Dear God. She rushed for her phone, lying on the coffee table. With trembling hands, she grabbed it. But at that moment he started screaming. Over and over. It was so loud she could barely hear herself think.
“They are coming!” His voice was high pitched and frantic. “THEY ARE COMING!”
***
The desert
Old Fairley walked to the end of his property, his rifle in his hand, gazing out into the distance. He had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling. He couldn’t see the evil building from here, but he knew it was there. Lurking like a spider in the centre of its web. Something was happening.
He dropped to his knees, covering his ears frantically. Stop, he implored. Stop!
But it would not stop. The drumbeat was getting louder in his head. He could hear the roar of the crowd and see them gathering. Their grey skin shone luminescent through their human form. The human form was cracking, like an old clay vase. Right down the centre.
He fell to the ground, twisting and writhing. It would not stop. It was happening. Everything that they had been working towards. And his molecules were bound to theirs, now. He could feel and hear everything. Every whisper. Every heartbeat. Every sigh. Magnified in his mind.
They are coming.
He knew it was over. All gone. The world as it was. He could never escape it. Somewhere in his mind he was always running down that dirt road, their headlights stalking him.
No. With a mighty effort, he picked up his gun where it had fallen. The running must stop.
The gunshot filled the desert air. He slumped to the ground.
The run was finally over.
***
The crowd rose to their feet as one as the man stepped out onto the podium just as the final rays of the setting sun melted into the sky. The roar was deafening.
Brother Damon raised his hands into the air, acknowledging the cheers. The black velvet cape, necessary for the occasion, swung around his body as he moved. The crowd hushed and slowly sat down.
He gazed around the stadium slowly, seeming to stare at each person. His black eyes were gleaming with triumph.
“Brothers and sisters,” he boomed. “Welcome to the Glorious Happening. At last, our destiny is upon us. As soon as the stars come out and align as they must, the power that has always been our birthright will be ours.” He took a deep breath. “It is truly glorious, as the sacred text has written.”
There was a cheer from the crowd.
“But before that moment comes,” he continued, “blood must be shed. The sacred text tells us that it is a necessary offering in exchange for the power of the stars.” A small smile played over his face. “And in honour of the occasion, we will be shedding much blood. Rivers of it.”
The crowd cheered again.
“There is also another event happening tonight.” Brother Damon’s eyes strayed to where the Blessed Mothers were standing. “Another glorious event. A First Encounter with the Majesty, who was found wandering the desert just as the sacred text foretold.”
His eyes lingered on Keeley, standing in front of the mothers. For a moment, he was distracted, his eyes roaming over her. Then he forced himself to turn back to the crowd.
“A child shall be conceived tonight,” he boomed. “A child imbued with the power of the stars. It is natural and fitting that it be so. That child will lead the new order.”
The crowd spontaneously rose to their feet again, cheering wildly.
“All this, and then the world shall be ours.” He raised his fist into the air. “And now, the readings from the sacred text, before the first sacrifice of the evening commences.” He paused. “This first sacrifice is special. A wolf shapeshifter. The last member of the pack that has sought our destruction from the beginning of time. The stars demand his blood before the new order cometh.”
The crowd were in a frenzy, screaming out for the shapeshifter.
Brother Damon stood very still until it died down. Then he picked up the book lying next to him and started chanting to the accompaniment of the drumbeat, which picked up its rhythm as if it had never stopped. Slowly, the crowd started chanting with him.
***
They pushed him out to the centre of the ring. In a daze, he could see the twisted faces of the crowd, screaming for his blood. They were leaning over the railings, fists raised in the air. He wouldn’t have been surprised to see them suddenly jump the barrier and rush him, tearing his flesh with their bare hands.
Behind him, the others marked for sacrifice were being pushed into the ring as well. But they were herded to a cordoned-off area to the side. He was alone as he stood before the demon. A guard roughly grabbed his head from behind, forcing it back, so that he had to gaze on him.
Brother Damon. The epitome of evil. He was all in black. A luxurious velvet cape shrouded him. From this angle, Thad gazed up at his long black boots. The demon was dressed to kill.
His eyes flickered to the giant sculpture. He knew that this was their conduit to the stars. Somehow, when the stars aligned, this thing would harness the power. But there was nothing he could do to change that, now. Even if he rushed it, he wouldn’t be able to destroy it. It was too huge, and the compound it was made of looked indestructible. And he was only one man. One shapeshifter against this might.
He took a long, ragged breath. He only had one card to play, and he must do it before the demon touched her. It would be his last act, and he was willing. More than willing. An apt end to the downtrodden leader of a once mighty wolf pack.
He turned his head, searching for her. Keeley.
And there she was, standing apart from everyone, gazing down at him. It was as if a spotlight had etched her figure out against the darkening light.
His heart was filled with wonder as he gazed on her for the last time. She was even more beautiful than the picture he had held in his mind of her these last days. She seemed to glow in the night, as if she were luminous in the swaying white gown she wore. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes drank their fill.
