Chapter 16 #2
Closing his eyes again, he concentrated hard, not sure even what he was supposed to do.
He had no idea how to shift. No matter how many times he’d imagined shifting when he was growing up, or the fact that he had apparently already shifted once today, the idea of trying to deliberately do it now was kind of terrifying.
But the thought of being stuck as – stuck as whatever the hell he was right now – was even worse, and he did his best to keep calm as he tried and tried again to shift back into human form.
Come back to me.
He followed the warmth of what had to be the mate bond, trusting it, letting it lead him back to himself. To her.
And then, suddenly, he was Max again, and in her arms.
Poppy.
The name came back to him in a rush – how could he have ever forgotten it? – and he pulled her closer, simply enjoying being able to hold her, to feel her warmth and strength and know that she was okay.
“Poppy,” he murmured. “Thank you.”
“Max,” she whispered back.
She pulled back from him, cradling his face and looking into his eyes, as if trying to make sure that he was really himself. Apparently satisfied, she pulled him close once more, almost crushing him in a hug. Not that he was complaining.
He would’ve been perfectly happy to stay like that forever, but eventually reality started to sink in. Today had been… a lot. And it wasn’t over – not by a long shot. If nothing else, there was an unconscious fae lying there on the ground, and Max had put him in that state.
Max didn’t even know what, exactly, he’d done to the fae – his new powers were still a mystery to him. Was it just an amplified version of his old powers of forgetting Max’s existence, or had he wiped his brain completely? Was he even going to wake up?
The idea that Max could have permanently harmed someone didn’t sit easily with him, self-defense or not. There had definitely been a point where he could have stopped, leaving the fae incapacitated but most likely okay in the long run.
No – he’d been blinded by rage, by the need to protect his mate, by the sheer power coursing through his veins. By that voice in his head, which, he was now coming to realize, must be his shifter animal.
It was there all along? he thought in frustration. Why didn’t it just tell me that’s what it was, instead of acting like it was just part of my natural thought processes?
His shifter scowled at him. I should not have to explain what is painfully obvious.
I was a kid when you showed up! Max snapped. You expect a four-year-old to be able to distinguish between the different thoughts in their head?! You’ve had decades to set the record straight! This is on you!
He sighed. Clearly he was going to have to make some big adjustments in his life.
I can’t believe I finally get to shift, and then it turns out that my shifter animal is a jerk.
His shifter form just sniffed disdainfully, which didn’t exactly do a lot to disabuse Max of the notion that it was, in fact, a jerk.
On the other hand, ensuring Poppy’s safety had apparently quelled some of its most dangerous impulses, and Max wondered if he should be willing to extend it at least a small olive branch.
It had been pent up for its entire life, after all, only to be freed when its mate’s life was in danger – he could only hope that it would start to calm down and become less intent on things like destruction and vengeance once it had had a chance to spread its wings.
Wings? he thought – did his shifter form have wings? Now that he thought about it, it seemed possible, given the way he’d felt himself pressing against the walls of the cabin. On the other hand, maybe he just shifted into something enormous. He supposed he’d have plenty of time to find out.
The thought was quickly overridden by the sudden memory of Poppy coming under attack by the fae – of that asshole pressing his hand to her forehead as she floated in the air, clearly terrified and in pain.
Max’s chest tightened painfully as he remembered the blank look on her face as the fae leered at her and tried to steal her powers. Her presumably non-existent powers.
Pulling back from Poppy, it was his turn to examine her face carefully. She seemed fine, if a little confused at his sudden actions.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“I should be asking you that. Did that guy hurt you?”
Poppy shook her head. “No. I mean, yes, it hurt a little, but I’m absolutely fine now.”
His shifter growled at that, urging Max to maybe go and kick the unconscious fae a few times. Max shushed him, even though he understood the sentiment. Learn a little restraint, buddy. She’s a grown adult who can look after herself. If she says she’s okay, she’s okay.
Still, it was hard to take. Poppy had gotten hurt because of him. Because he’d left her to make her own way home from the hospital. Because he hadn’t told her everything that would’ve allowed her to make an informed decision about being with him.
