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Tabitha
They were changing.
The animals were changing into humans as the spell was breaking. These weren’t shapeshifters the way Felix was. While Felix could change himself into a dragon and then back to a human, these people couldn’t. Once they had been cursed by the witch, they’d been trapped in animal bodies until her magic finally started to fade.
Apparently, this was why there were so many animals on the island.
So many questions rose in Tabitha’s head. Had Ursula been vegan because she knew there were so many cursed humans that she didn’t want to accidentally eat one? If an animal died that had once been human, was the curse lifted? Would they turn back into their human form? Why weren’t there corpses all over the island? Had all of the cursed people been able to stay alive this entire time?
Perhaps most importantly, why now?
Why had it taken so long for Ursula’s powers and spells and magic to finally fade away?
“She’s dead?” One of the men stared at Felix when he spoke. He was tall. Tabitha wondered if that guy was the one who had been a bird. He looked long and sleek, and his nose was very pointy. She could see him as a lovely sort of bird, strutting around.
The other man seemed just as perplexed about Ursula’s death. This one was slightly shorter than the bird man, but no less lovely. How did Ursula manage to have so many good-looking friends? That was what Tabitha really wanted to know. For someone who had cursed to be a frog for an inordinate amout of time, he looked very pretty.
“She’s dead,” Felix repeated. “I killed her myself.” He stood up a little straighter, Tabitha noticed. He was proud of this. He should have been. Conquering a witch was no easy feat. She’d be the first one to admit that.
The two men both stared at Felix, blinking. It seemed as though they couldn’t quite figure out whether he was telling the truth or not. They’d been hoping to fight with Ursula, perhaps, just as Tabitha had hoped to do the same.
Unfortunately, they’d been a little bit too slow.
“I know you,” the bird guy said, cocking his head. “You’re familiar to me. I know you.”
Tabitha cringed, but tried to keep her face straight. There was the possibility that most of the cursed humans on the island would recognize Felix at some point. After all, he’d been Ursula’s pride and joy, judging by what Tabitha had heard so far.
“Well, I don’t know you,” Felix told him. “What’s your name?”
“Angelo.”
Together, everyone turned to look at the other man. He seemed uncomfortable with the sudden attention, and he shifted from one foot to the other. It was a nervous habit, Tabitha thought. It was something that might give him away. When someone was hunting or trying to hurt someone, they’d look for their weak spots.
Shifting around nervously and eyeing everyone uncomfortably: those were things that would let your enemies know you were scared. A scared person was easier to kill. He needed to calm down.
“Tony,” he shrugged. “My name’s Tony.”
So, Angelo had been a bird. Tony had been a frog. Felix was still a dragon. Then there was Tabitha. She’d never been anything but herself, and she’d never been anywhere that made her feel quite as out of place as this island did.
Back on Kunzite, she had other mages to hang out with. Throwing balls of energy to each other, bouncing spells back and forth, and memorizing cures and potion recipes had been incredible. Now she was alone: one of the few on this island who had never been personally cursed by Ursula.
“I’m Tabby,” she said, finally finding the words. She stayed cool, keeping her voice even.
“Fe,” Felix told them.
“Well then,” Tony said, rubbing his hands together. “Now that we’ve all introduced ourselves, how abouts we get off this island, yeah?”
“No,” Tabitha shook her head quickly. She wasn’t going to convince these people that she was going to leave with them. She would do nothing to trick them. No, Tabitha didn’t want to reveal all of her secrets at once, but she certainly didn’t want them to think there was any chance the four of them were going to be boating buddies and go off in search of better places.
It wasn’t going to happen.
“No?”
“Felix and I live here now,” Tabitha said simply. She shrugged, hoping the gesture was casual enough that they wouldn’t ask questions. She wasn’t going to reveal that they were trapped here or that this living situation was not by choice.
“You live here?”
“We do,” Felix nodded, following her lead. “The beach is that way, though,” he turned and pointed in the direction of the water. “If you’d like to make your leave, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find.”
