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AURELIA
I sprinted through the city center and passed the wards into the witch market. My kind weren’t welcome in this part of Dallas, but I had little choice in the matter.
I pulled my hood lower over my face and did my best to keep away from the other patrons. The apothecary was my target, so as I approached the shop I hurried to the door, then scurried inside. The woman who owned the shop ignored me until I walked up to the counter with my purchase.
“You don’t belong here, girl.” The woman sneered. “I only serve witches, not filthy beasts like you.”
“I need this for my mother,” I said firmly, pushing the purchase across the glass counter.
She knew exactly who my adoptive mother was and wouldn’t question the fact I was here to buy something for her. But the shop owner loved to look down upon me, and hassled me anytime I came in on behalf of the woman who’d taken me in.
It’s the same song and dance every time.
“One of these days you won’t have her to hide behind, mutt,” she grumbled but rang up my purchase all the same.
Anger rose in gut, making my fingers tighten into fists and my jaw clench tight.
I’m not a shifter, I wanted to scream but it was easier for everyone to think that.
The alternative was too dangerous for me.
My wings fluttered at my back, thankfully still glamoured from prying eyes.
I took the bag the woman thrust back at me, then shuffled from the shop.
I need to get home.
I wove through the crowd careful to keep my wings from brushing any unsuspecting witches or shifters.
“Watch it,” I said as a man bumped into my back and I shivered at the strange pain that came with the move.
Shit, my wings are sensitive today.
“Well, hello there, pretty. I didn’t see you there.” The man turned to stare at me with a sinister smile and sniffed the air around me. He was trying to work out what I was, and I couldn’t have that. Not today. Not any day.
I bowed my head and skirted around him, cursing my temper. I should have just kept moving. But the man’s hand latched around my arm in a bruising grip, stopping me from going any further.
“I don’t want any trouble,” I ground out between my teeth.
His eyes trailed over me as he pulled my hood down. “What are you?” He pulled me closer to him.
“I’m none of your concern,” I spat and wrenched my arm from his grip.
“I think you are.” He reached for me again, but I raced away before he could catch me.
Shouts followed me as I pushed through other patrons to escape.
Does he know what I am? How the hell could he smell me like that?
“That shifter girl stole from me,” The man bellowed from behind me. “Stop her.”
Shit, shit, shit.
I rushed through the market but the man had caused a stir and more witches pointed at me to aid in my capture.
“I didn’t steal anything, he’s crazy,” I shouted as I passed several women who glared at me and then started screaming to help the man capture me.
“Freaking witches,” I grumbled under my breath ducking into an alley.
Several men in black uniforms ran past the opening to the alley as I hid behind a large garbage skip. The scent of rotting garbage made me retch.
Gods, that’s disgusting.
I gripped the bag that I got from the apothecary as I stepped out from behind the dumpster and scanned the area for the closest threat.
How the fuck do I get out of this mess?
The man who started the chase stepped into the mouth of the alley and grinned at me.
“You really are a pretty one and you will make me some good money.” His eyes twinkled as he stepped closer.
“I’m not going to make you anything,” I growled at him as I scanned the alley for a possible escape.
There was a fence behind me leading to an alley.
Can I fly over the fence without being seen? He obviously already knows what I am but what’s on the other side? Will humans see me? I can’t risk it. Can I?
Something flashed in the man’s hand and my eyes widened at the silver weapon.
Is that a gun? Is he going to shoot me with iron?
I shuddered. “Are you going to shoot me?” I asked with a raised brow.
Being pumped full of iron was not my idea of fun.
“This thing?” he asked flashing me a grin as he waved his gun around. “It won’t kill you; it will just make you sleepy so I can get you where we’re going.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” I sneered and unfurled my wings. He couldn’t see them but it made me feel better to know I could act.
I need to get home.
My mother was waiting for the medicine that I’d bought. I needed to get it to her before it was too late.
“Oh, but you don’t have a choice. Do you know what will happen if the other witches see your wings?” He asked with a grin.
My stomach fell as I pulled my wings back to my body.
He knows what I am and what the witches will do if they figure it out. Shit.
“You can threaten me all you want. I can take care of myself,” I said and crossed my arms over my chest.
“What if I’m not threatening you?” He asked with a raised brow. “What if I’m promising you a better life?”
I laughed at his words and pointed to the metal object in his hand.
“That looks like enough of a threat to me. I don’t need your help or a better life. I’m perfectly fine where I am.”
He raised the gun with a frown. I knew he had no intention of letting me go.
I unfurled my wings behind me. My freedom was more important than wherever he thought I would have a better life.
Even if I’m outed to the witches it’s still better than whatever plans this mercenary has for me.
