Page 28 of Shattered Fears

Zain turned to the girl who’d created the commotion just as the crowd closed in on them.

“You’ll regret this.”

“As long as no more pets are kept, it was all worth it.”

Zain grabbed her by the neck and dragged her after him before she realized what was happening. He caught up with the others in a few steps. They pushed open the emergency doors and entered an empty corridor. Jessica grabbed his hand and, in an instant, they de-materialized and re-appeared back at the Glacial Blood mansion. Selene was sobbing hysterically.

“They saw me. They saw me changing,” she screamed.

Zain still had the girl tightly held.

“Kas,” Brayden called and then went back to concentrating on calming Selene. “It’s ok. We can deal with it. Say it was a glove or one of the outfits you were holding. It’ll be ok. You need to calm down. It’s not good for the baby. Please.”

Jessica’s eyes turned black as night. The girl in Zain’s arms was pulled away and into the air where the witch turned her upside down and suspended her there. The witch brought her left hand back, and an energy ball appeared.

“No,” Kas’ voice boomed out. “Put her in the dungeon.”

Jessica let the energy ball dissipate into thin air. The girl disappeared along with Jessica.

“What happened? Why is Lily here?” Kas asked.

“You know her?” Zain queried.

“She’s a maid of my brother’s. Harmless and used purely to cater to his needs.”

“Well, it seems that the current need was to expose Selene’s abilities to the public,” Brayden snapped as Selene collapsed to the floor in her mate’s arms, weeping.

“What?” Kas replied.

“Lily was calling Selene a shifter. She was abusing her verbally. The baby thought it was under attack and started to change Selene to protect her and itself.” Zain stepped back to allow Brayden to explain everything.

“Shit. Did anyone see?”

“A few people. It was just her arm. We can try and explain it away.” Brayden cradled Selene and stroked her hair as she cried.

“Thank god. My brother has gone too far, this time. Attacking us directly in public and using those who don’t know any better.” Kas was furious. “Jessica,” he called. “Make sure she’s locked up; I want you to take me to Nuka. If he wants his little toy back, then I want some reassurances.”

Zain’s phone vibrated in his pocket. It was a call from Isobel. He hung up on her. This was more important for the moment. Almost instantly a text message came through.

I need to speak to you ASAP. It’s urgent.

He dialed her back.

“I can’t talk at the moment. Something bad has happened.”

“I know,” she replied. “I’m at the rally with my father. You need to turn your TV onto any news channel.”

Kas and Brayden looked at him. He picked up the TV remote and pressed the buttons for Sky News. He dropped the remote to the floor when he saw the headlines.

“Zain,” Isobel spoke into his ear.

He didn’t reply, though, as everyone in the room turned to listen to Isobel’s father speaking.

“I told you I’d find the proof, and I have. Shifters are real.” Senator Ross told the reporter. He then pressed a button, and a screen next to him started to play the video of Selene in the shop. It was taken from a security camera and very clearly showed the fur spreading up her arm. “Shifters are real. This woman was changing into a wild animal before she ran away. We need to find her. We need to find her and her accomplices.” The camera zoomed out to show Brayden, Jessica, and himself as they protected Selene.

“Zain,” Isobel spoke into his ear. “Zain please talk to me. ZAIN!” She shouted. He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it before ending the call.

“Goodbye, my love.”

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