6. Vix

Chapter 6

Vix

A dream she'd forgotten, but it hadn't forgotten her…

It felt like the earth was wailing around her with such beautiful, excruciating agony and she could never truly ease it no matter how much she took. The angels had been made to protect humanity, but all they did was add to mortal pain.

She stared up at the sky as clouds darkened and held her breath—waiting.

The scar in the universe pulsed like a living thing, calling to her.

So close to the source…

She'd tried running away.

For years, she'd run until she couldn't feel her legs anymore. Then Kenji had found her—claimed her. He'd given her a place where she'd belonged – taught her everything he knew. Vix had been raised a raven, and she'd been a good assassin despite the fact that she didn't possess wings.

It had never mattered to them that her memories had been stolen. No one had cared if she was broken – that she'd had her fur stolen as well as her scent. He'd taken everything from her, but the ravens didn't care because there was so much they could give her to replace it with.

But her missing memories had always made it difficult to remember things. Vix lived with magic carved into her skin, pulsing in her veins…

This world was a cruel and heartless place, and she couldn't turn off her emotions like a raven shifter could.

Vix had briefly thought that claiming her humanity might be the answer to the emptiness inside. Years of learning how to be like them, blending into their cities despite knowing she was nothing.

Just a ghost – hell bound and bent on blood.

For a long time, she'd forgotten her purpose despite the push and pull she felt in the universe.

Then she'd seen one.

Walking through the city with phantom wings that no one else could see.

His eyes had met hers and she'd been frozen in place, wondering if he would recognize her even if she'd had no idea why she would be afraid of that, but the fire in his eyes didn't match and he'd kept walking like she didn't even exist.

A hybrid…just like her.

Monster .

Abomination.

Seeing his wings had shattered the pretty illusion she'd been living in. It had reminded her of everything that had been stolen from her – everything she still needed if she wanted to be whole.

He'd taken her memories from before, and then he'd taken her memories again – stealing away the time she'd spent with him in the heavenly realm where it was so cold it burned.

Vix stared at the sky, waiting just as she always did.

Nothing descended on her other than the softest snow, swirling down apologetically like it could soothe the ache of abandonment.

Only the cold could erase that pain these days.

Years .

This time, she stuck out her tongue and let the snow land. The ice contained a tiny drop of that refreshing wildness that told her it was alive, and it cleansed the horrific stench from the back of her throat.

Breathing deep, she reached up, wishing she could pluck him from his perch and drag him down to answer for all his crimes, but Vix didn't have wings.

Her hand dropped to her side and her lips peeled back from her teeth in a silent snarl, tongue running over the sharp canines that she could never hide.

Choosing this was all she could be. There was no more pretending, and shedding the expectations of humanity had freed her to become exactly what he'd made of her.

Tauriel…Gabriel's warrior.

A little noise of disgust escaped her before she gave up, stepping over the body and heading towards the nearest tree. He wasn't going to come this time either.

That was fine. She'd try again and again and again until he finally did.

Settling her hand on the bark, she rested her head against it and closed her eyes. Disconnecting the glyph from the trees she'd used to anchor it, she took its pain away in silent thanks.

Activating another glyph sucked the angel's blood from the earth until there was nothing left, shifting it through the universe to her secret place. She took the remnants of his wings as well before destroying any trace of the seal.

All the rest of the trees around her seal cried in relief when their agony eased.

She would leave the body. No one but an angel would know what they were looking at anyway. The flesh and bone would decompose and give new life to her garden of death just like all the others.

Gabriel had made her into his warrior and her body remembered what she couldn't.

Vix had all the time in the world to hunt them down one by one if that's what he wanted from her. If that didn't work?—

Snow crunched and her eyes opened to see something…unusual.

A tiger made of winter.

He was massive as he prowled through the snow toward her, bigger than a bear, but it was the white fur that held her attention.

Vix slid down, using the trunk of the tree to hide behind. Peering out at him as she crouched, she couldn't help but wonder if this was real or if it was nothing but another memory she wasn't allowed to possess.

If it was a dream…what was the harm in giving in to the intense curiosity urging her to get closer?

It was as natural as breathing to use her claws and boots that were just as good as paws to move through the snow toward him in a low prowl, but the tiger went completely still when she did and Vix tilted her head as she wondered what that meant.

Unfamiliar animals never saw her as other , but this one did.

She watched as those ice-blue eyes studied her, staying completely frozen until she felt his nerves ease.

He was wary of her.

Glancing over her shoulder at the mutilation she'd left for Gabriel, it occurred to her he might have seen it. If he hadn't, then he'd definitely smelled it.

The rotten stench of angel blood always clung to her.

Turning back to him, she saw he was now sitting on his haunches – looking so regal, and almost like he belonged . Vix could scent him, but she didn't know if she could trust any of her senses right now, not when such a beautiful dream kept beckoning her closer.

"Tiger, Tiger," she whispered, unable to stop herself from taking another step forward. "Burning so bright."

His attention sharpened, and she tilted her head slightly.

"In the forest of my night," she purred, feeling the animal dancing inside her demand she reach out to touch him. "My tiger of winter and frost, aren't you?"

He huffed at that, and she crawled a tiny bit closer, unable to resist the need to scent him – to touch that frosty fur that beckoned like the bed piled high with furs in her den.

Something strange was pushing her closer and closer…

"So cold," she murmured, seeing the chill in his eyes for what it was. "Are you made of ice too?"

