A Tangle of Hearts

by Bella Forrest

  Pinned beneath me, Jovi shifted his arms between mine in an attempt to gain momentum and shove me away.

  A scream rang out.

  We both froze and looked toward where it had come from—beyond the shield, farther to the north.

  Then a different kind of scream—more like a shrill—pierced through the rustle of swamp weeds and tall grass. It came from beyond the gnarly trees that framed the muddy waters around the plantation.

  A chill rushed through me.

  It sounded like death.

  Jovi

  [Victoria & Bastien’s son]

  Up until that moment, my only concern had been getting Phoenix to concentrate on combat. He’d been zoned out, evasive, and dodging my questions all morning. He’d taken me by surprise during the last tackle, just enough to get me to stop worrying about him and turn my focus back to my pride, which had tumbled to the ground with me.

  But the sounds of screaming brought everything to a screeching halt. Pinned beneath Phoenix in a not-so-flattering position, I swung my arms around until I knocked him off balance and broke free.

  We looked at each other for a brief moment, then stretched our necks to locate the source of the sheer agony. All we saw were old trees curling outward from the depths of the jungle bordered by dark waters, sprawling weeds, and flocks of tall grass.

  “What was that?” I asked, almost out of breath.

  “I don’t know, but it’s not good,” Phoenix replied, his eyes on the jungle beyond the protective shield.

  I rolled over and tuned my senses, hoping to catch the scent of whatever had screamed so horribly, but I only got a faint whiff of iron. Blood.

  “Come on, Phoenix, you’re the one with the better sight here!” I said.

  His eyes glistened in the sunlight, a familiar expression. His True Sight must have broken through the layers of damp wood and dark green foliage, when another shrill came from between the trees. It sounded much closer than before.

  “Three… There’s three of them,” Phoenix said, his breath cut short, as if watching a suspenseful movie unraveling in real time.

  “Three of what?”

  “I… I’m trying to make them out.”

  I rose to my knees and concentrated my gaze in the same direction, hoping to see something as well. A third scream carried echoes of unimaginable pain. It washed over us and sent tremors down my spine. My instincts were dangerously close to kicking in; I felt restless and ready to jump in and fight.

  “They’re being hunted,” Phoenix continued, his fists clenched at his sides. “Two of them are down. They’re surrounded by some really nasty creatures… Shape-shifters…”

  “What do we do?” I burst to my feet. My blood boiled. Nobody deserved to get torn to shreds by mindless creatures, to get hunted down like mere animals.

  “We can’t go in by ourselves, Jovi,” Phoenix replied, his True Sight still watching the scene. His eyes grew wide, and he took a step back.

  I heard branches breaking, footsteps on the grass, and the gasping breath of someone running out of the woods.

  A woman staggered out from between the gnarly old trees and made her way toward the waters. She looked young, her body covered in tight animal skins and what looked like red and silver paint. Her hair was long, ink black, and tangled with twigs and leaves.

  She held her shoulder as if in pain and jumped over a thick, empty tree trunk.

  A grotesque creature reached out from behind her and clawed at her leg mid-jump.

  She screamed and fell forward, rolling into the water.

  Shadows moved quickly between the trees. Wails erupted from the darkness of the jungle, the sadistic squeals of animals enjoying the hunt. The woman was the prey.

  “We have to do something,” I said, my chest heaving.

  She struggled to get out of the swamp, seemingly stuck. Her frustrated grunts fused with pain as she desperately fought to free herself from whatever had her trapped.

  “Once we’re past the shield, we’re vulnerable to whatever’s coming after her.” Phoenix said.

  My lid blew off instantly. “So what do we do? Let her die?”

  The creature emerged from behind the trunk, hairless and hideous.

  We both froze.

  It moved swiftly along the patches of dirt in the brown waters on its knuckles and feet. Its fangs were sharp and white, and strips of muscle held the jaw in place.

