Let the Wild Out (22 page)

Suddenly, her body erupted with tingling sensations. It felt
like a shift, but much stronger. She couldn’t control it. Her body jerked and
she suddenly flopped on the floor.

Douglas watched, stunned, as Rachel’s arm turned into the
hard, gray flesh of a shark fin. She slipped from his hand with a heavy thud to
land on the floor. Her gown ripped as she thrashed her way out of it. Her body
flopped across the hard marble. Her head and back fin made horrible flapping
noises as they struck the floor and she snapped her jaw.

“A shark?!” Lisbetha screamed as Rachel flopped her way
towards the woman. Some vampires laughed at the chaos of people running from
the dance floor.

“Rachel.” William tried to approach her, but she didn’t seem
to recognize him.

“Water!” Douglas ordered. “We need water.”

“She said that she had swum in the ocean,” William said. He
pointed at some servants with food trays. “Salt water. From the big aquarium in
the library.”

The servants slid their trays onto a nearby table and
hurried to do as they were told. A few of the partygoers rushed outside, the
stubby, little goblin party crashers leading the way. Rachel began to jerk
violently.

“What’s wrong with her?” Douglas hated feeling helpless.

The witch, Julianne, stepped forward. Her dark, smooth hair
and olive complexion stood against the virginal white of her gown. Very calmly,
she picked up Rachel’s dress and sniffed it. She made a sour face and handed it
to her twin sister, Bella. Bella inhaled deeply and licked the material.

“
Datura
stramonium
,”
Julianna stated. “Jimson weed.”

“Her
gown is soaked with it,” Bella confirmed. She licked it again before handing it
back to her sister. “And shifter blood.”

The
servants came back with pitchers of salt water and tossed the contents on the
floor towards Rachel. Their aim had little effect as it splashed across the
marble. Rachel jerked again.

“William,
help me grab her. We’ll put her in the tank,” Douglas said.

Before
they could get a hold of her, she bucked off the ground and began to change
again.

“Unpredictable
stuff, the
Solanaceae
family,” Julianna stated, calm in the chaos.

“Very
powerful nightshade,” Bella agreed. The two sisters continued to hand the dress
back and forth, licking and smelling it.

“Who
cares about her gown? She’s rabid!” Lisbetha yelled. “Someone stop her before
she kills us all!”

Rachel’s
body grew smaller. Each second ticked by in agonizing slowness as if her body
couldn’t decide on what form it wanted to be. Every time they tried to touch
her, her tremors became violent.

“Don’t
touch her,” Julianna said.

“It
will make the distress worse,” Bella added. “Her body will think it’s under
attack.”

“You
two seem to know a lot about this,” William stated, accusingly.

“That
is very kind of you to say,” Bella answered, smiling at the compliment.

“But
this is hardly our work. We’re voting for this one,” Julianna said. “New blood
on the shifter throne.”

“What?”
Lisbetha demanded. “New blood? Are you serious? Look at her! She’s a freak.”

As if
to answer, Rachel burst off the floor and into the air. She flew high into the
ceiling.

“Omni,”
someone whispered, only to be repeated several times.

“I like
this one!” a vampire yelled. “She’s entertaining. Not the usual stuffy
princesses you guys marry.”

“What?”
Lisbetha screamed. “No!”

Rachel
circled overhead. William pushed his way into the crowd, following her as if he
would catch her when she fell.

Douglas
turned his attention to the sister witches. “What else can you tell me? Who did
this?”

“It’s
an old recipe, but not too old. Jimson weed was originally found in the
Americas. Maybe 1600s,” Julianna answered.

“Old
family magic,” Bella added. “This is not a commercial blend. No one uses blood
anymore. Too unsanitary. Too unpredictable.”

“Some
do,” Julianna countered.

“Well,
yeah, some.” Bella gave a look of distaste as the sisters shared a private
moment.

Rachel
cried out, the kind of noise a bird of prey made before they attacked. She
swooped towards the crowd. The vampires clapped and shouted. Other creatures
ducked and scurried out of the way.

“Some
help,” William yelled up at tiny fairies. They didn’t seem to mind the bird as
they flew after it, more playful than trying to actually capture Rachel. Their
buzzing laughter rained down over those below.

Douglas
noticed Magda in the doorway, looking up at the ceiling. Just as he was about
to charge at her and demand justice, she turned to look at Lisbetha. Her eyes
narrowed on the woman and she charged forward.

Rachel
screeched again. Suddenly, she stopped flying and dropped. The fairies behind
her scattered. William dove to catch her. Her wolf body fell against him and
took him to the ground. They slid on the wet floor into the wall. Now, deadlier
than before, she snarled. William held on tight. Douglas dove forward to help
subdue her. Rachel’s teeth caught William’s shoulder. He cried out but didn’t
let go. His blood smeared on the marble as they fought to control her. Damn,
but Rachel was strong.

“What
did you do?” Magda yelled. Douglas tried to look, but couldn’t take his eyes
off Rachel.

“Whatever
do you mean?” Lisbetha asked in affront. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re
talking—”

“Shut
it!” Magda yelled. “I have evidence of you breaking into my room.”

“What?
No, that’s not possible.” Lisbetha gave a nervous laugh.

“I have
you recorded. I always keep my security on,” said Magda.

“Best
ball ever,” a vampire declared, only to be shushed by his companions.

“It’s
not what you think,” Lisbetha said.

“The
guards searched your room. We found the cauldron under your bed. Now what did
you do?”

“Jimson
weed,” Bella supplied, happy to infuse the situation. “A potion to cause
uncontrolled shifting.”

