Chapter 29: Chapter 29

CLEMENTINE

“Are you ready?” Ivan asks as I clutch the lower part of my stomach, blood running down my legs.

It happened again a few minutes ago. I was walking with Ivan around the river when all of the sudden, my wolf tried to force me to shift. I knew right then that it was time to give Helia full control.

I’m scared. So scared. The fact that I might not be able to shift back into my human form scares the shit out of me.

“Not really,” I tell Ivan, “but I must do it.”

I close my eyes, take a few deep breaths, and slowly but surely give Helia full control of my mind and body.

First, orange light surrounds me. Then, my body starts to crack as my wings come out—larger than ever before. My eyes roll back, and my heart beats so fast, making me feel like I’m dying. As my screams fill the forest, I hear faint voices—mostly Ivan’s, assuring me that he’s beside me—but I can’t answer.

When the pain stops, I feel like I am imprisoned in a box. I guess I am—just inside my own body. I can see through Helia’s giant eyes as she flies across the sky, but we’re far enough from the ground that I can no longer see Ivan.

~Helia?~

~“Yes, Clementine. I am here. Are you okay?”~

~Yes, I am. How are you feeling?~

~“Like a bird,”~ she replies, making me chuckle.

~Can I ask you a question?~

~“You want to know if I will give you back control.”~

~Will you?~

~“I will, but not at the moment.”~

~Take whatever time you need. I’m sure you’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.~

~“I have. Thank you, Clementine.”~

BENJAMIN

Last night, Kalisto and I agreed to meet at her house the following day. I still can’t believe that I saw her and that Salazar is back. I’ve been in a daze ever since.

Now, as I make my merry way into the pack house, Salazar senses Ivan and Nikki in Alex’s room. Wondering what’s going on, I knock and enter.

“She’s missing,” Ivan is saying. “We have to find her.”

“Calm down,” Alex replies. “I’m sure she’s not lost.”

“What’s happening?” I ask.

“Clementine shifted into her phoenix to get rid of her wolf,” Nikki explains. “Now, she is nowhere to be found.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Helia is just enjoying her freedom. She’ll bring Clem back soon.”

Ivan glares at me. “If no one wants to come with me, I’ll go alone!” he yells.

I stop him before he can make it out the door. “Ivan, I think you should give her a little time alone. She’s probably nowhere to be found for a reason. I’m sure she’s flying, so you won’t find her on the ground.”

He growls and sits back on a chair.

“Now,” Alex starts, “let’s discuss some issues we have in the pack.”

“What happened?” Nikita asks.

“One of my guards confirmed that there was a rogue last night. He smelled her.”

~Shit.~

“A rogue?” Ivan frowns. “If there was a rogue, why didn’t she do anything?”

“That’s what I want to find out,” Alex says. “I suspect that she could be an old pack member.”

“But we don’t have many pack members who left,” Nikki points out.

“Yes, but we do have few.”

Thank God they think Kalisto died.

“So, what should we do?” I ask.

“I will go to the vault and bring out all the paperwork. We might find something,” Alex says, and we nod.

“What’s the situation with the witches?” Ivan asks, jaw clenched.

“Nothing new, just the letter I got yesterday from that witch,” Alex spits. He shakes his head. “We should have killed her.”

“We still don’t know why Clementine let her go,” Nikki points out.

“She did say that the witch came to look for Malcolm,” I remind them.

Ivan doesn’t say anything, just looks out of the window as if he has some suspicions.

All of the sudden, the door opens, and a man I don’t recognize comes in. Everyone turns around when they catch his awful scent.

~He must be a vampire.~

“Carl?” Ivan says, frowning. “What are you doing here?”

“Did you by any chance see a large bird?” he asks. “And is she Clementine?”

“Why?” Ivan asks, eyes wide with hope.

“Well, the bird is not far from here…and she’s surrounded by hunters.”

