by Petra Landon
“We should’ve killed her last night like I told you, Mick.”
“No, dammit! We don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention. After Hal’s colossal stupidity in getting himself killed, we don’t want any more unexplained deaths on our hands. Trust me, this is not a client I want to explain any of this to. Better to make it look like the other ones we did.”
“Except this witch managed to get herself killed during a mugging gone bad.”
“Now you’re getting the idea!”
Tasia stored the conversation away for later. There was something in there, some bit, that her instincts screamed might be very important. For now, she knew just what she needed to do – create an illusion that would allow her to hide in plain sight. An extension of the brick wall to hide her where she half lay against it would do the trick. She focused her magic, bolstered by the drops of blood from her cuts, to carefully erect a wall before her, brick by brick. It had to be good enough to withstand scrutiny at close quarters. When it was finished, Tasia looked at it critically to add a few more smudges of dirt. It would have to do, she decided. It was a good illusion but still an illusion. If one of the Shifters were to touch the wall, they would go through and find her instead. She forced herself to allow the mist to drain away slowly as the Shifters emerged into the night air. Tasia focused on keeping herself absolutely still as she tried to quiet her pounding heart.
“Where is she? Where’d she go?”
“It’s the damn mist. I can’t see anything.”
The Shifter lifted his face towards the sky, his nostrils flared.
“I can still smell her. Go look in the dumpsters and I’ll check behind the cars. “
The Shifters mounted a thorough search for Tasia for the next five minutes while she concentrated on maintaining the illusion. She silently thanked the Divine for the few drops of her spilt blood that allowed her spell its potency and lasting effect.
“She’s not here, Mick” concluded one of the Shifters eventually.
So, the leaner and shorter Shifter is called Mick.
“Yeah, she’s a crafty one. She managed to sneak away.”
“What do we do now?”
“Time to withdraw” Mick said decisively. “We know where she lives. We’ll get her next time.”
“What if she reports this to the Wizard Registry, Mick?”
“What if she does? Some administrative assistant will make a report and nothing will come of it. No one was harmed here, were they?”
“No” the hairy Shifter agreed.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Tasia watched the men hastily head back the way they’d come as she struggled to hold onto the illusion for a few minutes more, just to be sure. Eventually, she leant against the wall in exhaustion, as the illusion she’d built up so carefully crumbled around her. This kind of magic, as she well knew, was as powerful as it was draining. It would be better to get back to her studio before the magic took its toll on her. She attempted to stand up, checking to make sure that all extremities were in working order. It was a miracle that nothing was broken. Her right shoulder hurt like the devil and her left arm and palm were scraped pretty badly. Apart from some colorful bruises as they healed, she’d managed to escape relatively unscathed. This time, she reminded herself grimly. She might not be this lucky next time. And yet, how was she to avoid a next time, she mused shakily. This was no random mugging attempt. These men had been lying in wait for her and she had the uneasy feeling that they were unlikely to give up that easily. She limped slowly out of the alley into the relative safety of the building that housed her studio, making sure to keep her magic sense alert for the two Shifters. For the second time that night, Tasia sensed a Chosen as she approached her apartment.
God, this is turning out to be one long very very bad day in three months of some spectacularly bad days!
A man leant casually by the door to her apartment.
“You keep late hours, Tasia Armstrong” he called out.
Tasia stopped to stare warily at him in the dim light of the hallway. A couple of years older than her – mid-twenties, she estimated. He had a deep bronze tint to his skin and a very attractive face with a cleft in his chin and wavy dark hair worn just a tad bit long. He was dressed casually in black pants and a fitted dark turtleneck that accentuated his tall lean body. And he looked like he took very good care of himself. She noted the muscles of his upper arms flex as he slowly straightened away from the door. The bluish-green eyes from last night’s wolf and hawk stared back at her from his face.
“Wolf-man” she whispered under her breath.
“At your service.”
“You weren’t here when I woke up this morning” she said mildly but with an underlying hint of admonishment.
“I apologize for that. I … what happened to you? Who did this to you?”
In a flash, the attractive young man standing indolently by the door was transformed into a dangerous predator. More of her fathers’ wise words on Shifters reverberated in Tasia’s head as she studied the young man.
Shifters tend to be volatile and aggressive. They inherit certain abilities from their beasts - super human strength and agility, the ability to smell emotions, acute hearing and the cunning of a predator when hunting down its prey. These qualities combined with the near impossibility of killing one or even seriously hurting one make them very dangerous. No matter how much control a Shifter has over his beast, it stays just under his skin ready to erupt at the slightest provocation.
She limped forward to place her key into the lock, all the while very aware of her companion’s seething emotions.
“You’d better come in” she invited. “This is a discussion better conducted in private.”
He stalked in after her to shut the door with a decisive snap.
“Did those Shifters from last night come after you?” he demanded without preamble.
Tasia nodded tiredly as she trudged towards the sink in her tiny kitchenette.
He watched her broodingly with seemingly gritted teeth for a few minutes before pulling himself together with a little effort. Taking a deep calming breath, he strode towards her.
