Claire was staring at Elias. Or at least, she had been. He was threatening to use the sire bond on her. Or at least, he had been. And that wolf, Colin, was trying to defend her for some reason. Or at least, he had been.
But then, she started spinning. Like when she was a child and would sit in her father's office chair as her sisters spun her around and around. The kind of dizzy that made the world blur into colors.
And after the dizziness, she wasn't in her garden. She was in a damp cellar, behind a wall of bars, surrounded by gray concrete. Weakened and confused, Claire dropped to her knees and gagged, the back of her throat burning as she hacked.
"I do not think vampires can throw up. But I suppose that you may be an exception to every rule," a voice from the doorway said blithely.
Jocelyn strolled into the room, drained from the force of magic she had used. Though she had taken some power from the grass, Elias had his land heavily charmed, preventing her from drawing more. The magic felt the same as the one that had kept the furniture from moving. If Jocelyn ever met that witch, she would make them regret helping a vampire.
Claire shakily rose to her feet, leaning on the wall. She placed a cautious hand on the bars of her cage but jumped back with a hiss as it burned her skin.
"Careful now. You're just transitioned; you can't even touch silver yet."
Jocelyn pulled up a chair and sat outside of the cage, smiling plainly as Claire glared at her. "What did you do to me?" she finally spat angrily.
The old witch did not seem affected. Tossing her long, gray curls over her shoulder, she put on a pair of reading glasses. Taking a folder from the table next to her, she flipped it open and spoke calmly, "I will not answer questions that are asked so rudely, young lady."
Claire's lip lifted in a silent snarl, but the witch only laughed, "I suppose it will take time to remove those beastly instincts from you. After all, you have become an animal." She looked over the rim of her purple horn frames. "It's a shame, what that vampire did this to you. Destroying your life so that he could simply use your power."
The jab at Elias struck a chord deep within Claire. That was the second time the witch had made it sound like Elias had searched her out, like he had been the cause of her problems. As little as she trusted her sire at that moment, it was mountains more compared to the trust she had in the witch. The only thing she knew for certain was that Jocelyn Drusus would not kill her. Not out of kindness, but now The Council was involved. Claire was no longer Jocelyn's to kill.
"And you're any different?" Claire replied, refusing to take the bait. "You don't plan on using me for this 'power' I supposedly have?"
Jocelyn laughed, "Of course I do! All of us do. But at least I'm honest about it. That mosquito?" An angry grunt escaped Claire's lips by habit, but neither one reacted to it. "He calls you his child. As if he didn't rip you away from your," The witch paused a moment, considering her words. "He ripped you away from the people who raised you."
Claire was never an expert at reading people; it was part of why she was drawn to working with kids. They simply said how they felt, and when they couldn't, it was easy to figure it out. She had a way with animals, and a thumb so green she could make any plant thrive with ease. But she had always struggled with understanding the hidden. But even she noticed the hesitation with which Jocelyn mentioned her family. The witch quickly got over her stumble and continued with a wide smile, "But I can help you. That power you have? I can feel it, child. You could be so strong if you only learned how to wield it."
"And what if I don't want to?" she countered, leaning against the concrete wall with her arms folded across her chest.
"That does not matter to me. You will need to learn."
Frustrated, Claire dropped her arms with a huff and turned her head away from the witch, who simply smiled. After a moment of silence, Jocelyn asked, "Don't you want to know how he was able to make you? After all, hybrids are not meant to be possible."
"Why make it forbidden to do something impossible?" Claire retorted sharply.
Jocelyn smiled again, as if she was proud of Claire's tenacity. "To prevent the allure of figuring out how to. Child, there is so much information that you were robbed of, locked away in that house like some novelty!"
Claire snorted, "This is the only time I have felt locked up. Elias may have lied to me, but at least he did not put me in a cage like this."
Jocelyn only shrugged. "I only keep you there for your own safety. You would have gone running off with those creatures if I did not stop you."
"And who are you to make that decision?" Claire wanted to scream. She stepped off the wall and stood as close to the bars as she could, ignoring the slight sting just being near them caused. "You think you're any better than him?! You're just another type of monster!" Claire cried out, exasperated.
"You will not talk to me like that!" the old woman yelled back, rattling the bars with her force.
"Why not?! You think that you can lock me away and demand respect for it? You're just some crazy old witch who wants to go on a power trip. And I won't be a part of it!" Claire turned her back on the witch.
That same anger from earlier flashed through Jocelyn's eyes as she slapped the file onto the metal table and rose to her feet. She stepped towards the cage. "I finally got you back. I will not let you-"
Before she could finish, Claire interrupted, "What do you mean 'back'?"
Jocelyn stopped in her tracks, suddenly calm. "You're right. There is so much you don't know." With that, she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Claire alone again.
"Come back here and answer me!" she screamed at the closed door, but no one answered.
Claire paced the cage, growing more and more anxious. After a few hours, Jocelyn returned with a wide, malicious grin on her wrinkled face. Claire could smell a second person, a man, behind the door, but he did not come in. "Who is there?" she growled, cautious of the witch's smile.
"Your father," Jocelyn replied, her smile only growing.