“No,
no, shut up, you hag!” Lisbetha yelled. “That wasn’t me. I just gave the
American something to make her doubt herself, and her feelings, just a little
Doubting Thomas in her food. Just a small amount. That’s all. I was only doing
what you and everyone here wanted. I just wanted her to go home.”

“Lies,
lies,” Bella chanted. “You don’t need a cauldron for that potion.”

“Please,
let us talk about this elsewhere,” Lisbetha insisted. She backed away from the
crowd, shaking her head in denial. “Magda, you know me. I’m a lady. I couldn’t
do this.”

Rachel
growled low in the throat. Douglas and William held on tight. She lost a bit of
her struggle.

“Your
shoulder?” Douglas asked William when he winced.

“Fine,”
William answered, though clearly the wound was bleeding profusely. He gave a
small, humorless laugh, and mumbled, “Right now I almost prefer she was a
trout.”

Douglas
chuckled and held on tighter as Rachel tried to throw them off her. He drew his
head back, barely missing the snap of her jaws as she tried to take off his
nose.

“I know
your family has connections to the late Mr. St. Joan,” Magda said.

“So do
a lot of families. That stupid little uprising was a long time ago.” Lisbetha gave
a little dismissive laugh. No one joined her.

“Guards,”
Magda ordered. “Take Lisbetha Rue into custody for treason against our clan,
and against the future chieftess of the shifters.”

Though
it wasn’t much of a surprise, this was the first time any official announcement
had been made. The gathering cheered, despite the current state of the future
shifter queen and the chaos of the dance floor.

“Treason?
No! I am a lady. I deserve to be queen. I did everything you asked of me,
Magda! Everything!”

“I never
asked you to betray our people,” Magda defended. “Guards, take her!”

As the
shifter guards made a move to go through the crowd, Lisbetha screamed. She
reached for her skirt, lifting it as she ran towards Rachel. When her hand
withdrew from beneath the red material, she held a knife.

“None
of this would have happened if you would have just died in America like you
were supposed to!” With deadly precision, she threw the blade. Douglas pushed
up from the floor, twisting Rachel out of the way. The knife struck his back.
He cried out as the white-hot pain took hold of him.

“Help
them,” King
Kristoff
ordered. The young vampires who had been enjoying the show instantly obeyed.
Fangs bared, they swarmed forward to help subdue the future shifter queen.
Douglas let go as her weight pulled from him. He collapsed onto the floor.

“No,”
Lisbetha screamed, kicking as the guards forced her out of the room towards the
prison hold below the manor. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Douglas
fought for concentration against blood loss. He heard Magda ordering that the
lazy ass of a doctor be roused out of whatever drunken corner he’d fallen into.
Kristoff
ordered his vampires to help bring the angry queen to the safety of an iron
cage.

 
“We like you. You are strong.”

Rachel
blinked heavily before jerking her arm back from the witch who held it. She
vaguely remembered meeting her at the ball, and her mind only recalled that
much because she had an exact replica of a twin next to her. The “cursed
sisters”, Douglas had called them.

“And
you are very hexed,” the other twin added. Rachel couldn’t tell them apart.

She was
in a jail cell on a cot. Stone walls surrounded them. There were no windows,
only fluorescent lights flickering overhead. What the hell happened?

“Am I
under arrest?” Rachel asked. Even to her own ears her words were slurred.

The
witches laughed. The one on the right turned around and asked, “What all did
you give her?”

Rachel
sat up on the cot. For a prison, the mattress wasn’t bad. She saw Lisbetha
sitting in an adjoining cell, her red dress torn. At Rachel’s attention, she
glared.

Rachel
leaned in to one of the witches, “Did I get into a drunken brawl?”

Again
the sisters laughed.

“If we
would have been allowed to brawl fairly, I would have won and you would be
dead,” Lisbetha hissed.

“Fair?”
Magda appeared in the stone entryway. “Doubting Thomas to create uncertainty. A
tincture of
human papillomavirus to give warts.
Jimson
weed in a blood spell to cause uncontrollable shifting—no doubt to expose her
as a trout before the court. And payments from your father’s account to St.
Joan. I would hardly call the way you fight as being fair. Though, if the
future queen would like, we can enact the old laws and let you two fight to the
death. However, after seeing Lady Dunne’s talents, I doubt you would want to
accept such an offer.”

Lisbetha
looked pale and pressed her lips tight.

“I
thought not, little bird.” Magda turned her attention to Rachel. “I suppose we
are in the sisters’ debt now. They have taken very good care of you.”

“No
reason to sound so surprised,” one of the sisters answered. “As we told you, we
like this one.”

“She
smiled at us and took our hands without hesitation when we entered the hall,”
the other sister added. “Such kindness is rare from a shifter noble. She was
not frightened by our curse.” Then to Rachel, she said, “At your service,
lady.” Rachel smiled, confused but not wanting to hurt their feelings by
admitting so much. The sisters stood. “Watch her for a few days. She’ll be too
weak to shift, but after that there should be no ill effects.”

Magda
opened the door to her cell and the sisters left. Rachel pushed weakly to her
feet. The door was left open for her, letting her out.

“You
are very lucky,” Magda said. “I suppose there is some sign in that.”

“I
don’t take you as someone who believes in signs.” Rachel leaned against the
prison bars, trying to catch her breath. She ached deep inside.

“I
don’t.” Magda didn’t offer her arm, but she did wait patiently.

“What
exactly am I missing? You had Lisbetha poison me, but now changed your mind?”
Rachel really hoped the older woman didn’t attack. She wouldn’t be able to
defend herself.

“If my
chief questioned my motives, it can only mean I failed to carry myself well. I
regret that. However, I have always only acted in the best interest of my clan.
Lisbetha acted alone. She hired St. Joan. She laced your gown with poison so
that it would be activated by the heat of your body and absorbed through the
skin.”