belly, cold biting magic retreating.
I gasped as Thao tried to lift me from the water. "Wait! Wait, I have it," I cried out, pushing on his shoulder with a trembling hand. "I have it."
Aric had said that the Hunger was the superior of the two magics, but it was mine. I controlled it. And I wanted it to stand the fuck down and let me have this.
Thao's hold on me loosened, and I groaned as the fire of the tiger magic grew hotter, higher, scorching through my chest and up into my throat.
"Aric, she's going to shift," Thao said, catching my hands before I could grab and claw at my neck. "You've got to get out."
"Are you—?"
"I'm sure, Aric!"
I was jerking in Thao's hold, some reflex I was trying to bury.
"That's it, Bryony. You're doing beautifully. I will tell you more about Wendell's transformation after this. He threw up right on me," Thao murmured as I trembled violently.
It was the worst in my skull, white-hot and blinding. I was certain that the magic was burning down everything I was, blazing away the girl to make room for the animal. Thao released me, and I had no strength to hold myself up, the water rushing up around me as my legs gave out, and I sank beneath the surface, the warm water no relief for the fire eating me up.
Fur surrounded me, two bodies circling, eyes watching from above.
An empty vessel, ensconced in a pool, staring blankly back…and then—
My claws scratched over the tile beneath me, muscles striking hard. I resurfaced with a roar that thundered over tile, water sloshing from my fur, my head shaking and spraying the—
Cage. Trap. The scent of the air all wet and wrong with other smells. Two males circled me, huffing and butting me with their heads, and I snarled back, clawing them away. They tried first to soothe and then to subdue, the dark one growling in warning, and I gave them my full roar, his ears flattening against his head, even as he braved another step closer. I smacked him hard for his daring. They were small, these two. Small compared to me.
I kicked and climbed my way to the edge of the too-smooth pool, and the pale one slammed himself in my way.
Fine.
I would teach them better.
They were reluctant fighters, trying to wrestle me back, but I was bigger. I was stronger. I would master them later when I was free; they couldn't keep me between them. I bit the pale one on the ruff and wrestled him below the water, the dark one howling and finally daring to bite my side. I subdued him next, finally winning my way to the edge, scratching myself out and free of the water, little human—
Human.
—Trinkets clattering to the floor.
There was smooth reflective water—mirror—on the wall, and I caught a glance of myself, massive and grand and exquisite, shaded softly even sopping wet, before I turned and paced, searching for my escape.
The orange and white ones tried to call me back, gentling their tones after our fight. I wanted out, out, out, out.
There was a squeak, and I jumped around, crouching and expecting to see prey, another challenger, but instead there was a sliver of light when there hadn't been before. One of the males in the pool howled a warning, trying to scramble out of the water.
My escape.
I nudged the door open—door, bath—with a careful claw, stepping into a new space full of…familiar smells. A safe cage, but still a cage, full of more human things.
Aren't I…
Another open door and—
I was knocked sideways with a roar, a jaw clamped around my throat, paws digging hard into my belly. I growled. These fools—fool men, my men—wanted to fight me?
They'd learned better already, the pair of them quick to try and subdue me together rather than each on their own, but it was no use. I was stronger, I was better, I wanted out, and I would claw and bite when they were too shy. I threw one off of me and toward the light, the other in direction of the boxed flame, and took off running for the open door.
Another fucking safe cage.
I growled as I heard the thunder of those two males following me. I ran for the flat wall, crashing hard against it before turning around to snarl back at them, warning them away.
"What's hap—"
Open door.
I fought my way out, knocking aside the tall human—familiar, safe—waiting outside.
"Fuck! Bryony! No one touch her. Get