  More screams shot from the woods, adding layer upon layer of raw pain and horror. The other two women were being torn to shreds, and I couldn’t let that happen to the one left standing. I just couldn’t.

  I looked at Phoenix. “Sorry,” I mumbled and ran straight for the woman stuck in the swamp.

  “Don’t! Jovi!” he shouted.

  I couldn’t watch her get ripped apart by shape-shifters. Eritopia wasn’t my favorite place, and I had no intention of standing back and letting its psychotic nature ruin another life. I sprinted, jumping over the mounds and boulders scattered across the patch of land beyond the shield.

  “Hey!” I shouted, hoping to distract the beast. It was closer to the wounded woman now. She turned her head and saw me. Her eyes widened and I was struck by their peculiar shades of green and gold.

  The creature saw me and rose to its feet. The closer I got, the uglier it looked with bones poking out in all the wrong places and translucent skin stretching and then rippling over raw muscle. The beast suddenly morphed into me.

  The realization of what I was facing stopped me in my tracks. I was looking at a very disturbing version of myself.

  “That’s just…sick,” I said.

  I shook the thought off. I had to save the woman. I wasn’t ready to hear her screams as shape-shifters ripped her apart.

  I darted toward her and leaped into the murky waters.

  Phoenix

  [Hazel & Tejus’s son]

  My heart jumped into my throat as Jovi plunged into the swamp. I cursed under my breath and ran after him. His chivalry was about to get him killed, and I couldn’t stand back and watch that happen. The safety of the protective shield be damned!

  I reached them just as the shape-shifter was about to jump in after Jovi and the woman. I shouted at it, hoping to distract the creature long enough for Jovi to get the woman out of there. Diversion was our only hope.

  The beast looked at me, and I was genuinely creeped out by its resemblance to Jovi. Its skin rippled once more, and before I could blink I was looking at myself—the same black hair, dark eyes, and athletic build, but there was something feral, something inherently evil, about my lookalike. It hissed and bared its fangs at me, ready for a fight.

  “Get her out of there, Jovi!” I shouted at my reckless, knight-in-shining-armor friend. Jovi jerked at the underwater vine the woman had gotten tangled in.

  “Believe it or not, I’m trying!” he yelled back. He drew a lungful of air and dove to the bottom, leaving me to face off with the monstrous copy of myself.

  I resumed my focus on the shape-shifter. Diversion. Right.

  I trained my energy on the shape-shifter and reached out to its mind. My eyes burned as I tried to capture its will and force it into submission, but I hit a black wall. The creature’s mind was either blank or impossible to infiltrate.

  Damn. Mind control won’t work.

  It hissed at me and took a few steps forward. Its stride was arrogant, and it sneered at my inability to subdue it, like it expected me to crumble after one failed attempt.

  I stood my ground, ready to syphon it to its knees. I wasn’t in top shape after the previous day and night, and I had to work harder to aim and capture the shape-shifter’s energy, but I opened myself up and focused with all that I had.

  The creature faltered.

  It’s working.

  A rancid heat slipped into my temples, and bile burned the back of my throat. Whatever I was syphoning out of the creature was incredibly toxic. I had to stop. The shape-shifter cackled, as if aware of what it was doing to me.


  I looked over at Jovi, who still struggled to get the woman out.

  I spotted a dozen more shape-shifters coming out of the jungle, leaning on their knuckles, their disgusting faces smeared with what looked like silver paint.

  “Damn.”

  They crept closer, unfurling their bodies at their waists and transforming into a dozen creepy versions of myself. It seemed to be their favorite game, using their ability to draw out unsuspecting prey and confuse their opponent.

  My chest burned with fear. What were my choices?

  The creatures swiftly formed an arch before me. Their hissing clouded my ears, and their eyes glinted. They could tear me apart in seconds.

  I pushed a barrier of energy out, but the toxic syphoning had taken its toll. My sentry game was weak. I drew a deep breath and pushed again, sourcing every ounce of energy I had left. But the pulse barely nudged them. My barrier building wasn’t going to get us out of this.