He loved her. Body and soul. The realisation stabbed him like a knife. Keeley. His woman. The only woman for him. But it was too late for them, and perhaps, it always had been. He had always been coming to this moment. He had always been meant to salvage the last remnants of the pride of his pack by killing this demon.
A fitting end.
His eyes filled with tears as he gazed on her for another moment. A whole life that he would never live with her flashed before his eyes. He could have been happy. She would have been his whole world.
His fists clenched by his sides, and he forced his eyes away from her, staring resolutely ahead.
He would not look at her again.
***
Keeley’s heart contracted as she stared down at him. They had pushed him into the ring as if he were an animal, and then forced his head up so that he had to look at Brother Damon. But even from here she could see the defiant glint in his golden eyes.
Her eyes raked over him, as if they were caressing him. Thad. He was dressed in rags and smeared with dirt. She could see tiny stubble dotting his jawline. But his muscles rippled like waves through the rags. He stood in front of the demon like the warrior he was.
And then, he turned his head slowly and gazed straight at her.
She gasped. Those golden eyes seemed to bore straight down into the very depths of her soul. To her innermost being. And they were imploring her, somehow. She read how sorry he was, but there was something else. Something shining like a beacon in the night, just for her.
Love.
She gasped again, almost staggering forward. Yes, it was love. And in that moment, seeing that love shining for her so brightly it was almost blinding, she knew she felt the same.
She loved him. She thought now that she must have always loved him. It had been hovering over her like a fine mist since the moment that she had first laid eyes on him. The quiet, strange man who had slowly but surely touched her heart and claimed it as his own.
He turned away suddenly. His eyes remained glued to the front. He refused to look at her again.
Keeley’s heart started to thud. She knew what he was planning. He was going to sacrifice himself to try to save her. She had read that in his gaze, too. A quiet, almost steely determination. A farewell.
She choked back tears. No, she wouldn’t let it happen. If he was willing to sacrifice himself for her, then she was going to do the same for him.
Her left hand strayed to her right arm, caressing the blade. As soon as Brother Damon gave the command to end his life, she would strike.
***
Brother Damon gazed down at the shapeshifter at his feet. The desire to step down from the podium and put his hands around his neck, feeling it twist until it snapped, almost overwhelmed him. The dirty wolf. The last of his kind. Oh, how he was going to enjoy watching him being ripped to shreds.
His eyes flickered to her, standing like a vision in her ethereal white dress. Like she was the embodiment of a star, placed down on earth. Filled with light. And then he noticed that they were gazing at each other. His fists clenched.
The dirty wolf was lusting after his Majesty. And she was responding. He could almost see it curling upwards into the air like a plume of smoke.
Oh, they were both going to pay for that. The wolf was going to die horribly anyway, but he would make her pay as well. He was going to make her cry out in pain as well as pleasure when the time finally arrived when he could slake this desire that had been building within him like a fist since he had first laid eyes on her. She wasn’t going to forget their first union in a hurry. It was so close now he could almost taste it.
He took a deep breath. The wolf was staring straight ahead now. Resolutely. He almost admired his tenacity. He would not bow down, and he would not submit. The wolf was intending to put up a fight. He smiled slowly. He was going to enjoy this show immensely.
He raised one hand and quickly lowered it.
So be it.
***
The crowd was silent. Waiting. He could almost hear their indrawn breaths of anticipation.
It was slow at first. He almost didn’t notice the demon slithering towards him from the sidelines. The grey leathery skin cracked slightly as it advanced.
And then, there was another. His skin prickled behind his neck. He knew others were coming for him from behind. He could hear their foul breath panting.
It was time.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He pictured the wolf, running free through the mountains. His skin started to stretch, and a slow growl emerged.
You will kill the leader. You must save her. He embedded the thought into his mind. A last message to his animal self. As soon as the wolf took over, his own mind would cease, and the wolf had to know what to do. What its mission was.
His vision started to sharpen. The demons were getting closer by the second. It had to happen now.
In a distant part of his mind he could hear his clothes ripping, and he felt the fur starting to push through his skin. In another second it would all be over. He wanted his last thought—his last conscious thought as a man—to be of her.
Keeley. Her name was like a gentle caress against his twisting body.
He turned his head. The last thing that he saw before the wolf emerged was her running wildly through the ring towards Brother Damon, a knife poised high in her hand.
***
Her lungs were straining, and her legs felt like they were about to buckle beneath her. She had to keep going.
The crowd blurred as she sprinted by. She could see those disgusting grey creatures slithering towards him, and her heart froze with fear. But still she didn’t stop. The knife slipped slightly in her hand, and she gripped it tighter.
An indrawn breath of horror. She could see the crowd standing, straining to watch her desperate flight.
And then, the wolf. One moment he was standing there, as his human self, and the next he was standing up on his hind legs. His golden-brown fur rippled in the breeze, and she could hear the growl of the animal.
For one second, she turned her head, and they gazed into each other’s eyes.
