A Shift in Power (Shadow Claw Book 5)

by Sarah J. Stone

  “I don’t understand,” Rowena asked, bewildered. “What are you going to do?”

  “First of all, we’re going to find out how you came by this information. Then we’re going to go check Council archives. For some reason this hellhound is after you. We need to find out why and then send it back where it came from. Or destroy it. Hellhounds don’t just go after somebody for no apparent reason. Someone wants you dead.”

  Rowena pushed away from the window. “I’m not that important.”

  Samuel’s smile was hard. “Summoning a hellhound is not a simple task. Somebody deliberately summoned one and gave it your scent. And that means, contrary to what you believe, there is a person, or persons, who is probably aware of what you are. The second you leave the protection of these four walls, you will be vulnerable. We need to move fast.”

  Rowena’s legs trembled, and she sat down on the floor heavily. She had been so sure that once she told this shifter the truth, he would not stay. She had resigned herself to the fact that she was going to die a painful death. And here this man was, giving her hope, telling her that all was not yet lost.

  “What is wrong?”

  “W…What?” She touched her cheeks and her wet hand drew away. The tears that slipped down her cheeks were out of her control. “Give me…a minute. I need a minute.”

  She buried her face in her knees, but she found she was unable to compose herself. Her body shook with the effort of containing the sobs that tore from her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said over and over again. Why couldn’t she stop these tears?

  Samuel stood up. “Take all the time you need.”

  He walked past her, and his hand touched her head in a comforting manner.

  The sound of the door shutting behind him had her collapsing into herself as she cried for the first time since she had been shunned from her clan. Her sobs were harsh and her body shook uncontrollably as she released that tight control she had held over herself.

  It took a while for her to calm down.

  When she was drained of her tears, she lay on the floor in front of the fire, her mind exhausted. She felt her eyes slipping shut, her body too tired to fight the effects. Movement on the floor, a pair of feet, and she felt herself covered with something warm and soft.

  She murmured something, but she couldn’t understand what it was she had just said as she slipped into dark oblivion.

  The sound of something rattling in the pot had her drawn out of sleep. Her eyes were still closed as she felt the floor vibrate with someone moving about. Her eyes slowly opened, and Rowena saw her house guest cooking something in the pot. A glance outside told her that it was evening. How long had she been sleeping for?

  “A few hours.” Samuel’s voice had her attention snapping to him. “You’ve wrapped your emotions up so tightly that it drained something out of you, letting out some of that pain you’ve hidden inside. I’ve reinforced your barriers, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

  “No…” Rowena stopped when she realized how scratchy her voice was. “I apologize. I just,” she pulled herself into a sitting position, “I didn’t think there was any chance for me to survive.” She looked down at her entwined fingers, her voice rough. “I didn’t expect you’d actually help me.”

  Samuel stirred the broth with the spoon quietly. She said she had lost all hope, and yet she had carried on each day, holding onto something, waiting for something. The scholar in him wanted to study her, to observe her. The Councilmember in him wanted to protect her.

  That was what the vampire had said to him, that his desire to protect the weak was so strong that it overrode all other instincts.

  Even when the Council had been working in tandem, he had been the most compassionate one of them all. Even Abigail had hardened to some extent after so many centuries of dealing with cruelty. It was said that humans were the most dangerous of animals. But after his years in the Council, Samuel no longer believed that. Others were just as capable of depraved acts that shook one’s sensibility. It destroyed something in each Councilmember to have a firsthand look into the atrocities committed. The judgements they then passed were not always kind. Sometimes, harsh acts resulted in cruel judgements. Examples had to be made.

  It was a wonder that he had retained his heart and soul.

  But the fact was that he had. And this woman was just sitting here, waiting to die. He couldn’t let that happen. He could see how she struggled to be brave each and every day. He could see the bitterness that had seeped into her soul.

  She was young. From the glimpses he had seen of her personality, she was spirited, cheerful, and mischievous. In the moments when she was forced out of her past, he could see the laughter dancing in her eyes.

