Page 126 of Scars Like Wings

Every question she asked, I answered with silence and a rising feeling of rage and fear. No one asked questions like that. Except for a certain group. One who had no goodwill. One who asked questions like this as a threat instead of out of curiosity.

Bile rose in my throat as I bristled. My obsidian stone grew hot against my chest. I could feel my nostrils flare, my sinuses heated with my powers surfacing. My teeth lengthened in my mouth, and my vision sharpened. My nails bit into my palm as they became talons. Usually, controlling my shift was as easy as controlling the volume of my voice. But I was pregnant. Shifters were notoriously more aggressive and out of control while pregnant because we were protective of our young. I was angry and scared for my own life, but they were threatening my daughter and mate. I couldn’t allow that.

Iwouldn’t.

When the leader realized Mom wasn’t going to answer any of her questions, she lifted her shirt and unsheathed a long dagger. From hilt to tip, it was the length of a machete. It was bright silver with a faint shimmering light that I knew could only be magical. It was just like Quinn’s dagger, but it wasn’t as beautiful or unique. Aside from the glow and the length, the sword was plain. Well, as plain as a freaking sword could be.

All of the group’s entire demeanor changed. They went from casually leaning on Mom’s car to crouching and gearing up for a fight. They each pulled out their own weapons: daggers, guns, and even a bow and arrow. Mom roared at the group baring her mouthful of fangs. It was hard and loud enough that I thought I could feel it through the pages. It was ten against one,andthey had weapons. Sure, Mom was a shifter of some kind, but she was vulnerable. I clutched the cover of the grimoire tightly. I knewMom survived this and I did too, but that didn’t make this any less terrifying and anxiety-inducing.

The group lunged at Mom, with the leader hanging back. What happened next blurred on the page, it happened so fast. Mom hit one woman hard enough for her to land on the pavement, unmoving, with her head turned at an unnatural angle. Mom blocked stabbing attempts from another man before catching him by the throat and using him as a shield from sprays of bullets. An arrow flew past the dying man’s body and nicked her arm. Mom watched the blood blossom from the scratch before turning to the group. She snarled as she tossed the human shield back at the group. The body slammed into a woman with a gun. Before she could get up, the pavement around them bubbled, melting and turning into?—

“Is that fuckinglava?” I asked the grimoire as if it could answer me. Where had that come from? Had Mom done that? The lava consumed the pair, melting them and turning them into human obsidian and ash. What shifter existed that could shift into a beingandcontrol fucking lava? That isinsane.

Oh, and badass as hell.

What was Mom?

What was I?

The remaining members of the group backed up from the lava pit that had formed so close to them. They were obviously shaken, but six of them still remained. Mom was breathing hard, a sheen of sweat dotted her forehead, and it was clear that even though she was powerful, showing all of that had taken its toll on her. She was growing my lungs, after all. More writing appeared on the left:

I couldn’t take them all. If I wasn’t pregnant, I would have been able to without breaking a sweat. But I didn’t have the energy right now. That was why they attacked when they did, I’m sure, knowing I was at my weakest. I could feel mydaughter kicking, and I knew she could sense my anxiety. I didn’t know what to do?—

Then I felt something tugging on my heart and mind. It was my and Forrest’s mating bond. Like a cellphone connected to our feelings, he must’ve felt my distress and thought to reach out to check on me. Immediately, I tugged back and told him that I was in trouble. He sent back calm, but I felt him getting closer.

The page turned again. Now, Mom backed away from the group toward the school, her face etched with worry. The armed group had managed to get past the lava and approached, closing the distance between them. Suddenly, a massive gust of wind blew them to the pavement, knocking their weapons away. When they scrambled after them, it was like they were choking as they struggled to breathe. Their faces turned blue, along with their lips, before they finally collapsed to the ground.

Still.

Dead.

Mom’s handwriting narrated:With a roar, my husband, my fated mate, my Forrest landed and proved that he was my knight in shining armor, too.

Well, a knight in a detective uniform and shining badge.

Pops appeared on the page. In one stride, he embraced Mom, holding her close and tight. He showered her head, face, shoulders, everywhere he could reach in kisses. It was as if his lips had to ensure she was safe and whole before he held her face and seemed to ask if she was okay, if I was okay. When she nodded to both, he pulled them into a passionate kiss and held her again. I couldn’t help but smile. Mom and Pops had always been so affectionate with each other. I couldn’t remember a time when they weren’t holding hands on the couch while we watched TV or saying “I love you” and kissing before leaving. They weremy model for the perfect relationship. Seeing them caring so deeply for each other made my heart ache with longing.

Forrest and I had killed them. Ten people.

They had threatened our family, tried to kill us, even gotten a shot in although it had healed already. They paid the price.

It wasn’t a burden I took on easily, the loss of their lives. Even if it was out of protection and self-defense, no one deserves to be forced to cross over. It should be their choice or when their time comes naturally.

But my daughter had done nothing wrong.

She wasn’t in the world yet, and they wanted her.

They wanted the three of us dead for their own profit.

She hadn’t taken her first breath yet. She didn’t even have a name.

And they wanted her for their own nefarious purposes.

They wanted to destroy us for their own glory.

No, for that, they deserved what they got.

The page turned again, and Mom continued.

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