She was almost there. Brother Damon. A huge figure in black.
At the same moment that she jumped onto the podium and saw the black eyes of the demon, the wolf sprang. The knife found its target. She twisted it deeply, watching the flicker of surprise on the demon’s face.
And then everything exploded around her.
She was flying backwards through the air. Shards of the sculpture were whizzing past her. The crowd was screaming. And suddenly she saw more wolves. Snarling and straining. Ripping apart the demons like they were ragdolls.
She landed on her back with a sickening thud, screaming in agony. Her eyelids flickered. In a daze she could see people running in all directions.
She turned her head, searching for him. But she couldn’t find him. He was gone. Her heart lurched, and then her eyes rolled back in her head, and everything went black.
***
Coyote River. A month later
Keeley walked slowly to her car, pressing the central lock. The car beeped, and gingerly she climbed into it. This was the first day without her cane, and she knew it was bound to be slow going. But the doctor had told her that it was time to try to walk on her own again. She had made great progress, he had said. Although he was still worried about her state of mind.
Keeley sighed, putting the key into the ignition. What could she tell him?
“Keeley! Wait!”
Her mother was running towards her with a brown paper bag in her hand. Keeley wound down the window and took the offering. She knew it would contain a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread, and an apple. Mom was so sweet. Making her lunch for her first week back at the Magnet. Her favourite lunch from when she had been a little girl.
“You have to eat,” said her mother, frowning slightly. “And don’t overdo it. If Dean gets too demanding, tell him I am coming into that office to give him a piece of my mind.” Her eyes raked over her daughter. “And if you feel tired, come home. You can work reduced hours.”
Keeley sighed. “Mom, I know. I’ve already come home early twice this week.”
Her mother’s gaze softened. “I’m just worried about you, that’s all. You were so injured. And even though you’ve made remarkable progress, I don’t want you pushing yourself, you hear?”
Keeley nodded slowly. “I promise.”
Her eyes strayed behind her mother to the veranda around the house. He had walked out and was watching her. She still couldn’t believe her eyes. Her father walking around. Talking, although it hadn’t been much. But still. She saw him smile slowly and raise a hand.
Her father was waving goodbye.
Tears sprang into her eyes. She took a deep breath and waved back. Then she slowly reversed the car out of the driveway.
At the intersection to the main street of town, she hesitated. She should turn left, and head straight to the Magnet. But something inside her was resisting it. She knew it would cause her pain, and that it was going to be hard, but she had to do it.
She flicked on her right indicator and headed towards the mountains.
One last time.
***
She took a deep breath as she pulled up to the cabin. A part of her still expected that she would see him here. But not as he had been in Farrow Valley. No, she expected that he would slowly wander up to the car in his old flannel shirt and wild beard, a fishing rod in his hand. Frowning at the intrusion.
She stepped out, her eyes gazing around. The cabin was exactly as it had always been. Except he wasn’t here.
Her heart slivered with fresh pain. What had happened to him?
She walked slowly to the lake, watching the sunlight play on the water. She sat down gently, mindful of her back. It had taken weeks for her to be able to walk again, after what had happened. The doctors had told her it was a miracle that she was on her
feet so quickly.
Her eyes strayed to the water. It had been a long, slow recovery, but she was almost better. In her body, anyway. Her heart and her mind were another matter entirely.
Sometimes she would wake in a blind sweat in the middle of the night. She would be back at that evil place, on the night that it had all happened. Brother Damon was still alive and about to take her. But then she would breathe and remember he was dead. She had killed him with her own hands.
She put a hand in the water, swirling it gently. She had woken up in a hospital bed two days later. And it was only after Evan had visited her and told her gently what had happened that night, that it had all come flooding back.
Evan had come to help, with the other former Wild Keepers. They had found the building and lay in wait. The one called Zach had managed to secure dynamite beneath the sculpture. And then they had waited for the moment to spring into action and save them both. By some miracle the former shifters had been able to transform into their wolves when it had all reached its crescendo. Saving the day and the lives of all the people imprisoned in that place.
The stars might have aligned, but the power had never had a chance to be harnessed.
The demons were dead. Defeated. Evan had told her that the city of Covenester was back to normal again now. And it had been the great joy of her life when she had woken one day in hospital to see her father standing there, smiling at her.
He was back. The doctors claimed it was a miracle, but she knew better. As soon as that place had blown sky high, he had been released. He still didn’t talk much. She would have to wait patiently for the day she could ask him what had led him to the desert and that place.
But they had never found Thad.
She shifted restlessly. He had been willing to die for her, and for the Wild Keepers. She knew that. She had seen it in his eyes, along with the love he had for her. But the pain would never leave her. Everything seemed wrong now. The story she had been so eager to write about that place, that would launch her career, seemed wrong too.
Perhaps the world should never know what happened there. Perhaps they would never believe it, anyway.
Her hands drifted through the water again, listlessly. She lay back on the bank and closed her eyes, dreaming of him.
Wild Keepers Page 119
