Other feelings and sensations gradually came to her attention. For one, her body felt stronger, more powerful. She thought it must be leftover adrenalin from the previous day’s battle, but it was still out of the ordinary.
Second, she found herself welcoming the deep darkness of the underground lycan stronghold. She realized she couldn’t bear the idea of direct sunlight at that moment.
And finally, she was thirsty. A burgeoning dryness in her throat that simply wouldn’t go away, no matter how much water she drank. It was a discomforting sensation, one that she hoped had nothing to do with her spirit beast.
She already suspected what she was, and experiencing these new sensations scared her. She knew she was suppressing the beast inside. At that moment she didn’t want to know. But the beast was persistent. Determined to be set free. And what would happen then? The only thing she could do was ensure she didn’t turn in front of the lycans. The lycans who were about to cut her loose.
Finally the Mother’s door opened. Florence emerged, then Max. Jack came last, ashen-faced. None spoke to Yasmin as they passed, but Jack’s leg brushed hers. Was that a sign? Heart thumping in her ears, Yasmin stepped into the office.
Mother Androska beckoned her to sit. She looked more ravaged with stress than ever. The sadness in her eyes seemed fathomless. At that moment Yasmin knew for sure there was no future for her here.
“Thanks for cooperating, Yasmin,” she began. “You’ve acted with integrity and honor.”
Yasmin nodded, wanting to dispense with pleasantries as soon as possible.
“The briefing I just received was more troubling than I ever expected,” the Mother went on. “Seems Herr X is building an army of night creatures.”
Yasmin nodded, opening her mouth before her brain told her to stop. “If there’s anything I can do to help, Mother, please tell me now.”
She felt her bottom lip quiver and stilled it with all her focus. It wouldn’t do to cry before the Mother. The Lycan Society was now at war - the Mother had other things to think about than the hopes and fears of a silly girl.
But the Mother’s eyes filled with tears too. Yasmin looked on with amazement as the old woman gave in to her conflicting emotions.
“I’d have you in a heart beat, dear girl,” she said in a choked voice. “But your body will soon tell you this isn’t your home.”
Yasmin shut her eyes, knowing deep down this was true.
“You’re a vampire, Yasmin,” the Mother said plaintively. “Not just any vampire, but a rare Queen Mother.”
Here it comes. Yasmin breathed in deeply, steeling herself for further pain.
“I can feel it, Mother,” she said honestly. “What would you have me do?”
The Mother closed her eyes, clearly dreading the question.
“That’s not something I can answer,” she said tiredly. “Life as you know it is about to change forever.”
The Mother put special emphasis on the word ‘forever’. Something about it made Yasmin uncomfortable.
“A life away from here,” she said more angrily than she wanted to.
The Mother looked her straight in the eye.
“Over time you’ll see why, Yasmin.”
So that was that, then. Yasmin was about to begin her new life, whatever that was.
“Why me, Mother? What if I don’t want to be Queen?”
The Mother offered a faint, mirthless smile. “It’s not that simple,” she said. “Other vampires will seek you out. They’ll depend on you to release them. The Chain of Blood starts with you.”
Yasmin tried to absorb the Mother’s words but all she had was a million questions. She remembered the way that Ukrainian scientist looked at her in Berlin.
“I met a vampire,” she said slowly. “I felt like I’d always known him.”
The Mother nodded. “Echoes of long dead vampyra, a proud species decimated by the last Flux Age.”
The Mother was about to say something else, but evidently decided against it. Instead, she steepled her hands and rested her chin on them. It was her signature move and hinted at deep rumination. There was an elephant in the room, something the Mother left unspoken. At that moment that the true implications of her spirit beast hit Yasmin.
“Am I an enemy of lycans?” she asked, perhaps a little too quickly.
The Mother held her gaze. “That, dear girl, is entirely up to you.”
