Chapter Twelve:

Chapter Twelve:

Chime was stiff. Stunned. Daughter of Azhdeha. To the side she felt Thea's disbelief. And Iliana's. And her own was at the surface, showing up on her face. It had to be. Azhdeha was the one who had terrorized them, the same one who had nearly done them all in. He couldn't be her father, it wasn't possible. It just wasn't.

She began to shake her head, a senseless gesture only because she didn't know what else to do. She felt the heat of everyone's gaze on her face, felt as if they were looking right through her and into her, looking for the truth in her genes. And she couldn't say anything. The words running through her mind weren't becoming coherent sentences, all flooding her thoughts like thousands of jigsaw pieces. None of them in order, none of them in place. Her mouth felt like it was full of cotton, and trying to speak around it would have been futile anyway. So she settled on staring at Winnie dumbly.

Then she forced herself to lower her eyes to the papers that had been scattered across the table. There were so many, she had to blink to clear her vision. With trembling fingers she began to lift one here and there, moving several aside to inspect them all. She paused only when she found a paper with names circled in dark red marker.

Salma Chimes. Tiger shape-shifter. Mother.

Azhdeha. Dragon. Father.

Selena Chimes. Half-breed: Dragon, tiger shape-shifter. Daughter.

Chime remembered to breathe. And when she did she realized she need every single breath desperately, realized she had not been breathing for almost a minute. Her shoulders heaved, the air rasping inside her dry throat and she raised her eyes slowly toward Thea and Iliana.

They stared back at her, hurt expressions on their faces. And she felt so sorry for them. Sorry for herself because this had knocked the wind out of her. She would not have seen this coming, not from a mile away and she usually knew to look out for things like these. She heard Rayne's voice in her head suddenly, gentle and cautious.

"I know who your father is…I've worked with him before…"

Why hadn't he ever told her about him? Why hadn't she ever asked? But she knew why. She hadn't wanted to know a thing about him because he had abandoned her mother, had looked the other way when it had come to his daughter. He didn't have a place in their family and the fact that he had done those deeds to the Witch Child was just one more reason for Chime to hate him. She tilted her head, lips parting slowly.

"I…I know how this must seem…" she whispered faintly, gazing at Thea. She needed her to know, to understand that she hadn't been aware of it. "I do…but I didn't know…I didn't know that he…that he…"

Iliana was shaking her head, and it seemed as if she were on the verge of tears. "His name was familiar…" she uttered breathlessly, eyes wide, "You actually said it-"

"I didn't know!" Chime burst out, and her hand swept at the table, sending the packet of papers flying across the floor. Iliana recoiled reflexively, drawing back. Chime lifted her eyes away from the evidence at Keller's feet and she stared at Iliana. She felt, deep inside, whatever bonds they might have been forming were being severed the more seconds passed. She shook her head, trying to piece her sentences together, to make some kind of sense. "Iliana…I didn't know…Thea-"

Thea merely stared, stunned into silence.

Chime took a step forward, toward the witch. "Thea-"

Winnie stepped away from the table, placing herself in front of Iliana and Thea. She shoved the papers into Nissa who had also come forward but the witch stayed with one paper, clutching it tightly, face stony. Chime stepped back again, feeling closed in. Trapped from all sides. They had all known, Winnie had shared the information with them and they had planned it.

Keller and Galen advanced, both separating from each other slowly and circling the table from opposite sides. Chime looked at the both of them, quick glances to survey her suddenly desperate situation.

And she became aware that Winnie was speaking. "You could've gotten so far…" she was saying. "Iliana was always nearby. You had the chance to kill her-"

Chime exploded furiously on her, her anger breaking out. "I didn't want to kill her!" she yelled furiously. "I wanted to find my soulmate, it's all I wanted!" she looked toward the door Nissa had been blocking but that was now blocked by Nissa, Winnie, Thea and Iliana. She was definitely not getting out the way.

Because she had finally realized she had to get out. Her welcome was worn out and now it was time for her to get going before they decided to hand her over to be killed. Or before they killed her themselves.

She looked toward the second exit, passed the table before her and such a long way off ahead.

"We're just going to bring you to the Mother of Witches. She wants to have a word with you, strike a deal-" Keller said calmly, hands held up as a sign of peace.

Chime stared at her in disbelief. She was sure the ludicrous expression on her face was almost comical but there was not a damn single thing funny about the situation. "Are you crazy!?" she shouted loudly.

