What have they done to her?
“Kaida is losing herself,” I say quietly. “I can see it now.”
“Pain and hate can poison even the strongest of souls. This is why I came for you and the other.”
“Others, you mean?” I correct.
She doesn’t answer me; instead watches their sad goodbyes.
The world around us melts away, and I find myself standing in a house with mint green cupboards.
“Where are we?”
Kaida walks out, laughing. Mordecai chases after her, grabbing her hip and dragging her back into his body, kissing his way up the side of her neck.
“Where are you going, my love?”
Another version of me comes out of the bedroom and presses up against Mordecai, leaving open-mouthed kisses down his shoulder.
“I wasn’t finished with either of you,” I purr.
We sink to the floor, and it changes again. Kaida is in a dress that covers her from head to toe. She’s still her, and she walks hand-in-hand with another me through a forest.
“We find each other. Every time?” I ask the prophet, watching it unfold.
“Yes, I made sure that you would.”
“So, it works out, then? I say in relief. “We’re happy. Look at us.”
She doesn’t say anything.
We walk along, following the couple until they meet up with Mordecai, who is out of breath and shouts for them to run. They refuse to leave him, I knew they would as soon as he started yelling.
He’s dragging a leg behind him, sweat beaded on his brow.
It’s like the sound has been turned down on the world. He’s shouting and pointing, but I can’t hear anything.
A pack of alphas race towards them, aggressive and violent. They attack, but there are so many of them.
Mordecai tries to hold them off, but they rip his throat out. It’s sudden and quick. He’s alive one minute, then he’s not.
Kaida tries to get to me, but we’re separated by too many of them, she is stabbed in the back, blood explodes out of her mouth, the version of me that isn’t me holds her, screaming. The alphas howl in triumph.
She’s yanked from his arms and falls to the ground. He doesn’t even try to dodge the blow that cuts him down.
We jerk into another world, and this time, it’s a territory dispute. There is a massive war. We’re astride massive war horses.
Mordecai charges down; but the mass of people pull him off his horse. I feel him die, like their bonds are mine and in me. I don’t realise I’m crying until I swipe at my cheek, brushing the tears away.
Kaida screams his name and races towards him, only to have a spear puncture through her chest, carrying her down to the shouting crowd.
This time, I’m alive a few seconds longer, and I see a strange white shimmer that pulses out of her body.
“What was that?” I ask the prophet who is standing silent beside me.
“That is the gift I helped her shape. Her deadly weapon and the reason why she is here.”
The lives we’ve lived flicker past, faster and faster. I gasp, staggering, appalled as the visions become memories.
