Six
Midday sunlight glinted off the sweat on her skin and lit up the highlights of Erin’s fiery hair as she jumped back from the sword slicing at her core. She ducked another strike and rolled, turning invisible. She pulled the glass spike from her bun, coming up behind Forest, grabbing her, and holding the spike to her throat. Forest laughed and sheathed her sword.
“Nice,” Forest said appreciatively. “I think that’s enough for today.”
Erin became visible again and twisted her hair back up, stabbing the clear spike back through the top knot. “You were going easy on me, weren’t you?”
“Yes. But you’re just beginning. That said, I can tell you’re practicing. You’re a quick study. You know, if you were working for Fortress, I’d say you should be trained as an assassin. I see how you might be…your stealth and speed…You’ve been sparring with Maddox?”
“Sort of. I wouldn’t call it sparring. He’s instructing me. I feel a little self-conscious with him and kind of like his guinea pig since he’s starting to train masters on the mountain part-time. Like he’s learning how to be a teacher with me.”
Forest dusted off her pants. “Him being at the mountain, working alongside his father, is making Syrus so happy. How is Maddox doing at work with you? With the adoptions? When I ask, all I get is a half grunt and fine, mom.”
Erin giggled. “That’s where I get to train him. At the Onyx castle, he’s my guinea pig. He’s doing fine. The kids realize he’s the weakest link and derail him from his work often to play with them. He hasn’t learned how to detach himself yet and tends to bring work home…he gets this far off look in his eyes sometimes and when I ask him about it, he’s always agonizing over one kid or another and finding them the perfect adoptive parents.”
Forest pushed her hair away from her face. “He’s really making me proud.”
“Me too.”
The two women smiled warmly at one another.
“Is everything all set for the party tonight?” Forest asked.
“Yes. The army Maddox hired to get our place ready finished working their magic and took off this morning. Everything looks amazing. Can’t wait for you to see it. And my dress…I’m still not quite used to the money I mated into. I can’t deny I like the lack of stress around finances, though.”
“Anything you need from me?”
Erin shook her head. “Just show up…Thanks for the combat training…Mom.” Erin was trying to get used to calling Forest mom. She loved calling her that, but it didn’t just naturally pour out of her mouth yet. She still had to think about it first.
“No problem, sweetie. I’m proud of how far you’ve come so fast.”
Erin wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. “I’m working at it. I better get back home just to make sure everything really is going to be ready for tonight. I’m nervous. I’ve never hosted a party like this before and we’ve only just moved into the place. I’m worried there’s not enough space to entertain properly.”
Forest laughed lightly. “Relax. It’s just family and friends, and your house is more than adequate in size. I’ve hosted larger numbers here, and this house is less than half the size of yours. Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Calm your nerves. Everyone just wants to meet you anyway, not judge your house.”
Erin blew out a breath and nodded. “Okay. I’ll try. Thanks. I’ll see you later.”
Forest kissed her cheek and turned to go into the house.
Erin walked through the gate and out from under the protective magic dome covering the property. She touched the brand new medallion on her wrist, opening a portal to her house and went through it. The end dumped her out in her garden. Her heart gave a little jolt, still in awe that this was her property, her garden, her house. The newly completed construction was a more traditional style than Tesla’s house. The front porch wrapped around the front and sides and the windows on the second story were gabled. It was large, the space waiting and ready for the family she and Maddox would create. She wasn’t ready for that yet. She wasn’t even ready to think about thinking about it. But when the time came, they wouldn’t have to move into a larger place to accommodate. They’d only moved in a week ago. It was still like a dream. Her connection to Maddox was new enough, she still marveled at that as well.
Her gaze moved over the lush landscape of her garden. The vast space was rimmed with a fifteen-foot-high rock wall to give them security but more importantly privacy. Their real security was invisible and covered their property in a magic dome. Round tables were placed here and there, ready for the party. Golden lanterns hung in the tree branches all over. White pebbles lined the bank of the thin bubbling stream that snaked through the garden. As soon as the sun set, the pebbles would glow faintly gold as well.
Her nerves rose up and bounced around inside her. She would meet the extended members of Maddox’s family that night. This party was a big deal. It was to be like a reception since she and Maddox hadn’t had a public marking ceremony. She touched the crescent lover’s mark Maddox put on her neck and smiled to herself.
She was dirty from sparring with Forest. Best to get another type of dirty before she got clean.
I’m a very dirty girl. She messaged Maddox at work. Going to shower. I don’t think I can manage to scrub my back adequately on my own. Any suggestions, Player?
