Chapter 33 #2
“Zubir, I don’t know what to say,” Elyse breathed as she leaned against the door.
“Then let me speak instead,” Zubir answered.
He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders.
His chin was high as he peered up at Elyse and Killian, though it gave the slightest tremble.
“Thank you for being honest with me. You were right. I have been hiding—both from the world and from my past. And it has been lonely. My kind is not meant to live a solitary life.” He looked toward the window, as though he could see through the curtains and out to his cousins on the lawn.
His expression softened and he added, “They were not angry with me, as I had feared. They welcomed me home.”
“And where is home?” Killian asked. He leaned casually on the table, like he was trying to make Zubir feel at ease. Despite his demeanor, Elyse could see the desire to know more burning in his eyes.
“All that I will share is that it is somewhere in Otsuk,” Zubir answered. “We have kept our location a secret for over a decade, and I will not be the one to break the trust I have earned, trust that I am not sure I deserve.”
Elyse strode forward and put a hand on Zubir’s shoulder. “Of course you deserve it. You’re one of them, and you always will be. They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t think so.”
“And what exactly does ‘one of them’ mean?” Killian pressed. He gave Zubir an earnest look. “I’d like to know, if you’re comfortable. That way I can know how you fall into our plan.”
Elyse shot Killian a smile. “That’s the brilliant thing. We don’t need a plan for them—they’re the contingency.”
Killian frowned—of course he disliked the prospect of not having a plan.
Elyse continued to beam. “Are you okay with showing him?” she asked Zubir.
He nodded, and Elyse took a step back to give him space. Killian stood straight, his eyes glimmering with excitement. She could feel the curious tension around him, pulled taut like a bowstring.
Zubir removed his rucksack and laid it on the floor beside him.
He closed his eyes and took a deep inhale that puffed out his chest. He let the breath out in a long, slow exhale.
His hands hung at his sides, and his fingers twitched with nervous energy.
Elyse waited and watched, eager to witness Zubir’s magic for the first time.
The change was subtle at first—his ponytails grew shorter and slowly began to shrink into his scalp.
His nose and mouth elongated as his posture lurched forward.
Tearing sounds filled the room as his torso expanded and fur burst from beneath his tunic.
Claws clacked on the wooden floor of the study as Zubir shifted his weight and adjusted to his new physique.
Where a small man had stood not thirty seconds earlier, a massive black wolf now perched in the middle of the room.
Killian exploded, his jaw nearly falling to the floor as he clamped both of his hands behind his head. “Devil’s taint!” he shouted.
“Stop stealing my sayings,” Elyse laughed. She stepped forward and reached a hand out to pet Zubir’s muzzle. From the corner of her eye, she saw Killian tense, as if he thought it unsafe. But Zubir pressed his snout into her hand and half closed his eyes at the connection.
“What does this mean?” Killian wondered aloud. “What is he?”
“He’s a shifter,” Elyse explained as she scratched behind Zubir’s ears—ears that came to her shoulders. “They all are. A wolf is their most natural form, besides a human, of course. But sometimes their clans will go weeks in their wolf form.”
Zubir gave a joyful yelp, confirming her words.
“So, what other forms can they take?” Killian asked.
“Anything,” Elyse went on. “A bird, a fish, any human. That’s why I wanted his help. We don’t know what Lazarus has planned for us, so we don’t know how to combat him. But, with Zubir and his cousins helping, we can adapt to whatever Lazarus throws at us.”
“Interesting…” Killian said, rubbing his chin pensively. Then he added, “You said he can shift into any human?”
Elyse chuckled. She’d rarely seen Killian so surprised, but she was enjoying his stupefied expression as he gawked at Zubir.
She felt the energy surrounding Zubir change, and she retreated from him. His black fur twitched and writhed until it evolved into tan skin. His posture straightened once more, but this time into a much taller frame. Golden eyes and a broad, stubbled jaw sat atop a bare, muscled body.
“Fucking hell!” Killian looked caught between bolting and attacking. After a moment, he took a step forward and studied the golden eyes, identical to his own.
