I crane my neck around trying to see as well but the angle makes it impossible. "What? What is it?" I ask with worry. She ignores my questions and keeps her eyes locked on my shoulder. She reaches out and gently touches my shoulder, nearly causing me to scream!

"It's covered in demonic energy..." She says just above a whisper. Confusion and shock flow through me at the same time as I instantly think back to Kian. I quickly pull my dress back up as I say "Don't tell anyone about this, especially Kian."

She blinks at me in surprise before saying "Kian? Hmmm, I guess that name does fit him. Are you afraid this is the reason he becomes a demon?" I struggle to breathe through the pain but luckily the pain is starting to fade.

I look at her as I stand back up and say "Isn't that obvious? If I have any say in this, he won't know about this and I'll return to my time. He's entirely too nice for his own good." I say walking over to a chair. I need to sit for a minute.

Queen Cara gives me a knowing smirk as she says "He's only that nice to you and I promise not to say anything but that doesn't mean he won't find out. How do you plan to hide this from him when he's always watching you and around you?"

I give her a look before saying "I'll hide it until I go back." She shakes her head and says "Fine but what do you plan to do once you go back?" I shrug and say "I'll bare my punishment. It's mine and mine alone."

Queen Cara sighs and says "I've said it before and I'll say it again. What has already happened will happen again. It's just the way these things work." She sits on the chair next to me and starts tapping her chin again. No doubt thinking about things again.

As she drifts away in her own thoughts, I lean my head back and wait for the pain to stop. I broke the rules once before by coming back in time, I can do it again. I don't like the idea of anyone bearing my punishments.

I will admit it though... I'm emotionally r.e.t.a.r.ded and for good reasons but I'm starting to see the problems it creates. If I had dealt with my mother's... death... better, I wouldn't have made this mistake.

But... I slowly turn my head to the side to see that Queen Cara was still deep in thought. If I hadn't done this, I wouldn't have met her and my s.h.i.+fter side may have never had the chance to really come out.

She's even going to teach me how to wield my powers... was this supposed to happen in some weird twisted fate? Do I even believe in fate? She suddenly blinks and turns to catch me staring at her.

"You're back?" I ask, not bothering to look away. My pain was finally gone and it felt good to just relax. She gives me a devious smile as she says "Oh yes, I'm back. Let's get to work." She quickly stands and walks to the center of the room, ordering the guards to move the canvas.

What does she think about when she slips away like that? She's so odd but I really have no room to talk, I'm just as weird. Maybe it's a Hallows thing... I stand up and test my shoulder but when I don't feel any more pain, I relax and follow her to the middle of the room.

"Okay, I want you to stand here and when I tell you to, I want you to close your eyes and focus on your magic." She says pointing down at a random spot on the floor. I move over to the spot and come to a stop as I watch her walk a few feet away.

She stops and turns to look at me so that we're face to face. "Before we start, I want you to know that I'm here so you don't have to hold back. I will contain your magic so that it doesn't spin out of control, okay?"

Feeling a little better about it, I give her a small nod as she says "Okay, close your eyes and focus on your magic. Call it forward and let it build within you but don't unleash it, not yet anyway." I do as she says and focus on my magic.

It instantly rushes to me, eager to answer my call, and this time it carries a familiar essence of my s.h.i.+fter. I smile at the feeling and begin to build it up within but just as she said, I don't let it escape. When I begin to feel the strain, I start to frown but before I can say anything, she says "Now, while holding your power, I want you to open your eyes and look at me."

I slowly open my eyes and quickly realize something's wrong. Everything's moving like it's underwater!! Even our clothes and hair are floating around! My eyes grow large as I look around in shock but she quickly says "Don't panic and don't lose focus. You're capable of this and so much more but you always think it's impossible. Your imagination is your limit."

"Now I need you to look at me in the eyes." She says with a straight face. I force myself to look away from the floating objects and look at her in the eyes. Her bright blue eyes suddenly start glowing, making it impossible to look away from as she says "This will only hurt a little..."

I slightly frown at her words as I'm suddenly hit with power so strong, I instantly pa.s.s out!