"Don't fight us, Chime." Galen said and he was pleading with her. "It'll be all right, we'll help you-"

Chime shook her head, a hysterical smile curling her lips. "Hell, no." she stated flatly. She backed up a step and the shape-shifters stiffened, pausing as they moved in on her. "You both better stay the hell away from me-"

"Stop, you guys-" Thea cried, suddenly coming to life. She tried to step around Winnie but the red-haired witch held her back. "Don't-"

"You're not taking me to her." Chime said and her voice was soft. Firm. "I will kill myself before you hand me over and let someone else handle the job." And to illustrate her point she lifted her fists toward her chest, shoulders hunching.

Black smoke began to rise from her hands, streaming into the air in wispy puffs.

Iliana made a small noise and Chime didn't need to see the Witch Child's face to know the effect her black energy was having on the girl. On all of them. They were all staring at the energy warily and fear glimmered in the depths of their eyes. She knew what they saw. They saw Azhdeha in her and they saw their memories of the day they had almost perished before him.

Winnie looked down at the paper she clutched. "Divine Goddess of Nature, Mother of the Elements-" she whispered, reading from the sheet.

Chime looked at her, eyes widening and she felt as if she were suddenly thrust back into the Royal House, watching as the Regal Hecate had waltzed in, murmuring her spell in the Old Language. "Divine Goddess of Nature, Mother of the-" she shook her head wordlessly, plain, inexplicable fear gripping her with icy fingers. She didn't want to be back there, didn't want to relive it-

"Whose love for all is challenged-"

"-and opposed…" Chime whispered with Winnie and she backed away another step, chest beginning to heave again from lack of air.

"Winnie, stop!" Thea shouted and she reached out, grabbing at the red-haired witch frantically, "Winnie!"

Winnie continued murmuring her spell under her breath, right under Thea's voice.

Chime had to get out of there. With or without those scrolls, whatever the case she had to get out. She narrowed her eyes at Winnie, at the paper in her hand and her arm suddenly lashed out, finger pointing. A short explosion of black from her fingertip turned into a bolt.

Winnie gasped as the top of her paper burst into black flames, crackling quietly before her. She lowered it against her thigh and beat at it, spell momentarily halted.

And out of the corner of her eyes Chime saw Keller and Galen dive.

She couldn't hurt them. The thought came unbidden and she reflexively shifted into defense. Even though they wanted her, they didn't want to hurt her. They merely wanted to restrain her.

And she still had to get out.

All the thoughts flew through her head in a matter of seconds, less, all screaming at her as she watched Keller and Galen coming down on her. And her body was already reacting without her commanding it to do so. She pushed her legs out from under her frame, dropping herself onto her side in a forward slide.

Keller and Galen missed her completely and when they turned to correct themselves Chime was already up and moving. She didn't spare the glance to see how much time she had. She pushed her body back up to balance on her two feet once more and with a stunted breath she threw herself forward toward the table.

"Chime!" she vaguely heard Thea scream over Winnie's murmuring.

A hand swiped at her from behind, she felt the air as it missed her neck. She flipped, rolling across the face of the table, landing on her feet on the other side of it. Her momentum continued to push her and she rolled again, across the floor, heading for the door in the back of the room.

And then Winnie raised her voice, shouting loud and clear, "-to end in sleep eternal!" and her voice was raw with her power.

A sudden weakening in her knees brought Chime to the floor roughly. A surprised gasp broke from her lips as she sprawled along her chest and stomach, her chin smashing into the floor. Stars burst before her eyes, their spinning dance nauseating her. And she felt the strong urge to vomit.

"Chime!" Thea continued to shout frantically. Then, to Winnie, "What did you do? What did you do!?"

"She tried to kill me." Winnie said flatly. "I finished the spell-"

"She didn't try to kill you!" Iliana cut in furiously. "She tried to stop you from casting the spell! If she had wanted us dead she would have accomplished it by now-"

"Enough!" Keller ordered, her voice close but not in striking distance. "We have to get her to the Mother-"

Chime lifted herself slowly, arms straining under her weight. She felt nauseous, bile rising and choking her throat. And a headache was forming, along her temple. She was weak, she realized. Unnaturally weak and it had to do with that damn spell. But she couldn't understand why she wasn't asleep. Had the witch cast it wrong? No, she remembered the words as if Hecate had marched in and spit them in her face. The spell was right. Perhaps Hellewise's spell to protect her still held after all those years.

Or perhaps the spell only worked on full-blooded dragons.

She felt her stomach grow cold. Were her dragon abilities dormant?