He replied immediately. I’m taking my lunch break now. Be there in two minutes.
She giggled, taking her shirt off and leaving it on the ground. She walked to the house, stripping as she went, leaving her clothes strewn on the ground like a trail of breadcrumbs for him to follow. She left the front door open, hanging her bra on the doorknob before heading to the bathroom.
She set her watch on the counter and tapped it so sexy music began to play. She stepped into the oversized shower that was the size of a large bedroom and turned on the tap. 20 hidden showerheads jumped to life, perfectly spaced on the tiled ceiling, turning the room into an indoor rainstorm. The water shimmered and pelted her head and shoulders, instantly the perfect temperature. She closed her eyes and smiled when she heard him come in and close the door.
His heart spoke love to hers as he came up behind her, pressing his bare chest against her back. Maddox brushed his lips across her neck.
“Goddess,” he breathed.
“What took you so long,” she teased.
He ran his hand down her forearm and laced his fingers through hers. The gold medallion on his wrist next to the new one on hers was identical. Just one more symbol that linked them.
∞∞∞
Melina gazed out of her living room window and smiled. The view of downtown Paradigm was obscured by nearby buildings. It sucked as far as views were concerned, but it was hers, and that was what made it awesome. Her first apartment. A place that was hers and only hers. She couldn’t afford a better view but that was just for now. She wasn’t content. She would succeed in climbing the corporate ladder, and before too long, she’d be able to move to a flat off the main square where she could walk to all the hot and happening places. A flat with a balcony she decided as she stood there imagining it.
She turned away from the window and went back to unpacking. Her parents had wanted to help her a little too much and she’d only just booted them out, respectfully and with a kiss. She needed to put her things away on her own. They insisted she come back home on the weekend and she’d agreed.
She went to her new and stingy closet space, beginning to hang her clothes, thinking about what she might wear to the party that night. She didn’t need to try to be sexy at Erin and M’s party since it was just family and old friends mostly. She doubted there was anyone going that she didn’t already know.
An all too familiar pang of jealousy hit her in the chest as she thought about Erin and Maddox. They were so happy. So in love. Not that it was a shock to her. All destined life mates were obsessed with each other like that. Especially in the first five years or so. She wasn’t jealous of Erin having Maddox. She was very happy for them, but their joy made her lack of joy acidic when she was near them. She wanted a destined life mate. She wanted it more than she wanted anything else in her life.
It was why she held her heart away from every guy who buzzed around her. She enjoyed dating. She knew she was beautiful. Not that she was a vain bitch, or not too much of one anyway. But anyone she did consent to go out with more than once, she held at arm’s length. She was a virgin and that was both chagrin and pride for her. It wasn’t something she talked about. She knew all about sex and was certain she would both enjoy it and rock it when she did give it up. There were times and boyfriends that had tested her resolve on that, but she was saving herself for her mate.
∞∞∞
Sophie?” Lacey half shouted behind her, fixing her hair for the party.
Sophie blinked and looked up at her sister’s reflection in the vanity mirror. “What?”
Lacey laughed and rolled her eyes. “Where’s your head? You’re all spaced-out. I asked if you wanted me to braid this brown mop. Twice.”
Sophie shook herself and then smiled. “Sorry. No thanks. I’m going to leave it down... That’s how Tristan likes it.” She added quietly.
Lacey sat down on the bench next to her. “Speaking of which, is he why you’re all glazed? How are things with that stud? We haven’t talked much lately.”
Sophie smiled darkly. “Things are great. Really great. I think we’re taking a serious turn or will be soon.”
Lacey raised her eyebrows and looked her sister over closer. “Look at you, skank. I’ve never seen that glint in your eyes. Is he really that good?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
She laughed. “I would, yes.”
“Well, too bad. It’s not your concern. You’ve got your own man to occupy you and your thoughts.”
“Prude,” she complained lightly standing up and went over to the closet.
Sophie left Lacey’s room and went back to her own. Her parent’s door was closed but she could hear their voices faintly and Jorgie was sitting on the floor in the living room, already in his dress clothes, playing with his blocks. He glanced at her. She smiled at him. He frowned back.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“Lying is wrong,” his little voice scolded her. “You’re not yourself. I can see it.”
She stopped and sat on the floor next to him. A shaking began under her skin as she looked at his profile. She pushed it down hard. She couldn’t be weak. Only behind a levy of strength could she make him safe again. She would make him safe, no matter what she had to go through.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. Something is wrong, but I’ll be okay. You can’t tell anyone.”
