by Wood, Vivian
Shifter In Ascent
By Vivian Wood
Copyright © 2012 Vivian Wood All rights reserved.
ASIN: 978-1477487082
DEDICATION I’d like to thank my beta-readers: Haley, Echoe, and Olivia. Thanks also to Brooke, Sarah, and Margaret – just in general. And of course to Ryan, for being supportive and wonderful. And thanks to my dad, for being surprisingly cool about my writing a smutty novel.
CONTENTS Acknowledgments i
1 1
2 15
3 22
4 36
5 48
6 73
7 82
8 100
9 116
10 134
11 155
12 171
13 187
14 194
15 220
16 234
17 245
18 262
19 286
20 304
21 313
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A BIG nod to H. Robertson for being a terrific and dedicated editor. A huge thanks to Nemi Vl. for the beautiful cover, I couldn’t have asked for more. And finally to my source of all information, writing-related or otherwise, Reddit. Thanks for answering all my questions and generally holding my hand. You guys rock!
ONE She knew the question was coming, and she knew her response: she’d die before she yielded to her captors. In truth she was relieved that she wouldn’t have to hold on much longer. She could feel death’s cool presence lurking in the corners of the cell she’d come to think of as her own.
“Have you changed your mind yet, Miss Anderson?” The question charged into the brightly lit holding cell, battering at the fragile remnants of Tessa’s sanity. Every day, the same question. The young man would slide open a slot cut in the otherwise unmarked white door and speak through it as if it were perfectly normal to ask favors of people he’d kidnapped and locked in… wherever she was. Some kind of mental institution, judging by the sterile, austere looks of the place.
His question, never varying from that precise selection of words, would be muffled by the door and the fact that all the walls in Tessa’s cell were padded with a thick layer of baffling material, either for soundproofing or to keep the occupant from self-harm. Like everything in the six by six room, it was all the same shade of perfectly blank white; white sheets, white plastic cot frame, white walls, white floor, white tee shirt and scrub pants for Tessa.
“Are you even listening anymore, Tessa?” the man asked, sounding frustrated. Tessa paused in her cyclic thoughts, noting that this was a deviation from the usual routine. Normally the man asked the question, she didn’t answer, and then he left. Shortly thereafter there would be the punishment, issued by two unflinching female nurses. It had been like that every single day since she’d arrived, and she thought she’d been here at least three weeks.
In the time Tessa had been captive, there had never been any explanation. The man hadn’t specified what she was supposed to agree to do, nor had he ever varied from asking whether she’d decided to help. This question, something about her listening, was new. Cocking her head, Tessa waited to see if the voice would continue. There was a long silence before the man slid the slot closed once more.
It wasn’t long before the smooth white door panel swung open to reveal the two blank-faced nurses. At first she’d fought viciously, and then pleaded with them, tried everything to make the nurses react. It only took her about a day to realize that there was something terribly wrong with the women who worked here; something essential was missing from them, and it was awful to witness. How that essence had been removed, she shuddered to guess.
Today Tessa didn’t even put up a fight when they started to hook the electrodes to her chest and temples. She simply didn’t have the energy to do battle today; she’d need all her energy to recover afterward.
The first jolt of electricity arcing through her mind was always the worst. There was no way for Tessa to prepare for that kind of pain. The nurses would step away, do something to the machine attached to the electrodes, and then pain would radiate through every molecule in her body. They would shock her over and over until she gritted her teeth so hard her gums bled. Until she cried out, until she screamed. Until she prayed for her heart to give out, anything to stop the pain. Finally darkness would find her, and her last thought would be that she hoped she didn’t wake up this time.
Tessa closed her eyes took a deep breath and sought the quiet place in her mind that beckoned, offering peace or at least solitude. A breath out, a breath in. She had to focus on beckoned, offering peace or at least solitude. A breath out, a breath in. She had to focus on something other than her impending punishment.
“Just a moment. I’d like to speak with her again before you start,” came the man’s smooth voice. Tessa opened her eyes to find the gorgeous young man standing next to her, addressing the
nurses. The two women exchanged a look, then left silently. The man looked down at her, his lanky height putting a great distance between them. Dark, close-cropped hair and dark brows drew her gaze. His piercing ice-blue eyes bored into her, just as they had the first time they’d met.
Tessa tried to remember exactly how long ago that had been, but the details wouldn’t come no matter how hard she focused. Tessa’s eyes drooped closed and she felt her body slumping forward. She knew they must put something in her food to keep her from resisting, and they always fed her just before her punishments. Whatever they put in the food turned her world to hazy echoes, melted her bones, made her long for sleep.
“Whoa, whoa,” the man said, reaching out to steady her and prop her back against the wall. Tessa forced her eyelids open, trying to muster a hateful glare. She never wanted to be touched again by anyone, much less the one who had tricked her and brought her here.
“I need you to listen to me, Tessa. I know you have no reason to trust me, and you probably hate me. I brought you here to help you, you’ll see that eventually. But for now I need to understand that it’s time to give in. You can’t stand many more compliance treatments, Tessa. Your body has already quit fighting, and if you don’t help us… I can’t help you if you refuse to cooperate,” he said quietly, almost tenderly.
Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a circle of black plastic. He turned it to reveal a mirror, and positioned it to reflect Tessa’s own face. She sucked in a breath as she looked at the blueblack bruises ringing both her eyes and marking her cheekbones and neck. Her skin, normally quite pale, was practically translucent. Her vibrant head of ringlets was matted and filthy, their golden hue dimmed to an ashy blonde. She’d lost enough weight for her cheekbones to be hollowed, giving her a skeletal look.
“You see, don’t you?” asked the man. Tessa turned her slate grey eyes upward to meet his gaze, fighting to stay awake. This conversation was important, and she refused to let her body fail when there was hope of salvation.
“Yes,” she said, her voice a thin whisper.
“You understand, then. You’ll cooperate?” the man asked, looking hopeful. Tessa looked right at him for several long seconds before responding.
“No.” The man’s face darkened in frustration before he could compose his features into the calm mask he always tried to project. He dropped the mirror in his pocket with a sigh, pulling out a sleek black cell phone instead.
“I didn’t want to have to do things this way, Tessa. It’s not your fault you were born to demons. It’s not your sister’s fault, either,” he said, his words measured for effect.
Tessa’s eyes snapped up to his face, then down to the phone. She struggled to understand what he was telling her.
“Camilla, isn’t it?” the man asked, flippin
g through files on his phone. Turning the screen around, he flashed a picture of Camilla in a cell just like Tessa’s. She was dressed in the same white cotton top and pants, looking so like Tessa but for her dark brown curls and green eyes. She was staring defiantly at the camera, daring someone to challenge her.
Tessa’s heart sunk, and a lone tear escaped to run down her cheek. Tessa had stared the nurses down just like that on her first day, challenging. Now she could barely stay conscious.
A muffled scream sounded from somewhere nearby, just loud enough to be heard through the soundproofing of some other room. Tessa couldn’t even tell the gender of the voice, but she went cold inside.
Her baby sister was here, in this hell. Camilla was all Tessa had, and vice versa; their parents had passed away several years ago. And now Tessa had somehow dragged Camilla down into the mud, imprisoning her with these monsters.
A scream of rage erupted from Tessa’s throat and suddenly she was slashing and clawing at the man’s face, backing him into a corner with her fierce anger. James made no attempt to fight back or even defend himself, though he could have easily ended her fit of pique. His eyes were dark with sudden emotion, and for a fleeting moment Tessa could have sworn it was sadness instead of anger.
The nurses ran in, each grabbing one of Tessa’s arms and restraining her. The man straightened and brushed his fingers over a long scratch that Tessa had landed on his cheek, his fingers coming away with blood.
“Attacking me isn’t going to do you any good. I’m not running the show here, Tessa. Like you, my blood has been tainted by the demons. I’m fit for nothing except to lure more of our kind here so that the Legion may help them. Kill me, and you’ll just get someone worse in my place,” he said somberly.
Something in his nonchalance turned Tessa’s stomach to acid. She growled, but the nurses were pulling a plastic restraint tie tight around her wrists and dragging her back to the bed.
“This is the last time I’ll ask, Tessa. The next time, I’ll ask your sister. Have you changed your mind about helping us?”
Tessa’s head dropped to her chest in shame and fear. Tears came in earnest, threatening to overwhelm her ability to speak. Fighting for a deep breath, Tessa whispered her response.
“Just tell me what you want.”
“Don’t worry about that for now. Just rest,” he replied.
James stood as if satisfied, motioning to the nurses that they should go. The man stopped at her side for a moment, patting her shoulder. Tessa recoiled, grimacing.
“Everything will work out, Tessa. Do everything you’re told, and you will be saved,” he said quietly. Then he turned and left, pulling the door closed behind him. The blank white wall where the door had been suddenly gave Tessa chills, where normally it was a relief to see the nurses and the man leave her in silence.
Despite the man’s attempt at soothing words, Tessa was certain that her agreement was tantamount to one thing. She’d just signed her own death warrant, without a doubt.
What could these lunatics possibly want so badly they’d kidnap and kill for it? That creeping sense of mortality, tangible as a clock ticking, thickened the air in Tessa’s cell until she could barely breathe.
Closing her eyes, Tessa laid down as best she could with her hands still cuffed behind her back. The nurses hadn’t taken the electrodes off, and they were uncomfortable against her skin.
Tessa breathed in and out slowly, summoning the peaceful bliss of sleep. It was the only small comfort she could give herself in whatever short amount of time she had left on the Earth.
“You will wait here for Monsignor Sunderland,” the blank-faced nurse said, as chilling and emotionless as ever. She pushed Tessa inside a strange room and then left, closing the door behind her. Tessa blinked repeatedly, her eyes reacting to the rich colors of the cherry desk, the green leather chairs, and the piles of dusty books everywhere. Someone’s office? At least this door had a handle on each side, Tessa thought.
