Natalia’s P. O. V

I scrambled to lock the bathroom door, just before the handle moved.

Annya’s voice came through the door, “Is someone in there?”

“Yeah, sorry. I’ll just be a minute.” I called back.

My eyes darted around for an escape and my heartbeat quickened.

The smell of burning plastic jumped at my nose, and I looked down to see my toothbrush on fire in my hand.

I yelped, tossing the flaming brush into the sink, but it still burned and my hand was still on fire.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah!” I replied, waving my hand around to try and get the fire out, “I thought I saw a cockroach!”

“Okay…” She sounded sceptical, and I couldn’t blame her. A cockroach would hardly warrant the way I yelled.

I searched the ceiling, praying to whoever what I’d find a smoke detector. Not finding one, I used my non-flaming hand to turn the sink tap on and pump soap onto the toothbrush, hoping to at least kill the smell.

“Ava, are you okay in there? What’s that smell?”

I wanted to sink to the floor and barricade myself in here. The only other option I had was to leave through the window, but there were people milling about and I didn’t have any way to get down without drawing attention to myself.

‘You need to get Kaesha, she might have a spell to help you.’

I wasn’t ready to tell her, or anyone for that matter. What would she think of me, asking her to help me but not disclosing something so important? Plus, there was no way I could tell Kaesha and not tell Hailey, and this was the worst way for her to find out. I liked my lives separate, but what choice did I have?

“I think my curling iron is broken! I’m sorry, can you get Kaesha for me? I think I’ve got an emergency in here and she’s helped me out with this before.”

“Okay, sure. I’ll see if she’s awake.”

A minute and some sleepy voices later, Kaesha was knocking at the door.

“Ava? What’s wrong?”

I unlocked the door and opened it for her, hiding behind it and locking it as soon as she was inside.

She turned, “Ava, what’s that smell? What’s going- what the fuck?”

“Shh, please don’t freak out. I can’t explain now, but I need to ger back home without being seen like this.”

She inspected me from head to toe, “Yeah, this’ll definitely require an explanation. I can help you out with an illusion, but you’ll need to do something about that.” She pointed at my still flaming hand.

“Annya came to the door and I panicked and this happened. I can’t get it to stop.”

“Does it hurt?”

I shook my head.

She thought for a moment, “Okay, I need you to take deep breaths and calm down. You’re fine, and everything’s gonna be okay, just relax. If this is anything like magic, you need to find the flow of power within yourself and direct it inwards.”

I followed her instruction, closing my eyes to focus on the feeling within myself and look for a way to shut the fire off. Every time I tried to still my breath, a sound from beyond the bathroom door would meet my ear and my agitation at being caught increased.

Finally, I opened my eyes in frustration, and huffed and puffed on the fire to put it out instead. During the time I’d had my eyes closed, Kaesha had fixed the sink and my toothbrush.

She glanced at the fire still burning from my hand then at my face, “Can you at least make it smaller? If you can do that, then maybe I can try forcing it off.”

“Okay, I’ll try.”

My attempt was basically staring at my hand and willing it to go down. After a minute of deep breathing and mental straining, the flames went down to the point that they were just licking my palm and fingers.

Kaesha took my hand and closed her eyes. It took almost a minute and a nit of chanting, before I felt a strange heaviness in my breath and the fire went out. Without letting my hand go, I felt her drawing energy from me as she cast another spell.

When she was done, she exhaled and gestured to the mirror.

My eyes were back to green and my hair looked brown, and while I didn’t look exactly like myself, I looked more normal. The markings and crest remained, but I guess she couldn’t change what she couldn’t see.

I turned back to her, “Thank you so much, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. I used your energy to reinforce it and made it so that it’ll only fade once you’re get back inside your house. So you don’t have to rush home and draw more suspicion from the others.”

I hugged her, “I don’t know what to say, Kaesha.”

She returned the embrace, “Say that you won’t start a fire here, and that you’ll explain everything once you can.”

I stepped back and nodded, “I won’t start a fire, and I’ll tell you and Hailey everything once this is over.”

“Good. Now finish brushing your teeth and come out. No one likes a bathroom hog.”