He didn't move when she got close enough to touch him, but his scent suddenly became anxious. Vix went completely still again, making sure to stay lower than his head so he wouldn't think she was going to attack or challenge.

Then he finally rewarded her for her patience, dipping his head down to sniff her fingers and growl at the scent he found there.

"Shh," she tried to soothe. "It's a horrible stench, I know, but what can you do? Someone has to keep the infestation from spreading."

Just a little closer…

There .

She dropped her eyes to appear as nonthreatening as possible despite the blood all over her and then slid her fingers through the white and black fur on his face. Her lips parted in awe when he didn't try to bite or claw her.

His fur was so rough and thick and warm that she couldn't help inching a little closer. Another scent surrounded her, and she snatched her hand away as if she'd been burned.

This wasn't a mundane tiger and he was very real.

No, he was like her, but…not.

Vix crouched down lower to put her face below his so she could peer up at him, hoping it would keep him from feeling anxious. "Hello, Alpha."

Something in his eyes flashed at her and she could have sworn it was a flicker of gold. He was definitely more than just an animal, and she couldn't help but wonder why he was here.

"What are you doing in my forest, pretty tiger made of winter?"

For whatever reason, it was impossible not to touch him again. This time though, she slid her fingers down his front leg so softly it was barely there, and her gaze fell to his paws.

So big .

Dropping to her stomach, she walked her fingers over the top of those paws, air between the tips of her fingers and his massive toes. If he wanted to attack her, he could, but Vix wasn't too worried about it.

Not much could kill her.

Probably.

But she couldn't help wondering why he was letting her get this close when they didn't know each other. There wasn't the usual wildness coming from him either like with the ravens or the coyotes, but still, his well of dominance was endless .

"I want to touch his murder mittens," she confessed to the snow. It laughed at her and Vix grinned, rolling over to show him her stomach to prove she wasn't the threat all the blood and the mutilated body promised she was. "Can I?"

The tiger stared down at her with disbelief dancing in those ice-blue eyes and Vix suddenly felt reckless. Grabbing his face like she had Rain's, she turned it from one side to the other and bit back her amusement when he seemed shocked that he was letting her.

"Please let me touch them, Alpha?"

He huffed again and looked away as if in agreement, which delighted her.

Rolling back over, she touched one toe and then walked her finger over to the next, wondering if his claws were bigger than hers. Vix looked at the ones coming from the tips of her fingers and sighed.

This was all she got, wasn't it?

His tail swished through the snow, instantly catching her attention.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…" It swished again, disturbing her pile of snowflake kisses, and Vix bared her teeth at it. "Catch a tiger by the toe."

She pinched one gently between her thumb and forefinger as that tail swished again.

Releasing him, she felt her muscles tense and the next time it moved, she pounced .

His snarl made her laugh and she rolled to the side but didn't let go, tugging on his tail as she avoided the swipe of his claws. If they tore into her then he was definitely real, right?

It was so cute the way he was trying not to kill her, teeth doing nothing more than holding the back of her neck like she was being naughty. His tiger didn't want to play with her though and she released his tail as that horribly familiar sensation of not belonging washed over her.

Her gaze dropped down to her black claws again and she barely registered the way he pinned her onto her back, those murder mittens pressing down on her shoulders now.

She'd forgotten—forgotten just like she had so many other things.

Not possessing a scent…other shifters hated it. So few could stand the nothing he'd made her into.

"He took everything," she whispered to the god of winter above her, pleading with him to understand. Her eyes found his and they looked like they'd been carved from ice. "He even took my scent."

The wildness surrounding them held its breath as he considered her and Vix closed her eyes, waiting patiently for his judgment. Would he abandon her too, now that he knew just how wrong she was?

Abomination .

Rain was right, winter never ended for her, did it?

"He took your scent?"

Her eyes flew open and she found green ones staring down at her instead of blue.

The strangest thing happened then. That endless pumping—thumping…it stopped.

Frost filled her lungs, and she couldn't breathe as she stared at the jade-green, trying to understand where all her ice had gone.

" Breathe ," he snarled, lacing the word with the strongest alpha command she'd ever felt.

This one didn't tickle. It hurt .

Still, her body refused to comply.

"I said breathe ."

She'd been pretty sure that first command couldn't get any stronger, but she'd been wrong. This one took hold of her body and forced air that felt like it was made of glass shards into her lungs. Vix tasted blood on the back of her tongue as her chest heaved to obey him.

"I didn't mean to startle you," he said, his deep voice suddenly soothing and calm.

She didn't trust it. "Don't talk like that."

One dark eyebrow raised at her, and he pulled back slightly, but this shifter was still pinning her to the snow like they were quite familiar with each other.

She supposed he had let her touch his murder mittens.

"Talk like what?"

"That voice sounds like lies ," she hissed, grabbing him by his shirt to throw him off her.

Wait. A shirt?

It had been a long time since she'd seen a human who wasn't pack or collective this close and personal, but she was pretty sure it was too cold for him to be wearing nothing but a creamy button-down shirt. Especially with how it was open all the way down to the middle of his impressive chest, sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

She had to admit he was…captivating.

The sight of his broad shoulders had her forgetting why she'd been so annoyed, and she felt drawn to him in a way she never had with another person before – not even when she'd tried to fill that gaping emptiness with bland companionship where her soul should be.

Such a pretty tiger…

Even when he was human.

His wildness didn't sing to her, but his darkness did and Vix wondered if he'd give her just a tiny taste of his pain.

The scent of it was mouthwatering and she realized just how hungry she was…

Starving.