Forbidden Choices by Jen Weddle
Chapter 20
“What the hell is your problem?” He shouts, slamming his fist against my wall. It narrowly misses the top of my head, but I can feel the breeze from the excessive force. I try to scream but nothing escapes my lungs. I’m utterly paralyzed.
Help me, I think loudly in my head.
Please, someone. Help.
Theo’s hand lunges for my throat, but I move to the side just in time as he crashes into my vanity. The glass shatters, and I use the momentary opportunity to escape my bedroom. The door creaks loudly as I force it open. I sprint as quickly as I can down the hallway, still unable to use my voice to scream for help.
Theo is yelling something at the top of his lungs and shards of glass come hurtling towards me as I race in the opposite direction.
Someone or something comes sprinting in the opposite direction, a colossal shadow of a blur as it whizzes by me at an unfathomable speed. I can see a glimpse of brown and gold fur streak past me. It stops short of my doorway and faces me. Its eyes are ravenous and animalistic. They appear to be large and golden with hints of orange and yellow flecks; a dangerous hunter hides behind them. The wolf lets out a long, deep shriek of a howl. It begins to ferociously paw at the ground with its enormous paws, its claws extending and growing sharper by the minute. I rush towards it, afraid that it will hurt Theo.
“Wait. Please don’t hurt him!” I squeal as I sprint towards the gigantic Wolf. It’s too late; he’s already in attack mode as it leaps in the air. I reach my bedroom in time to see that the Wolf has an enormous chunk of Theo’s leg in his mouth.
I drop to the ground with my hand over my mouth. He’s going to kill him. And there’s nothing I can do.
Theo screams in agony and clutches the enormous wound that has begun to profusely bleed all over my room. He tries to recite an incantation, what I imagine would be a healing spell but before he can finish he falls silent.
The animal drops down next to Theo, licking his paws clean and making a whimpering sound.
I’m not sure which is worse… the blood gushing from an unconscious Theo or the overgrown, sad Wolf whining in my bedroom with matted, bloody fur.
The room begins to fill with a suffocating gray mist. It’s impossible to see but even harder to breathe. The effects make me feel faint so I grab the doorway for support. The mist finally clears and fades from sight, revealing Riley in nothing but a pair of red polka-dot boxers with Theo lying by his side clutching his leg.
“Riley is he dead?” I whisper.
“I don’t know.” He moans. “I didn’t mean to.”
I rush to Theo’s side and clutch his wrist, relentlessly searching for a pulse—a breath of air—anything. I grab his hand and a white light protrudes from my fingertips. Riley watches in astonishment, as I gently glide my hand across Theo’s wounded leg. I caress his open would and watch as it begins to heal. The pain in my head is splintering. I start to feel dizzy, but I clench my teeth and continue the task. My teeth begin to grind from the pain.
Riley starts to whimper again, but I try to focus on Theo’s wound. Theo begins to wiggle, just barely and the pain in my body soon subsides. I let go of his leg and put my hands on the cool floor for relief.
“I’m so sorry.” Riley whispers. “I had to save you—I saw what he was going to do to you. I couldn’t control my emotions and I transformed.” He gulps and looks down at his shaking hands for a moment.
I hug Riley, and I kiss him on the cheek for good measure. If he hadn’t have come at that moment, who knows what Theo would be capable of.
“Thank you.” I whisper. “I probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”
He looks up in surprise, as Theo groans from the other side of me.
“What happened?” He asks blankly.
“You just tried to kill Ali, you bastard!” Riley shouts.
“What? I would never do that!? Tell him Ali. I would never hurt you.” Theo retaliates, but as he looks around at the blood. He grows silent.
“You wanted to kill her. The future said so and if I wouldn’t have intervened you would have!” Riley yells furiously.
“Well, Wolfie maybe you need to get your brain recalibrated because I would never hurt her!” He answers defensively. “Really, what just happened? Why is there blood everywhere?”