“Here, let me help you with that. Do you have a first aid kit somewhere?”
Tasia pointed him towards the bathroom, watching him transform yet again to solicitous acquaintance from dangerous predator. She washed the dirt and blood off her arms and hands in the sink before examining them. She could feel an ugly bruise on one shoulder and she noted a couple of nasty cuts on the left arm and scratches on both her palms – one of which still held a tiny drop of clotted blood. Tasia pondered grimly whether to just leave that tiny droplet of blood in her palm instead of washing it down the sink. The way her evening was shaping up, a few drops of her blood might actually come handy to protect herself. Her locket still hung around her neck. When the Shifters had emerged from the misty cloud she’d engulfed them with, she’d had half a mind to break her locket open to use the stored blood. But the cut on her hand had been too fortuitous to pass up.
The wolf-man emerged from the bathroom with her inadequate first aid supplies and proceeded to dress her cuts efficiently, in a manner that indicated a lot of practice with dressing various cuts and minor bruises.
“How does a Shifter whose body has the capacity to heal from practically any injury be so good with first aid?” she asked curiously, aiming for a light tone.
He looked up from cleaning her palms with disinfecting wipes to give her a singularly attractive grin.
“I’ve plenty of human relatives and some of the younger ones have quite a self-destructive streak on them.”
It sounded like he was fond of his human cousins and enjoyed spending time with them. That indicated phenomenal control of his beast. Most Shifters tended to keep their interaction with humans to a minimum. To them, humans were fragile. A little push could send them flying or hurt them badly. Their bodies didn’t heal like that of a Shifter. You had to be on g
uard all the time because even a careless move from you could kill them or worse. And worst of all, forming any kind of relationship with one was always doomed - humans were mortal while Shifters could potentially live forever. If only her father was around to appreciate how many of his words of wisdom she could recall with perfect clarity, Tasia mused with grim wistfulness.
The Shifter finished up with some salve on her badly scraped palms.
“Keep this clean, use the salve every six hours and you should be fine. The shoulder is going to be stiff and hurt like hell before it gets better though” he warned.
“Yeah well, it hurts pretty bad already but thanks.”
She watched him as he cleaned up neatly after himself.
“Why’d you do the Cinderella act this morning?” she asked curiously.
“Nah, Cinderella’s not my thing. I’m more like the Prince Charming guy.”
He flashed her another one of his attractive grins before sobering up.
“I had to leave early this morning for very practical reasons. I couldn’t talk in my beast form and didn’t want to transform as I didn’t have any clothes on me. So, I flew home at dawn before anyone in the city was awake enough to look up and observe a big hawk over the city sky. The plan was to come back tonight and thank you in person.”
His expression hardened imperceptibly as he recalled her limping towards him in the hallway while he waited outside her apartment.
“I didn’t take into account that those bastards would get to you before I did.”
Tasia shook her head. There was a lot to process from tonight’s frightening encounter but there was one thing that she was absolutely sure of.
“You’ve nothing to blame yourself for. They didn’t come after me because I helped you. I doubt they even suspect me for last night. They came after me because they hired me to cleanse the fight that you had in the warehouse.” She paused. “I think they wanted to finish off the only person who knows about the warehouse.”
“They hired you to Mfector the warehouse” he exclaimed in surprise.
Tasia noted that he didn’t evince much surprise at the revelation of her being a wizard. So, he’d done some digging on her, had he!
“I’m on the Registry list of Mfectors. They probably picked my name off it.”
“That explains a few things. I’ve been wondering all day how you knew that I was in there.”
“I overheard the two Shifters talking outside while I was Mfectoring the warehouse” she explained lightly. She’d had time to think that one up.
At her words, he directed a sudden and thoughtful glance at her.
“I lay awake most of the night thinking of what I’d overheard” Tasia continued. “Eventually I had to make sure that no one lay dying in that house.”
“Well, I wasn’t anywhere close to dying although the situation was definitely a little, shall we say, difficult. I owe you, Tasia Armstrong. Thank you for helping me.”
“You’re welcome, wolf-man. I’m glad that you’re safe.”
“Hawk Manotti. Though wolf-man will do in a pinch” he grinned.
“Hawk” Tasia acknowledged. She, of course, knew exactly how he got his name!
“I’m also here with an invitation for you, Tasia. The Alpha Protector would like to meet you.”
Damn, damn, damn. The Alpha Protector of the local Shifter Pack. What does he want with me? So much for keeping a low profile!
“When would he like to meet me?” she asked him, playing for time.
“Tomorrow night?”
“I work late.”
“I can pick you up when you’re done and take you to meet him. I don’t think we can afford to wait now that those Shifters know where you live, Tasia.”
Tasia pondered wildly for an excuse as Hawk awaited her response to the invitation expectantly. For a lowly wizard of rather weak magic, an invitation to meet any Alpha Protector or even a Were-Alpha was unheard of. One to meet the Alpha Protector of the Northern California Pack was almost impossible to come by. Not only was the Pack one of the largest in the country but the Alpha Protector was known to be antisocial outside Pack and Shifter circles. Tasia had made it her business to be well informed about the main Chosen players in this city when she had first come to San Francisco. She was very conscious of the honor that the invitation bestowed upon her. It made it tricky to refuse the invitation without offending the Shifters and, more importantly, arousing their suspicions.