Footsteps were drawing closer. And there was a confused murmur from Winnie. "Is she asleep? Did I cast it wrong?" and there was the sound of papers rustling as she went through the sheets Chime had thrown to the floor.

Chime bowed her head, closing her eyes against her dizziness. With a deep breath she reached inside, all the way to the pit of her stomach. And she pulled.

Deep, deep inside her body she felt a yank, felt herself pull at her black energy. But something was pulling back just as strongly, not allowing her to access it. She clenched her eyes shut tightly, teeth biting down on the insides of her cheeks and she pulled again, one rough, terrible yank that felt as if she were pulling her skeleton out through her mouth.

"Galen," Keller was saying, "go around to the other side of her-"

The black power gave, releasing into her blood. She growled quietly, pulling her energy toward her skin, hampering it as she gathered all she had of it and then she allowed the energy to seep from her body like smoke, the fog filling the room. She pulled more out, demanding her body to release it and it surfaced, spilling out, and with the fog came forks of black electricity, sparking around her weak frame. She realized her dragon abilities weren't asleep. They were muffled, as if an invisible barrier weren't allowing her to use it in its entirety.

She became aware of the commotion. Keller was shouting at Winnie to take Iliana, Thea and the scrolls to the sub-level basements. Galen was coughing violently, and Chime could hear Thea calling for her.

An idea came to her. She looked up slowly and became aware of the black smoke in the room. Had she done that? All of it? She shook her head. At the moment, it didn't matter. This was going to help her out. She slowly staggered to her feet, stumbling forward when her knees didn't lock and hold her. This was crazy, she had to move and get her plan into action or else there would never again be any plans. With a deep breath she turned slowly and tried to look for the way out. Where had it gone? Was it behind her or in front of her? She felt her own panic swell up. Her own power had trapped her. She squinted through the black fog, feeling as if it were going to choke her, like real smoke.

"Where is she?" someone was demanding not too far from it. Chime listened closely and heard footsteps stumbling her way. The voice had sounded like Nissa's but Nissa had barely spoken to her in the entire time she had been in the sanctuary.

She was about to make her way in the opposite direction from Nissa's voice when a hand came out of the fog and tangled in her hair. The person yanked and she felt all her coordination leave her, surrendering. Her body toppled backward, into another body and then they were both toppling with surprised cries, toppling onto the floor.

Chime rolled over weakly, looking at the body under her from her peripheral vision. Nissa's face came into view momentarily. Then the fog blocked it and Chime lifted a hand slowly, clamping down on Nissa's forehead. The vampire struggled under her, maintaining the firm grip on her hair and trying to push away Chime's hand from her head at the same time. Chime shoved her weight down on the vampire, holding her head to the ground.

"Forgive me," She whispered. And then she gritted her teeth, summoning a short black burst from her palm. The energy struck the vampire dead on and Nissa's head cracked into the hard floor loudly. Finally she was limp, falling flat to the floor under Chime.

"Nissa! Did you find her?" Keller was shouting from the fog, "We can't find her!"

Chime inhaled deeply, muscles quivering. She should get out of there, now that there was one less person after her hide, she should just run and never look back. Do what Thierry had told her to do all those years ago. This time she would do it right, vanish forever, separate herself from the Night World and just roam. This was her chance.

Endymion.

His name came to her mind. It always came to her mind, at the worst times. This was a record breaker of worst times. But it made her stop and think. She needed a moment to recover her strength as it was. She looked toward the side, where she thought Keller and Galen might be. They were too much for her, especially with this newfound weakness. She couldn't take them all on alone.

But she had to get those scrolls. This was the closest she would ever come to finding Rayne, the only chance she would probably ever had. And perhaps the last chance if the world was going to end at the Millennium. She had to do it, not just for herself. But for him. He had never deserved his punishment. And she was going to be the one to end it. No matter what happened to her.

She looked back down at Nissa's unconscious form under her. And she memorized the details, the ones before her and the ones she had acquired from meeting the vampire. She needed everything about her in order to become her. Because she was going to be her ticket out of there in one piece. She gathered the characteristics into one picture in her mind, molding it into the recognizable face.

The she bowed her head and forced herself to become her. She tried to urge her body and face to morph, to ripple and shift. And it was painful. One thing shifting had never been was painful. Her body didn't want to handle it, didn't want to go through the strain. And it fought her every step of the way. But she pushed at it, not wanting to stop now that she had begun.