  No other choice.

  My breath grew short. The shape-shifters closed in on me. My hand went for my pocket, fingers clutching the final solution—the knife. The twine wrapped around the handle added friction to my tight grip as I drew the blade from my pocket.

  The beasts hissed in my ears. I felt their hot breath mere yards from me. It was now or never. I dodged their clawed hands and wove frantically between them.

  I couldn’t be still for even a split second. I ducked from side to side, blocking their hits and slashing at them with the knife. Dark brown blood seeped from their arms and chests.

  The knife felt light in my hand, and my arm drew short arches around me. Down left, up right. Down right, up left. Repeated at different angles. Ducking faster and faster to keep myself out of the shape-shifters’ reach. I slit a neck and the creature fell back, clutching its throat.

  I could do this. I could. But then my feet were swept from underneath me, and everything flickered into darkness.

  Jovi

  [Victoria & Bastien’s son]

  Her left ankle was tangled with thick black vines beneath the water, while her other leg had been slashed at by the shape-shifter during her jump. She was in terrible pain, and I couldn’t leave her. Her right shoulder slumped, and she couldn’t move her right arm at all. She clung to me with the other. I dove, accidentally gulping mouthfuls of muddy water in my effort to set her free.

  I pulled at the vine’s knots. One strand came loose from the tangle. I jerked at the rest of it, unraveling enough to free her.

  When I looked up, I prayed to see Phoenix still standing. My chest constricted as I watched him fall.

  “PHOENIX!” I yelled.

  I shouted at the creatures, and so did the woman in my arms. We both seemed to know what we had to do to get Phoenix out of there—provided we survived.

  The monsters fell back on their knees and knuckles, morphing down to their original figures of nearly-transparent skin and bony limbs. They poised to dive right into Phoenix’s chest, their claws and fangs ready to gore him to death.

  I bellowed again and rushed through the water. My heart throbbed against my ribs, but adrenaline fueled my desperate attempt to reach them before they could kill Phoenix.

  Water splashed behind me as the woman followed. It occurred to me to be impressed by her resilience and determination, but the thought passed. My friend was about to die.

  The shape-shifters nudged each other furiously, as if arguing over who got to make the killing. Phoenix lay unconscious on the hard mound rising through the middle of the swamp.

  I shouted again and again, trying to draw their attention away from him. “HEY! Fresh meat! Right here!”

  “Hey! Hey! Yah!” the woman shouted behind me.

  One of the creatures looked over its shoulder at us. The others continued to hiss and push at each other. I would have given anything to go wolf and rip them apart, one by one.

  A dark shadow descended on the group. A mass of muscle and black wings rammed into the shape-shifters, throwing them out like pins in a bowling game. Field was a gift from the sky in that moment.

  He punched left and right and kicked his way through the jumble of hairless beasts. They scratched and wailed as they were separated from their prey.

  I froze in the water with the woman behind me and watched as Field tore through the shape-shifters. They were relentless in their attacks. Nevertheless, his wings and speed gave him the advantage.

  I tugged at the woman, and we rushed back to the other edge of the water. I pulled myself up and dragged her with me.

  I paused and saw Field take a few hits before he landed on top of Phoenix, grabbed him, and spread his wings out so violently that he knocked the shape-shifters backward. It gave him the short opening he needed to pull Phoenix out and fly back toward the mansion.

  The woman crawled out of the swamp and tried to stand and run, but her leg gave out, and she collapsed. Blood pounded through my veins like rivers of fire, and I felt my pulse throbbing in my fingertips.

  This was our chance.

  I swept her up in my arms and ran as fast as I could. She struggled, but I held her tightly and kept sprinting toward the shimmer of the protective shield.

  Behind us, the shape-shifters screamed and tumbled through the undergrowth, rushing after us. I heard their feet rustle over the grass and their howls of hunger and frustration.