  He poured some broth in two bowls and handed one to her.

  When her hand stretched out to take the bowl, he gripped her wrist in a gentle, but firm hold. “I’m here now. And I’m going to make sure nothing happens to you. That is a promise from me. And I never go back on my word.”

  Rowena swallowed at the intensity in his eyes and nodded.

  He smiled and went back to his own meal. Samuel was aware that the witch watched him as he partook in his meal, but he wasn’t bothered by it. When he got up to wash the bowls, she went to check on her security measures.

  “I need to collect some herbs,” she commented as she checked the remaining stock of the powder.

  Samuel threw her a sharp look. “Right now?”

  Rowena shook her head, “No, but soon.”

  Wiping his hands, Samuel warmed them in front of the fire. “I’ll keep watch tonight. And tomorrow, we’ll leave.”

  Rowena turned to look at him, her eyes wide, “Leave? And go where?”

  “We can’t fight, Rowena. Not until we have a better understanding of what we are up against.” He straightened up. “You gathered enough information to determine that you were being chased by hellhounds. Not everything that you found out was correct, though.” Samuel glanced at her. “We need to go see whomever it was that gave you this information.”

  “What about the hellhounds? If we are exposed at night–”

  “We’ll carry our security measures with us.” A small smile. “We’ll set up camp as soon as the sun is about to set. Don’t underestimate me, Rowena. I can protect you.”

  The witch blushed, “I wasn’t doubting you.”

  She was an attractive woman, Samuel noted. Once this mess was settled, she would find herself a suitor in no time.

  “When the Council…” Samuel paused. There were things she did not need to know. “There are certain archives that Councilmembers have access to. They are very well hidden. That will be our next stop.”

  Rowena looked troubled, “If you do manage to destroy these creatures, what’s to stop more from coming after me?”

  The shifter did not look worried. “To start something, you just need an idea. Things will play out as they will, Rowena. A little faith never hurt anyone. Now go back to sleep. We’ll be moving very quickly tomorrow, and you will need all the energy that you can get.”

  Samuel watched over her as she lay down, and he knew that she was too tense to sleep. He didn’t try to strike up a conversation. This was moving too fast for her, and he knew she needed some time.

  He stripped and shifted, lying next to her mattress, his eyes on the window.

  He had spread out that strange powder inside the lining of the room, but his head lifted as something struck him.

  He hadn’t covered the outside of the house.

  It was too dark to risk going out and doing so. Alert now, he got up and paced.

  He heard Rowena turn and twist in her makeshift bed, and when he heard her sharp intake of breath, he looked at her.

  Her eyes were fixed on the small window, a terrified look in them.

  Samuel looked at where her eyes were focused.

  The creature that peered in was something out of a grotesque
horror movie. Its eyes were red, the color of blood. Its fur was as black as the night itself. It looked like something that had crawled out of hell.

  It was no wonder where its name came from.

  Samuel didn’t shudder. He walked over to the window at eye level with the hellhound and stared back.

  The creature snarled, and the house shook.

  Rowena’s cry of alarm and fear had Samuel snapping at her, making her still.

  He shifted. “Even if the walls were to fall in, this thing cannot enter, Rowena. Go back to sleep. I am right here.”

  The witch trembled, but gave into the authority in his voice.

  Samuel didn’t shift back and just stood there, staring at her creature.

  His expression was blank. He showed no display of power to intimidate it. He just stood there, his arms crossed against his chest.

  The creature tried to attack the stone building again, but Samuel heard Rowena murmuring something and this time nothing happened.

  The hateful look thrown toward the witch had Samuel stepping in front of her protectively, blocking the hellhound’s view of her.

  It snarled.

  And that was how the rest of the night went, with Samuel standing guard over the witch he had now vowed to protect from the creature that looked like it wanted to drag both of them into hell with it.

  ***End of Preview***

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