Free Shattered by M. Lathan

it’s settled,” Mom said. “You’re
still going to school.”
    Was she nuts ? Kamon knew who I was and where I was.
Why would I put myself at risk every day? Moreover, why would I tempt myself to
act out every day?
    “I don’t know about this,” I said.
    “Honey, Sophia and I think it will be
fine. Isn’t that enough?” Dad looked like he was finally about to say something
to her but decided against it. Maybe something about her leaving him out just
now. He probably thought he deserved a say in this, but he just twisted his
mouth and let a loud breath out of his nose.
    “You have to stay in school,” Mom
continued. “The thought of you being this happy keeps me breathing, honey. I
love it, and I’m not letting Kamon take this from you. You’ve given up enough.”
    “But...” I said, and stopped myself. She
had on the face–the sad one
that said: I’ve given up everything for
you. My life. My happiness. My soul . Now wasn’t the time for buts. It was the
time to suck it up, stay in control, and keep pushing towards being normal. No
matter how hard I had to claw at it to make it happen.
    “Okay,” I said, instead. “I trust you
with both of our lives.”
    I managed to chuckle. If Kamon ever
succeeded in killing me, the first time, he wouldn’t actually kill me. I had my
mother’s soul and could escape death once. Since my life was far from simple,
she would have to die in my place.
    Mom smiled but didn’t come closer, still
avoiding Dad.
    “Perfect,” she said. “Both of your souls
are safe. I swear. We are not letting this change anything. Agreed?” I nodded,
even though she’d clearly lost her mind. Kamon had come to Trenton with
shocking news, and I was going back there tomorrow.

Chapter Four – Nathan
    The tension between Lydia and Mr. Gavin was
thick enough to choke a horse. But for once, he didn’t make me feel like scum.
He was too busy not saying anything to his ex-wife.
    When her parents left, Chris started her
homework like pink balloons hadn’t floated into our lives and changed
everything. And explained everything.
    They
are rejoicing over your witch’s blood .
    Devin knew Kamon well enough to know what
he knew. Between Chris jumping through the portal and Lydia capturing him for
killing my parents, he’d discovered Christine’s secret.
    My witch’s blood. Christine’s blood.
Bloodline. Kamon was rejoicing over Christine’s bloodline. Her real one.
    I’d spent a month watching over her at
Trenton, studying blueprints of McCray Hall and prepping the cellar I’d found for
a day like today, because I’d thought Kamon was going to try to spill her
blood. I supposed that could still be a threat. I supposed that was as big a
threat as ever. But other than Christine nearly hurting herself, nothing had
changed. She’d gone back to her quest to be a better, more controlled person,
and I was still standing around waiting for our lives to change.
    There should’ve been a move to a more
secure location, plans to take out Kamon, or drills in case he found the house
tonight. I’d come up with hundreds of things to do, but we were sitting around
like the most notorious hunter wasn’t aware that Christine was his enemy’s
daughter.
    I decided to shift so it wouldn’t be that
hard to play along. Shedding my skin was usually easy, with the exception of
the first time and the night my mother was killed. Tonight, it was just as
hard. I got down on all fours when my skin didn’t change just from the thought
of transforming like it usually did. I grunted and pushed and strained, until finally,
my other form obeyed me and came out of hiding.
    Pushing Christine’s studio door open with
my nose, I trotted inside and curled up by her feet. She burrowed her toes into
my fur and continued painting.
    She hummed along to the song playing on
her laptop. I wished she’d sing more. She had a beautiful voice. As I lost
myself in the sound of it and in the smell of her, my eyes roamed around