The Succubae Seduction Bk. 02: The Twins Ch. 12

"Lost?" The man's voice cracked as he took that in. "I don't think so!" He reached behind him and pulled out an automatic machine gun.

Shelly leapt into action before thinking. She formed into a large shield, her metal surface rounded and gleaming in the firelight and smoke. The wind caught her before anyone else could, and she found herself tumbling through the air and over the edge. An updraft grabbed a hold of her, and she flipped through the air, rising higher. She didn't have time to think. If she stayed in this form, she should survive falling, as long as she wasn't dashed too hard against anything solid.

Then it hit her. She'd changed into something other than that sword! She didn't know why she could change into her other forms again, but she wasn't going to complain either! Well, she wouldn't complain if she survived this mistake.

A sudden down draft hurtled her to the ground, and her elation changed to one of fear. She was going too fast. Even if she were made of titanium, an impact at this speed would bend her up, if not destroy her. What irony that she would get her ability back right before she was dashed against the ground.

She caught glimpses of the ground as everything spun around her. The wind grew worse, almost as if it had a mind of its own, shoving her harder towards her impending doom.

She heard a scream from above. Had that been Jessica? Was she worried about her? She feared that Jessica wouldn't forgive her for that kiss, but it hadn't been her fault! Maybe it would be better to dash against the paved ground below. She saw what looked like a parking lot rushing to meet her.

She closed off her senses. It would be better not to see it coming. She waited for the impact, half expecting to see Shemhazau appear before her. Hadn't he told her they could speak when she was near death?

She thought of her dad next. He'd never know that his father still lived. Shemhazau would truly die with her.

That ground is taking forever to get here, she thought. She didn't really want to die, but she didn't enjoy waiting either.

Slowly, she opened her sense of sight and noticed she was no longer hurtling towards the ground. In fact, she was rising back up to the roof. Something had her in its claws. Had Sheldon shape shifted to rescue her? She didn't see that golden glow around her rescuer, but maybe it didn't translate into his other forms? She couldn't make out much through the smoke, so she couldn't figure out what form he was in. Something with wings and claws, but that was all she could tell for certain.

As soon as she was dumped on the roof, she changed back to her normal form before the wind could carry her away again.

"I thought I'd lost you!" Jessica caught her up in a powerful embrace. Apparently she'd been forgiven for that kiss.

"Not your brightest move, Sis, but I'm glad you're okay," Sheldon added next.

"Thanks for catching me," Shelly said past her girlfriend's shoulder.

"Um... I didn't," he gave her a confused look.

If he hadn't saved her, then who had? She focused on the others around her, and then remembered her reason for changing in the first place.

Mihale Maztaim was laying on the ground, with, of all things, a large blue dragon towering over him. Something thudded the ground behind her. She turned in Jessica's arms to see a smaller dragon with prominent human breasts and brown scales step up to her. The new dragon shimmered and formed into the shape of a mostly human woman, except for her clawed feet, scales acting as skimpy clothes, and long curved horns protruding from her head.

"It's been awhile, Sister," the newcomer said. "Might I suggest you don't do any more flying leaps when we're trying to create a windstorm?"

"I didn't know you'd be part of this operation," Sheldon stepped up and embraced their half-sister.

"Are the rest of you here?" Shelly asked. She wanted to embrace her sister also, but Jessica didn't show any signs of letting go.

"My brothers and sisters are about, helping the humans clean up what's left of the Knights. Mom saw that one pull a gun on you guys, and decided to step in. Hope you didn't mind."

"Who is that?" Jessica whispered into her ear.

Shelly couldn't help but chuckle. In the last few minutes, she'd been on the craziest of emotional roller coasters, and it didn't seem like it was going to stop anytime soon.

"This is my half-sister, Mei. Mei, this is my girlfriend, Jessica." She made the introductions.

"Nice to meet you," Mei held out one talon tipped hand. "I always suspected Shelly had a bit of dyke in her!" Mei's golden eyes grew large as she realized what she'd just said. Shelly's cheeks burned as she turned and glared at Mandy. She knew it wasn't the woman's fault, but then again, it was. Why was she even here? Sure, she could fight, but—

"I wish you'd quit thinking about her," Jessica told her. "It's enough to make me jealous!"

Shelly did pull away then as she looked at her girlfriend. "How did you know I was thinking about Mandy?"

"I can read most minds," she replied, then covered her mouth, her shock and horror growing in her eyes.

Shelly tried to keep her anger in check, but she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. After all the crap Jessica had given Gloria about invading privacy and reading minds, to find out that she could do it pissed her off. All this time, she'd thought she was safe in her own mind, but all her thoughts were open to the woman that professed to care about her.

"No, it's not like that!" Jessica tried to protest. "I hadn't wanted your brother to know, either. You weren't supposed to find out!"

"My brother knew?" she demanded and spun to face him. She could feel herself losing control, but she couldn't stop it. Too many emotions cramped into a short period of time. "Why didn't you tell me, Sheldon?"

"I thought you knew!" he protested, holding up his hands to ward off her ire. "I didn't know she was keeping it a secret from you."

She knew he was telling the truth—had to be telling the truth! Despite that, she still felt betrayed. Looking around, she realized that Gloria had to have known as well. She'd stated that she couldn't read Jessica's mind, but she could have read Sheldon's, and known.

She saw pity in the eyes that looked back at her, except for Jessica's. "This isn't what I wanted," she tried to tell Shelly. "I don't understand why I'm saying all this, but I didn't want things to happen this way."

Shelly wanted to ask what it was she wanted to have happen, but her heart cried out for a different question.

"Was it all a lie? Did you ever really care about me?" She had to know. Then she remembered something Jessica had told her before. "Or were you just using me to get back with my brother? Was everything a ruse to get back with him? You told me you still cared about him. Why don't you tell me what you really feel now?"

"No, no! It's not like that. I... I—"

"Go on! If it's true, you can say it," she taunted, unable to keep a sneer off her lips or out of her tone.

"Now may not be the right time for this," Mandy tried to interject. "I know how things can get blown out of proportion whenever I'm around. Maybe we should—"

"Shut up, Mandy!" Shelly cut her off. She knew the woman was trying to help, but she didn't care. Why? Why couldn't she have told me? I wouldn't have cared. I'm used to dealing with people who can read minds. Why did she have to keep such a big secret? "Tell me," she added out loud, knowing Jessica had heard her thoughts.

"I do care about you," Jessica cried as tears poured from her eyes. Shelly ignored them. "I want to be with you. I—I—"

"You what?" Shelly demanded, stepping up to look her soon to be ex-girlfriend in the eye. "You cared enough not to be honest with me? You told me so much about your past, but I guess you let that one little thing slip, huh? I didn't keep secrets from you, but I guess you already knew that, from reading all my thoughts!" She knew she was being cruel, but her heart hurt. It was too much. Her chest felt like it was going to explode, while at the same time it felt empty and hollow. "What other secrets are you keeping from me?"

Jessica whispered something that was too quiet for her to hear with the wind.

"What? Speak up! I can't wait to hear what else you've kept from the woman that has bent over backwards to defend you. I cared for you! I thought I might even love you, but—"

Jessica repeated herself, and it took a few seconds for the words to sink in. When they did, Shelly wanted to scream and throw herself off the building again, this time on purpose.

"Angela, the Pillar of Fire, is my mother." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Jessica turned and ran for the edge of the building. No one tried to stop her as she leapt from the edge.

The pity in the eyes around her turned to shock, but Shelly didn't care. All emotion was burned out of her. She had nothing left in her to feel. She was empty, but tears still found their way out of her eyes and down her cheeks.