I crouched down ready to jump in the air. My wings weren’t used to flying since I had been banned from doing so my whole life, but I would use whatever advantage I had to get away from the tranquilizer gun that was pointed at my heart.
“Stop,” he shouted and cocked the gun. “I would rather take you in willingly. There are things you should know.”
“Bullshit,” I said shaking my head. “There’s nothing you can tell me that I don’t already know.”
“Really?” He chuckled. “I would have to disagree on that. My employer would very much like to tell you the truth about who and what you are.”
I burst into a fit of laughter as I bounced on the balls of my feet and jumped into the air.
“Stop,” the man shouted and a soft click sounded when he pulled the trigger.
I soared up above the chain link fence behind me and even higher when a pinch to my shoulder made me flinch. An iron bullet.
Shit. It got me.
I landed on the concrete at the other end of the alley and stumbled. My head was spinning as I leaned against the wall.
Don’t stop. You have to keep going. He knows where you are. The mental pep talk barely helped as I shook away the fog from my brain.
I took a few stumbling steps before getting my bearings and remembering where I was. I was still inside the wards and only a couple of blocks away from home.
I can do this.
I pulled my hood over my head and strolled out into the bustling crowd attempting to get lost in the shuffle. I couldn’t afford for the man to catch up to me again. He couldn’t find me.
I needed to get home with the medicine for my mother.
It only took about fifteen minutes before I saw the little Italian restaurant our apartment sat above and I swayed on my feet as I rounded the corner to the alley where the fire escape sat.
I crawled up the ladder barely able to hold my eyes open. My eyes blinking groggily as the poison from the lead coursed through me.
How am I going to give mother her medicine when I can barely keep my eyes open?
I made it to the balcony outside our downtown apartment and crawled to the window.
My arms were as weak as jelly as I lifted the window and rolled inside the living room. The plush carpet broke my fall and I groaned and pushed to my knees. I held my head in my hands as I blinked my eyes to clear the black spots in my vision.
Just a little while longer. I need to get the tincture to her.
I crawled across the beige carpet of the living room, not even noticing the cream walls. My sole focus was on the door at the end of the hall.
My arms shook and I slumped to the floor just outside my mother’s door.
I’m so tired. I need to sleep.
My vision swirled again as I battled past the fatigue and reached for the handle, but came up short as my eyes closed again.
A muffled moan woke me up, and my eyes shot open.
How long have I been asleep and why am I on the floor in the hallway?
My brain was fuzzy as my gaze hit the cream colored door of my mother’s bedroom and my fist tightened, crinkling the small plastic bag in my hand.
The tincture. Shit. Is mother, okay?
Another muffled moan sounded, and I winced, pulling myself to standing.
“Mother?” I called through the door as I cracked it open.
The room was dark, just as I left it and my mother’s still form was on the bed.
I took two large steps in her direction holding out the medicine for her but stopped short.
How long was I out from that tranquilizer? Is she okay?
Mother’s chest didn’t rise and fall like it should and pain lanced through my chest.
No, she can’t be gone. She’s the only person I have in the world.
Tears blurred my vision as I sat heavily at the edge of her bed. She hadn’t been a great mother to me. I’d been little more than a slave to her, but she had shielded me from those who would have wanted me dead or for even more nefarious purposes.
Like that man in the market.
I hunched over her body, her skin cold to the touch and whispered the words of the witches last rites. I hated that she was gone and that it was my fault for getting caught by that man in the market.
If I ever see him again, I will kill him where he stands.
My mother wouldn’t have wanted me to waste time. She would have wanted me to run from those who would suspect foul play in her death.
She’d often told me that if something happened to her, I needed to run far and fast. Even as the tears coursed down my cheeks, I resolved what I would do.
Mother had not given birth to me. She had found me and saved me. Given me a roof over my head. Food. Clothing.
Now, I refused to be caught and killed or used. I would finally be free because that is what she had wanted for me.
I wiped a tear from my eye as I whispered one last prayer hoping it would take her into the afterlife before turning and leaving the room. I didn’t know where I was going or how I would survive but I would.
But I would do it for her, the one person who ever cared that I would be more than I was perceived to be, or I would die trying.
Jumping to my feet, I marched into the small room that I called my own. It wasn’t really a bedroom, more of a closet with blankets and some clothes stacked on the floor but it had been mine. I packed a bag and got ready to leave when someone pounded on the front door.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Shit. Did someone see me? Are they here to take me away?
My head swiveled and I looked between the front door and my bedroom window, indecision warring within me. My own self-preservation won out just as mother would have wanted. I opened the window climbing down the fire escape toward freedom.
I had no place to go and no clue what I was going to do, but I had to run for my life and hope I could figure it all out along the way.