Everything grows quiet as we stand in the street looking at each other but when I feel the two souls fluttering in my hands, I quickly blink and ask "My what?" Kian looks a little perplexed and fearful as he says "It's yours, dollface. You have demon fire."
I blink twice before saying "No I don't. That's impossible... I'm not part demon." Kian lifts his hand and rubs the back of his neck as he quickly looks around and says "We shouldn't be having this discussion out here like this."
I want to shake him and say 'That's the least of my concerns!' but I know he's right. I try to mentally push it down and focus on Mr. and Mrs. Lewis. They've been tortured and almost completely consumed...
I look down at the two, softly glowing orbs with a heavy heart. "I'm so sorry..." I whisper to them but they only continue to silently glow. I close my eyes and focus on the feeling of their fluttering hearts before walking across the street.
When I'm far enough from Kian, I softly sing to the two to help them pass over. They're so weak... they'll need all the help they can get. I really don't know if reincarnation is a thing but... I hope they get another chance at life and love. I also hope that I'll be able to meet them again someday.
As I sing, a few other lingering spirits start to show up but I ignore them and focus on the two in my hands. When I feel my eyes glowing, I end the song with a trembling chin. I take a deep breath and say "Until next time..."
I use my magic and lightly blow on them, watching with teary eyes as they slowly disappear. Once they're gone, I clear my throat and wipe my eyes before turning around and standing up. Kian stands right behind me with an unreadable look on his handsome face.
I look him right in the eyes as I say "This. This is why I can't run and hide. I need to save my father and brother before it's too late... before any more people are hurt and killed because of me." As I walk past him, I whisper "I want to be alone."
When I get into the car, I quickly put my seatbelt on and take off. Kian never once tried to follow me and for that, I'm grateful. When I pull up to the house, the house turns the lights on for me and swings the door open in greeting.
Binx sits in the doorway, watching me walk up to the door with a swishing tail. The night sky lights up over me with lightning. Being my familiar, he knows exactly how I feel at the moment so when I reach the door, he silently moves out of the way.
The house shuts the door behind me as I start stripping out of the burnt clothes. By the time I reach the bathroom, I'm standing before the mirror, completely naked. I look myself over but I don't really see anything... not even a scratch.
I turn and look at my back but when my eyes land on the small crescent moon, my mind instantly goes back to when I walked into the flames. I did feel my shoulder tingle... I step closer to the full body mirror and narrow my eyes on the thing.
Is it... fuller? I reach back and lightly touch it but it doesn't hurt or anything... maybe I'm just imagining it? I turn and try to look at it at different angles but I really can't tell for sure. I just have a feeling that it's gotten a little bigger.
I shake my head and jump in the shower. I stand under the shower until the water runs cold and decide to call it a night. I need sleep if I plan on taking down the prince of darkness and that's exactly what I plan on doing.
The next two days pass blissfully as I gather things together but something wasn't sitting right with me... I hadn't seen or heard from Xander in three days... that was unheard of for him! He was always popping up and showing up at the most random times but now he's... he's absent.
I pause in making potions and pick up my phone. No calls except for Harris, demanding to know what I did to the fire but I've been avoiding him and for good reasons. I can't tell the guy I have demon fire... well... Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I have no idea at this point!
I pull up Xander's number and hit the call button. It rings until the voice mail picks up but I decide to hang up and try again. Has something happened to him? After the fifth call, I decide to look for him in person.
When I finally make it to Xander's, I head straight to the door. I try to ignore all the looks and stares as I reach up and ring the doorbell. When the door is opened, I see a young male, coyote, standing at the door. He looks me over and asks "Can I help you?"
I try to keep calm... I mean, maybe I'm just freaking out over nothing. All the other shifters wouldn't be walking around unbothered like this if their Alpha was killed, right? I look at the guy and say "Hey.... yeah my name is Eris Hallows and I'm looking for the Alpha."
The guy frowns at me and says "Do you have an appointment?" I suddenly have the urge to throat punch him but I strain to smile as I say "Can you just tell him that I'm here... please?" He looks like he's about to slam the door in my face but at the last minute, he seems to change his mind.
He sighs and says "Fine. Wait here, witch." He slams the door in my face and for the third time today, I wonder what the hell I'm doing. I start to think he just shut the door in my face and left me out here but when the door opens again, a different male shifter greets me and says "Come in"