  Breath brushed over my calf as I ran, as one of them tried to take a bite out of me.

  I sped up and passed through the shield.

  Field glided a few yards from the ground and slammed into the mansion’s front door. It splintered on impact.

  Leave it to Field to make a theatrical entrance.

  I looked over my shoulder and saw the shape-shifters crashing against the protective shield, and I couldn’t help quietly sending out my gratitude to the Daughters of Eritopia for the shield. The creatures howled and kept trying to advance, but the Daughters’ magic zapped them backward.

  My feet didn’t stop, but the adrenaline vanished. My knees gave out mid-run and I tripped. I saw the ground approach me with dangerous speed and spun a one-eighty to protect the woman from the fall.

  I landed hard on my back and slid through the grass, not letting her go.

  She whimpered in my arms, but I held on tightly.

  My shoulder blades burned from the friction, and her weight pressed against my chest. My lungs felt empty, stuck to my ribs.

  And yet I looked up, pleased to still see the blue sky with wisps of white clouds above.

  Vita

  [Grace and Lawrence’s daughter]

  I had a lot on my mind as I left our room and made my way downstairs for breakfast. The shower had cooled me off a little, but I still couldn’t stop myself from revisiting previous visions of the Nevertide Oracle.

  Why had she sent us to the Daughters? Had her intentions been skewed? Had Azazel manipulated us through her? It didn’t make much sense, since the Daughters of Eritopia had no interest in playing his sick games, but Draven still lost his eyes in the process. I couldn’t wrap my head around this systematic cruelty.

  What was the purpose of all of this?

  We didn’t get anything out of the visit except for some vague notion of the last Daughter’s awakening. How were we supposed to wake her? We only got more questions.

  My feet brushed over the last few steps. I shook my head.

  What does the Oracle want from us?

  Jovi’s imminent death squeezed my heart and tied knots in my stomach. What steps were we taking that would lead us to that specific outcome? What could we do differently?

  I reached the ground floor, the old planks creaking beneath me, and once again envisioned the Nevertide Oracle floating quietly in her sphere. I remembered her face, pale in the water.

  Heat rose to my temples, and everything went white. My body felt weightless, like a stream pouring through the abyss. Darkness closed in from all sides, and the white light concentrated into a tunnel that stretched ahead of me.
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  I lost myself to the vision.

  At the end of the tunnel was one of the rooms of the plantation house. The heavy cream curtains were drawn, and I could see the fine centuries-old embroidery highlighted where the pearly moon cast its milky light. The tourmaline sky was clear and riddled with stars.

  The walls were covered in the same faded pink wallpaper, torn and peeled off here and there. There was plenty of furniture around—a couple of mahogany dressers, a heavy chest of drawers, and a small vanity table tucked away in a corner. Clothes were strewn all over the floor. The bed I lay on felt surprisingly comfortable.

  I was enveloped in a pleasant and comforting warmth, molded to another body. I looked to my right and saw Bijarki. His arms were wrapped around me, his face nuzzling the hollow space between my neck and shoulder. His fingers drew circles on my bare skin beneath the linen sheets.

  The clothes on the floor were ours.

  It felt natural to be there. He moaned in his sleep, his lips moving and kissing my collarbone, sending waves of soft heat into my stomach. His silvery skin glistened under the moonlight pouring through the window, and I relished the sensations he offered me, even while he slept.

  Our bodies fit perfectly together. Our hearts beat next to each other in a peculiar unison. And I didn’t want the moment to end. I could’ve stayed there forever.

  Then, the wall exploded inward, shooting splinters and glass shards all over the room. They scratched my skin and tore my lover from his sleep.

  The cool night wind blew inside and brought with it Destroyers atop their winged black horses. They rumbled into the room, their ghostly wails sending chills down my spine. I froze in my little spot in the bed, and Bijarki tried to shield my body with his.