Tessa ran a hand through her newly-washed ringlets, savoring the feeling of being freshly showered. Even Nurse Blank Face hadn’t been able to ruin the too-quick scrub down, though she’d stood just outside the shower and kept checking to make sure Tessa wasn’t up to anything crafty.
Tessa looked around the conference-style room that Blank Face had put her in, trying to decide which chair was the best vantage point. Finally Tessa chose a seat next to the curtained window, desperate for a taste of the outside world. To her disappointment, the curtain only revealed a bank of ambient ivory lighting. Jesus, the place was so creepy. No windows, mindless servants as staff, and this room was the only glimpse of color she’d seen in ages.
Still, the man… James, Tessa corrected herself, had promised that if Tessa would help them on some kind of mission then Camilla would be kept safe. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Tessa realized that her current good cheer was probably due to severe emotional trauma and possibly even brain damage from the torture. But as long as Camilla was safe and Tessa wasn’t being whipped or shocked, things were at least slightly better than before. Weren’t they?
Tessa’s thoughts derailed as the door swung open, admitting the man who called himself James and a much older man with a slight resemblance; they had the same jaw, the same eyes. When James was in his sixties his dark locks would be bright silver like the older man’s hair, Tessa guessed. The two were undoubtedly related.
Tessa eyed the older man. With his silvering hair and simple black garments he could have been a kindly priest if not for his expression. Chilling dark blue eyes raked over Tessa, brimming with repulsion. As soon as James was inside and the door was shut, the older man spoke.
“I hear you are going to help us,” he said slowly, as if Tessa were mentally handicapped.
Tessa regarded him silently, head cocked to the side. James cleared his throat, seeming suddenly tense. Looking between them, Tessa realized that Jameson was afraid of the older man. She honestly didn’t want to know what it took to scare a big brute like James.
“Well?” prompted the older man, “Do you speak, demon? Will you attempt to redeem yourself in the eyes of God?”
“I hardly think God has much to do with this place,” Tessa replied, trying to keep her voice calm. She frowned and sat up a little straighter, unable to resist defying the man.
“I don’t think someone like you would be the first to know,” the older man responded, taking a step toward her.
Tessa’s gaze flashed to the second man as he spoke up.
“You must not let her upset you, Uncle. She is unenlightened. She hardly knows what she says,” he said in a soothing tone.
The older man turned to the younger, eyes narrowing dangerously.
“Novitiate James, you will address me by my proper title in the presence of a supernatural. You will also refrain from issuing orders to a superior,” the man snapped.
Jameson bowed his head in supplication.
“Yes, Monsignor Sunderland. I apologize profoundly,” the younger man said, for what sounded like the millionth time.
“You will have punishment after you finish with the demon. Seeing as how you can’t help the blood you got from your mongrel mother,” Sunderland paused for dramatic effect, “you can choose your own remonstrance.”
“Yes, Monsignor. Thank you.”
As James bowed, he caught Tessa’s eye and gave her look that was half threat, half plea for her to behave. Tessa bowed her head, staring down at her hands as she twisted them in her lap. Biting her lip, she steeled herself against feeling guilty.
James was the one who’d started all this in the first place. He’d sought her out at her favorite bar, plied her with drinks and conversation, and when everything started to go blurry…
Somehow she’d ended up in that eerily white padded cell. Bitterness flooded through Tessa, turning her thoughts black.
“Demon,” the older man prompted, again as if Tessa were extremely slow to understand speech. Tessa looked up at him, fig
hting to school her expression.
“I’m not even sure if family means anything to your kind,” the man said, almost conversationally.
Tessa’s brow pulled into a deep frown before she could stop herself. She bit her tongue hard to keep from responding.
“If you try to interfere in any way, or double cross us, we’ll kill your sister,” he said, his icy gaze chilling Tessa to the bone, “Do you understand?”
Tessa nodded stiffly, her stomach roiling.
“And then we’ll just find another demon to do as we ask. Your resistance would be futile,” he said stoically.
Tessa glanced over to James, who gave a brief nod of agreement.
Tessa dropped her gaze down to where her hands lay in her lap. That little bit of hope she’d found was flagging and fading by the minute. The older man seemed satisfied, turning to speak with the younger one.
“You will come to me after the demon has been released,” he ordered.
“Of course, Monsignor,” James said, bowing his head deferentially.
The older man gave Tessa final once over, and then let himself out of the room. Tessa let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, letting her body relax slightly.
“He’s awful,” she said simply.
James eyed Tessa sharply, disapproving.
“Don’t speak of what you don’t understand,” he said, coming over and drawing up a chair across from Tessa’s. He produced a fat white folder labeled “Louisiana”, handing it over to Tessa. She opened it and flipped through the pages, finding copies of news articles, glossy photos, and printed reports all stacked neatly inside.
Jameson leaned close, gesturing to the documents.
“I know I haven’t explained to you exactly what we do here, Tessa. You probably don’t even realize yet that you’re different from other people, but you are. You and I are aberrations. Our bloodlines have been tainted somehow, mixed with something unnatural,” he said.
Tessa opened her mouth, unsure how to begin her answer.
“You can’t be serious about this demon stuff,” she finally said, for lack of a better argument.