CLEMENTINE

“~Clementine, I’m so thirsty. I will land and drink from this river~.”

~But hunters always gather there, Helia. It’s dangerous.~

~“We’re powerful, Clem. Don’t worry.”~

~It’s not about being powerful or not—we’ll be on their radar.~

~“Don’t worry, Clem. Even if we are, they can’t kill us.”~

She is so stubborn.

We went toward a river in the deep forest, hitting a few trees on our way because of our enormous size. Branches scratch Helia’s face, but they don’t hurt her, and we land carefully at the bank.

I understand why Helia is so thirsty. We’ve been flying for so many hours without resting that even I feel thirsty. As much as I dreamed of flying when I was younger, right now I don’t like it much; even though Helia is the one flying, it’s draining what little energy I have.

~Helia, I miss my body.~

~“Relax, Clem. I promised you, didn’t I?”~

~You did, but it just feels so weird being trapped.~

~“Well, I was trapped for most of your life.”~

~I know, sorry.~

~“It’s okay, Clem. I understand. Just give me today, okay?”~

~Thank you, H.~

After drinking almost half of the river, Helia prepares to take off and roam the sky again, but a loud voice stops her. She turns around and sees seven men holding bows and arrows. They’re aiming at us, anger in their eyes.

“Shift before we make you!” one of them yells.

“You cannot make us do anything!” Helia roars.

“This is your last warning, bird!” another one yells.

~Helia, I think we should listen to them.~

~“They cannot do shit.”~

Suddenly, one of them fires an arrow, and it hits Helia in the stomach. She removes it with ease and is about to laugh, but then she begins breathing heavily.

~Helia, what is going on?~ I ask.

~“I-I’m sorry…”~

~Why? What is happening? Helia?~

~“They shot me with an arrow full of belladonna.”~

~What does that mean?~

~“Belladonna is a deadly flower. It can kill, but this low dosage will just put me to sleep. I’m sorry.”~

~Helia, you have to stay awake! Please!~

~“Use your witch side, Clem. But be careful. Once I am fully asleep, you can be killed.”~

~Fuck!~

All of a sudden, my body starts to shift, and I regain control of my body. The hunters look at me with fascination but keep their bows and arrows aimed at me.

My heart starts to beat faster than ever before. I’m scared because I’ve never used any spells in public, and my mom only had the chance to teach me a few powerful ones. I don’t know what to do.

“Come with us, or we shoot!”

Breathing hard, I look at each one of the hunters, analyzing the situation. I don’t yet see how I can get rid of them.

“Don’t make me hurt you!” I say, stalling. “Leave!”

They laugh. “I said come!” one of the hunters, apparently the leader, yells.

“No!”

As soon as I refuse, another arrow flies my way. I don’t know what comes over me, but my hand flicks to the left, and the arrow falls to the ground.

All the hunters look at me with wide eyes. “Fuck, what are you?” the leader whispers.

Not knowing what I’m saying or what’s happening, I start to chant and move my hands. It’s as if something has possessed me.

With a twist of my hand, I hit a guy on my right with a log. I send another two behind me, drowning them in the river. The remaining four look at me with fear in their eyes as I continue to chant in an unknown language.

I feel power radiating off my eyes and body. It wafts my fiery hair around, and I suddenly feel like a goddess.

Not that I’m not.

The rest of the hunters drop, and I realize I don’t care if they are alive or not. I slowly walk their way and kneel before one of them. I feel the urge to punch him in the face, so I do, and his nose makes a satisfying ~crack~.

When I stand up and turn around, though, I find four figures looking at me with utter shock. I regain control of my body from whatever magical force overtook it, knowing deep down that I’ve lost everything.

Ivan looks betrayed. Alex looks confused. My father and Carl looked scared.

No one moves or says anything as tears run down my cheeks. I’m scared—scared of what’s going to happen.

Many questions flood my brain, and the only answer I can come up with for each one of them is, “No.”