It was slow going. She blinked, starting with her eyes. It took her several seconds to match the color of Nissa's eyes in her mind. But once she had the color perfectly she tried to apply it to her own eyes. And then she had to try to make it stay. It stubbornly continued to melt back into her original blue. She blinked once more, becoming impatient and as if afraid to displease her it settled, dilating at her command.

Her hair would be trickier.

"Nissa!" Galen was calling through the clouds of blackness, Keller with him. "Damn it! I don't see a thing!"

Chime staggered back to her feet, shaking her head roughly. Ok, I shouldn't do that, she thought as nausea swelled up once more like a tidal wave, waiting to consume her. But it was the only way she knew to start the shift in her hair. A sure shake of her hair would force it to begin to shift. She just had to make sure she didn't start throwing up in a corner and give herself away. She inhaled deeply and then shook her head once more, nearly snapping her neck. Even as bile began to rise her hair began to darken to resemble Nissa's silvery mink hair.

She was getting far too dizzy. The room was spinning and she was in danger of toppling down right beside Nissa. With a muffled moan she clamped a hand over her mouth and swallowed down the bile. It burned her throat on its way back down and she knew this moment would make her cringe when she looked back on it. If she ever looked back on it. Sure that the bile was far enough back down her throat she hunched over and lowered her arms, wrapping them under Nissa's own arms. Even bent over she knew this would be difficult. She was breathing hard just standing there. She straightened up in one swift gesture nearly throwing out her back and Nissa fell against her, a dead weight.

And she looked so thin, too.

Chime looked about and then chuckled to herself. She needed a closet but what was the point of looking for one if black mist was blocking everything from sight? But she knew there had been a closet, a broom closet perhaps, close to the back doorway. She had to drop Nissa's body off somewhere, hide it until she was out of the way. But she didn't want to trap it. She began to drag the vampire, body trembling with exertion. This would have been so much easier if she had been at full strength, she mused. But she wasn't and the cloud had also drained her. She staggered along, hoping to find something, anything that would help her.

She rammed into a wall and fell away with a yelp.

"Nissa? Is that you?" Keller called instantly. Then Chime heard their footsteps heading her way. Her pulse picked up, as loud as a machine gun going off in her ears and she searched the wall frantically, patting along as she dragged Nissa one-handed.

A knob met her fingers. And with a nearly audible frightened whimper she pulled the door open and flung the unconscious vampire into the darkness.

She had almost shut the door when her eyes landed on the broom to the side of Nissa's limp frame. A nice broom handle made of wood.

She looked at Nissa's crumpled form. And she felt a sickening feeling well up. She had to admit, it would be more convincing. And if she could pull it off it would leave her with two less shape-shifters to fend off.

"Nissa!"

Chime reached in and grabbed the broom stick, slamming the door on Nissa. She pulled away, huffing and looked down at the wood stick. Frantically she reached up to her hair, running a hand over it. It didn't feel like her hair. And the bangs swinging before her face were not blond. Which meant it had stayed. Finally. She looked over her shoulder into the fog and thought, fighting the urge to start jumping up and down in panic. She had to focus on her body and voice now to complete the shift perfectly. Her body was pretty much the same as Nissa's, lean, but Nissa was an inch or two taller. Would they notice? She doubted it.

She tried to remember what Nissa sounded like and felt all the more panic when she couldn't. Had the vampire ever spoken even two words in her presence?

"The dragon, right? Welcome aboard." Nissa's voice came to her hazily, almost like a dream. Or perhaps a vision sent by the Goddess.

"Yes!" Chime whispered feeling unconditional joy and relief. She focused herself on the voice and the change, making her tone lower. Softer. Nissa had not been loud. She had been cool. Serene. Controlled. Everything Chime wished she were feeling at the moment. Her soft whispers came out sounding metallic as she began the shift, all the previous tones and voices she had used blending together into one distinct blend that was Nissa. And she knew she had the voice down. The next time she needed it, it would come easier.

She lifted the broom handle and looked at it. She lifted it before her, grasping it with both hands and she tried to bend it, or at the very least warp it. And nothing. She couldn't break it. She looked over her shoulder and the fog was beginning to lighten, clearing a bit. Any second Keller and Galen would find her.

She looked at the wall, hesitating. Then she shifted her grip to the base of the broom handle. It was light and she only hoped it would break. Or splinter enough for her to break it on her own. She tightened her muscles, realizing she couldn't make a proper fist. And with a grimace she swung the broom at the wall.