“Theo. You tried to kill me.” I answer quietly. “I don’t know what happened exactly but you came in here furious, yelling at me and punching the wall. You lunged at me, and it didn’t seem like you at all.”
“I did?”
“Yeah. Do you know what happened?” I ask.
“I don’t know. I mean the last thing I remember is I had an argument with Blair and she kissed me—and everything from that moment is a blur. I came up to your room to talk to you about it, but then everything started spinning and it got unbearably hot. My tattoos started to burn and then I blacked out.” He answers cautiously.
“Can you lift your shirt?” I ask. “I have a theory about what might have happened. If you’re embarrassed, you don’t have to.”
“Great. He tries to kill you and you still want to see him naked.” Riley says snidely from his corner of the room.
“No. I need to test a theory. Riley. You owe me a favor.”
Theo lifts his shirt to reveal a very fit body. I try not to stare at the sweat trickling down his skin, but there are clearly burn marks that look painful. They also look like the Elf tattoos, but the scrolling patterns are dark and scorched. I lick my lips and try to focus on the plan.
“Can you read the future Riley?” I ask. “Could you touch something and know what will happen then?”
“Yeah, I mean I can touch anyone and know what their destiny is. I can find their gifts, their profession, their love and their end. But just because I can see those things, doesn’t mean it’s definite. Futures can always change based on other factors.” He answers thoughtfully. “Why?”
“I need you to touch him and tell me what happens.” I reply.
Theo tries to wriggle free, but his strength is depleted and he doesn’t get very far before Riley grabs his wrist. He closes his eyes and his face becomes emotionless, distant for a few seconds. He opens his eyes and looks incredulously at Theo.
“Who are you?” He whispers.
“What are you talking about?” Theo demands with a bewildered expression. “I am Theo Veltri. I am the King’s advisor and the Princess’s protector and true Soulfire.
“It’s strange but when I touched you something went wrong. You don’t have a future and everything inside was completely empty. That can’t be possible.” Riley cautions.
“Well maybe you didn’t do it right.” Theo shouts.
“Maybe it was a mistake?” I chime in.
“No. It’s bizarre, but when I touched him I could feel someone trying to make me stop. There was someone else there with me. Someone kept repeating for me to stop, to let go of him and then my hand started to burn. I had to let go.” Riley hesitates. “That voice was so creepy.”
We stare at Theo and he stares back at us. He looks so frightened and alone. I feel sorry for him and I want to give him a hug, but I decide against it.
“Maybe, we should all get some sleep. We’ll discuss it in the morning. I can tell Theo doesn’t want to talk about it.” I say. “And Riley you look like you’ve just seen a ghost. Good night boys. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I watch as they head off in opposite directions with their heads hanging low. They look so similar, and I try not to laugh. I quietly close the door and crawl into my comfortable bed, anxiously I wait to sleep but a thousand thoughts dance through my mind instead. I look on my nightstand and the clock blinks 3:10. I groan into my pillow.
A soft rustling of feet lingers down the hallway. I creep out of my bed toward my door. I cup my hand around my ear placing it gently on the door to listen to the conversation taking place outside.
“What are we going to do?” One voice asks.
I
Why would they be near my room at this hour?
“I don’t know. She’ll find out soon enough what he is.” The other voice whispers—this one is familiar. It sounds peculiarly like the deep, raspy voice of Ambrosia Winters. They laugh heartily and continue to creep slowly down the hall.
“Do you think the she’ll still love him, once she finds out who he is?” The first unfamiliar voice asks.
“Only time will tell, our Master gave us strict orders not to communicate with each other. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, the Royals are going to suspect something if they see us together at such odd hours.” Ambrosia replies. Silence follows as their footsteps echo distantly down the hallways.
I wish I could see who Ambrosia was talking to. Why can’t I have X-ray vision or something useful? These healing powers are getting pretty boring when I think about all the other abilities I could have been born with. I return to my bed feeling particularly annoyed about all the secrets in the castle that I’m not a part of.