“How long have you been trapped here?” Tabitha asked, changing the subject back to Angelo and Tony. She didn’t want them to spend too much time asking about Tabitha and Felix. What if they asked where their home was? Tabitha and Felix didn’t have one. They spent most of their time just exploring and sleeping in random places. Despite their situation, they hadn’t “settled” on one part of the island.
Instead, Tabitha asked a question that would make Angelo and Tony think about themselves. Besides, knowing how long they’d been under the spell could be helpful. Perhaps it could offer up some clue as to how long Felix could expect to be trapped before his own curse wore off.
“How long ago was the winter wonderland party?” Angelo asked.
“Six years ago,” Felix said.
“Son of a bitch,” Angelo said, shaking his head. “Then, I suppose it’s been a long fucking time, hasn’t it?” He frowned, walked over to one of the crumbling walls, and punched it. He stood for a minute while everyone else watched him.
Tabitha couldn’t help but feel a little bad for him. He had lost years of his life due to the curse. Felix had, too. They all had.
Angelo’s shoulders heaved as he took a few deep breaths. Then he walked back over and nodded.
“Six years it’s been,” he said quietly. “A lifetime. I had plans back home. Six years.” Angelo kicked a little rock, which went bouncing away.
“We come to the islands for a cool, breezy getaway,” Tony said, shaking his head, “and this happens. Before you know it, six years have passed, and you got to be a frog. Bollocks.”
It was unfair, Tabitha thought. The entire situation was unfair for all of them.
“At least it was a good party,” Angelo said.
“A very good party,” Tony agreed.
Then, without another word, he and Angelo turned and started walking toward the beach. They’d have to go through the forest to get there, and the walk would take them a few hours, but they’d be able to find a way off the island.
At least, she hoped so.
Felix and Tabitha watched as they disappeared into the trees. She turned back to see a strange expression on Felix’s face: sadness, maybe. Loss.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she offered. “You can’t blame yourself.”
“I don’t, but it’s still hard to accept.”
“Ursula wronged many people,” Tabitha whispered.
“So many people.”
Felix looked like he was about to cry, and Tabitha moved to him quickly. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into her arms. She’d lost a lot, too. They both had. She’d lost her family and her purpose, but Felix...
Felix had lost his ability to even leave the damn island.
“Everyone has lost so much,” he murmured.
He didn’t say anything else for a long time. He let Tabitha hug him, holding him. She waited until it seemed as though his breathing had regulated and he had calmed down a little bit.
“There will be others,” she finally said, pulling back. “Other people who need to know how to escape.”
“We can help them,” Felix agreed instantly.
“I like that about you,” she told him.
“What?”
“You’re always ready to help people.”
“Anyone would do the same,” he murmured, but they both knew it wasn’t true. Plenty of people in the world only looked after their own interests. There were more than enough villains to go around.
“Tony and Angelo should be able to get off the beach,” Tabitha offered.
“If they find a canoe lying around, sure. There are enough abandoned boathouses full of little vessels that they can easily rig something.”
Although the island they were on was secluded, it wasn’t the only island. The Chrysolite Isles contained dozens, if not hundreds, of islands. There was Dragon Isle, full of shapeshifters. There was Kunzite, where the mages had once lived. Hell, there was even Sapphire Island, which was rumored to have the hottest and most attractive shifters. Tabitha had once made a mental note to go there, but she never had.
“They didn’t go through the castle,” she pointed out.
“To find supplies?”
“Yeah. I probably would have. You know, if I was trying to escape.”
“There’s not much left there, anyway.”
“We’ve gone through a lot,” Tabitha agreed. The two of them had explored almost every nook and cranny. They’d enjoyed fooling around in different parts of the castle, of course, too. They were mates, after all. Still, just wandering through and exploring had been very calming and relaxing. Tabitha had gotten to see the banquet hall, and she’d had a chance to explore some of the guest rooms. What surprised her the most was just how modern everything was. She had wrongfully assumed that an empty island like this would be practically desolate, but there were plenty of modern conveniences, such as lighting and running water.
Of course, there was no electricity anymore. That had either been powered by magic or Ursula hadn’t kept up with her electric payments after her death. Pity. Still, despite the fact that the castle was slowly falling apart, it was lovely.
