Chapter 12 #2
At her words, the Chameleon shifters began revealing themselves all over the trees.
There weren’t as many as I expected. About ten of them.
I knew without a doubt Kenzo could easily take all of them on.
The way he tore those Snake shifters apart, these Chameleon shifters would’ve been a walk in the park for him.
However, Kenzo wasn’t here, and I was still trying to figure out how to mindspeak on a consistent basis.
“What are we going to do?” I mean, I probably could take on one or two of them since they weren’t that big. They were more length than weight. Halo had her pup, though, and she wouldn’t be able to do much with her in her arms.
“What the hell is going on? I can’t call for Creeland,” Halo said with frustration laced in her voice as she looked around at all the trees with the chameleon shifters in them.
“Sssurrender now and no one will be hurt,” a hissing voice called out as a Snake shifter slithered next to the first Chameleon shifter that blocked our path.
I knew this wasn’t the right time, but if these Snake shifters weren’t evil and always trying to kill me, I would have said they had to be the most beautiful shifters I’d ever seen.
Their vibrant colors and intricate patterns on their scaly skin were breathtaking.
Also, I had never seen an ugly Snake shifter.
Their faces were like models’ with sharp cheekbones that humans paid millions to emulate.
Why creatures so beautiful wanted to be so vile was a mystery.
“Fuck you,” Halo spat as her free hand began glowing white.
“Ssseemsss you need sssome motivation. Take her,” the Snake shifter commanded with an arm pointed in our direction.
In the blink of an eye, the chameleon on the ground’s tongue shot out of its mouth, wrapping around A’Miracle’s tiny arm, and Halo let out a scream of terror.
“Let my pup gooo!” Halo screamed with rage flowing through her voice.
“We’ll take her or you can give us her.” The Snake shifter nodded his head at me.
“You’ll do neither,” Halo demanded as she tried to unwrap the tongue from her pup's arm as her pup began crying as she woke up from her sleep.
“I’ll go!” I said with my hands thrown up. Seeing A’Miracle in distress was more than I could handle. There was an attachment that I felt to A’Miracle. I couldn’t explain it, but the need to protect her was more important than my own safety.
“No!” Halo yelled at me. As she yelled, a black bolt shot through the air, slicing the chameleon’s tongue off. Green ooze shot everywhere, and Halo quickly turned to shield A’Miracle from getting it on her.
I looked up at a shapely woman as she effortlessly floated down from the sky. Her back was to us. She wore a leather pleated skirt. Her shirt looked to be a corset, and she wore platform boots with a heel far too high to be able to walk in the forest.
“Didn’t I tell you fuckers to wait until my grandpup wasn’t around?” Her voice was shrill and high pitched.
“We don’t anssswer to you. Just ‘cause you are fucking the Tsssar doesssn’t mean we have to lisssten to you,” the Snake shifter angrily yelled at her.
The woman’s hands went to her hips, and her head cocked to the side.
“Oh, you don’t?” Sarcasm was heavy in her tone.
She let out a chuckle then snapped her fingers.
I watched in horror as the Snake shifter's head was sliced from his body.
“Now, unless you nasty green fuckers want to join him, I suggest you get the fuck on.”
All the Chameleon shifters scattered like roaches. Turning with a triumphant smile, she looked at Halo and A’Miracle, love in her eyes. “Hi, bookie!” the woman said gleefully like she wasn’t standing inches from a body she’d decapitated.
“Mom!” Halo screeched at the woman she shared a face with. I wasn’t sure if it was because Halo and her mom looked alike, but her mom looked familiar to me.
“Don’t sound like you aren’t happy to see me.” She smiled, ignoring the heated look Halo was giving her.
“What the hell is going on, and why are you here?” Halo demanded.
A’Miracle’s head popped up once she laid eyes on Halo’s mom. Her arms flung out toward her. “Meee-Meee!” A’Miracle happily yelled.
With squinted eyes, Halo looked at her mom. “How does my pup know you?”
Waving her off, Halo’s mom chuckled at Halo, completely unbothered by her anger.
“That wolf blood in you must be making you slow like those mangy mutts. You’d be crazy if you thought I wasn’t going to meet my first grandpup.
We play together in her dreams.” A softness was in her voice that showed she cared deeply for A’Miracle.
“Well, if you weren’t hell bent on being evil, you could be in her life like a normal grandparent.”
“Blah, blah, blah. Old stuff. I see you two finally found each other,” her mom said as she looked between Halo and me.
“Ferrin, what are you talking about?” Halo asked, annoyed as she tried to keep a wiggly A’Miracle from getting out of her arms. She was still trying to get to her grandma.
“Are you okay, Halo?” Ferrin looked at Halo while floating closer to her, then placed her hand on her head to check her temperature. Moving her head away from Ferrin’s hand, Halo frowned at her mom. “Do you know who I am?” Ferrin had turned to me with a small frown.
“No,” I answered honestly. I mean, she looked familiar, but with my memory still being fuzzy, I had no real way of knowing who she was.
“Hmm… What the hell did they do to y’all?
” Ferrin questioned with her fingers drumming across her lips like she was in deep thought.
“Hmmph.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Welp, hell if I know. I will say, Bellamy, you’ve grown into a beautiful mage.
I won’t say shifter ‘cause, lord, I know I regret mating with a mangy mutt.” Ferrin turned and pinched Halo’s cheek.
“Cursing my baby to have one of those things inside of her. I can only image how Roselee feels doing the same. That was my bestie right there.” Ferrin laughed as if she was recalling some things.
“Aww, I miss her. If only she would have killed your dad with me. We’d still be besties.
” Ferrin talked like what she was saying was normal.
My eyes were wide while looking at Ferrin.
She was interesting, and I knew if I’d known her in the past, I would have remembered her, but she did know my name, and apparently, my real mom’s name was Roselee.
I wanted to ask Ferrin more questions; it seemed like she knew more about my past than anyone I’d encountered.
Before I could say anything else, Halo spoke up.
“It’s crazy you have so much to say about wolves, but you're sleeping with one now,” Halo replied smartly.
“My man isn’t just a mangy wolf. He’s everything. Don’t insult your stepdad,” Ferrin said with a smile that seemed odd because of the tone of the conversation.
“That shifter is nothing to me. You killed my dad,” Halo replied through gritted teeth.
Unfazed by Halo, Ferrin looked at Halo with a straight face. “Your dad is alive and well with a new bitch at the Sanctuary of Life. No need to be sad.”
“Bye, Ferrin,” Halo said with a shake of her head. I could see the mental anguish that came with talking to her mom.
“After saving you two, you’d think I’d get a better thanks.
Mmm… It’s good seeing you again, Bellamy.
Tell Roselee I said hi and Deion I’m sorry.
” When she turned toward Halo, she ran a hand down A’Miracle’s cheek, causing her to coo happily.
“My little grandpup, I’ll always be watching over you to keep you safe.
” Ferrin’s hand dropped. Then she looked up at Halo.
The two had a silent conversation with their eyes.
“The things I do may not make you happy, but know I love you,” Ferrin sadly said before she raised her hand and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
I could see a tear fall from Halo’s eyes, but she quickly swiped it away, masking whatever pain she was feeling at the moment.
“I guess we know each other,” I said, trying to ease the tension in the atmosphere.
Taking a deep breath, Halo replied, “I suppose we do. There's only one way to find out.”
“Let’s go.”
Halo nodded her head before she resumed our walk down the dirt path to the wood. Halo made sure to go around the dead Snake shifter's body, and I followed her lead. I was more than ready to get the answers I needed.