C. Bryant - Broken

Home.

It was hard to imagine herself sitting in English class or leaned back on the hood of Lydia’s car listening to her iPod. She wondered if her mother had come back or if she’d tried to contact her. Probably not. A twinge of regret seeped into her heart when she thought of not graduating from high school. She’d worked hard for that day, but what good would a diploma do her now? She had to accept this world as her own if she was to be happy with the man she loved.

She tried to picture Octavion living here. It was so formal and proper, not at all like the life he’d made for himself in the clearing. A prince -the idea boggled her mind. As she glanced out the window she heard heavy footsteps approaching. It didn’t surprise her when the door swung open and Octavion walked in. He paused a few steps from the doorway.

“Kira. .” He said her name like a long drawn out sigh, then put his hand to his heart. “You are beautiful.”

Kira smiled. “You like it?” She tried to stand to give him the full effect of her fancy dress, but he quickly crossed the distance between them and prevented her from getting up.

“Octavion, let me up. I want you to see the dress. I’ve never worn anything like this before. It’s like playing dress up.” She put her arms out to show off the puffy sleeves.

“I was not looking at the dress. You are the one that is beautiful. You could wear dirty rags and I would still think you beautiful.” He knelt on one knee in front of her and took both her hands.

Kira gave him a crooked smirk. “It’s not like you haven’t seen me before. I’m the same person.” Then she remembered her scar. She put her hand up to touch it. “Except for this. Which reminds me, why can’t I have a mirror?”

His brow furrowed. “It is best for now.”

“I already imagine the worst. Why won’t you let me see it?” She pulled her hands away and put them on the arms of the chair.

“It has nothing to do with your scar.” He sat back on his heels and turned to look out the window. A long moment passed before he stood and went to the door. When he opened it, Ussay stood on the other side, a small round mirror in her hand.

“Ussay, how did you know-?”

“She asked me for it. I thought. . I hoped you might change your mind.” She handed him the mirror, stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. “May I stay?”

He nodded, then motioned toward Kira. Ussay flashed a grin and winked as she climbed up to sit on the edge of the bed.

Octavion, on the other hand, hesitated near the door, turning the mirror over and over in his hands. He took a deep breath before returning to his position in front of Kira. He laid the mirror on her lap with the reflective surface hidden, his fingers pressing it down, keeping her from grabbing it up. “Like I said, it is not your scar I have been afraid you will see.” The sunlight streaming in from the window caught in his eyes at just the right angle and she noticed tiny veins of yellow in them.

“What then?”

“First I have a question. Did you bite Zerek or Nigel?”

Zerek’s image flashed in her mind and she quickly pushed it away. “I don’t know and I don’t want to think about it. Why?”

“We fear you may have ingested the blood of a Darkord when you would not wake. There were other signs as well.” He lifted the mirror, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly turned it so she could see her reflection. “They are not as bad as when you first woke. You only saw dark shadows then and your eyes had no color.”

Kira shifted her focus from Octavion’s face to her own. Looking back at her, were the hollow eyes of a Darkord. She knocked the mirror out of his hand. Tears threatened to overwhelm her as the mirror shattered on the ground. Octavion quickly scooped her up and sat her on the bed next to Ussay.

“Kira, please do not cry. It will pass. I am sure of it. I can see threads of green woven within them now, when before there was nothing. Give it time.”

Ussay jumped off the bed and started picking up the broken pieces of mirror. Octavion swung around, lifted her up and literally threw her back on the bed. She landed on her back. He leaned over her, both hands planted firmly on either side of her torso.

“Do you have a death wish? One slip, one drop of blood and you would die, Ussay.” He lowered his face even closer to hers. His eyes were on fire again and the muscles along his back and shoulders began to swell. Being the victim of an ancient curse, like all Royals on Ophira, left him with the heart of a wild cat. Only Octavion was different. With his father’s heritage of the lion and his mother the tiger, he was a hybrid and had less control over his cravings. It didn’t help that he’d been on earth for the past three years and his ability to control his hunger was almost non-existent. And with only two days before the moons were new, he had to be suffering terribly.

“Please, stop.” Ussay threw her hands over her face, exposing a deep scratch on her wrist. Most of it had scabbed over, but one section was red and swollen.

Octavion jumped back as if he’d been hit in the face, crushing a shard of the mirror beneath his foot. “I would never hurt you.” He turned and remained still for a few seconds. Kira knew he fought for control over his transformation-she’d seen it in his eyes. “I will clean this up.” When he crouched to gather the pieces, Kira turned her attention to Ussay.

“Are you okay?” she whispered, no longer focused on herself and the black nothingness of her eyes.

Ussay nodded, relaxing her hands at her sides.

Kira helped her to sit, then pulled up Ussay’s sleeve to examine her wound. “This is infected.”

Octavion dropped the pieces he’d collected and stood. He gently took Ussay’s hand to examine it. “How did you get this? And why did you not treat it?”

Ussay brushed his hand away and pulled her sleeve down to cover the scratch. “It is nothing. It will heal.”

“Why haven’t you taken care of it?” Octavion asked. “You know what infection can do. You could have used the same salve we used on Kira’s back.”

“I did,” she snapped. “Perhaps if you would have been in better control of your temper. .”

Octavion's shoulders slumped forward. “I did this, didn't I?”

Ussay nodded, but still didn't look at him.

“What?” Kira looked at Octavion for answers. “Why would you do that?”

Octavion backed away from them and sat in the chair by the window. He leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

“It was an accident,” Ussay said. “He had no idea he scratched me. It is nothing.”

Octavion raised his head. “No, I should have been more careful.” His gaze met Kira’s. “I was upset because you would not wake. My mind was not in a good place. She suggested I admit defeat and accept your death. I reacted badly.”

“Reacted badly?” Kira brushed Ussay’s sleeve back again to get a closer look. “We need to take care of this, Octavion.”

“Not yet,” he said. “I will get her something for it, but you need to wait until I leave. I cannot take the risk of it bleeding. Not this close to the new moons’ phase.” He went back to collecting the pieces of glass, carefully wrapped them in a towel and left the room.

“I will be right back,” Ussay said as she scooted off the edge of the bed. “I will bring you something to eat.”

The room fell eerily quiet when Ussay closed the door behind her. In the quiet, Kira thought about the image she’d glimpsed in the mirror-herself, but not herself. Something had caused her eyes to lose their color. Octavion said Darkord blood, but she’d only swallowed a drop or two when she’d bitten Zerek. And that was the first day with her captors. They held her hostage for over three days-if Zerek’s blood had caused her illness, why didn’t she get sick right away?