Page 4 of Out of Peril

“It k-k-k-killed him,” the man stammered.

“I warned you she has some weird attachment to these kids.”

“But we got a strong offer for just the girl, boss.”

“I don’t give a shit how strong an offer it is. It's not worth another life lost, now is it?”

“No sir. But if you'd just let us use Anastasia, we could subdue the beast and take the children.”

“Do I look like a complete moron? Do you really thing we haven't tried that? This one isn't like the others. Her powers don't work quite the same, you idiot. All Anastasia's powers do is piss her off even more.”

“But how is that possible?”

“How the bloody hell am I supposed to know? Would you like me to bring her in here and show you?”

“N-no sir. I trust you.”

I snarled, causing them both to jump back. They quickly left the area.

There were certainly benefits to being me. I stretched and recalled the beast within me. It had taken me years to gain that kind of control of it.

Back in my skin, I took a deep calming breath, not wanting to further scare the kids.

“Are you two okay?”

Two sets of small arms hugged me tight.

“That was a close one,” Dante said. “You were almost a goner, Maya.”

“Nah. Lindsey would never let anything really bad happen to us.”

Her confidence in me was disturbing. No one should trust me like that. Hell, I couldn't even trust myself.

I wasn't always like this. Technically, I wasn't even a witch, not really, but I'd been genetically engineered to be one. Even I didn't know the full extent of my powers.

For years I’d been lost deep within the depths of the beast I'd become. It had taken every ounce of strength and a lot of perseverance to overcome it. I didn't relish relinquishing control over like that, but there was little I wouldn't do for Dante and Maya.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for children.

While I called them my twins, they weren't mine, and they weren't twins. As far as I knew, they weren't siblings or even the same species, just two little kids stuck in a shitty situation. They deserved so much better, and I was determined to shelter them from as much of the madness in this world as possible.

“Where even are we?” Dante asked.

“Venezuela,” I told them. “I heard some of the dock workers mention it when they were unloading it and you two were down for naps.”

“Are we going to get sold?” Maya's big eyes looked up to me, filled with so many questions that I didn't have answers to.

“There's always that possibility. You know that.”

“But they have to keep us together, right? You won't let them take us away from you, right Lindsey?”

“Maya, you know I can't promise that.”

“But you'll do everything you possibly can, right?” Dante added.

“Right. We seem to be all settled in for the night, so why don't the two of you snuggle down and try to get some sleep.”

“Okay,” Maya said with a yawn.