Shenaya’s POV
It was clear that Andrew was afraid for his little life because of the way his round eyes seemed glued to Zoey as if she were some monster that had enticed him into a cage instead of a shy seven-year-old girl. The look on his face was too stunned for a man like Andrew, who was the worst of the worst, and I sat there absolutely stunned by the sheer aura Zoey had just released. Somewhere deep within me, I knew that Zoey has powers or, at least, that there was something inside her that made me think so but I did not expect her to be able to consciously use them so clearly and, perhaps, so dangerously.
I moved closer to her as discreetly as I could. I felt like my heart was about to pound out of my chest. I lay on the floor, softly taking her tiny hand in mine as she trembled gently.
“Zo, honey, how.. how did you do that?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Zoey was just an innocent pup, but her eyes showed something far older than the rest of the pups around her. Her eyes appeared to have a dim light, some residual of whatever magic she had just used lingering around her in a throb.
“I… ‘I didn’t know I could,’ she whispered, looking towards Andrew, who was running out of the room in pain because of his injury on his arm with a knife. “I just didn’t want him to hurt you.”
I hugged her, trying to untangle the hair that was stuck on her face.
“Did Skylar teach you this?” I asked her gently, knowing that vile woman had been behind so much of what had gone wrong in our lives.
Zoey shook her head, her expression becoming more distant.
“No, it wasn’t Skylar. I… I don’t know where it came from, but I hear voices. I think someone… or something else is teaching me.”
I froze. Voices? This was worse than I’d imagined. I knew the dangers of untrained magic, especially for someone so young. If she was hearing voices and the ability to tap into a power she could barely fathom, she could be in a lot of trouble much more than I’ve seen her be.
I felt my throat contracted as I tried to speak calmly and not offend her further.
“Zoey, who is talking to you? Who’s teaching you?”
“It’s a voice in my head, like a murmur, or it looks like a dream at times. I just… I know how to do things now. And… I feel stronger.” she scowled.
I could barely process what she was saying. I had to get her out of here. Whatever was happening, Zoey needed help-more than I could give her here in this dark, dangerous cave with Andrew nearby. I had to get her back to Aiden, to our pack, to safety. I took a deep breath, held her shoulders, and looked into her eyes, trying to keep my voice calm even though panic was swirling inside me.
“Zoey, honey, listen to me. We need to leave. Now.”
She nodded, understanding more than her age should allow.
“I can help,” she whispered. “I can open a portal. I did it before, remember?”
Relief washed over me as I remembered that day. It was fleeting, but if she could do it again, it would be our way out of here.
“Yes, Zoey, yes! You’re strong enough to open a portal for us?”
“I can try,” she said, her voice carrying a heavy weight.
I could see fear in her eyes, the responsibility of such authority, and even more what she had just done to Andrew.
I shook my head and approached her; I bent down to the level so we were eye to eye.
“Zoey, I trust you. You’re so strong. You can do this.”
I saw her slightly open her mouth and mutter something in an unknown language. The change in the air was palpable, and a chill crept from my bones but there was something different about it too. I saw my arm’s hair prickled up.
Then, like the heat waves that come off a roadway in summer, the air before us grew ethereal. This time, a brilliant, vaguely circular glow was momentarily cast before it seemed to turn into a swirling mass of bright energy. I breathed in sharply, looking into the disk of light that was emerging in front of us a portal. It was our way out.
Zoey blinked and gasped for breath after having surely sweated through her entire outfit. “It’s open, Mama. Go.”
My knees went weak, and I extended my hand to engulf her.
“Let’s go home, baby.”
As if on cue, and at the exact moment when we prepared to pass through the portal the door to the room swung open on its hinges. My heart stopped for a second and I swallowed just seeing Andrew approaching us with such venom in his eyes.
“NO!” he roared loudly, causing the cave to reverberate.
Before I could do something I didn’t fully understand, he pulled Zoey by the arm and dragged her back from the portal. This forced her to shift focus, and the spinning circle started to wobble.
“Let her go!” I screamed at the top of my voice and hurried towards him, but it was all in vain.
“No… no, no, no!” I cried, trembling with annoyance and anxiety at the same time. I turned to face Andrew, fury boiling inside me. “You bastard! She’s just a pup!”
Andrew’s grip on Zoey tightened as he glared at me, his face twisted with rage.
“She’s my daughter, not yours,” he spat, dragging her away from me. “You think you can take her from me? Do you think you can keep her safe from me? She’s mine, Shenaya!”
Zoey screamed to be set free, but Andrew had a tight grip on her arm. I rushed towards them with the aim of taking my daughter and running away, but before I could get close to them, I got attacked, and I went flying off my feet across the room.
The pain was intense and spread through my entire body, and I struggled to catch my breath as I reached out and slid back on the wall. I felt a soreness in my head and belly as I tried to get up, struggling to my feet, but my vision became blurry.
Andrew’s magic… he had hit me with some kind of spell. He was more powerful than I thought.
But then, something unexpected happened. When Andrew takes Zoey and hugs her, his arm, where the knife pierced him earlier, starts bleeding again, yet there is no sign that he is healing. His eyes dropped down to the gaping wound in his side, and anger turned into sheer terror on his face.
“What… what is this?” he said, disoriented and looking at the blood coming out from the wound on his arm. “Why isn’t it healing?”
Zoey looked at him menacingly, her expression hard while she was still held by him.
“I did that,” she said softly with the calmness of determination. “You are not healing because I don’t want you to.”
I cringed as I watched Andrew’s face screw up into a foul expression.
“What… what have you done?”
“You are not a match for me,” Zoey said coldly, her hands giving her words justice to solid, hard, unyielding. “And you will never be able to harm my family anymore.”
I stood fixed in my spot in fear, and slight pride welled hard at the pit of my stomach. Zoey had something far beyond her age in her. She was not a child this time-she was even more, she was crucial. Yet, I stood there watching her gather strength, and despite the desire, I never forgot the fact that we were not safe yet. Andrew was dangerous, and we had to leave this place.
I crawled toward them, struggling to stand.
“Zoey,” I called out, my voice trembling. “You have to finish the portal. We need to leave.”
Zoey hesitated, her eyes darting between me and Andrew. “I… I don’t know if I can. He’s still here.”
“You can do it, baby,” I whispered, my heart pounding. “I believe in you. We need to go home.”
With a deep breath, Zoey closed her eyes again, and the air around us began to shift once more.
Andrew tried to grab her arm, but this time, Zoey saw it coming. She extended her hand, and a trail of power ran through her fingers toward Andrew, sending him flying off the ground. He stumbled and fell flat on the ground, massaging his head due to the pain.
A blue and orange energy finally dissipated, and the portal started to spin in front of us. Zoey stared at me defiantly. “Go, Mama. I’ll follow.”
I thought it over, but I did not want to lose her, and I came to the realization that I had to trust her. I moved into it, taking one last glance at Andrew, who seemed to be having a hard time standing up.
The next thing I knew, I was a part of Aiden’s warriors standing inside his boardroom with some of the best of warriors. The look of surprise on everybody’s face was the same as mine.
But all that entered my mind was Zoey.
Where was she?