Chapter 12

Chapter 12

For a long moment I can only stand there, paralyzed, until Mollie’s voice pulls me out of my stupor. "Millie? Are you all right?"

"Yes," I reply. "Sorry. I was just thinking." Once again kicking myself. I’ve stood up against powerful Academy representatives, classroom bullies, and human extremist terrorists. So why the hell does it take a coquettish mind like Edith to get me all turned around like this? Enough is enough. I’m not some kind of emotionally unstable little girl. I’ve dealt with worse than a little jealousy. I’m going to try to be reasonable about this. "What are you making?" I ask, creeping up to the stove to stare into the pot Mollie is stirring.

"Pasta," Mollie replies bluntly, although she frowns. The pot looks more like it’s full of a congealed mess of tentacles than spaghetti, and the smell coming from the pan on the other burner doesn’t exactly seem edible. "I know, I know," she says, seeing my expression. "It’s supposed to be puttanesca, although I’m starting to wonder if takeout would have been the better option."

"I see your cooking skills haven’t improved since I lived with you," I observe teasingly.

Mollie groans. "That’s a low blow, Millie," she says, reaching out a hand to ruffle my hair affectionately. For a moment I’m transported back to my primary school days, all the precious moments like this that made me feel normal in the face of overwhelming abnormality, an abnormality that pales in comparison to what I’m experiencing right now.

Discomfort washes over me again when I notice that Edith has turned her gaze away from Hunter to watch me, a thin smile plastered on her face, but her green eyes are glowing with something I don’t quite like. "Just like old times?" she asks, and although her tone is nonchalant, I can tell that it’s masking discomfort. Maybe I’m not the only one with some insecurity about my relationship with Mollie.

"I sort of lost count of the number of times we had cereal for dinner," I reply, relishing the sound of Shade’s surprised laughter.

"Wait, seriously?" he asks. "I was starting to think I was the only one who did that."

"Oh, you absolutely aren’t," I inform him with mock haughtiness. "Frosted flakes were ninety percent of my diet."

"I like you more and more each day, Boots," the wolf shifter says, grinning and giving me a playful nudge on the shoulder. As if he and Silas weren’t just sharing me not long ago.

"As interesting as it is to talk about breakfast foods," says Ruby, moving forward to fill up her water glass at the crowded sink, "we should probably figure out a game plan sooner or later."

"Agreed," says Mollie, "although let’s hold off until lunch is ready. I find it’s always easier to talk serious business on a full stomach."

"Not to look a gift horse in the mouth or anything," Landon says, turning to glance at Mollie, "but I think the pasta sauce might have been on the stove too long."

"Shite," Millie exclaims, rushing back to the saucepan and fanning at the acrid smoke with a dish towel. I take an inquisitive glance back at the pasta, attempting to stir it only to discover that it has completely solidified into a block of noodles.

"I think that settles it," says Edith, jumping down from the counter and taking the saucepan from Mollie. "Who here likes Chinese food?"

---

An hour later,we’re all seated around Mollie’s admittedly sizable dining room table, jammed in shoulder-to-shoulder as we pour over a veritable feast of fried rice, chow mein, and dumplings. My stomach is making its hunger known loud and clear, and I wince when it lets out a growl loud enough to be heard across the street.

"Now tell us how you really feel," Landon jokes from across the table.

I stick my tongue out at him. "I’ll be sure to worry about propriety as I’m pigging out, Thyme." Without further ado, I begin shoveling food into my mouth.

"You should really slow down," Edith informs me, her tone sounding almost too polite. "Too much food at a time will slow you down. As a shifter, though, I would think you’d know that already."

I blink, seething a little. "I’ll take that into consideration the next time I’m not coming off a dangerous chase and international teleportation spell."

"That’s what practise is for," argues Edith.

"You know, Millie," says Mollie through a mouthful of food, "maybe Edith could teach you a few things. Help you hone your witch shifter skills. She’s incredibly talented -- one of the best I’ve ever seen."

Edith smirks a little, obviously preening. "I would be happy to," she tells me. "My mother was a witch shifter, too. She taught me everything I know."

"So why didn’t you end up at the Academy?" Xander asks inquisitively.

"My parents were... anti-establishment," Edith replies, a little evasively. "My mother had classical training, but she hated every second of it. The humans are pretty much all the same -- subjugate, sow discord, keep us under their thumbs… No offense, either of you," she adds, looking from me to Mollie.

"None taken," Mollie says.

I fidget with my fork for a moment. "I’m not a human," I remind her.

"Right," Edith says. "You’re a hybrid." There’s an unspoken challenge behind her words -- a superiority complex, maybe?

"Boots didn’t choose to be a hybrid any more than you chose to be a shifter," Silas comes to my defense. He’s sitting to my right, with Hazel to my left, and I shoot him a grateful look. "Hell, she’s been the most taken advantage of out of all of us. All the humans wanted was to make her into a weapon."

"And they still do," I add quietly, turning my eyes down to my food.

