Self. I had to fight my . . . self.
I continued to gape until her shoulders collided into my stomach and jetted me into my bedroom. The back of my skull became one with the footboard of my sleigh bed. And that’s when my tigress snapped to it. I dug my fingers into her hair and wrenched it back. It felt just . . . like . . . my . . . hair—further wigging me out. She screamed with my voice as I wrenched her off me. We rolled on the floor punching and clawing each other. Her blows and scratches were as hard as mine, but mine were more strategic. I raked my claws across her chest, missing her throat by less than an inch. Her eyes widened with fear. She knew I was going to kill her. She knew she needed reinforcements. And she knew where to find them.
Frantic pounding and yelling ensued outside my door. “Celia? Dude, are you okay?” Shayna wiggled the knob. “It’s locked.”
That’s when Bad Celia got dirty. “Help me! Shayna, please help me!”
“Move!” Shayna yelled. A machete cut through the crease in the door and yanked to the side. With a grunt, Shayna splintered the door open.
“Holy shit!” Taran screamed when she found me kicking my own ass.
Larissa’s other-me and I rolled into Emme, knocking her into Shayna. She screamed. “Which one is Celia?”
“Celia!” Taran yelled. “Tell us something only you would know.”
“Like what?” the other me asked in my same raspy voice.
Screw that. I nailed her in the mouth so she couldn’t speak, which earned me a jolt of lightning from Taran. My teeth chattered and my hair smoked. “That’s her!” Taran yelled, motioning toward me.
“Dude! Are you sure?” Shayna asked, her machete pointed dangerously in my direction.
“Of course I am! That bitch is trying to keep her from telling us the stuff only Celia knows.”
I kicked Bad Celia off me and launched a discarded screwdriver into her stomach. Unfortunately, her speed mimicked mine. She dove out of the way and into the bathroom. It would have nailed Emme had she not blocked it with her force. The screwdriver fell with a loud clang. Emme glanced from it to me, appearing crushed I could do such a thing, further reinforcing that I was the imposter.
Taran scowled hard enough to burn. Her irises went white as she gathered the full gamut of her power while the other Celia draped against the doorframe pretending to be hurt. She winked at me once just as Taran screamed, “Get her!”
I skidded back on my butt, just missing the machete Shayna pitched between my legs. My eyes crossed as I watched it bat back and forth in front of my nose. Never had I been more grateful to be female.
I swallowed hard, but didn’t hesitate. Every hair on my body stuck out from the energy Taran built into her lightning. I flung my body through my bedroom window. Glass scraped across my fur like red hot tuning forks. I landed on four paws as a giant bolt of blue and white exploded onto the lawn. The force of the blast threw me along the deep snow face-first. I bolted to the greenbelt behind our house, half-blind, barely out of reach of the next strike.
My paws dug into the thick snow, kicking it up behind me as I raced up the hill. I ground to a halt about a half mile away. I needed to get far enough away to form a plan, but not so far that I’d leave my sisters alone with Larissa’s creation. They trusted her, and while the challenge was only supposed to include me, their trust could end up placing them in danger.
My claws scratched at the ground restlessly. It killed me to leave them, but if I stayed I’d have to fight them. All of them. Someone would get hurt. And I’d rather die than hurt my family.
I crouched behind a tree, my fur already saturated from the snow. But it beat changing to stand na**d once more. I growled, cursing Larissa, her mother, and her damn pets if she owned any. The freak probably kept a rabid canary for kicks and giggles.
Okay. Now what?
Thunder roared above me. A thick black cloud inched its way across the sky until it covered the weak winter sun, dropping the temperature about ten more degrees. Sleet mixed with snow, and wind almost immediately followed. Okay. This didn’t suck or anything. Larissa’s power likely also included manipulating the weather. Icy rain pierced my skin like nails and a gust of wind slapped a mound of snow into my face.
Bitch.
I panted hard, both with fear and anger. Larissa played a cruel game, but to turn my sisters against me told me she also played damn smart. I supposed it was too much to hope a Walmart greeter could have been crowned head witch. Now, there was a friendly soul.
I waited and waited and waited some more. My tigress ears strained to hear any screams or cries over the howling wind and falling sleet. After about an hour of waiting, I made my way down to the house, keeping low to the thick brush surrounding the perimeter of our property. Everything seemed quiet. Too quiet. The lights were on in the kitchen and in the large open family room. The first level sat higher above ground. I couldn’t see over the deck railing.
I searched around for the fir with the thickest trunk and climbed. FYI, tigers weren’t meant to scale evergreens. My big body swayed back and forth like a set of windshield wipers. Pine needles found their way up my nose. Icicles pelted me in the head, and branches slapped more snow in my face. Finally, I climbed enough to see . . . my sisters and the evil Celia gathered around the fireplace sipping steaming mugs of tea and playing Yahtzee.