His body is smaller. The bandages I’d put on him are suddenly hanging off.
His face is smaller. Prettier.
But the bright blue of his eyes is the same.
The colour of his emotions is the same—that nauseating anxiety and terror and dread.
He's going to run.
I can sense it.
He's overwhelmed and afraid.
Everything's gone to shit because of Aster.
I drag a hand through my hair, because fucking, fuck fuck—
“I'm still trying... to find a face that suits me.” He's gripping his wrist so tightly I think he might actually break it.
“I've never had one.”
“Fire.” Aster’s command rings through the air. Sharp and merciless.
I dash forward, “Aster—!”
“Fire!” Aster barks.
The men in the room fire immediately.
It can’t be more than a second when Christian reaches for me, covering my body with his. Time moves slowly as he throws himself in front of me, his body growing bigger.
Until the men are emptying their guns into a big black bear.
It stands on its hind legs, shielding me. A massive creature of fur and claws and terrifying teeth.
But its energy is frustrated and angry.
Colours I’ve seen a hundred times before.
The men empty all of their bullets, but they all fall to the floor uselessly, and I’m unable to conjure a single thought when the bear looks down at me as if making sure I’m okay.
I fall on my ass purely from the shock.
“… Christian?”
The bear’s energy spikes with raw fury, and it whirls on the gunners, its furious roar piercing the room. It smacks the gun out of one of the men’s hands before roaring in his face and the man falls back on his ass with new terror.
With a fierce wave of its paw, another man flies across the room, hitting the wall with enough force to be fatal.
The bear rises on its hind legs as it approaches Aster, roaring again, and somehow I know why he’s upset.
Aster fired at me.
I could’ve been shot.
Aster doesn’t step back—which only further convinces me he’s physically unable to feel fear—or anything else for that matter—and I hear the sound of the elevator again—the sound of more men trickling into the suite.
“Christian, stop!” I scream at him, but the bear is making himself taller. He’s preparing to kill Aster.
