Cyprus
The door creaked as Isaac pushed it open. He put a hand on my shoulder, guiding me forward. I felt like I was in a dream. I felt like I was floating. Being drawn by some unseen force that had taken over my ability to regulate my own actions.
I found myself inside another ornate hallway. Thick, wooden panels and more plants sprouting from every corner. I swallowed hard. There was a big room at the end of the hall. My mind raced as we closed in on it.
Would Evelyn O'Connor be in there? The crazy bird-girl who had jumped off a building? The most famous shifter on the planet? The idea twisted my insides into an anxious knot. Maybe I was being paranoid, maybe I was letting my imagination get away from me, but... I had heard some pretty crazy stories about her. That she was ten times stronger than the average shifter. That her animal form was wild and unpredictable. That she had once completely lost control and mauled one of her former classmates
All that couldn't be true, could it? Surely the stories had been exaggerated. If Evelyn O'Connor was that unstable, she wouldn't have become the spokesperson for her entire species. Right? I mean, that would be plain crazy. No one in their right mind would—
"You are so dead!"
My footsteps faltered. My heart hit the roof of my mouth. I glanced nervously at Isaac, but he seemed completely undisturbed by the outburst. "There's no need be so nervous, Cyprus."
"I'll kill you! I'm gonna bash your head in with a sledge hammer covered in spikes and sulfuric acid! I'm gonna skin you alive! And then I'm gonna string you up by your ankles and cover you with a million angry fire ants!"
No need to be nervous, huh? Right. Sure.
We reached the end of the hall and emerged into a huge, rectangular space that was a bizarre mixture of conference room and tropical rain forest. Big windows thrown wide open. Greenery dripping from every surface. Three out of four walls were completely obscured by plants. The fourth held a gigantic screen, which currently displayed a map of the world.
I barely had a second to absorb all this before a teenage boy came charging into the room, a wide, mischievous grin plastered across his face. He was followed by a young woman, her eyes wild and a mane of curls flying out behind her.
"Get back here, you jerk! Get back here RIGHT NOW, so I can tear off your head and use it as a soccer ball!"
"You'll have to catch me first!"
"Oh, I'll catch you! And then I'll rip out your intestines and strangle you with them!"
The boy neatly dodged the big table and leapt over a discarded chair, laughing. "So violent, Eve."
The crazy girl snarled and launched herself across the room, tackling the boy in mid-stride. They tumbled to the ground, a mess of flailing arms and legs. They wrestled on the floor, trying to pin each other down, their muscles rippling with inhuman strength.
I felt my mouth drop open in shock.
"Ahem."
They both froze at the exact same moment. The girl was on top, the boy underneath, holding her suspended in the air. Their arms and legs were entangled. They resembled acrobats, caught in the middle of performing some kind of elaborate stunt.
"Good afternoon, Evelyn," Isaac said calmly. "Reza."
The girl looked up. Her gaze locked first on me, then on Isaac. "Oh, umm... hey. Hey Isaac."
"Having fun, are we?"
To my surprise, a blush slowly crept onto the girls face. She quickly detangled herself and stood up. She looked like she had just rolled out of bed. She was dressed in shorts and a tank top. Her thick, curly hair—dark brown with streaks of dazzling blond—stood up in a wild, frizzy mane around her head.
A lump formed in my throat. Okay, so she looked nothing like the like the glamorous creature I was used to seeing on TV, yet there was not a single doubt in my mind who this girl was.
Evelyn O'Connor pawed self-consciously at her hair while the boy sprang up next to her, grinning impishly.
"Afternoon, Isaac. Who's the new girl?"
All eyes were suddenly focused on me. The lump in my throat seemed to double in size. I was suddenly hideously aware of my own physical appearance. I mean, here I was standing in front of Evelyn O'Connor—the Evelyn O'Connor—wet, barefoot and dressed in nothing but my underclothes and a soaked hospital gown.
"This is Cyprus," Isaac said. "And, Cyprus, may I introduce Reza and Evelyn."
There was a short pause. The boy, Reza, smiled and waved, while Evelyn continued struggling in vain to flatten her hair. I realized my mouth was still hanging open and promptly snapped it shut.
Evelyn was the first one to move. With the effortless grace typical of every shifter, she glided around the table and approached me. Isaac still had one hand on my shoulder, otherwise I might have bolted from the room.
"Hi there!" Evelyn said, grinning. She extended her hand, smooth and slender, with liquid strength rippling underneath. "Good to meet you. But, call me Eve. Isaac is the only one who calls me Evelyn. Well, him and the media. I swear, they don't listen to a single word I say."
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I ordered my arm to move, to accept the offered hand, but it seemed glued to my side.
"It's okay, I don't bite," Eve said. "Unless of course you're a terrorist or a drug-dealer or something. You're not a drug-dealer, are you?"
"N-no," I squeaked. My brain was so addled I didn't even pick up on the fact that she was joking.
"There, see? So we're fine, then." She looked me up and down, apparently unfazed by my lame attempts at conversation. "Jeez, Isaac, what did you do to the poor girl? Why is she in a hospital gown?"
"We had a bit of a situation."
"What kind of situation? Did you fly her all the way here like that?"
"There was a time constraint," Isaac said calmly.
"Yeah, but still. She looks half frozen, Isaac. I mean, seriously."
I was shivering pretty hard, but not because I was cold. I was shaking with adrenaline, left over from my flight through the rain on the back of a freaking dragon. I was shaking because Evelyn O'Connor was standing here and talking to me like it was the most normal thing in the world. Like she was just a regular person and not some insanely famous celebrity.
As if to reinforce how surreal the situation was, Eve then proceeded to throw her arm casually around my shoulders. "Well, no reason we can't fix the situation now. Come on with me, Cyprus. I'm sure we can find some clothes in your size."
"Evelyn, we have more pressing matters to-"
"Isaac, she's in a soaking wet hospital gown."
"I'm not sure you understand how serious the situation-"
"She's in a soaking wet hospital gown, Isaac."
Isaac was quiet. His eerie silver eyes flickered between me and Eve.
"All right, make it quick. Julian took the liberty of picking up her things. He left them in the living room for her."
"Got it," Eve said.
"Deanna and I will gather the rest of the team. We've also arranged an informal hearing with the chief of police."
"A what?" I blurted.
But Eve was already guiding me away. "Jeez, what's the big deal? She's only a first time shifter, right? How serious could it possibly be?"