the world will come and there will be no one here to stop it.’
I’d had enough. ‘Thanks Isaac, but no one needs to die today,’ I looked at the Oraculum. ‘I don’t want to fight against you anymore. We both have a common goal, that the world must be saved.’ I took a deep breath, preparing myself for what I was about to say next. ‘For us to move forward, I need to know that I have your support. Those that are with me, those that believe that I am going to save the world will pledge to me today.’
‘How dare you! I will die before I will ever pledge to you,’ Samuel roared and I saw Nereus shift awkwardly. Had the time come when Nereus killed Samuel, was the Oraculum about to break?
