Page 39 of Polar Fates
Meet Isla,Alis says finally.What happened to VanDeen?
She’s holding back her emotions, but I can feel how hard it is for her not to break down in front ofhim.
He died.Arcas does a mental shrug.I killed him. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out as intended and I’m stilltrapped.
You killed him?I’m just as astonished as Alis. The Arcas she told me about wouldn’t hurt a fly, not even when he becameKing.
He had outgrown his usefulness. His voice is cold, ice-cold.
But…Alis isspeechless.
Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same,mother.
But…
At the beginning, I hated him, but over time, I came to believe in his vision. It was a mistake not to let my daughter rule. Shifters should rule, we’re stronger than humans. So I began to help my host, until he grew slow. Soft. I thought that if I killed him, I’d gain full control over his body, but as you can see, that didn’t exactly work out. I can’t even shift.He laughsbitterly.
Can you help me,mother?
Wait, Alis! I warn her. We were attacked by the ferals. Who controlled them if nothim?
I can feel her wavering. She’s wanting to believe in the goodness in her son. She wants him to be like the young man in her memory. But then here we are, and to me, Arcas seems more like a madman than I thought Van Deen would be. Shifters should rule? Calling me a ‘host’ in that dismissive, cold way? Killing a man to gain control? That all sounds pretty mad to me. Not just mad,evil.
Your host doesn’t seem to like me,Arcas chuckles. You give her too much freedom, mother. Hosts should be controlled or they become tooindependent.
“Call me a host one more time and I’m going to kick that dead body of yours!” I shout, but all he does islaugh.
I wouldn’t feel that, so go ahead. The only reason I’m still in this body is because I haven’t found a betterhost.
Him talking of hosts is really unnerving me. Alis and I are living in symbiosis, and so are the guys and their bears. They are part of each other, they compliment each other. While they spend the majority of their time as humans, they’re always careful to give their bears enough time each day to run free, especially inwinter.
Arcas seems to pervert that relationship and thinks one of them should be in charge. The bear ruling over the human. As selfish as Alis can be, I don’t think she’d ever want that. She knows how we’re relying on each other. We’ve become friends. If she wasn’t so much older than me, I might even call ussisters.
Is that why you came with us?Alis askscarefully.
Of course. Once I’ve found one, I will return to my people and proceed with ourmission.
Don’t you want to be free again? Fly without the constraints of abody?
I assume that’s what it felt like before she… merged with me. Likeflying.
I don’t know what youmean.
She pauses.I thought it was the same for you as for me. What happened after youdied?
I died.He laughs.Then I stopped being dead and was trapped in a human body. The first time James forced me to shift, it hurt, until I remembered that I’d been a bear before. Then it felt good. I wanted to be a bear all the time, but he only allowed me to after I did things for him. I didn’t like it at first, but eventually I understood that it was allnecessary.
Oh Arcas,Alis sniffs. I’m worried that her son will see her emotion as weakness. He seems that kind oftype.
Why are you sad, mother? He seems genuinelyconfused.
I thought you had found peace in death. Now it turns out you were the prisoner of a twistedman.
He wasn’t twisted,Arcas protests. I see that now. He helped me see things… like I see now that your host would be ideal forme.
Isla is mine,Alis hisses.Don’t touchher.
Too late,Arcaschuckles.