The sound was loud, bringing every other noise in the room to a stop. And the impact sent tremors through the wood into her body, jarring her. But the stick broke, the top half flying into the dissipating fog. She looked at the remains of the jagged piece she held, her arms tingling, and then over her shoulder at the figures that were almost visible through her black fog. Clasping the wood to her side she darted away, breaking out suddenly through the back door into another room.

She heard Keller call for Nissa again.

She looked down at the wooden piece slowly. And she almost lost her nerve. Almost. She winced, looking back the way she had come. She didn't want to do it. Maybe she should just go back and surrender. They would go easy on her.

And then Rayne's face flashed in her mind, once more unbidden, and she resolved to carry it through. She closed her eyes, turned the wooden piece on herself and counted to three. One. Two. Three.

With a clenching of her jaw she drove the piece inside her, wedging it into her side. Pain instantly raced up her ribs, blossoming outward across her torso. She stumbled back against the wall, alongside the doorway and tried to catch her breath for a moment. But the agony was forcing her muscles to tighten, didn't allow her to take a solid breath. Nothing but shallow gasps. She realized through a haze that the point of the wood had slid along her ribs, grazing her skin enough to open a gash. She yanked away the piece, opening her eyes to look at it and her blood shone its length, seeping into the wood and painting it a horrible red.

She threw the piece aside weakly, and watched it scatter across the clean hard floors, leaving a trail of red fluid in its wake.

"Nissa!"

Chime looked toward the doorway, merely stared at the fog billowing out serenely. And with a sigh she called out, "Here, Keller! Out here." She didn't have to fake her weakness. She was weaker now than before.

Not for the first time did she wonder if she had made a horrible mistake.

Keller suddenly burst out of the room and skid to a stop as she saw Chime hunched against the wall, clutching her side. The shape-shifter's eyes widened and she took a step toward her in disbelief. "She did that? Are you all right?"

Chime shook her minx-colored head of hair. "It was wood." She murmured and she motioned toward the wooden broom handle. "I think I have splinters-"

Galen came out of the light fog, Winnie behind him. Chime looked at Winnie and quickly averted her gaze, feeling the witch could somehow see right through her to the dragon below.

Keller turned on the witch, snapping. "Winnie! I told you to take Iliana and Thea-"

"I couldn't find my way out. That fog is horrible." Winnie cut in, juggling her papers and trying to slip them back into a case of sorts. Chime stared at the box and realized it was the box the scrolls had come in. She recognized the symbols and writing on its surfaces.

Keller nodded, as if she didn't want to hear it. "Ok, fine." And she turned to Chime. "Which way did she go, did you see?"

Chime blinked at her with her brown eyes. Then she pointed out the other exit of the room, a doorway on the opposite wall.

Keller glanced over and nodded. "All right. Winnie, give the scrolls to Nissa. I need your magic. Nissa," Keller's gray eyes looked down at her, "take the scrolls, take Iliana and Thea, and get to the basements. Do not move from there!"

Chime nodded as Winnie gave her the box gently. She grimaced, feeling a bit wary as Thea came up around the other side of her to lend a supporting arm.

"Be careful." Galen said quietly. The Keller was motioning for him and Winnie to continue on to the other doorway as Keller herself ducked back into the fog-filled room.

Iliana was looking at Chime. "Are you sure you're ok, Nissa? I'll take the scrolls-"

Chime shoved Thea away with her free hand, sending the girl into Iliana. "I trusted you." She said flatly, eyes glittering harshly. "From the beginning, I trusted you." She laughed miserably, feeling her face convulse. She wanted to cry again. She hadn't felt the need to cry so frequently since she had been living in the past. She shook her head, composing herself but she allowed Nissa's voice to melt away. "What was I expecting from witches?"

Iliana blinked dumbly, cradling Thea against her.

Chime hesitated, gazing at the witch. And she saw Hellewise, once more, all over again. She reached a hand out, almost touching Thea's face. "Hellewise." She whispered. "Why did I ever believe you would put friendship before duty?"

Thea inhaled shallowly. "Chime?"

Chime swung away and focused on one of the windows visible through her black fog. Her hand lifted of its own accord, she no longer knew what she did, and the energy burst she let loose was painful, debilitating. But the pane cracked and then exploded, glass shards raining out.

The red bulb in the corner of the room began to blink.

Iliana's eyes flew to it as Thea took a step, reaching out. "Chime!"

She looked at her. "I couldn't have hurt you." She said sadly. And then she whirled, clutching the box of scrolls in her hand. The clear air coming in helped revive her and she darted toward the window, shifting the box to her wounded side. She jumped, bringing her knees up and she sailed through the window, vanishing into the blinding sunlight.