FIFTY-ONE | AMBIVALENT

"Wisty, honey, how are you feeling?" Mom asks the second I walk into the kitchen the next morning. I give her a little smile.

"I'm fine." I tell her honestly. My muscles ache like I've just run a marathon, but it's better than having them twitch and burn on my bones. My eyes flick over to my shadow who's sitting in his usual spot at the island like nothing's changed. I feel a slight flush paint my cheeks as I think back to last night and force myself to be casual. My heart's stuttering and tripping over itself uselessly as I get closer to my chair and take a seat. "Mikyle and I are going to go see the Coven doctor today." I announce, deciding to get this out of the way.

"Oh, is everything alright?" Mom freezes in front of me, her blue eyes wide in worry. I wave my hands, trying to calm her or at the very least distract her.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about going for some time now. I mean, Doc Blythe is great, but even she recommended I see the Coven Doc for a more long-term thing." I tell her, shrugging and pulling the cup of coffee she's offering me. I warm my cool hands against the black mug, my thoughts making the usual rounds when I look into the dark brown liquid. For a second, I think I see another face, in the reflection...a face almost identical to my own, the only difference are the slightly more green than blue eyes and straight hair-

"Wisty?" Mom's voice makes me tear my eyes from the coffee and I meet her eyes with a slightly larger smile. Despite the chill now slipping down my spine. *It wasn't real, she's not here*. I remind myself, flexing my toes nervously. The hallucinations are getting harder to tell apart from reality. I could have sworn I was staring into my cousin's face not two seconds ago. *But I'm not her. She's not me. I'm me. I'm me. I'm*-

"Sorry, I guess I'm just a little out of it," I lie smoothly and Mom's worried expression relaxes. "Hey, I'm sorry for ruining the ceremony-"

"Wisty, you didn't ruin anything." Mom sighs, giving me one of her genuine smiles that seem to be coming more easily to her. She comes around the counter and wraps me up in her arms. I bury my face into her neck, taking a deep breath and trying to get used to her new scent. Cinnamon and pine is an odd combination, but she seems to make it work. "I miss you." She adds after a moment and I nod, knowing she's not talking about my physical presence but the bond between us when we were packmates.

"I'm still thinking that over." I remind her and she lets out a another, longer sigh before pulling away and taking my face into her hands. She studies me, her crystalline-blue eyes searching mine.

"Don't agree if you think it will only hurt you, honey." Mom tells me softly, and I can't help but hear a double meaning in her words.

"Is there something wrong?" I ask her, frowning at her words. "With the Azure's, I mean?" She blinks before releasing me, her face shutting down. *She's keeping something from me. Me. Her own daughter.* I'm a little stunned and definitely hurt by the revelation.

"No, honey..." She turns away from me and pulls her purse and apron from the counter, not meeting my eyes. "I'll be home late again, but there's a new helper at Lia's so I should be coming home sooner-"

"*Mom*," I say coolly, hearing that odd sweet tone intertwine with my usual voice. I can feel something building in the base of my throat, power like before, giving my words strength. "*What aren't you*-" I begin to ask when a cold hand covers my mouth and another arm pulls me into an equally icy body. I make a muffled protest around Mikyle's skin and struggle against the suddenly iron-tight grip he's got me in. Mom's eyes are glassy, her lips parted, like she's caught in time.

"Marissa, I think you should leave." Mikyle says from behind me. Mom blinks, frowning as she looks between us, but quickly nods and leave the house. "Get ahold of yourself, princess." He tells me when I keep trying to escape his arms. I stop when I hear the car pull away from the driveway and he releases me.

"Why did you-" I whirl around and glare at him.

"Would you like it if someone made you do something you didn't want to? Or made you say something you weren't supposed to?" Mikyle hisses, narrowing his eyes at me. I freeze, shutting my mouth in response to the tone he's using. A fresh wave of guilt hits me as I recall the last time I used my Compulsion on him. "She's your mother, Scarlett. You need to take better care of the people you love." His tone softens at the last sentence and I see a flash of hurt in his eyes before his mask of calm settles back into place.

"Mikyle-" A different sort of guilt twists at my chest and I have to fight a cringe.

"Go get dressed, we'll be leaving in fifteen minutes." He turns away from me and walks out the back door without another word. *So much for thing not being awkward between us*.

- - -

Mikyle and I walk thought the woods to get to the Coven. I'm not sure what I expect. A basement? Underground hide-out? Maybe some sort of ancient looking-castle with storm clouds and eerie bats flying out of it? It sure as shit isn't the mansion Mikyle takes me to.

No joke, the place is five stories of concrete and large windows set in the middle of an empty glade ten times the size of the football field at school. The place is located a few miles south of the Azure's territory, just outside of their boarder. I can't help but gape at the huge complex, loosing count of the windows somewhere in the middle.

"What the hell is this place?" I finally decide to ask my shadow as we approach the giant building. It's so quiet out hear. Not even the trees sway in the wind. There's no chirping of bird or rustling of creatures in the foliage either. A chill creeps up my spine at all the silence.

"Coven HQ." Mikyle smirks at me, waiting by the front door. The thing is almost ten feet tall and looks like it's made of some sort of metal, though it has a weird smell to it... more like earthy or like plants rather than any kind of metal I've ever come across.

"You're not gonna like...kidnap me or kill me now are you?" I ask slowly, trying to keep my tone light, but my voice breaks on the word *kill*. Mikyle raises an eyebrow at me, his dark red eyes slowly scanning over my body. I'm suddenly very glad I decided to wear my usual baggy sweats and not something more form fitting.

