Page 41 of Kingdom Of Veil And Vow

“You needn’t worry about me. I am completely fine.”

“You don’t need to lie,” I snap before closing my eyes, my fingers rubbing at my temples. “I mean, I know what it is you went through. They did the same to me when I first arrived, and it took a long time for the wounds to heal.” I should have asked Xander if he could sneak in some supplies to Immie. If she caught an infection…

“That’s the thing,” she says, her high voice cutting into my spiraling. “I bear no evidence of the torture.”

My head tilts as I plant my hands on my knees. “What do you mean?” Silence drips by, and I can’t help but lean forward on the cot as if that might get me closer to her. “Immie?”

“I feel crazy,” she finally answers, though it is hardly more than a whisper. “I was brought into that room where that man, that vile, evil man, flayed my skin and pierced my muscles. He didn’t even use the tools strung up in the room but his own. I watched as blood dripped onto the ground from my arms and legs. I felt the pain as it burned through my nerves and—”

A coughing fit interrupts her, and my magic sputters within me, burning low and just out of reach. Frustrated, all I can do is focus on that budding plan within me while I wait for her to calm.

Her voice is hoarse when she finally continues. “I felt sleep closing in on me, but right before my eyes closed, I saw a light and I felt… warm.”

Pressing my lips together, I sit back, toying with the hem of my tunic.

“I woke up in this cell without an ounce of pain or a mark on me,” she says, a quaver underlining her words. “Was it a dream? Did it really happen—”

“Yes. I saw them take you from your cell and bring you into that room,” I insist, but my affirmation doesn’t bring her comfort.

She releases a long, airy breath. “Maybe I am crazy.”

“You aren’t.”

She hums in dismissal, and my stomach sinks. “It was green,” she adds moments later, as if just remembering. “The light was green. How peculiar.”

Hours pass in silence after that. Restless with the unease that scratches down my spine, I pace in my cell, my bare feet padding back and forth against the dirty, cold stone. I have to get us out of here, a voice whispers from the corners of my mind. One more animal than mortal. I stretch my neck side to side, gathering my hair to drape over one shoulder as I begin to braid it. Attack them all and make them pay, that voice says, feral and primal all at once.

It’s a slip in consciousness, a knot in the thread tying me to my mortal form. My fingers stutter, falling numb as familiar warmth rushes up my torso and past my neck. Soft blue light glows from the edges of my body, and though those whispers grow into pleased growls at the impending shift, fear stabs through me. You’ll never shift back. You’ll be stuck like this. Trapped. Trapped. Trapped. Trap—

My vision flashes, bright and all-consuming white for the length of a blink, and then I open my eyes, and see paws stretching beneath me. Feel a tail swishing behind me. Drawing a deep breath in, I recoil at the odors in the air I didn’t notice before. Looking down, a whine trickles from me at the sight of the bright white fur covering me. I back away from the front of the cell like I might outrun my own fate but only crash into the stone wall behind me, yelping at the contact.

I shifted. Gods above, I shifted. And I don’t know if I can shift back. My nails scrape against the stone as I pace, my temperature rising beneath my thick coat of fur, making me pant. The magic within me is spread thin, a downpour reduced to a trickle. Be calm, that instinct whispers, but it’s impossible to obey.

“Child? Are you alright?” Immie’s voice is more clear than I’ve ever heard it, as is the sound of her heart. It beats with a strange rhythm, one that makes me believe she is nervous. Or upset.

I press my snout between the bars as far as I can go, but even if I manage to get my head through, the rest of me is still too big. Drawing back, I growl low in my throat.

“I sure hope that is you and not that you’ve been eaten by a mysterious shadow creature.” Air shoots from my nose, the closest to exasperation that I can express. “Whatever caused this shift, child, do not panic. All will be well.”

But she’s wrong. So very wrong. I can’t help her like this, not in the way she—or I—need. I shake again, resuming my pacing. Click. Click. Click. Nails scraping against stone. Over and over and over. I get lost in the mindless movement, in the repetitive sound, so much so that I nearly miss the louder creak of the door above.

I freeze, ears standing at attention.

One heartbeat. No, two. Booted steps. They are coming. No. I unclench my jaw to warn Immie, but all that comes out are a series of low noises, as indistinguishable to her as the sound of a bird chirping or a lion roaring. Because of my enhanced senses, I hear her sharp inhale when she realizes guards are coming, her heart beginning to race. The scent of the newcomers hits me just before they reach the bottom of the steps. It’s earthy, sour. Tinged with sweat and something like black pepper. Or maybe an herb? It stings my nose, making tears spring to my eyes.

“It will be alright,” Immie whispers, but I think she might be talking to herself. “There is nothing left to tell them.”

What had she told them already? When the commander and the man I now know is the king’s advisor stop in front of Immie’s cell, I can’t stop the warning growl that vibrates low in my throat.

“Commander, grab our prisoner.” The king’s advisor doesn’t even look at the commander before he strides my way, eyes wide with wonder.

I draw my head low, flashing my canines as I crouch on my front paws, hips high in the air. I want to hunt him. I want to close my teeth around his neck and shake him until he is void of life. Kill. Kill. Kill. It’s a song that flows through my blood, that sharpens my vision and floods my tongue with saliva.

“How very marvelous,” he breathes in awe.

Commander Miles passes behind the man, dragging Immie as he brings her to that room, and I bark in his direction, satisfaction unraveling through me when he jumps at the sound. Immie’s eyes meet mine with soft recognition, and it only makes my hackles rise more.

“Soon, shifter, we will have our play time. I will let His Majesty know of this interesting development.”