Page 8 of The Midwinter Mirror
“No. That might give him ideas. Again. It needs to be one word. Dark. Dangerous. Something that sounds like you, but scarier.”
Actually, a name has been in my head since the first time I shifted and I didn’t lose myself—since the beast stopped being my rage and started being my survival.
“Raze,” I say finally.
Josh blinks. “Raze?”
I nod. “Because he destroys everything in his path. And because the old me needed burning down.”
Grimlet tilts his head. “Better than Snakey?”
Josh grins. “Raze. I like it. Kinda fits you.”
I roll my eyes, but inside, yeah. It fits. But back to business. “We're going to aim for the other side of the village, and we'll land where no one can see us. I know just the place, and I don’t think there’s much chance of anybody spotting us up above in this snow.” What else? “We’ll come back for the bike once the snow clears.” Or, if it doesn’t, I can maybe get somebody from the village to drive us up here. Something occurs to me. How am I going to get us all back on a motorbike? Shit. Worry about it later. We’ll sort it out.
I step back as Grimlet flies from my shoulder to land on Josh's. Then I will the change to come over me. The air fills with the shiver of magic. It ripples through my veins, sharp and electric, until my skin can’t hold me anymore. I love this moment.
When the whole shifter thing first happened to me, I hated it. I thought it was proof that I really was a monster. Now I know better. I've met real monsters, and all of them were in human form. My basilisk—Raze—might like to kill, but he's got a decent heart. I think.
I spread my wings, raise my head to the sky, and roar. Yeah, I do like it. Josh hurries over. I hold out one leg, and he scrambles up and onto my back. We've done this enough times that I know he'll be safe. Then we’re lifting into the sky. I soar upward through the snow. I've never flown in the snow before. It's an amazing feeling.
We cover the distance in minutes, and I’m just about to take a left to go around the village when I notice something down below: Elderfell Manor. There’s a whole load of cars in the driveway. Something's happening. I spot my aunt's car. She hasn't changed it since I left—a boring blue Volvo. It fits her perfectly. I hate my aunt. But if my aunt’s there, then there’s a good chance Tansy will be as well, and we can get this over with. I honestly don’t know how it’s going to go down, but I’ve got to do it, and I’ve got nothing to lose.
I look around at the landscape below. There’s a small knoll behind the manor house. I swing around and swoop in to land. I have to admit, now that I'm down, I’m feeling just a little bit nervous, because Tansy's not the only one who’s probably at the manor right now.
Silver eyes flash in my memory. Silver-blonde hair. Holly. My first crush, my first heartbreak. We’d been inseparable from the age of eight. My dad had taken over the job of farm manager at that point, and we’d moved into one of the manor cottages, sowe saw each other almost daily. I’d been given a part-time job in the stables, looking after the horses, and she was pony mad, so, yeah, we saw a lot of each other.
She’d order me around in that haughty lady-of-the-manor voice of hers, and I’d call her princess just to piss her off. But we had something special. We’d planned to escape Elderfell together as soon as we could, and at one point, I’d absolutely known that we would be together forever.
Until we weren’t.
A wave of bitterness washes over me.
I’m still not sure why she lied about that day. But I’m pretty sure I’ll never forgive her.
I realize I’m just standing there with Josh sitting on my back. I give a little shake, and he slides down, landing in the soft snow. Grimlet's still on his shoulder, but as I watch, he dives headfirst into the snow and disappears completely. He emerges a moment later, sneezing, and Josh giggles. The trip is worth it just for this. There was one point, not so long ago, when I thought he would never smile again, never mind laugh.
And how bad can things be? How many bad things can happen when the snow falls in Elderfell? We'll soon find out.
I reverse the shift, and I'm back in human form. I immediately feel the cold and the chill seeping into my bones. But the snow has stopped falling at least. Hopefully, we won't get an unfriendly reception at the manor, and we can warm up before we head into the village to find somewhere to stay until the snow clears a little.
“Come on, you two. Let's go.”
“Are we going to find Tansy now?” Josh asks.
“Yeah, I reckon she'll be at that big house we just passed.” I look at him for a moment. “Right, just one thing—don't weird her out, okay?”
He opens his eyes wide. “Me? I’m not the scary one.”
“Yeah, you. Don't mention any funny stuff.” I turn my attention to Grimlet. “And you…” Shit, how do we even explain Grimlet? Best not to even try. “You just sit on his shoulder. Don't move. And do not, under any circumstances, say anything.”
I think the chances of that are zero. Grimlet clearly agrees—he lets out an indignant snort. But maybe people here will take him for some sort of animated AI toy. We can but hope. “Just don't throw rocks at anybody.”
He gives me a glare and turns his back.
Right. We’re as ready as we're ever going to be. I look down at myself. I'm wearing black leather pants, a black shirt, and boots. My everyday Valandrian military wear. And the coat Brown gave me. It’s pretty cool, a dark leather flying jacket lined with sheepskin against the cold. Josh is wearing a similar one, if a little smaller.
As I start walking toward the manor, Josh slips his hand into mine and squeezes.