Then his eyes dipped downward, and he shook his head. “I’m well on display, aren’t I?”
Zubir, fully transformed into Killian’s body, quickly used his hands to cover Killian’s more private areas. “My apologies,” he said, his voice matching Killian’s timbre perfectly. “We shifters are far more comfortable with nudity than most.”
“It’s all right,” Killian said. “Nothing we haven’t seen before.”
Zubir squatted down to pull a fresh pair of trousers out of his rucksack and hastily tugged them on. Killian’s gaze never left him, his brow furrowed. Elyse could practically see steam coming from his ears as his mind tried to make sense of it.
“Does it hurt?” he asked.
Zubir tensed at the question. “Oh, um—”
“I’m sorry,” Killian said quickly. “You don’t have to answer that.”
Elyse bit her lip. She worried this was too much for Zubir, that she’d pushed him too far.
“No, it’s okay,” Zubir decided. He shifted once more, this time into his own skin.
Fortunately his pants stayed intact, though where the hems had previously hung above Killian’s ankles, they now swept the floor.
“People always ask that to be morbid, as if they want the answer to be yes. But that’s not why you’re asking, is it? ”
Killian shook his head, his expression more sober than before. “I’m asking because I want to understand. If we’re to work together—and I mean together, not under my command—then I need to understand. I need to know what exactly I can ask of you.”
Elyse slipped her hand into Zubir’s. “You can tell him,” she encouraged. “He’s kept my secrets, and he’ll do the same for you.”
Eyes still trained on the floor, Zubir took a breath. “The shifters have been hunted for nearly a century. If you can catch a shifter, and manipulate them into doing your bidding, you can be a very rich man.”
He looked up, gauging Killian’s expression. Killian remained stoic, empathetic even.
“I was born in a cell,” Zubir went on. “For three generations, my family was held captive. We were forced to do the bidding of very greedy men—stealing for them, killing their enemies. No one came looking for us, because no one else knew we existed.”
“I’m so sorry,” Killian said, voice grave. “No one should be treated that way.”
Zubir moved toward one of the chairs and lowered himself into it, as if suddenly exhausted.
“It was the children—that was how they kept us in line. Some of the strongest men and women in the world, capable of unimagined stealth and violence, all caged by love. For nearly a hundred years, we obeyed out of fear for the ones we cared about.” His gaze went hazy, as if lost in the dark memories.
“You escaped,” Elyse said, her words a lifeline bringing Zubir back to the present.
“We did,” Zubir agreed. “We finally had enough, and we rebelled. For months, we traveled in our wolf forms, roaming the forest in search of a new home. We had each other, and we had our freedom.”
“How did you come to be on the island?” Killian asked.
Shame clouded Zubir’s features, and he looked away.
“I left the others,” he admitted plainly, guilt sharp in his voice.
“I couldn’t live like they did, always on the run, always looking over my shoulder, fearful that we would be recaptured.
” He began to wring his hands together. “I’ve always been afraid, always expecting the worst. The others seemed so liberated.
They never worried, always looking to the next adventure, but I…
I couldn’t do it.” His voice trembled as his chest rose and fell rapidly, like he was reliving that fear.
“I left them. I ran away to the nearest town. I used my powers to steal, slowly stashing away a fortune that would afford me the very best protections.” He shook his head.
“But the fear only got worse. What if someone discovered I was a thief? What if my cousins found me, and branded me a coward? I was all alone without anyone to help me. So I went farther and farther away and set up more and more defenses, until I made sure that no one could ever find me again.”
“Zubir,” Killian said softly. “Are you still afraid?”
Zubir lifted his chin to look in Killian’s eyes, towering high above him.
“It is like the addict who craves the bottle every day. Just as they will never be rid of their desire to drink, I will never be free of my fear. I can only learn to live with it, and rise above. That is what I’m choosing to do.”
“I think that makes you the bravest person I know,” Killian told him. “And I would be honored to fight alongside you.” He extended his hand to Zubir.
When Zubir smiled, there was a twinkle in his eyes. “Then I shall be your soldier,” he said. He clasped Killian’s hand, and the alliance was formed.