by Cara Wylde
Kassandra shook her head in an attempt to snap out of the disturbing trance. Emil, Tyler, Tristan, and the witch were already down the hall, walking towards Amber’s room. She stood up on shaky legs and followed them. It was rare of her to hate her ability to empathize so strongly with the people she came in contact with. She was usually able to keep some sort of emotional distance, but there were cases in which the other person was so overcome by their own feelings, that Kassandra couldn’t protect herself from them. They all stopped at the foot of Amber’s bed, and the empath tried to stay as far away from Camille as possible. She couldn’t help the young witch. Not now, at least. So, she needed to keep a clear head and focus on helping Amber and Tyler.
“How long has she been like this?” asked Tristan.
“A couple of hours.” Tyler tried to keep his voice calm. In reality, he thought everyone was moving too slowly. Emil had told Tristan everything, and even thought he had only mentioned the most important parts, Tyler still had the impression it had taken forever. He eyed Camille. The woman hadn’t said anything since they arrived, and he had a strange feeling about her relationship with the lion-shifter. Something wasn’t right.
Tristan folded his bulky arms over his chest and studied Amber’s pale face. The woman was beautiful, he had to admit. Tyler Atwood was one lucky guy to have found his mate. Most shape-shifters didn’t even believe in fated mates anymore. He turned to Camille. The witch hadn’t said a word. She was waiting for him to tell her what to do. His lips curved into a satisfied grin and he motioned for her to step closer to the bed and assess Amber’s situation.
Camille followed his order. Tristan’s every gesture towards her was an order, and she couldn’t deny there was something within her which forced her to do exactly what he wanted.
“Do you think you can make a dose for her?” he asked.
“I’ll have to figure out what type of shifter blood she’s on first.”
“Do it.”
Emil ran a hand through his dirty blond hair. “We have to give her the exact same type of shifter blood? My God!”
“Yes,” confirmed Camille. Her voice was low and calculated. “If she’s on, say, wolf blood, then giving her lion blood would make things worse. I’m going to take a sample of her blood and see what it tells me.” As she gave these explanations, she took a needle and a phial out of her bag and sat down on the edge of the bed.
Kassandra looked away when the needle sank into Amber’s tender vein. She had always hated the sight of blood.
“Do you have everything you need?” asked Tristan.
“Yes.”
“All right.” He turned towards Emil, Tyler, and Kassandra. “Come on. Let’s give her some space.” Then he walked out of the room.
Emil followed him, but Tyler and Kassandra hesitated. They exchanged a concerned glance, and Tyler finally shook his head as if to say there was no way he was leaving Amber alone with the witch. He didn’t care that Tristan trusted her. He had left Amber alone once and something terrible happened. Kassandra understood and nodded in approval. She went to check on Rebecca and Ava.
Emil had a good reason to try to be around Tristan for as long as he could. This was the perfect chance to tell him again about the Order of the Severins and try to persuade him in joining it. He had been talking for fifteen minutes when Camille and Tyler came back into the living room. The witch removed her surgical gloves.
“It’s bear-shifter blood,” she said.
“Are you absolutely sure?” asked Tristan. He knew Camille didn’t make mistakes and never lied to him. He was just being an asshole. Unnecessarily.
Camille rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure. If it’s okay with him,” she motioned towards Tyler, “I can take some blood and start separating the venom. The dose she needs can be ready in an hour.”
Tristan grinned. “Make it half an hour.”
The witch took a deep breath and struggled to keep her temper under control. Why was he doing this to her? Did he hate her that much? She counted to ten, then said: “I’ll try.”
Tyler followed her back into Amber’s room and sat still as she took blood from him.
“Take more,” he said.
“I don’t need that much for a dose.”
“She’ll need another one after a while, won’t she? Make more doses.”
Camille was lost in his dark eyes for a second. Why couldn’t he have been her shifter? He was so much more likable than Tristan.
“It would take me much more than half an hour. You heard him…”
“Why are you so afraid of him?”
Camille had taken the blood she needed, so she turned back to her work. She had spread all her tools on the small desk by the window. She immediately started working, completely ignoring Tyler’s question. She was grateful when he didn’t say another word.
Tyler watched her as she did her thing. Indeed, the process was a combination of chemistry and magic. While she used tools one could find in any chemistry lab, she whispered words in a strange language while moving the red liquid from one container to another. Eventually, she obtained a clear, transparent liquid which Tyler guessed was the venom, while the blood was of a pale red. The dose was small. Once they gave it to Amber, it would only last her for a while, then she’d need another one.
“Give it to me, please,” Tyler said.
The witch hesitated for a second, then handed him the syringe. Once again, she envied Amber for having such an amazing man by her side. Tyler hadn’t left her side for a second, and now he wanted to be the one to make her better. He wanted to be the first person she saw when she woke up. As he sat on the bed and took Amber’s limp arm in his hand, Camille fought back her tears and thought it was better to leave the room. She had to tell Tristan she had finished, anyway. Five minutes before his deadline, even.