“What now?” Felix asked, glancing over at Tabitha.
“I wonder if there are others,” she murmured.
“If the curse is breaking, then there must be. There must be a lot of people who are coming back to their human forms.”
“A lot of people,” said a deep voice from behind them.
Tabitha and Felix turned, shocked. The voice sounded angry. She held up her hands, prepared to throw up an energy ball to defend them, but before she could move, the man attached to the voice shoved her hard against the castle wall.
She hadn’t even heard him approach.
Tabitha hit her head and fell, sliding to the floor. Everything seemed like it was spinning. Her entire world was suddenly fading in and out of black and white. Pain shot through every inch of her being.
She’d moved too slowly.
“If it isn’t the dragon,” the man said. Was he sneering? His voice sounded like he was sneering or snarling. He sounded pissed off beyond all recognition. Warning bells went off in Tabitha’s head, but she couldn’t move enough to do anything about it.
Did Felix know this person?
Did he know the man?
Felix. Shift. Fly away.
Tabitha wanted to speak, but she couldn’t. Everything hurt too badly. Even if she’d wanted to throw an energy ball at this clown, she worried that she wouldn’t be able to. She could try, of course, but what if she missed? Being dizzy with the world’s worst headache meant she might hit Felix instead of the intruder. She might screw this up somehow.
And Felix didn’t shift.
Why wasn’t he shifting?
Go! Run! Fly!
Tabitha wanted to scream at her mate. He shouldn’t still be standing there in front of the man. He should be running away. He should be fleeing. Tabitha didn’t want Felix to have to face this guy on his own. Yes, he was a dragon shifter, but Felix had been different lately. He’d been weaker. He didn’t think Tabitha knew that he’d been struggling with his energy levels and abilities, but she’d noticed.
Something was draining him.
She didn’t know what was causing it or how it was happening, but there was something that was making Felix feel weak. Tired. Broken.
Now, he didn’t fly away.
Instead, he faced the man who had appeared before them.
“If it isn’t...I’m sorry, who are you?”
He wasn’t being sarcastic or cruel. Tabitha could see his face now, and she could tell that Felix was genuinely confused as to who the man was. It was quite apparent, however, that the man knew who Felix was. This guy was familiar with him. He knew enough about Felix to know that Ursula referred to him as a dragon.
He didn’t like that Felix didn’t know him, though, and he shoved Felix hard. The dragon shifter went down, collapsing on the ground just as Tabitha had. She tried to stand, but she was still dizzy.
Why wasn’t Felix fighting back?
Something was wrong. She’d had a sneaking suspicion for a little while that something was wrong with him. She hadn’t brought it up because she didn’t want to ruin their time together. Felix hadn’t mentioned it, so he obviously didn’t want to talk about it, either, but it was very apparent to Tabitha that there was an issue.
He was weak. Was he growing weaker by the day? There was no doubt in her mind it had something to do with the curse. It had to. There was no other reasonable explanation as to why Felix shouldn’t be able to move around at a moment like this.
Fight, she wanted to call out. She wanted to scream to him, but her mouth wouldn’t make words.
“You know me,” the man said. He spoke slowly, as though using small words would somehow make Felix recognize him.
Felix was lying on the ground, obviously in pain. He wasn’t making very much noise at all. He never did like to make a fuss. Instead, he was just staring at the man who had invaded their space. He was just looking at the villain.
He shook his head just the slightest bit. “I’m sorry...I don’t...I don’t know you.” Felix closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again.
The man walked over to Felix and knelt down in front of him. He grabbed the back of Felix’s head and jerked it back. Their eyes were level with each other, and even from a distance, Tabitha could tell that this guy was trouble. She managed to roll onto her stomach and started to crawl toward them.
The little trio was standing just outside of the castle on what used to be a stone landing or road. She couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be, really, but now the stone flooring had cracked. There were little pebbles everywhere and sharp, jagged pieces of rock that poked and scratched at Tabitha as she crawled. Still, she had to move. She couldn’t make herself stay still.
“Try again...dragon.”