His deep green eyes searched her face. “I’ll help you.”
Her heart clenched but she schooled it, turning it back to stone. “Thank you. But I have to work through this on my own. It’s important I do it alone.”
“But I want to help.”
She kissed the top of his head. “Okay, Jorgie. There’s something really important you can do to help me.”
“What?”
“Until I go back to being me, really me, as only you know me, until then, if I tell you to do something, even if it’s weird, you have to do it as quickly as possible and without question. Even if you have to disobey mom or dad to do what I ask, you must. Okay?”
His eyes rounded and he nodded. “I swear.”
She pulled him into a hug and kissed the top of his head again. “I love you the best,” she whispered.
His little arms tightened around her neck. “I love you the best, too.”
She stood and went to her room, looking over the contents of her closet. She decided on her brown cocktail dress and cat’s eye jewelry. The shimmery chocolate fabric hugged her body and made her rich brown eyes pop. She always felt confident and sexy in this dress. It used to make her happy. Now she turned it into a weapon. Her arsenal against Tristan was sparse. She’d wield her appearance like a blade.
Her mind moved back to his shrine and something dark and poisonous began to slide in her bloodstream. She lifted her head higher and adjusted her dress so her cleavage showed fuller.
You’re not ready for me, psycho. You don’t see me coming.
“Mom, I’ll be right back,” she called to her parent’s closed door after coming down from her room.
“Hurry up. It’s almost time to go.”
“I know. I’ll be right back,” she repeated.
Sophie left through the double doors and started down the stone stairs. Hyper aware of everything and everyone she passed, but she hid it, trying to appear oblivious. All of her senses sharpened and the poison in her veins warmed and ran thicker as she knocked on Tristan’s door.
He looked shocked as he opened to her. His voice came out in an odd half word before his mouth just hung open as his eyes roamed over her. “Wow,” he finally managed.
She smiled and moved closer, nuzzling the side of his neck. “I have to go,” she whispered in his ear. “But I wanted to show you how I dressed for the party. Is there something you want me to change? My dress? My hair?”
He growled low in his throat, running his hands down her back, and gripping her ass tightly. “Change nothing. Have you started listening to me finally?”
“You said you like my hair down. I’ll always keep it that way from now on.”
He jerked her back and held both of her wrists roughly in his hands, his eyes flashing. “Are you messing with me?”
“No. I’m still adjusting, it’s true. But you’ve been in my head all day since I left here this morning.” It was a half-truth. He had been in her head. “I want to be happy. I think we can be.”
He pulled her back against him and kissed her mouth. She pressed and kissed him back as if she was totally in love with him. As if she wanted him and needed him desperately. His eyes were opaque with lust when she broke away.
“I’ll be back after the party,” she promised quietly.
A hard edge frosted his blue eyes. “You better,” he threatened. “If I have to come get you, you will be punished.”
She looked down and eased her confident stance into a softer, submissive one. “I will be back. I promise. When we get back from the party, I’ll spend an appropriate amount of time with my family, just a few minutes will be all that’s needed. Then I’ll come to you.”
“Come back just as you are. Don’t change your clothes first.”
“Okay.”
He growled low again. “You’re torturing me in that dress. Hurry back so I can get you out of it.”
She gave him a dark smile and backed away from him. He watched her go back up the stairs from his doorway. She hesitated for a second outside the double doors of her family home. There’s nothing wrong. I’m happy. I’m in love with my boyfriend. My smiles are real.
She pushed through the doors. They were all standing in the middle of the room, her parents and siblings, waiting for her.
“Oh good, you’re back in time,” Sabra said. “The portal Tesla is sending will open any second. I was afraid you would miss it.”
Sophie joined them, wrapping her arm around Lacey’s waist. Shreve picked Jorgie up as a black gash tore the atmosphere next to them. They went through all together, the rushing pull of the portal moving them swiftly through the dark before depositing them on the ground in a lushly landscaped garden party.
“Wow,” Lacey said looking at the house and garden, then at her sister. “Say what you want about Maddox, but he’s got style. This place is gorgeous.”
“Agreed,” Sophie nodded emphatically.
Sabra and Shreve instantly moved into the small crowd. Jorgie ran to the stream and jumped it in one leap. Lacey headed toward the inviting front porch where Maddox stood, introducing the stunning redhead on his arm to everyone who approached. Sophie gazed at her cousin and his new life mate before taking in the party as a whole. This type of event was so much better than her sister’s engagement party. At least outside she could breathe and the sounds dissipated instead of bounced. The beauty of the garden was soothing. She would have liked to spend time there alone. Just her, the trees and flowers, and the sweet bubbling sound of the stream.