I laughed, “Sure.”

She conjured a curling iron into her hands, then unlocked the door and left.

I steadied myself against the sink and took a deep breath. Eager to not waste any more time, I brushed my teeth and stuffed my contacts into my pocket, then emerged from the bathroom.

Annya was hanging around nearby, a food delivery app on her phone. Ada and Hailey had already woken up and were helping Kaesha out with her mattrass.

“That took a while.” Annya said, “Kaesha said you somehow managed to break a curling iron and burn the sink.”

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I hoped my laugh was as smooth as I intended it to be, “Yeah… I wanted it to heat up while I brushed my teeth, but I guess some water got into it and something short circuited. I ended up dropping it in the sink cause it was too hot.”

She stared at me for an almost too long amount of time, like she was inspecting me before continuing, “I hope you’re not hurt?”

I shook my head, “Nah, I’m okay. The bathroom’s free now, sorry for taking so long.”

“No problem.” She nodded then left to go to the bathroom.

The morning passed with us ordering the fluffiest pancakes I’d ever seen, cause everyone was too tired and lazy to cook, and I was too apprehensive to be around fire. By the time noon came around, Ada had an appointment with a girl to make her hair, and Annya had a lunch date with Nathaniel, so they said their goodbyes.

Once they’d left, I felt tension that I hadn’t even been cognisant of leave my body. But I knew I’d feel better if I were home.

A moment of silence passed. Kaesha looked at me, and I looked back, and glanced at Hailey, asking Kaesha the question of if she’d told Hailey with my eyes. She shook her head, while Hailey just stared at us with growing confusion.

Finally, she spoke, “Okay, what’s happening? Are you guys using telepathy to talk?”

I shook my head and sighed, “No. But I’d feel better telling you guys what’s going on if we were at my place.”

Wordlessly, Kaesha went into Hailey’s room to retrieve my bag and grabbed both our hands. A second later, we were in my living room.

“Okay, we’re here. Now Ari, tell us what- what happened to you?” Hailey began then gasped once her eyes landed on me.

Now that I was at home, I figured Kaesha’s spell had been dissipated.

“Ari, what on earth is going on? Is this what cause the commotion I was hearing in my sleep? I thought that was a dream?”

I nodded, “Can we sit? I’ll explain everything now.”

With Hailey still stunned and Kaesha silently attentive, we sat on the couches and I explained what I could, while leaving the fact that I was the Syren heir out. If they found that out, they might decide that keeping me safe was more important than taking the Lightwoods down.

“So those tattoos on your wrist and neck show your Special Ability?” By now, Hailey was more amazed than shocked.

Kaesha stared at me, “What tattoos?”

“Only immediate family members and life partners can see a Syren’s Special Ability tattoo.” I explained.

“Well, I guess you won’t need to worry about covering those up, but what about your eyes and hair? How will you hide the changes?”

“My eyes have always been this colour, and my hair was actually black before this happened. I used contacts and dye to hide them cause my mom told me to years ago, before she disappeared.”

Hailey’s brow furrowed, “But you told me you didn’t know what she was?”

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t know till recently, I was just doing what she’d said. By then, I’d just found out and I was still figuring out how to deal with it. I didn’t want anyone to know and we’d only just realised we were sisters.”

“Okay… I guess I understand. It was probably a lot to deal with.”

I nodded, “It was. I’ve been going to a Syren school to learn more, that’s what takes up my afternoons.”

“Why now though?” Kaesha questioned, “You said Syrens Uncover when they turn sixteen, and that’s what just happened to you, but your birthday was in October. What happened?”

I was at a loss on that too, “I have no idea.”

“Either your Uncovering manifested late, or December twenty-first is your actual birthday.” She theorised.

The first option was plausible, but the second could be possible too. I only knew the date from my mom, and she’d had me dyeing my hair and wearing contacts for most of my life. What if my birthday needed hiding too?

“What about your wolf?” Hailey added, “Syrens and Werewolves both seem like pretty physical species to me, and Kaesha said hybrids like that can’t exist.”