“That’s quite an honor” she stated softly.
At her lingering hesitation, Hawk shot her a sober look.
“I can protect you from those two Shifters, Tasia, but the Alpha has nearly five hundred Shifters at his command. One word from him and his Shifters will wreak havoc on your behalf. Trust me, having the Alpha Protector and the Pack backing you up in this town can save you from a world of harm.”
“So the Shifters from Oakland are not your Pack?” she inquired, her astonishment clear. Shifter Packs did not encourage strangers on their turf. They were especially vigilant of other Shifters. And if what she had been told about the Alpha Protector was true, he wasn’t the type to let trespassing like this slide. Tasia had assumed some kind of rivalry between Pack mates but Hawk’s words made that seem unlikely.
“No” Hawk’s response was blunt and brief. It was clear that he wasn’t going to elaborate on his answer.
Tasia sighed silently. Life was getting way more complicated than she’d bargained for or wanted. Though things could be a lot worse! If she was absolutely forced to entangle with any of the Chosen, her best bet was the Shifters. Their magic was too different to detect or suspect hers.
“Thank you, Hawk” she accepted gracefully. “I look forward to it. Now, wolf-man, tell me what you were doing in the warehouse fighting those Shifters.”
“That is a long story” he replied with a grin. “And I will definitely need some sustenance if I’m to tell you the exciting story of my life.”
Tasia laughed as she gestured at Hawk to follow her to the tiny fridge to investigate what leftovers she had on offer for her guest.
Chapter 3
A night with the vampires
Raoul cocked his head, listening intently as he stared down the long corridor. Assorted doors that presumably led to rooms marked both sides of the snaking passageway. The entire floor lay silent and still in the night. In marked contrast to the brawl in progress downstairs! The leeches had never believed in any kind of technology and refused to use electricity in their nesting places. As a result, the only light in the sparsely lit corridor was a thin strain of moonlight. Not that the darkness deterred him - his beast eyes could see perfectly well in the dark. The advantage certainly lay with Hawk and him. He gave his extraordinary senses free rein, probing for any sign that a young witch lay captive behind one of the myriad doors before them. The scent of leech from downstairs was strong – perhaps more had joined their brethren. So strong that the essence of vampire drowned out everything else for his Shifter senses.
He’d been with Duncan when Hawk had burst into the Pack Room with the news that leeches had abducted Tasia Armstrong, the young wizard who’d come to his aid. Hawk had been scheduled to escort her to the Lair tonight. In the meantime, Ian, one of Hawk’s were-pack mates, had been tasked with keeping an unobtrusive eye on her. Hawk had warned Ian to keep an eye out for two Shifters with express orders not to engage. No rogue Shifters had attempted to approach the girl. Instead, to Ian’s complete surprise, a bunch of leeches had turned up at the restaurant she worked at to abduct the girl. The young Shifter had kept his cool to follow the leeches to their nest before reporting it to Hawk.
Even without Hawk’s distraught expression to encourage him, Raoul had not hesitated. He’d put together a small contingent of Shifters from those already at the Lair to head out to the leech nest. Shifters could be an unsavory lot but they always paid their debts. They also prized both loyalty and courage very highly. In his opinion, the affair of the female wizard coming
to Hawk’s aid had elements of both. Backstabbing and malicious games were better left to the leeches. Raoul had not waited to put together a larger raiding party for he was confident that once the leeches saw the Pack come to her aid, they’d let her go without putting up much of a fight. The vampires loved playing elaborate games with each other and the other Chosen but they were never eager for a fight unless left with absolutely no other alternative. They especially made sure to keep their distance from the kind of vicious, down and dirty and to-the-death type of fighting the Shifters loved to engage in.
The leech nest had turned out to be a two-storied house in a nice neighborhood. The leeches loved the good life though they usually couldn’t afford it. Raoul with Hawk in tow had made his way to the second floor of the darkened house while the rest of his Shifters had engaged the dozen or so leeches milling around the first floor.
A high-pitched feminine scream cut through the silence of the night. It was the sign they’d been looking for. Raoul ran full tilt towards the room, covering the distance with inhuman speed to crash through the sturdy locked door. Hawk followed closely behind. As the two Shifters paused amidst the wreckage of the door, a high keening cry filled the room. Moonlight, streaming in through a bay window, fell on the two figures in the room. A slight female form huddled on the bed – her entire posture screamed terror. Shoulder length dark hair covered her face as she cradled her hurt wrist in her other hand. Something viscous and sticky oozed from the injured wrist as she rocked back and forth gently. A leech with his fangs extended and still dripping sluggish blood lay awkwardly on his back on the floor between the girl on the bed and the bay window. He continued to gasp out the soft keening noise that had followed the girl’s scream of terror.