Her heart trembled as she thought about Tristan and how she would have to go to him soon. Too soon. Here she was surrounded by all the people who cared for her the most and she couldn’t ask for help. She hung back close to the massive rock wall surrounding the property and took a few deep breaths, looking for Rahaxeris. In this group, she would be most comfortable hanging around him. Not that she was uncomfortable around her extended family, but all of them would force her to chit-chat. Rahaxeris would allow her to be silent next to him without plaguing her with mundane questions she didn’t want to answer.
She spotted him a little ways away, detached from the crowd. His straight golden hair brushed over the shoulders of the black robe he wore. He was old, she didn’t know how old exactly, but his sharp features and red eyes had lost none of their edge. He was her grandfather in an unnatural, clinical sort of way. He was a full-blood elf, her aunt Forest’s father. But he had contributed his DNA to the creature Sophie’s father had been cloned from. So, to her and her siblings, he was grandfather. He was loving to his family, but he terrified everyone else. Talented, skilled in torture and magic, he was probably the most powerful person in Regia, second only to Tesla.
Grabbing a drink off a tray offered by a server as she passed, Sophie made a beeline for him.
“Sophie,” he said quietly, giving her a small smile.
“Grandfather.” She took a bigger gulp of her drink than she intended. She immediately felt steadier, just being next to him.
They looked on the nearby huddles of chatting people together in silence. A terrible pressure began building in her throat. She wanted to tell him everything. He was the only one she could trust. He would know what to do. She edged closer to his side.
“Grandfather…” she said again, her voice low.
He gave her his full attention. He blinked once and narrowed his red eyes at her. His nostrils flared slightly, and he wrapped his long sharp fingers around her wrist, pressing down on her pulse. The next second he took the drink out of her hand.
“You shouldn’t drink in your condition.”
Her breath arrested in her lungs. “What?” she rasped.
“You’re pregnant, Sophie.”
His hand moved up her arm and supported her as everything began to spin. She tried to focus her gaze on him.
“I won’t tell anyone,” he reassured her.
“Thank you.”
“Come see me tomorrow in Kyhael…Let me help you. There’s a deep fear in your eyes. You hide it well, but I know you, sweetheart. Let me help you.”
She took a few deep breaths. She couldn’t afford to fall apart. Heart racing, she glanced fearfully back at the people closest to them. She couldn’t do this.
“Open a portal for me please, grandfather. I need to be alone for a while.”
“Where do you want to go? Home?”
Something was building in her. The pressure to create pressed painfully under the skin. She thought of the cave.
“Not home. Send me to the wilds near the Lair.”
He jerked his head to the side and walked toward a large tree next to the rock wall. She followed, glancing to see if anyone was paying attention. No one was looking their way. He walked behind the tree and struck the air.
“I’ll tell your parents you got sick suddenly, and I sent you home.”
“Thank you.”
She walked into the waiting portal. The rushing blackness took her away. Sophie half stumbled as the portal closed behind her. She exhaled in the darkness of the forest, allowing herself to just breathe for a moment. Then came the panic. She took off her pumps and threw them before falling on her hands and knees.
“No!” her scream echoed through the trees. "No! No! No!"
Every swear word she knew rushed up her lungs and poured from her mouth. A tangle of words, every syllable saturated with hot blood from her raw heart. She sank back and sat on the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees. Her vision tunneled but she didn't cry. Instead, the moist membrane on her eyes dried out and desolation held solid inside her pupils.
Life was growing inside her. She didn’t want it. Not ever. She pressed her hands to her stomach, not gently. Not a tentative caress. Not the first spark of awe. No wave of warmth and softness at the knowledge she was going to be a mother came to her. Instead, she felt disgust. It wasn’t a child, it was a parasite. A virus using her as a host: Tristan’s infection.
All the passion of her panic slid away like an ebbing tide leaving a flat despondency behind. Her plans to out psycho Tristan crumbled into tiny fragments. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. Sophie hadn't yet really considered what pregnancy would mean in this trap he created. It was a perfect maneuver on his part, she conceded. Holding the fear of harm to Jorgie wasn't enough for him. A baby on top of that gave him not just the upper hand but an entirely new set of cards, and he held them all.
What was left to her? What choices? Did she have any?