Her observation had Kaesha nodding in confusion, and they both settled their focus on me,

“I don’t completely understand everything myself. I have a wolf and my strength and speed are good enough for me to be a Werewolf, but I haven’t shifted yet, and I just Uncovered.”

We were silent for a while, mulling everything over.

How likely was it that I still counted as a Werewolf? Was I some kind of freak-of-nature hybrid? What did this mean for Candy?

My thoughts were interrupted by Hailey coming over and hugging me.

“Well, Syren or Werewolf, you’re still my sister and I’m still here for you. I wish you would’ve told me sooner, but I understand why you wanted to keep things separate.” She said.

I returned her hug allowing myself to relax.

“Ava is Ava, I guess. It’ll be fun helping you practice getting your Special Ability under control.” Kaesha said once Hailey let go of me. Then she got to her feet, “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a class to teach, but call if you need me to keep you from burning the place down.”

I laughed, “I will.”

“Hailey, do you need to go back to the dorm?”

Hailey shook her head, “No, thanks. I’m spending the night here, it’s a full moon.”

“Alright. See you guys later.”

“See ya.”

“Bye”

Then she disappeared.

After unpacking the thing’s I’d used for the sleepover and taking showers, Hailey and I spent the rest of the day inspecting my new features and trying to see what I could do in the garden, close to the pool. During all my attempts, I only managed to create a sputter of flames that died out almost immediately.

By the time we decided to stop speculating and attempting, it was evening and snow was dancing from the sky. By the time eight p.m. rolled around, Hailey had retreated to the basement.

I was in my study, trying to plan our next pack visits, but a persistent prickling discomfort under my skin kept me from focusing. And it only grew by the second.

‘What’s going on with me?’ I asked Candy, just as the discomfort turned into pain.

She didn’t respond, but the snapping of my elbow kept me from asking again.

I screamed, cradling my arm.

One of my knees cracked, bringing me to the ground and rousing another scream.

A worried, half-shifted Hailey appeared in my vision. I hadn’t even noticed her coming.

“Ari? Ari, can you hear me?” Her voice sounded gruff and was overlapped with another, “I think you’re shifting. We need to get you to the basement.”

I could only nod.

Another bone shifted and I screamed again. I felt my body lift off the ground as she picked me up. I gritted my teeth against the pain her movements induced as she carried me downstairs and to the basement.

Just as we got there, another bone snapped and I shrieked. I yelped again when I suddenly hit the ground.

“I’m so sorry Ari! I didn’t mean to drop you. Please hang in there, I’ll go call Kaesha.”

As she apologised, I noticed fire on me. I guess that was why she’d dropped me.

The thought was cut short by what felt like my face splitting. Moving my mouth was agony, so I just laid there whimpering. My entire body was on fire, both literally and pain-wise. My hands and feet snapped and shifted, elongating and morphing into paws.

My spine felt like someone was dragging it out from my tailbone, while my skin prickled as it forced out millions of hairs at once.

I was still writhing on the concrete ground when I heard Hailey and Kaesha’s voices.

“Whoa!” Kaesha exclaimed when she saw me.

Hailey was further along in her shift now, only just managing to stand on her two legs, “Normally, we’d need to chain her down so her wolf doesn’t go on a rampage, but I can’t touch her at all while she’s on fire.”

“You’re just full of surprises today, aren’t you?” Kaesha tried to lighten the mood, then turned to Hailey, “What about you? Don’t you need to shift too? You’re already halfway there.”

“I’ve been shifting for years, so I can hold it off for a little while. Opelene’s mature enough to not need to be chained down, but Ari’s wolf definitely will need to be, especially since it’s her first full moon shift.”

“A barrier spell then, since we can’t touch her. If your wolf is calm, can I channel you? I’ve teleported three times today and had to force her powers off this morning, I’ll need a little extra energy if I’m gonna keep her here all night.”

Hailey nodded, “Opelene said she’ll help.” Then in a smooth transition, she completed her shift and her dark brown wolf walked over to sit down next to Kaesha.

Kaesha placed one hand on Opelene’s head, giving her a little scratch then faced me. She took a deep breath then exhaled and raised her free hand.

That was the last thing I remembered, before a growl emanated from me.

Then everything went black.