Although, to be fair, he hadn’t been aware of half of what was going on, either. Not only could he shift after all, but he was half fae? His dad had left him here in ‘this realm’ to protect him?!
He rubbed at his eyes, wondering how on earth he was going to broach any of this with his mom.
On the other hand, she would presumably be thrilled that he could at least shift, now. Even if he didn’t know what he shifted into. And he wasn’t one hundred percent sure he wanted to know… though he knew he’d have to find out at some point or another.
“Uh…” he started, not quite sure how to put the question, and tempted to just change the topic altogether.
But Poppy was looking at him inquisitively, and he sighed.
“Do you… happen to know what I shifted into? I can’t really remember the details, and it’s not like this place comes with a full-length mirror. ”
“Oh.” Poppy looked thoughtful for a moment. “I have to say that I’m not sure what it was, exactly.”
Max’s heart fell a little. Just what the hell had he turned into?
“But it was pretty cool,” she went on, and Max, through his relief, felt a wave of smugness emanating from his shifter animal. It was already starting to become insufferable, and Max was starting to wonder whether being a shifter was actually all it was cracked up to be.
“It was like a lion, but with dragon wings,” Poppy said. “And I think a scorpion’s tail? And it had blue eyes.”
It wasn’t a chimera – chimeras had soft, feathery wings and snake tails. It was just different enough that Max knew any chimera shifter would probably be wildly insulted by the comparison, given how touchy they were.
But he knew what it was.
“A manticore,” he murmured, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
I could have told you that, the manticore muttered.
Then why the hell didn’t you?!
You didn’t ask.
Biting his tongue to keep from getting into a pointless argument with the mythological beast that apparently lived inside his head – and which he could now see inside his mind’s eye – Max pondered the situation. Just how had he ended up shifting into anything other than a lion?
Well, he supposed it could have been much worse.
If he had wings, presumably this meant that he could fly, which was not something he’d ever expected even in his wildest dreams…
though he thought it might be best if he took his first flight out in the middle of nowhere, over some soft snow, with no one else around to see him flapping about in circles and plummeting to the ground.
And was he immune to his own scorpion venom? It would be incredibly embarrassing if he accidentally stung himself…
Well, at least he was part lion. Hopefully his mom and her family wouldn’t be disappointed.
A light touch on his hand brought him back to the present, and he looked down to see Poppy gently holding up one of his wrists to the light of her cellphone.
“We should get you some medical attention,” she said. “You got cut up pretty bad.”
“I guess I did,” he murmured.
“At least the bleeding has stopped,” Poppy added. “But we should still get you checked out.”
It was funny – he couldn’t feel it all that much. Prodding gently at the edge of the dried blood, he watched as some of it flaked away… to reveal half-healed skin beneath. It wasn’t healing at the same rate as he knew a regular shifter’s would, but it was definitely much faster than he was used to.
Poppy looked up at him, eyes wide, and he managed a smile that, hopefully, didn’t look too much like the expression of someone who had had one too many surprises for the day.
“Shifters heal fast,” he said. “Normally I would be getting to the hospital right now, but it looks like a few things have changed.”
Poppy nodded, looking a little surprised, but not too concerned or freaked out.
Despite Max’s new healing powers, however, some other things hadn’t changed at all.
Like the fact that his close-range vision was still pretty blurry.
Clearly being a half-shifter meant that some things were a bit more hit-and-miss than he would’ve preferred, but he wasn’t about to complain.
It was far more than he ever could’ve hoped for.
Pulling his now somewhat mangled glasses out of his pocket, he put them on, smiling as Poppy’s beautiful face came into perfect focus. If wearing glasses meant that he could see Poppy clearly, he thought that he might never take them off again.
Studying Poppy’s expression, he couldn’t help but notice how calm she seemed – and a sudden thought occurred to him. “You seem to be, uh, taking all this in stride.”
“Oh.” Poppy looked a little sheepish. “Margot kind of spilled the beans. Shifters, mates, magic, the whole shebang.”
“Mates?” Max said, surprised. But then he remembered Poppy’s voice coming to him, when nothing else made sense:
My mate. You’re my mate, Max.
“So you know,” he murmured, looking into her eyes. “You know what you are to me.”