The intensity of the Mother’s gaze sent a shiver down Yasmin’s spine. She realized the old matriarch wasn’t talking about some minor grievance between Yasmin and the New York lycans - she was referring to the incredible power Yasmin now possessed. A power that could breathe life into a long-lost race and change the face of the coming Flux Age. For the first time she could feel that weight pressing down on her, threatening to crush her into oblivion.
She looked at the Mother through entirely different eyes. Strategic eyes. Was the Mother going to let her leave? She hadn’t considered the fact that she was now a potentially valuable prisoner.
Perhaps seeing that fear cloud her eyes, the Mother smiled, and for a moment she was a much younger woman, free of the burdens of command.
“The Lycan Society is an ancient, proud collective,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “My easiest decision in all this is to let you go.”
Yasmin nodded, acknowledging the immense gravity of the moment. Mother Androska, one of the key leaders of the Lycan Society, was prepared to let a queen mother of the vampyra walk free.
“I’ll remember your integrity, Mother,” Yasmin said, choosing her words carefully. She was essentially telling her that she would find no reason to make enemies of lycans, despite the long standing enmity between both races.
The Mother smiled, her shoulders sagging a little in relief. Yasmin’s answer must have been the right one.
It was time to leave. Yasmin held the Mother’s wrinkled hand for a moment before departing without another word.
The corridors were empty. Yasmin had expected that, but it still hurt. She blinked back tears as she made her way through the stone passage that spilled into the huge foundation tunnel under New York.
As she walked through the darkness, guided by the sporadic bonfires of the homeless, a low voice bounced from the shadows.
“Florence wishes you all the luck of the old gods,” Jack Foley said. He stepped into the light. His piercing, ferociously intelligent eyes were glazed with sadness. He stopped a meter from Yasmin, thumbs hooked into his jeans pockets in an attempt at indifference. Yasmin resisted the urge to grab him, but her heart was tumbling from her chest and somersaulting across the ground.
“And what does Jack Foley say?” she asked.
Jack moved closer, the tip of his belt buckle pressing against Yasmin’s midriff. He ran light fingers down her arms, making her spine tingle.
“I don’t believe in gods,” he murmured, tracing the soft line of Yasmin’s cheek with his forefinger. “I believe in us.”
That did it. Yasmin jammed her eyes shut but her tears squeezed themselves out anyway. Silent tears turned in to sobs, and before she knew it her face was buried in Jack’s chest.
“I’ll hunt you down, Yasmin Silver,” he whispered in her ear. “I don’t care where I have to go. I’ll find you.”
Yasmin could only nod. She didn’t know how long she stood there, sobbing quietly into the dark. The light touch at her arms retreated, as did the warm press of Jack’s body.
She didn’t dare open her eyes for a minute, trying and failing to steady her rocketing heart.
When she did open her eyes, her world was emptier than before.
The man she now saw as her true love had gone.
She ripped the lycan pendant from her neck and threw it away.
11 - Florence
New York, USA
FLORENCE SHIFTED BEFORE she hit the ground. It was a risky move leaping off the south face of her apartment building, but she was feeling emotional and reckless.
Ice-cold air
whistled past as he closed the distance to the roof of the next apartment block. She landed in a crouch, her powerful legs absorbing the shock. She snarled as she looked out over the city. Shifting had not improved her mood.
The Berlin mission had been a complete disaster, a blight on her career. Her confidence in her abilities had taken a battering, and to lose Yasmin on top of it all was a bitter pill to swallow. She knew the girl would take her banishment personally - it was the way she was wired.
Florence hoped they would meet again in better circumstances. Then again, things were probably going to get a lot worse for everyone before they got better.
Florence ran, knowing she had a relatively flat run of buildings to traverse. She leapt over balustrades and railings with ease, surprising a window cleaner with her risky antics.
Her breathless jaunt was part exercise, part therapy - she needed to clear her head before returning to the Lycan Chapter. Mother Androska had called an Assembly, which usually meant something serious was going down.