Hazed with despair, her mind slowed. She didn't know how to fight now. Sophie got to her feet suddenly desperate to get to the cave. She had art. Tristan had taken everything else from her, but he couldn't take that. He couldn't take something he didn't know existed.
She had always hidden her strange ability out of fear. Now she would hide it for another reason: Identity. Even if no one else in the world ever saw what she made, it came out of her and her alone. Over this last vestige of herself, she would hold absolute ownership.
She looked around, searching for the right direction to the cave and began walking, not troubling to find her shoes first. The ground under her feet didn't bother her in the slightest. The pressure to create began to build again. This was her window. It might be the last time she was alone for a long while. This would be the only honesty to her life now. She wouldn't hold it back. Once she reached the cave, she would purge it all without restraint. No holds. No boundaries.
All of her senses heightened as she walked. Whatever she was about to do, whatever she created in this short breath of time, she would treasure every moment. Every detail she would commit to memory. An hour only, two at most and then it would be over.
She found the way. As soon as she knew she was going the right direction, Sophie began to run. The velvet darkness of the cave welcomed her in and she felt as if she had left Regia altogether and entered a safe haven, a world all her own. It was a very small space in terms of square footage, but that didn't matter. Art wasn't bound by measurement of inches or feet. Even the tiniest work of art could be a universe, a single brushstroke could make a road into the deepest emotion.
The art pushed in her veins and throbbed in her fingertips. She put one hand on her stomach again and a wave of violence rose in her arm. She reached out and grabbed the dark colors off the stone wall of the cave. A mix of black, gray, and brown clung to her palms. She spread images on the air, the dark angry hues of her spirit swirled into the color she pulled from the stone.
The first images were ugly, of course, they were. She drew herself out without restraint. The hideous things she created were beautiful in their purity. For a while, all that came out of her was filthy. The lines twisted and cringing in pain. She purged her heart and did not reabsorb any of it, grateful she was able to force those feelings out and even more grateful she didn't have to take them back. She breathed easier. The tension in her shoulders evaporated. She didn't have to apologize for what she felt, not in this place. And she didn't have to carry this weight anymore. Oh, she knew more stress would come, new hate, and new lies. But she could bring them here, tear them out, and leave them.
Sophie closed her eyes and listen to her heartbeat. All the rage was gone and now came the sorrow. The tears were warm under her eyelids. As the saline slid down her cheeks, she touched it with her fingers, pulling the essence of her tears. She added no other color this time. She painted the image of a baby with the transparent pigment of her tears. The lines of the child were rounded and simplistic. She took her time, adding lines to the image very, very slowly. She painted close to her face, her emotions now were foreign to her. What she felt was confusing and complex: an amalgamation of many all merged into one.
The life inside her wasn't her enemy. A ragged resignation breathed through her. She wouldn't blame the child, but she didn't think she could ever love them. Tristan had created a prison for her, and this baby was the bars and locks. How could she ever love her cage?
Sophie finished the painting of the baby by encasing it in a transparent womb, and then she turned away. Her mind reached a flow state now that she had emptied herself of everything she didn't want to carry inside. She began to experience the truth of herself, as if she was a well overfull. But now that she had drained, she could see the bottom and there was something there. Strange lights, new colors, shades, and hues, deep and honest and pure.
Eyes closed, she held her hands straight out, open, fingers splayed. There would be no forethought this time. She would just open the current. Only when she was finished would she look at it.
It moved up through her body from her heart rushing to her hands. Heat smeared across her palms and fingertips. The urge to look was strong, but she resisted the temptation. Her mind moved over words she felt identified her.
I am Sophie. Half-wolf. Half-shifter. I am young. I am strong. I am caged. Daughter, sister… Mother? I am lost… I am an artist. No. I am art. I am Sophie and I belong to no one and nothing except the art within me. I hide in the dark. I will always hide in the dark.
She thought about Tristan. I am a sacrifice.
Her hands moved over the feeling until she was completely spent. Sophie slowly opened her eyes and gazed at what she made. Her mouth parting in a small shock that quickly turned into a smile of pleasure, relieved that what she had created with her eyes closed was indeed something beautiful.
It was black, the edges undefined, and smudgy. It wasn't a bird and it wasn't a butterfly but something similar to both. Verdant green lines illuminated inside the wings like the veins of a leaf on a tree. It just hung suspended in the air for a moment, then it moved. Sophie gasped and stepped back. The wings beat slow and fluid. The smeared black background appeared detached from the green skeletal structure as if it couldn't keep up with the movement. Like watercolor, the shadowed background drifted free-form while the outline above was defined and sharp.