"If I were to kidnap you, princess, trust me," Mikyle's smirk becomes very dark. "You'd never see it coming." Then the creepy look is gone and he chuckles, leaning forward to ruffle my hair. "Just kidding." He says in a sing-song voice before turning back to face the door and knocking on the solid surface. "Or am I?" He asks more quietly, more to himself than me. Before I can think up a reply, the door swings open and a short girl with wide red eyes and cropped blonde hair opens the door.

"Mica! Thank the saints you're here!" She squeaks and flings herself at my shadow. The vampires collide and move at the speed of light, blurs of movement on the ground. Then they stop a few feet away from the door, out of breath and bits of their clothes shredded and spotted in dark red.

"I win again, Fin." Mikyle taunts the girl, his hand over her throat, the other wiping at a little stream of blood leaking from an already healing cut on his lip. I stare at the two, not really sure what just happened.

"Fine!" Fin hisses at the man, turning her head to the side to spit bright red onto the path.

"Delfina," A timber voice growls from the doorway. I look up to see a dark man in the opened archway, his own bright red eyes alight with anger, though he's glaring at the two on the floor rather than looking at me. "Is this any way to greet the princess?"

"I'm sorry, Tobias-" Fin/Delfina scrambles away from Mikyle and crawls over towards the man, Tobias. Mikyle sighs, standing and brushing off his hands before coming over to me.

"Don't apologize to me, say it to the princess!" The man continues before finally looking at me and - falling to his knees, ducks his head. "Please accept my humblest apologies, my princess-"

"That's not necessary-" I croak, finally finding my voice and waving my hands at the man.

"Just let them, princess." Mikyle mutters in my ear dryly, watching the pair grovel. "This is Tobias and Delfina Wood, the gate keepers."

"Oh, you two are married or-?" I begin to ask but the two look up at me with identical frowns before looking at Mikyle.

"They're *bonded*- uh, Wolven call it *mates*, I believe." Mikyle explains warily, his eyes flicking to the two before us who've now gotten to their feet and are looking meaningfully at each other.

"Oh. Sorry, I'm not really-"

"There's no need to apologize, princess." Delfina interrupts me quickly, holding her hands up to stop me. "Hale told us you weren't...versed in our ways."

"Yeah," I smile sheepishly at them and hold my hand out to the woman. "Let's just start over. I'm Scarlett. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh, um," Delfina stares at my hand, then looks to Mikyle with wide eyes again.

"They don't touch people, the gate keepers." Mikyle mutters in my ear and I drop my hand, frowning.

"How come?" I mumble back, worried I've just insulted them or something.

"We have the vampiric ability Pierce." Tobias replies and stretches out his hand to the nearby wall. It's like a million invisible little saws are attached to the man's hand and slice at the concrete before the vampire retracts his hands. "We don't touch those we don't wish to harm."

"Oh." I breathe, staring at the wall that's begun to grow back - like it's healing itself. My head swims at the new world I know I'm about to be introduced to.

"Easy there, princess." Mikyle wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me into his cold side and guiding me into the foyer of the mansion. The gate keepers move aside for us, letting us pass before closing the door behind us.

The inside of the ginormous building is much more spacious than the outside. My brain struggles to cope as the disorienting space suddenly grows larger and we're standing in a large courtyard. The walls of the square area are like the concrete from the outside of the mansion, only they have the same scent as the door. No matter how hard I try, I can't place it.

"Holy-" I hiss out before stopping myself and taking a step forward. Adults are roaming around the courtyard dressed in plain clothing that could be from any era, just super simple styles. All smell the same, iron and overly-ripe fruit. A few stop what they're doing when they see us and do a double-take before vanishing in a blur, others begin whispering to each other.

"Magic." Mikyle supplies, and I look behind us at the rest of the field - as if the walls of the mansion didn't exist...only, the moment I step towards the spot I remember the door inhabiting, the gate keepers reappear beside the opened door - and I find myself on the other side of it.

"Magic," I breathe, examining the doors one last time before going back to where Mikyle is patiently waiting, an amused look on his face. "Oh, come on, that's so cool. You can't tell me you weren't amazed when you first saw magic!" I say in quickly, feeling my cheeks flame at his expression.

"You keep getting cuter by the day." He sighs, tapping the tip of my nose. My heart skips a beat at his gentle words and unexpected touch. I blink, then feel a rush of embarrassment shoot through me followed close by annoyance and anger.

"Well you're a-" I splutter but he cuts me off.

"I know, I know," Mikyle sighs, wrapping an arm around my waist again and pulling me towards the other side of the courtyard and through the archway. "Come now, the Doctor's waiting for us." The second we walk though the opened entry the space around us warps yet again and we're standing in the foyer of a large building with high ceilings and wide windows.

"Huh," I murmur, holding back the million questions I have now zipping around my head about the point of having a courtyard between the doors and this space that seems to b the real entry for the complex. There's four paths we can take. A long hall straight ahead that has no lighting and becomes shadow somewhere in the middle, a glass door to the left that seems to lead into a large atrium, a spiral staircase that disappears into the ceiling a few feet away, and an oak door to the right of us. Something about the stairwell pulls at me, my unquenchable curiosity makes me want to go explore the other floors. So much so it's like a physical itch. "Keep it together, Scarlett." I mutter to myself, taking a step towards the stair case leading to the second floor, but Mikyle stops me.

"This way, princess." He pulls at my waist towards the right door. I frown, but relax a little the second he pulls me from the center of the room and to the door. *Weird*. I shake off the lingering thoughts of exploring and look at Mikyle. He hesitates before knocking on the flat surface. *Here we go*. I can't help but think as the door swings open.