She also wanted to shake off the cobwebs of the previous night - she’d succumbed to that damned bartender again. This time she’d told him it was over. She simply couldn’t afford to have personal relationships weighing her down. Not with the chaos that was about to come.
Zac had been bitterly disappointed. Like her, he’d begun to get used to her late night visits. Florence would miss him, but knew deep down that he wasn’t a long term prospect anyway. She’d almost given up on finding one of those.
Pink dawn sunlight framed the Bronx skyline as Florence made her way to street level and sprinted along the deserted waterside gutters of the East River. Into the hidden hatch and down a long, spiraling corridor. By the time she reached the Assembly Hall she’d shifted back. The bracing morning run had made her feel slightly better.
The lycan Assembly Hall was as ancient as New York itself. Built brick by brick by the early pioneers, it was once a packing house before being purchased by the Lycan Society. The rest of the Chapter was built around the stately hall, which acted as a central hub to the underground complex. The lycan herald adorned the back wall - a huge banner, grey on white, depicting a stylized wolf’s head.
Display cases lined the walls, each containing werewolf artifacts collected over the centuries.
Old weapons and gear, articles of Treaty with various human organizations, honor boards of distinguished werewolves long dead. To walk through the Assembly Hall was to feel the proud weight of lycan history.
Florence took her usual position in the back row. Jack sauntered past, barely acknowledging her. His scowl was deeper than usual, probably because Yasmin had gone. His latest conquest had been taken away from him. Florence found her dislike for Jack grow in intensity. He was acting like he was the only one who knew Yasmin. Like he was being made to suffer.
She wondered what Yasmin saw in him. All she saw was pride and arrogance.
The Hall filled with lycans. Some of Florence’s friends, mostly wolf shifters without the ability to become werewolves, sat with her in the back row and speculated on what the Mother was about to announce. They didn’t have to wait long. Mother Androska appeared behind an ancient lectern. She stood tall and resolute, eying her tribe with a steely gaze.
“Pack sisters and brothers, the time for mourning is over. Eddison is at one with the Cercarium and provides vitality for us all.”
“Vale our pack brother,” said the lycans in unison.
“Our Berlin experience was troubling but we must put that behind us,” the Mother continued. “The growing Flux presents yet more challenges. I have Naomi on hand to provide a brief summary.”
Support operative Naomi Wong stepped forward and read from a glowing palm tablet.
“As you are all aware,” she began. “A confirmed Queen Mother of the vampyra race, the girl Yasmin Silver, has been released into New York. Every international effort will be made to monitor potential hotbeds of vampire activity. The Lycan Society officially recognizes the return of vampires and has not, at this stage, initiated war footing with the old enemy.”
Loud murmuring greeted this first point, many lycans turning to their neighbors and expressing surprise at the prospect of peace with their natural enemy. Florence was indifferent on this point - she liked Yasmin and besides, none of these lycans had been around during the old wars with vampyra.
“And on to a pressing issue more likely to affect us in the short term,” Naomi continued above the hubbub. “Several of our field operatives have detected what appears to be a cabal of wights in the old sewer system of New York City. So far a dozen innocent civilians have gone missing in Harlem. The Mother and I are assembling a crack squad to infiltrate and destroy this threat.”
Florence nodded and voiced her agreement along with many others. Lycans had been briefed on wights since their first appearance in Times Square several days ago. Wights were enigmatic creatures. For starters, they were exceedingly rare during the last Flux Age, so to have an entire nest under New York was unique to say the least.
Night creatures with essentially evil intent, Wights tended not to kill their prey immediately, instead keeping them alive in their dens while they slowly absorbed all their neural activity. Everything from the target’s mind - thoughts, memories, emotions - were somehow transferred to the wight.
No one knew how they did this, only that it was their way of feeding. Florence shivered at the thought of being held powerless by wights in some cold, forgotten place far underground. There were much better ways to die, that was for sure.