This time, the man hissed the words, and Felix’s eyes went wide. Did he recognize who it was? Did he know this man, after all? It was no secret that being cursed could change a person. Everyone knew it could change your heart, but a curse could do more than that.
It could warp your appearance.
Maybe this person used to look differently than he did now. Perhaps this person was someone who had engaged in a relationship with Ursula. The only thing Tabitha knew with certainty was that her mate needed her.
Tabitha crawled more. The rocks were scraping her belly as she made her way over. She could feel the stickiness of her blood as she moved. Her shirt was sticking to her skin now thanks to the wounds on her tummy. She’d heal herself later once she had the energy. There was no time for that, now. Any power reserves she had needed to be directed toward Felix.
The only thing that mattered was getting to him...getting to Felix...she had to help him.
“Ah, I see you do remember.”
“You’re the jilted lover,” Felix whispered.
“I have a name.”
“I know.”
“Say it,” the man insisted, still tugging on Felix’s hair. “Say it!”
“Orion,” Felix whispered.
“Yes,” Orion nodded. Being named out loud seemed to satisfy him on some level, at least, but Tabitha knew that satisfaction wouldn’t last for long. A million questions raced through her head as she continued to crawl toward her mate.
When she reached him, she didn’t know what she’d do. She wouldn’t be able to do much. She knew that. She’d have to figure out a way to trick Orion into leaving because her head was still spinning.
Tabitha hated herself for getting caught off guard. Hated it. If she hadn’t been distracted, obsessed with Felix, then she wouldn’t have gotten hit so damn hard on the head. Some fine witch she turned out to be.
“Orion,” Orion repeated his own name. “Don’t you dare forget it.”
“How could I? I hate you,” Felix snapped. He was still lying on his side. His words seemed to infuriate Orion, who stood up and kicked him hard.
Who the fuck was this guy?
What did he want with Felix?
Where had he come from?
Tabitha could see why Felix didn’t like him. Kicking someone over and over seemed to have that effect on people. Still, there was a story there. Felix had called him a jilted lover. No, he’d called him the jilted lover, as though he’d once been someone important to Ursula.
Ursula hadn’t exactly been monogamous. Had this wounded Orion somehow? Had she broken him?
Maybe he wanted revenge for her bad deeds. Perhaps he was going to do something to hurt Felix in order to get back at Ursula.
“She took everything from me,” Orion snapped.
“Only what you gave her freely.”
“She took everything. Nobody could ever compare to you: her precious child.”
“I’m not her child.”
“Don’t lie to me!” Orion screamed, yelling into the air. It was a harsh, feral sound that echoed through the trees. Tabitha gasped, unable to help herself, and Orion’s eyes swung toward her.
Suddenly, he became aware of Tabitha’s presence. That was an unfortunate mistake on her part. She shouldn’t have gasped. She wanted to reach him as soon as possible to get rid of him, but he shook his head. A nasty smile spread over his face as he seemed to realize what she was trying to do.
“Not today, girlie.”
He stood and walked over, kicking her in the stomach. What was with this guy and physically abusing peoples’ bellies? She was already dizzy, and her head still hurt from hitting the rocks. The pain of his foot connecting with her stomach was almost too much to bear. He stood there for a moment, watching her. Once he was satisfied that Tabitha wasn’t going to do anything to defend herself, he grabbed Felix and lifted him easily, slinging him over his shoulder.
“Come on, Dragon. You and I have a date with destiny.”
“What a stupid...fucking...thing to say...”
Finally, Tabitha was able to speak. She looked, trying to see through the stars and circles that were floating in front of her face. She wanted to take note of where Orion was taking Felix.
Where were they going?
What could Orion possibly want with him?
He wasn’t going anywhere good. That much was for certain. Whatever beef Orion had with the witch, he was going to take it out on Felix, and Tabitha’s head was still spinning too much for her to do anything.
She produced what was probably the world’s tiniest little blue orb and whispered a spell. It would follow them leaving a small, almost imperceptible trail of similar orbs. Then she’d be able to follow later to find out where they were going.
As long as she didn’t wait too long, it would be fine.
She closed her eyes, laid her head down, and then the whole world went dark.