Page 13 of Ethereal Shifters

“Touchy, touchy, and such a temper. Has anyone suggested you go to therapy?” He stands up as I throw a queen figure at his head, and he catches it, putting it into his pocket. “I’ll be back and we can play another game for questions. I really enjoyed this.”

“You’re bleeding, dickhead.” I clench my fists. “Don’t you dare take my Nex dagger with you.”

“I ain’t giving you that until I’m gone. I’ll leave it outside for you. We both know you’re just dying to impale me with it the minute I turn my back.” He waits for me to lie and say I won’t.

I just smile. “I’ll go for the throat next time. The arm was just me being nice.”

I hate how happy he looks when I threaten to kill him. “Bloodthirsty little mate.”

“I’m not your mate!”

His laugh sends shivers down my spine. “You will be. When I come back next time, I want you to come with me out of here before it’s too late.”

“Too late for what?” I counter. “Some imaginary thing you’ve made up to make me come with you?”

“You’re in danger, Tulip. You always have been, but it’s different now. Starlight City is nothing but a blip, and it’ll be gone soon.” He offers me his hand. “And I don’t want you to be hurt.”

“You can’t just blip an entire city out of existence,” I mutter. “You’re a liar.”

He steps closer, and it’s too close. I can’t move back, not unless I sit on the bed. “I’m not lying to you right now. You can bring your pathetic mates if you really have to, but you need to get out before it’s too late.”

“I’m not leaving and you’re insane.” I freeze when he touches my cheek.

His fingers drift down to my jaw, and his touch…it’s not bad. I hate how I don’t hate it. I force myself to remember the torture, remember the way my mother screamed in fear and my father tried to be brave, right until the end. He did that. He is not mine; he is my enemy and that can never change. “About you, yes. We’ll discuss this again soon, but one of your mates is coming. The assassin one.” He steps up into my space, and I want to step away, but my Nexus takes over, holding me in place as he leans down and brushes his lips against mine. She desperately wants me to kiss him back, but I don’t let her. “Call me your enemy as much as you like, but I’m glad to be your anything. I’ll see you soon. Remember what I said.”

He slips out the door as my heart races and my Nexus whines in my mind. I rush over to pull the door open, only to find Finn leaning down to pick up my dagger. I search the empty corridor, and my shoulders drop. “Good to see you too, Sun. Why was your Nex dagger outside your room?”

“Um, I don’t know. I must have dropped it,” I lie. “I should have been more careful.”

He hands it to me, and I slide it into my thigh holder. “Mm-hmm.” He comes in and sniffs the floor. “Why does it smell like Vian blood in here?”

“I don’t know. Odd, right? There must have been some of my old clothes when I was moving stuff and cleaning earlier,” I lie again. Finnegan stares at me like he can read my thoughts. Like he can see that I’ve been playing chess with my enemy for answers and to keep my Nexus happy.

“Okay.” He sits on my bed. “I’ve missed you.”

My shoulders drop as I close the door with a kick of my boot. “I’ve missed you too. What did the alpha have you doing now?”

“Nothing worth telling you about.” He lies too and I can’t call him out on it, not when I’m lying too. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. I’m just going to go to the bathroom,” I tell him, glancing at the chess set on the floor one more time. I shut the door behind me and slam my head back on it. I’m totally and utterly fucked.

Chapter

Seven

When I wake up, I’m sitting on the ground in an alleyway, next to a pile of bins, and the sound of chatter, of people, fills my ears. I immediately look at my hands, hoping not to see blood. After all these years, it’s now just a habit, but my hands are as clean as a whistle. I notice that I’m in my ranger clothes and my hair is straightened, falling down my back with a single braid by my ear. I definitely didn’t go to bed in my ranger clothes, and my hair was messy. Finnegan was on the floor, sleeping in his bear form, and Annie was also sleeping when I drifted off to sleep last night. It had already been a weird night with Severi and lying to Finnegan.

The sun is rising above the tall buildings around me. The sky is the colour of burnt orange, and it’s loud. So loud. I look down the empty alleyway to the busy streets and realise I’m dead in the centre of Starlight City, outside the wards of the academy. Well, shit.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I whisper to my Nexus, climbing to my feet. Of course, my Nexus doesn’t bother toexplain herself. Not that she ever would, because it’s her. “I didn’t kill Severi, only slightly maimed his arm, so why are you mad enough to get me in trouble? The sick bastard actually liked being stabbed!” If anyone comes down here, hearing me talking to my Nexus like this, they are going to think I’m insane. “If I find out you’ve murdered someone, I swear to all the Gods, I’m going to hunt Severi down for sport to piss you off too!” She doesn’t even bother to acknowledge me, not that I thought she would.

I rub my face and look round, my heart racing in my chest when I realise how much trouble I’m in. The academy is locked down, and I can’t leave. I need to get back to the academy before anyone recognises me or Finnegan wakes up to find me gone. I don’t think he will tell anyone but my mates, but it’s risky. I can’t risk my place there; it’s become my home.

I walk down the alleyway into the busy street and merge with the crowd. If I can get a car, I can drive most of the way towards the academy and then run the rest through the small forest. Hopefully, the wards won’t go off, and if they do, I’ll lie and say that I was just walking past the wards first thing in the morning and accidentally fell into them. They don’t need to know I was in the city. My Nexus was clearly in control for the whole night. Gods above, who knows what she’s done?

Something blows into my leg, and I look down at the newspaper, picking it up. I’m about to throw it into the nearest bin when the headline catches my attention. Who even reads newspapers anymore? I’m glad for whoever bought this as I read it, but at the same time, my stomach drops like a stone. Right across the top reads?—

Onyx Nieminen, Son of the Supreme Alpha, to Begin the Rite of Freedom Today.

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