The needle pierced Amber’s skin gently, and the pure bear-shifter blood entered her system. Tyler could actually see the color coming back to her cheeks as the drug started to work. When he pulled the needle out, he saw how the small wound healed immediately, and it struck him: of course Amber wouldn’t know anything about Stephan Castell administering her shifter blood in secret. He probably did it at night, when she was asleep, and because the blood made her organism faster and stronger, there was no mark on her skin in the morning.
“Bastard,” he whispered. He would have launched himself in an endless series of curses, but Amber stirred in her sleep and moaned. “Sweetie?” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it eagerly. “It’s okay, I’m here. You’re okay now.”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled up at him.
“You…”
“Yes. How do you feel?”
“Wow! I… I don’t know.” She sat up and drew her knees up to her chest. “Like I was dead and I came back to life. I feel amazing! Oh, and I could eat a whole cow. You’ve no idea how hungry I am.”
Tyler laughed and showered her forehead and cheeks in kisses. She let him hug her and cuddle her, but after five minutes, she lost all patience. She felt full of energy. She wanted to jump out of bed, sprint to the kitchen, and raid Becca’s fridge. Then, she wanted to drink a huge glass of water and go out for a long walk. She needed air, she needed to be out on the streets. And she needed to see her daughter. A sharp pain stabbed her right through the heart when she remembered Ava’s small voice calling her as she was falling into the darkest, deepest sleep.
“Where’s Ava? I need to see her.”
She pushed Tyler away and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. For a split second, she expected to feel the usual dizziness, but it didn’t happen. She felt strong and young, she was capable of anything. The sensation was exhilarating.
“Oh, and you have to tell me everything.”
Tyler followed her out of the room.
“Of course I will.”
Amber stopped in her tracks and turned around. She stabbed him in the chest with her index finger, letting her red, sharp fingernail leave a
clear mark on his skin. She couldn’t see it through his T-shirt, but she knew it was there.
“I mean it, Tyler. You’re going to tell me everything about the two men who tried to kidnap me, about this weird sickness I seem to have, and what was in that syringe that’s making me feel like a completely different person. It’s freaking me out, okay?”
Tyler looked deep into her sea blue eyes.
“I’ll tell you everything, Amber. I promise.”
***
“Stephan is what?”
Amber was pacing the room frantically. The shifter blood in her system didn’t allow her to sit still for a minute.
“He’s a member of the Arte di Calimala,” repeated Tyler. He knew it sounded crazy and his mate needed time to process the information.
“You’re saying that I’ve been married to an… an assassin?”
The horror in her eyes made everyone in the room avert their gaze. It was hard for them to understand what she was going through now. Luckily, Ava had accepted to play a video game in her and Amber’s room, and the headphones prevented her from hearing their conversation. Amber and Rebecca had made sure she was completely absorbed by the game before going into the living room, where everyone else was waiting for them.
“This is what you wanted to tell me back at the cabin,” Amber said. There was sadness and regret in her voice now. “But I didn’t let you… So stupid of me.”
“It wasn’t a good time,” said Tyler.
She resumed her impatient pacing. Even Tristan felt exhausted only by looking at her. He knew how humans reacted to pure shifter blood in the first few hours. The initial effects would wear off and Amber would be fine until she needed her next dose. Camille was at her improvised desk, working on new batches. However, she could take that much blood from Tyler, even though he was a bear-shifter. For now, she would only make three more doses. Because Amber hadn’t been on the drug for long, they would probably last her a while.
“And he drugged me!” She yelled. “He fuckin’ drugged me! Why? Why would anyone do something like this? I know he never loved me, but this is too much… This is ridiculous!”
Tyler shook his head. He didn’t know what to tell her.
Rebecca had made tea for everyone, but the cups had gotten cold on the table. No one had even touched them.
“He had a good reason,” said Kassandra. “Shifter blood is not something the Calimala simply plays with. It’s difficult to obtain, as they first have to capture the shape-shifters to take their blood. He had a very good reason to do it.”
Amber turned to the old woman.
“And what might that reason be, pray tell?”
Kassandra shrugged in defeat. “That I don’t know. I know you’re angry, Amber.”
“Angry?! I’m not angry!” She laughed. “I just want to murder him!”
Tyler smiled. “I feel you,” he thought. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but his plan was to do the job for Amber. There was no way Stephan Castell was getting away with this… alive.
“Don’t let this anger consume you,” the empath begged gently.
Amber huffed and plopped in an armchair.
