Love Comes In Many Dangerous Forms

I saw Vera shutting the door quietly behind her as she wiped her face with her free hand.

“Vera,” I bit down on my bottom lip wondering if asking her to come with me would be a mistake. After a moment of contemplating I shook my head, I wasn’t that stupid to go alone.

Her head whipped towards me, her dark blonde hair stuck to her cheeks with the sudden movement. Her blue wings were weighed down and had lost their vibrant color. Her brown eyes were tired and wary as she looked at me, and I suddenly felt like a child again.

“Hey sweetie,” the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, but the weak smile slowly died as her eyes became unfocused.

“Vera,” I repeated slowly, and her eyes snapped back to my face.

“Sorry,” she said.

I took a deep breath, in a failed attempt to clear my head of the images in the next room, “I need to go see Zane.”

She blinked, pursing her lips, “What?”

“I need Zane,” I said again, but she shook her head immediately.

“No, no, no,” she looked at me, panicked. “It’s too risky.”

“Death won’t claim me tonight,” I promised her. “If it was, I would be dead by now. I need to talk to Zane; he doesn’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what I would do if I lost him too,” I explained solemnly, silently praying that the merboy would be unharmed.

“I could do that,” she offered, concerned.

I shook my head at her, “I need to talk to him about something else.”

She looked at me; her eyebrows came together, probably trying to figure out what I was going to do. “About?”

I bit down on my lip again, “Funeral arrangements.”

The corners of her eyes tightened for a moment but then faded into reluctant acceptance, “Alright, but we can’t stay out for too long.”

I nodded, letting out a small sigh of relief, “Thank you.”

“Where’s your gun?”

“In my bedroom, in the back of the left dresser drawer,” I told her, as she dug through the folds of her dress and pulled out small envelope.

“I found this,” she smiled softly, placing it in my hand. “It’s from Colton.”

I shook my head at her, trying to give it back, “It’s not going to be from him.”

“He asked me to give it to you if something happened, he said it was an early wedding present,” she explained blankly, pushing my hands back. “Stay here, scream if anything happens.”

I nodded, putting all of my weight against the wall as I stared down at white unopened envelope. After a few minutes, I hooked my index finger under the flap and tore the dense paper open. I reached inside and pulled the piece of parchment out, and unfolded it with shaking hands. The letter just

It read:

I, Colton Aaron Nevatrix, leave the entire werewolf race and all of my family’s assets to my fiancée, Cassiel Nicole Brooklyn.
I’m sorry.

-Colton Nevatrix

“What did it say?” I heard a few feet away, startling me. “Sorry.”

I turned to see Vera watching me with careful eyes, like she was afraid I was about to break into pieces. I wouldn’t be surprised if I did.

“He left me everything,” I murmured under my breath.

Her face that was mournful, turned into one of shock, “Everything?”

“His kingdom and everything in it – the werewolf race, the castle, and the profits his people make,” I frowned down at the paper, reading it over again.

“You’re the queen of two races,” Vera stated.

“I need a coronation,” I told her, tangling my fingers together.

“You know how your mother is-was,” her voice suddenly went dead. “She made up any excuse to throw a party. You inherit the kingdom immediately if you’re parents are absent.”

I didn’t want to talk about that yet, and neither did she by the looks of it, “Let’s go see Zane.”

She handed me my firearm silently, but when I tried to hand it back, she smiled, “I’m two-hundred and fifty-six years old. I think I can handle myself.”

I hesitantly brought the weapon back, my finger ready on the trigger.

“Are you sure you don’t want one of the boys to come?” she asked, stepping ahead of me, watching the shadows carefully.

“Shane and Tristan are talking, and Zach would bite my head off if he knew what we’re doing.”

“He cares about you,” she rolled her eyes at me. “We all do.”

I didn’t say anything as I walked over the threshold and out into the open air. I looked down towards the village the moonlight illuminating the tops of the houses. The salty sea air wafted towards me as soft breeze brushed against my skin. I watched Vera as she took two deep breaths and shook her head at me and mouthed, “Nothing.”

I took that as an okay and walked down the rocky trail, my bare feet hugged each of the jagged rocks, but I only felt numb with the cold air caressed my unprotected skin. I made my way down the trail, hiding in the shadows where no one but Vera would see me. Only when I touched the cool sand did I take a breath of air.

Zane was already waiting in the shallow water, his tail flicking the water irritatedly. His coal black eyes glared up at me as I stood a few feet away from me, “Where the hell have you been?”

I let a ghost of a smile appear on my lips for a moment, “Sorry, Zane.”

“You better be damn sorry,” he hissed, barring his sharp teeth at me falsely. “Do realize how worried I was?”

I didn’t say anything as he watched me, content with the normalness of the conversation.