She followed it as it moved around the cave. It didn't really fly, more like floated, its movements akin to the languid grace of a jellyfish in the water. What had she painted? What did it represent? Hope? No that wasn't quite right. Longing. That was it. A longing for freedom mixed with uncertainty… a horizon wide open.
Her time was running out, and she had to go back to the beast that caged her, but she had never felt more centered. Sophie turned in a slow circle, regarding every work of art she created that night. This was her own little, secret world.
None of the art moved except the winged creature. It drifted lazily up to the ceiling and clung to the stone, seeming to slide into it.
"Stay here," she whispered, feeling slightly foolish talking to the art.
Before she left, her eyes fell and held onto the painting of the baby. She exhaled and forced her emotions to remain in a neutral place. She didn't want to give in to the hatred she felt for the child. It's a boy, she thought and then shook herself. She had to go. It was time to play the part again. It was time to hide her heart, to detach her soul from the window of her eyes. It was time to not just tell lies but become them.
"I'll come back."
She left. The silent trees of the wilds in between the Wood and the Lair caressed her with shadows as she walked toward home. The whole area felt empty. She saw no sign of life or heard any movement. Her mind turned to Tristan and how she would handle herself throughout the night while she was stuck with him. Should she tell him about the baby? Would he be able to sense it as her grandfather had? Sophie decided to hold on to the information and keep it to herself for the time being. She didn't fear his response, it was what he wanted after all, but perhaps in some way she couldn't yet see, the pregnancy might become some sort of leverage she could use against him.
Sophie touched her stomach again and pondered the amount of time it would take before the baby would be due. Her fingers drummed on her abdomen mimicking a pulse. The child was a clock. As soon as she thought it, she latched onto that notion. It wasn't a cage, it was nothing but a clock. A reminder of the deadline she was approaching. She must find the means to free herself and secure Jorgie's safety before the child was born.
Bracken crunching under footfalls caught her attention, but she was too wrung out to be startled or care if there was danger headed toward her. Her gaze shifted through the shadows. There was something. The way it moved broke through her apathy. She blinked, but it seemed she couldn't truly see what stalked closer. It wasn't a shadow and yet that was all she could compare it to. Whatever strange flesh it was built of the moonlight didn't grasp or touch it in any way. The dark thing held still one moment then shifted to the side or forward too quickly. Its movements jerky one second, beautifully liquid the next. Her mind tripped as it approached. It can't be, she thought. She'd only dreamed creating that thing.
The silhouette's glowing green eyes fixed on hers and it smiled. It was like looking in a distorted mirror. It was her true face, but it was vulgar, twisted, and filthy. The illumination of its eyes glinted a proud insanity.
"Mother," it whispered in an exact copy of Sophie's voice.
"I am not."
It tilted its head. "Denial is a thin coating. You won't keep it long."
"This isn't possible. I'm dreaming again. Hallucinating. You're not real."
The long twisted ribbons of the thing’s hair swayed as if blown by a strong breeze, but there was no breeze. Her form hazed, and she turned in a circle, laughing like a maniac. Then she moved so fast Sophie jumped to the side as she came up behind her, placing her midnight hands on Sophie's shoulders. Alarmed, she pulled away and faced it again. Its touch had felt like warm water.
"Do you love me, mother?"
Sophie ignored the question, her mind still bogged in rejection that this could possibly be real. "What are you?"
"I'm yours. I'm you."
"You're not me."
"You created me in a moment of rage and despair. I am pure. I am undivided. I know what I feel and what I want and there is nothing else. I am feeling."
"I must reabsorb you."
It darted out of her reach and laughed again. "The time may come for that, but this is not it. I would kill you or at the very least, the child inside you."
"How could you know that?" Sophie argued. "How could you possibly know anything if all you are is an emotion?"
The shadow shrugged. "I am pure. I was too strong to remain inside you. I had to break out. I did, too, if you don't remember. I tore you open the moment I was born. You want to swallow me back up? There's not enough room for the both of us in there. Or should I say the three of us? I wouldn't want to kill my sibling. I'm anxious to meet them."
At a total loss, Sophie just shook her head. "No," she hissed.
"Yes, mommy. Oh yes. Just think what might be inside you. Perhaps they will be just like me."
Sophie tried again to reach out and grasp the thing, but it was too fast. It slid through the shadows of the trees and away. In a second, she couldn't see it anymore. She held still, watched, and listened. Nothing. The forest was quiet all around her again.