SIXTY-THREE | MALESTROM

"Listen to me for once, princess, and run-" Mikyle hisses at me, his eyes widening as the three become four figures walking out of the rain and into the warehouse. How did we not notice them until now? It can't be the rain. I should have been able to sense, right?

"Too late for that now, blood-sucker." Paris snarls at my shadow, leading the rest of the Elite squad into the space. *We're so royally fucked, aren't we?*

"Leave now and no one has to die," Mikyle warns my cousins, his dark red eyes flaring to life. I'm still trying to overcome the waves of nausea rolling in my stomach. Is this part of the symptoms from the Blooming or something else entirely? I push the thought aside, trying to focus on what's coming. With all four of the elites here, there's no way either me or Mikyle are getting out of here unscathed.

"Made new friends, have we, cousin?" Craven growls, his nails becoming claws at his side. I swallow, my heart pounding loudly in my ears. Ivy stays between the two, her sapphire blue eyes trained on me, eyes narrowed. Nothing happens. A vein begins to pulse in her forehead, like she's getting annoyed or frustrated.

"Ivy, what's taking so long?" Ryker asks our youngest cousin, his forehead wrinkling slightly as he looks between me and Ivy.

"She's *blocking* me!" Ivy hisses softly, but with my hearing, it's like she's yelling it.

"That's not possible-" Ryker frowns, taking a step forward, but Craven stretches his hand out.

"Come out, pup." Craven sings, looking up into the rafters of the building, searching. I look with him, confused, until a man drops from the ceiling in front of me. Only just missing Mikyle, though my shadow shows no sign of surprise. As the Wolven straightens, I immediately recognize him and feel a stab of guilt and confusion twist at my heart.

"You're the one blocking me, are you a Sensor?" Ivy accuses but Blue doesn't reply, rather watches the four coolly, face emotionless and calm.

"It's about time, you voyeur." Mikyle mumbles to my mate. *Did he know Blue was there the whole time? Why didn't he say something?*

"Shut up and focus," Blue growls at my shadow, never taking his eyes from my cousins.

"Blue-" I begin softly but he cuts me off sharply.

"Not now." Blue's lips barely move, but I do note the tensing of his shoulders when I speak to him.

"You. Again." Ryker growls at Blue, looking at each of us in confusion before his icy eyes settle back on me. "You become more popular each time we meet, cousin." I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not when he uses that tone with me. It's not accusatory but...almost surprised.

"Last warning,"Mikyle tells my cousins, stretching his neck nonchalantly - but never looking away from the four. "Leave peacefully and we won't kill you." Despite everything, those words send a jarring ache into my chest, making my entire body tense.

"She belongs to the Reiniers, bloodsucker." Craven growls back, narrowing his eyes at my shadow. "Her life is ours to take."

"The Reiniers have already declared war," Blue speaks before Mikyle can, taking one step forward. Everyone but Craven flinches away when he does, almost like they'd gotten slapped in the face. "We're not turning Scarlett over."

"Then the outcome of this entire war has already been decided." Paris calls, stepping up behind Craven. "We honor the Code." With that, she nods to the others and they rush at us simultaneously. Ryker and Craven immediately branch off to face Mikyle, drawing his attention away from me. Ivy focuses on Blue, moving in her unusually fast way to divert him, though none of her initial blows seem to phase him or really even bruise.

But I only notice the other three in the back of my mind, my eyes staying focused on my look-alike now mere inches away. She goes for the obvious point of attack: my throat. Her hand moves in slow motion as she approaches, striking out in a side-ways motion, palm extended and fingers straight. I throw my hand up to intersect hers, not sure of any other way to stop the blow from making contact.

The fluidity of my movements surprise even me, though I'm moving just as slow as she is, my mind's racing. Our strength isn't even comparable, the force behind her hand easily bruising my wrist as I successfully block her and move in with the same motion. I take a deep breath and redirect the tension in me to my next move.

My fist comes up at the right moment as the momentum of time suddenly springs to it's usual tempo. The resounding crack fills the space between us and bewilderment crosses my double's face. Then - a smile - the first, genuine - full toothed grin I've seen in years. But in the next second, it's gone, a vacant look washing over her face and glazing over her cerulean eyes.

"Well, well, well, look who's finally learned to fight." Paris spits, massaging the now-forming bruise over her jaw. "About time." She smirks, then surprises me by landing a roundhouse kick to my own jaw. I'm not expecting the blow and go down like a sack of potatoes. "Still learning, I see." She sighs, shaking her head.

I get to my feet, massaging the now fading mark on my jaw. Paris frowns, watching as the bruise fades.

"That's why it didn't work," She says softly, eyes trained on my face as her stance changes. "You've left the Pack officially now." It's a comment more than a question, so I don't answer. "Grandmother won't like that." Paris sighs, shaking her head again. I snarl at her, feeling like a kid when she does that. But we're not kids anymore.

