Mistral's feathers bristled and he let out an ear-piercing shriek. "Weareunique. Humans should never be like us—except now, there's a human running around with the ability to shift! He's going to breed and spread it around like a disease!"
That statement took me off guard. What did he mean by that?
Animus grimaced, turning his face away.
"Aren't you even going to apologize?" Mistral demanded.
"No. I have nothing to apologize for. If Christopher wanted to be a shifter so badly, then so be it. I brought his wish to life."
"Even if he didn't love you? Even if he was just using you?"
"Yes," Animus said quietly.
My mind was overwhelmed with this new information. Animus turned Christopher into a shifter? I didn't know that was possible, but with his original magic, I supposed it could've been done.
But the way Mistral berated him implied that mortal shifters didn't exist at all before Animus made his "mistake."
Did Animus… create shifters?
Mistral ground out a furious sound. He roughly shoved Animus, who stumbled on the invisible floor of the void.
"Fine, then," Mistral said. "If you don't regret your crime, then so be it."
Animus sat up with a worried frown. "What do you mean?"
Mistral flexed his talons. "You've left us with no choice. You clearly can't be trusted with such a deep reservoir of magic… We'll have to confiscate it from you."
Animus blinked, then let out a thin, hesitant laugh. "You're not serious."
But the three spirits looming over him were not laughing. Their eyes glittered with rage and contempt. Their anger weighed on Animus like a physical force, one he struggled to fight against.
Animus began to tremble. "Mistral, please."
"Don't beg me for anything. I'm not the only one who feels this way," Mistral asserted.
Terranus curled his cracked mouth into a snarl. Waves of indignation seemed to radiate from his cold green eyes. Beside him, Nautilus frowned deeply. The displeasure was clear on his face.
The water spirit shook his head. "You've proven that you cannot be trusted with the power you possess. Mistral's solution is the correct one."
I felt Animus's despair just as deeply as my own. I didn't want to see this happen to him, but I had no choice—this was the memory he chose to share with me. It was the truth. I had to be brave.
"No... No, you can't!" Animus cried. Panicked, his throat tightened and his heart beat faster. Horror dawned on him when he realized the other spirits meant to steal his magic. My soul ached for my mate. I wished I could've stopped this, but it had been thousands of years before I was even born. There was nothing I could do but watch.
"Hopefully the shifting magic will die out with this single mortal," Mistral said, clenching his talons. "But if not... at least we can ensureyoucan't do something like this again."
Wind swirled visibly around Mistral's fists. A whirlpool of chaotic water spun beneath Nautilus. The invisible floor underneath Terranus's feet rumbled like an earthquake about to break.
A defensive ring of flame roared around Animus. The licking flames reminded me of his fiery wings.
A sudden realization came to me.
Wind, water, earth... The other three spirits represented those elements. But there was one element missing.
It was Animus—he was the fire spirit.
How did I fail to notice before? The flaming wings should've been a giveaway, but I could've taken note of the charred appearance of his dark claws, or the warmth of his touch, or the delicious smoky campfire smell emanating from his neck...
Not only was my fated mate the incarnation of fire itself, but he was also the reason shifters existed. He was the reason my whole family was alive. WhyIwas alive.