“You need to be punished,” he reached his pale hand and stroked his jaw repeatedly, his eyes teasing. “Oh, I have a girlfriend and you don’t get to know anything about her,” he concluded, sticking his tongue out childishly.

I bit down on my lip, trying my best to joke with him, but failed miserably, “That’s a very harsh punishment.”

He frowned at me, “What’s wrong, Cass?”

“I know I don’t deserve it, but I need a favor from you,” I answered, brushing the strands of hair out of my face.

He looked at me confused, but slowly nodded his head.

I wasn’t ready yet, maybe if I didn’t say the words, they wouldn’t be true, “What’s down there?” I looked pointedly towards the water.

“Just a bunch of wreaked ships,” he told me automatically. “No what’s up?”

Vera touched my shoulder comfortingly, “Do you wan-” I cut her off there.

“My family is dead,” I said bluntly, keeping my face free of emotion.

His face turned carful and guarded after the words processed in his mind, “How?”

“Do you remember back when I told you about the man who killed Michael?” I left out the other unspeakable thing out.

“Your rapist?” he spat the question out like he had a bad taste in his mouth.

I nodded, wrapping my arms around my torso hoping it would serve as a protective barrier from the words that were spewing out of my mouth without my consent, “I have to bury them, but I can’t do it here where they could be discovered by werewolves, and the only merperson that comes up this far to the shore is you.”

“You want me to put their bodies in the ships,” he concluded. “I’ll do that.”

I walked into the water, the dying waves crashed against my knees as I bent down and kissed the sixteen year old’s cheek, “Be careful.”

“You too,” he flicked few droplets water at me. “Now go, I don’t like you staying outside.”

I smiled down at him climbing out of the water only to turn and call over my shoulder, “I’m going to find out who she is,” I warned him as I walked towards the castle, Vera trailing slightly behind me.

“What are we going to do now?” she asked me quietly.

“I’m going to do my first official act as queen,” I answered her, looking ahead focusing on a star in the distance. “I’m setting the immortals free.”

***

(Shane’s P.O.V.)

“Cassiel was raped?” he swallowed thickly as he asked the first question what I suppose was of many.

I just nodded, unable to confirm what he already knew.

“When?” he pressed, unwillingly.

“All I know that she was twelve and that Prince Michael was killed right before, she was framed for his murder. But he came back for her when she as in her cell waiting to die,” I told him solemnly.

His eyes flashed red and my instincts were shouting at me to fight or get the hell out, but I knew his anger wasn’t directed at me. He ran his fists through his short hair, and he looked like he was trying to pull it out.

“I failed,” was the only thing he said and repeated those two words over and over again.

“What do you mean?” I asked after a few minutes, watching him pace back and forth.

“Before my grandmother was taken, I promised her that I would take care of Cassiel and Hillary. I failed both of them now,” he confessed, his face turned pained.

“But you didn’t. You gave up your mortality for Cassiel, and she’s alive now because of that, you still have her,” I looked over towards my sister. “I suppose I should thank you for that.”

He let out a short, harsh scoff, “Why would you be thanking me?”

I leaned against the closed door, “You saved her, and she saved my family. If it wasn’t for her and you, Carly would be dead and I might’ve been too.”

He looked at my blankly for a moment and then said, “There’s something else I need to talk to you about.”

I frowned at him, “What else do you want to know?”

“What are your intentions with my sister?” he asked as his eyes, still having a red tent to them, narrowed at me.

“Intentions?” Where the hell was this coming from?

He gave me a knowing look, crossing his arms across his chest offensively, “I see the way you look at her; I’m surprised she hasn’t noticed yet, everyone else has.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I confessed, trying to piece together what he was saying.

“And you don’t even realize it,” he laughed humorously, not relaxing his stiff stature. “The lingering gazes? You follow her around like a lost puppy? And you get that dopey lovesick look whenever she is in the room? Now are you going to keep up the oblivious act or are you going to admit that you’re falling for my sister?” he raised his eyebrows at me.

I opened my mouth to speak but I knew that no words would be able to pass through my lips. I replayed what he had said again, turning it over in my head; trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for my silence.

I couldn’t think of any.

Quickly I ran over the questions in my head.

Did I like Cassiel? Of course I did. But did I love her? It was surprisingly easy to picture us being together. My arm around her slender figure, her fingers laced through mine as she slowly stretched up towards me, pressing her soft warm lips against mine.

And that is when it hit me like a train wreck.

I was in love Cassiel Brooklyn.

“Uh-huh,” Tristan said as if heard my thoughts and brought me back to reality. “I just have a few words of caution for you. If you ever hurt her again, I swear I will hunt you down and tear you apart piece by piece.”

He left the room with me still gaping after him, trying to reassemble my thoughts that were now a jumbled mess.