I try to restrain my anger and frustration as I lunge forward, ready for this to be over with, but my movements are too slow, too wild. Paris sneers at me, easily blocking my next attack and turning the tables. I'm suddenly on my back, the air getting knocked out of me as my double looms overhead, her shoe grinding into my windpipe. I'm scratching at her ankles, struggling to breathe or move or something. But it's no use. I've burned through whatever was left of my energy from earlier and on the verge of blacking out.

"Such a waste," Paris mutters softly, her cerulean eyes icy and slightly glazed as she continues to apply pressure. Something large goes flying at my cousin, knocking her to the ground a few feet away. In his wolf form, Blue is absolutely massive. I've only ever seen him like this a few times, nearly as tall as I am, he's got his back to me, growling at Paris. But something's off about the way he's standing. He's hunched over slightly, protecting his right side as if it's injured.

I look around for Ivy, but my younger cousin is nowhere to be seen. Mikyle's still fighting Ry and Craven near the middle of the warehouse, the three moving almost too quickly for me to see. Blue barks at me, nudging me with his big body. I turn my attention back to him, noting that he's not changing back to talk to me, or even looking directly at me, but I know he's trying to get my attention.

I get to my feet, a little unsteady, but still able to move. The weakness in my limbs slowly turns to shaking, not just the little tremors from before either, but full blown muscle quivering. Pain courses through me as I attempt to straighten, gritting my teeth against the distraction as I try to focus. Blue, however, notices everything and turns his face slightly to look at me in silent question.

It's the opening Paris seems to have been waiting for.

In the span of a heartbeat, my cousin's shifted into her wolf form. With an explosion of fiery red fur, she attacks Blue and two go rolling in a viscous cyclone of snarls and gnashing teeth. Without Blue beside me, I feel exposed, and something tugs at the back of my mind. Again, that bitter taste rises like bile making me gag. Another warning of some kind?

This time, I don't overthink it. I reach out, both mentally and physically, for the vibrating chords. There's a slight change in the air pressure, moments before Ivy materializes in front of me. I grab the tangible strings and feel their trembling slow beneath my grip as I pull them close and tighten my hold. The seconds roll to a crawl, everything around me going eerily silent.

Ivy reaches out to grab me, her movements incredibly slow yet fluid, moving at the speed I'd normally walk to. Still much faster than me, but I try to counter her movements with my own, never once releasing the chords as I duck under her outstretched arm. My body is heavy, the pain from before increasing as I try to push myself to keep up with my cousin. Ivy turns to face me, surprise on her face, but not slowing anymore than absolutely necessary it seems.

We're moving at the same pace, easily blocking each other's predictable moves while still holding tight to the invisible strings of time.

She's like me then. Or I'm like her. Somehow, we're slowing time - or going against the current of it. She's not stronger, and neither am I physically stronger than her, but it's also clear to see she's had more practice than I have. Ivy makes some weird slashing movement in front of me, like she's going to cut me with something - and the chords go slack in my grip.

Time lurches forward. And just like the first time I lost my hold on time, the world slams into me. I'm frozen in my own skin as everything zips by, even the air zooms past, scraping at my skin like shards of glass. Ivy's grinning maliciously as she makes her next moves, the speed of her body almost beyond that of anything I've seen before. Only...it's not that she's even controlling time now. I'm just stuck in place.

My cousin grabs my neck and forces my body to the ground, easily pinning me before I'm able to move again. And with the normalizing feel of time around me, my lungs are burning more than ever. Sound returns the way it had last time, too loud, booming and echoing in my head. Pain ricochets in my skull with the heightened sounds bombarding me as I try to breathe. Each gasp hurts more than the last, and I can feel my throat burning.

*Thump-thu-thump-thu-thump*- I fight against the change attempting to take affect in me. The bitter-sweet scent of blood is heavy in the air, definitely not helping the process. I try to focus on anything but the rhythmic thuds of the hearts beating around me. The little control I still have is slipping as I glare up at my cousin and the dried blood on the right side of her face where one of my hits made contact. I hadn't even noticed it till now.

The chill in me has begun to take over now as I shut my eyes, squeezing my lips tightly - as if either of those things could possibly stop the exposure of my other side. But closing my eyes only seems to heighten my senses of smell and hearing. Each beat of the hearts around me conjures the cold from within, spreading the ice through my until it coats me in it's frigid embrace-

*Breathe, Red*. Blue's voice breaks through the barding sounds in my mind, silencing the noise and sending warmth through my in place of the cold. Warmth. My body's suddenly on fire, a familiar ache resounding in my bones and tempering the vampiric old.

Ivy growls in frustration as my body changes form beneath her.