"Which is exactly why we need to figure out our next step," says Xander. "We’re not exactly sitting ducks here, if this place really is off the humans’ radar, but we can’t stay here forever either."

"True," admits Hunter. "Sooner or later we’re going to have to take the fight to the humans themselves."

"That’s very noble of you," Edith purrs, scooting her chair closer to his.

"I owe it to Boots," Hunter tells her. "She was the one who made me confident in my abilities." His blue eyes meet mine for a moment, but then he breaks eye contact, almost like he’s afraid of how I’ll react to the praise.

"Is that so?" Edith asks, her emerald gaze turning on me. "Now if only you could find that confidence yourself, Millie."

"Working on it," I retort curtly.

"All this talk of going after Hawthorne is great in theory," says Hazel, "but I’m pretty sure it’s going to take more than a human and a handful of shifters to take down the establishment."

"Right," I agree. "We’ll need allies."

"You’re talking about building an army," says Silas. "Only problem is, pretty much all the shifters I know are right in the eye of the storm."

"You guys aren’t thinking big enough," says Edith. "Why look for allies who haven’t even mastered their abilities, yet? We should be looking at Academy graduates. Other outsiders, like me. Fully-fledged shifters who can go head-to-head with the professors at the school."

"I’m open to suggestions," I say. "Silas, you mentioned shifter-only communities, right?"

"Sure," says the dragon shifter, "but there’s no guarantee they’re even still there. They could’ve ended up disappearing the same way my…" His voice breaks a little, and I reach to him under the table and intertwine my fingers with his. He gives my hand a grateful squeeze.

"Lucky for you, we won’t need to look that hard," Edith replies. "I happen to have half a dozen contacts in this neighbourhood alone, and that’s not even talking about the rest of London."

"Really?" Landon raises his eyebrows. "And just how did you happen to make so many magical acquaintances?"

"Easy," Edith answers without missing a beat. "I was born and raised here."

"What happened to your parents?" asks Ruby.

Edith doesn’t reply immediately, looking away as an unidentifiable emotion passes over her face. "They’re not around anymore," she says. "They left me at a group home when I was fifteen. Said they had taught me everything they could, and couldn’t protect me any longer."

"That’s brutal," Hunter says softly, and she looks at him with a practised smile.

Mollie clears her throat. "That seems like as good a place to start as we have," she says. "We can start knocking on doors, trying to drum up support. If your contacts have contacts of their own, Edith…"

"Then we can build an army," the witch shifter finishes for her.

I nod, grateful, at least, that she’s willing to give us actionable suggestions. "So where do we go first?"

Edith thinks for a moment. "I know of a couple not far from here who might be a good place to start. A siren shifter and a dragon shifter. Both powerful, and respected in the community. I can take us there tomorrow."

"We shouldn’t all go," warns Shade. "We’ve all got targets on our backs."

"Hunter and I will go," Edith announces decisively, paying no mind to Hunter’s surprised look.

"Millie should probably go, too," suggests Mollie. "She’s sort of in charge of this operation."

The witch shifter blanches a little, but then forces a smile. "Right. Of course. Millie can come too."

Landon raises his eyebrows at me, the look on his face telling me everything I need to know. I can only shrug in reply.

The rest of the day wears away without much fanfare. I can feel my powers regenerating, and with any luck, I should be back up to par by the time we go to visit Edith’s friends tomorrow.

The others have already quietly made their way to bed, setting up makeshift cots and blanket piles all throughout the apartment. I’m on my way out of the bathroom when I practically bump full-force into Hunter. "Sorry!" I exclaim, pulling back. "I didn’t realise anyone was still out here."

"You know me," he jokes weakly. "I always come last."

The casual way he says it is enough to break my heart. "What do you mean?" I ask him quietly, shrinking in his shadow.

He shrugs. "I’m not exactly on the same level as the rest of you. That’s no secret."

"But you’re getting better," I protest. "Besides, none of us are master shifters, anyway." Well, maybe except for Edith, I think, a little bitterly.

Hunter just shakes his head. "I’m starting to think I…" he says, but then cuts himself off, breaking eye contact.

"You what?" I prompt him gently.

"I’m starting to think I’m not worthy to be fighting alongside you," he replies, his voice soft and husky. "You’re all so strong. It’s like… here I am, taken care of by the Academy all my life, and I can still barely get into my form. And you’re this beautiful, strong, smart…" He shakes his head. "I don’t deserve you."

"Hunter," I whisper, my hand coming to rest on his cheek. He flinches at my touch, as if the contact burns him. "Don’t say things like that."

He takes my hand and removes it from his cheek. "Why not?" he asks, sounding borderline despairing. "It’s true." And without another word, he sidesteps me and disappears into the bathroom, unceremoniously closing the door between us. I’m left to stare after him, dumbstruck.

Listlessly, I make my way back to my room, crawling into bed next to Silas as Shade climbs in on my other side. The dragon shifter is already asleep, so I put an arm around him and press a kiss to his neck. Shade pulls me against his chest, tangling me up in his arms, and although I feel safe between the two shifters, sleep doesn’t come.