Florence hoped she was chosen to lead the strike force against the wights, but no names were mentioned. Her experience in Berlin had given her a fierce hunger to set things right, to prove herself to the Mother once more.
She didn’t want to work under Jack Foley either - it was obvious they had a major personality clash. The chemistry just wasn’t right. The Berlin disaster was a classic example.
“My last announcement concerns home defense and the movements of our sworn enemy, the Berlin Club,” Naomi said. “The recent attempt on the life of Herr X failed, meaning he is still at large. Our latest intelligence suggests he is prepared to use spirit beasts in his long-running vendetta against lycans. He already has fifteen to twenty ghouls at his disposal and is no doubt planning an organized attack on the Society.”
The Assembly Hall erupted in furious speculation and debate. The mobilization of ghouls so early in the Flux Age was a shocking development indeed. Even Florence, who already knew, was sobered to hear Naomi say it out loud.
“Defense strategies are being finalized by Elder Councils across all our Chapters. Here in New York, each of you will have a specific role to play in ensuring this facility is not breached by those that wish us ill. That will be all.”
Mother Androska returned to the lectern.
“Thanks Naomi, for collating those worrying reports,” she began. “I’d also like to announce a special mission. In light of new and emerging threats to lycans and humans the world over, it is time to consider the bright side of the Flux Age - old friends, waking from the slumber of centuries. Species who fought alongside lycans during the Dark Ages. Noble creatures who have not forgotten the past. Our forward scouts have made contact with an industrial magnate claiming to represent the aquila.”
The assembled lycans were silent for a moment, in awe of the prospect of an alliance with the aquila. Florence almost smiled when she heard the ancient word. Eagle folk had a long and glorious tradition of protecting humans and upholding everything that was worthy about human civilization. But how would they adapt to the 21st century? Would they still see humans and lycans as allies?
“I don’t need to tell you what such an alliance would mean,” the Mother said. “The protection of humans in decades to come would be a much, much easier prospect. To that end, I plan to dispatch our two best operatives -” The Mother’s eyes rested on Florence. “- to deal with the aquila. I look forward to the outcome with great interest.”
Florence blinked, wondering if the Mother’s look meant anything. She had a feeling she’d been earmarked for this ‘special’ mission.
“Finally,” the Mother said with a strange, wistful smile. “I’d like you all to know that I believe in each and every one of you. These are dark times for lycans, surrounded as we are by potential enemies at every turn. But we are strong, and better still, we are resolute. Humanity will not fall on our watch.”
“The pack forever,” the lycans said in unison. Florence wasn’t an especially sentimental person, but she felt a flood of warm pride in the pit of her stomach.
The Mother bowed before stepping away. Florence felt a tap on the shoulder - it was Naomi, smiling with heavy irony.
“The eagles, right?” Florence said, unable to hide her disappointment. “I’m on the fucking eagles.”
Naomi nodded understandingly. “I know you’re keen for action.”
“Come on Mi, I’m not a diplomat, I’m a fighter.”
Florence didn’t mean to sound so bitter, but it was true.
“Who’s my partner?” she asked more softly. Naomi winced.
Florence felt a star burst of anger. “No way. I just got back from the bloodied streets of Berlin with that guy.”
Naomi shrugged. “The Mother thought it would do you both good.”
“Yeah, well, the Mother ain’t always right.”
Florence was still in a huff as she strode the corridors. Working with Jack Foley was the last thing she needed right now. She considered calling her barman Zac, then remembered their goodbyes earlier that day. Damn, that shit seemed so premature now.
She needed to work off her frustrations. She settled for a few games of air hockey with friends in the rec room. The rest of the day she spent in the library researching the aquila.
She found out they’d saved the lycans at the Battle of Casablanca in 1161. A ferocious midnight vampire attack had left the lycans vulnerable, but the eagles, running patrols high in the sky, were able to obliterate vampire ranks. When they were focused and had the advantage of elevation, the aquila could be devastating.
The Lycan Society (The Flux Age Book 1) Page 13