“I lived a lie.” Her voice was even now. She wasn’t shouting anymore, she wasn’t rebelling against the universe. “I married a psychopath. I was doomed the second he set eyes on me, wasn’t I? If a Castell wants something, a Castell will get it. And what’s worse is that all my friends are in danger now, all the people I care about.”
She looked around the room. Rebecca and Emil. Becca herself had told her Emil was a wolf-shifter. She had found out in Segesvar, just two or three days after she had met him. She had made the discovery herself, and maybe that was why it had been easier for her to accept it. Becca already knew about the Calimala and she was helping Emil build a secret organization which would unite shape-shifters and supernaturals from all over the world in the fight against the Assassins’ Guild. Amber was impressed at how brave her friend was.
Tristan Ward and Camille. She had met them only an hour ago, when she had woken up from her coma. Without them, she wouldn’t have been here now. Without them, she would have probably never woken up, and Ava would have been an orphan.
Tyler. The man she loved. The man who had saved her from the kidnappers and assassins Stephan had sent after her. Her best friend, her mate.
Kassandra. An empath. Would the Castells leave her alone, knowing she had witnessed everything? Certainly not. Kassandra had encouraged her to call Tyler even though so many years had passed. Thanks to her, she had found happiness, if only for a short time.
Ava. Her daughter was playing in the other room, oblivious to the madness of the past couple of days. Ava was a Castell, after all. Would Stephan let her take his daughter away from him? Would she be forced to become part of the guild when she grew up? The idea of her sweet, innocent Ava turning into a cold-blooded assassin turned her stomach. No, she couldn’t allow that to happen. She couldn’t allow Stephan and his fucked up family to ruin the lives of all the people she loved so much. Who were they, anyway? Yes, they were rich and powerful, but they weren’t unbeatable, were they? Amber’s mind was working at full speed. The shifter blood running through her veins was doing miracles to her concentration.
“So, the Calimala uses shifter blood to enhance their physical abilities. Have I gotten that right?” she asked.
Tristan nodded. “Yes. They have been doing it for centuries. Once they figured out that witches could separate the venom, they started injecting themselves with the pure blood to gain sharper senses, greater physical strength, speed, the ability to heal faster, and longer lifespans. Basically, pure shifter blood gives them all the advantages a shape-shifter has without turning them into one.”
“And that’s a weakness…” She was thinking of the two men Tyler had knocked out so easily in his bear form.
“Yes, it’s a weakness we can explore. In our animal form, we are stronger than any assassin on shifter blood. However, they are still very well trained.”
“So well trained that they manage to capture shifters and drain them of blood.”
Tristan hesitated. In truth, this particular detail had eluded him for years. Yes, the assassins were good and they could be quite dangerous if, say, a dozen of them cornered a shape-shifter, but he still couldn’t figure out how they managed to capture shifters alive. Even with all the resources he had, there were still things he didn’t know about the Calimala, secrets he had yet to discover. He looked over at Tyler, then at Emil. Maybe they were right. If Tristan joined the Order of the Severins and shared his knowledge, Tyler could use his hacking skills to find out more about the guild. The three of them would be stronger working together than separately.
“Why do they go through so much trouble to eliminate the venom from the shifter blood when they could take the thing as it is and turn into shape-shifters? They would be much stronger then. Invincible.”
Tristan smiled indulgently. “The Calimala believe in the purity of the human species. They consider shifters and all supernaturals dirty, unnatural, because they were created by witches. They didn’t appear as a direct result of the planet’s evolution.”
“Bullshit!” Amber crossed and uncrossed her legs, then grabbed a cup of cold tea from the table. She still had trouble sitting still. “That’s the most retarded thing I heard.”
The lion-shifter shrugged. He rather liked the human female. He thought how wonderful it would be to find someone like her one day. He felt Camille’s eyes on him, and turned towards the witch. He furrowed his brows and stared at her until she looked away. She had finished making Amber’s doses some minutes ago and slipped in the living room unnoticed.
“Tyler told me about the legend,” said Amber. “Now, my question is: why would witches accept to work for the Assassins’ Guild when one of them was the one who is said to have created the shifters in the first place? Isn’t this betrayal?”
Tyler was the one who answered her.
“T
hey never did it willingly. In the Middle Ages, when the Arte di Calimala became more than the guild of cloth merchants which kept the economy of Florence alive, they hunted witches just the same as they hunted shifters, vampires, and the rest. Even though witches are one hundred per cent human, their unique abilities make them supernatural. When they found out they were the only ones who knew what made shifters so strong, and that they were, actually, the only ones who could take those amazing skills and powers and give them to the assassins, they started capturing them and forcing them to work for them in exchange for their lives. In time, it is possible that things have changed. Now, there might be witches who work for the Calimala because they believe that’s the right thing to do. We can’t know for sure. But, initially, they were forced. They either helped the assassins, or they died.”
Camille shrunk even more in her chair. It was weird to witness such a conversation about her own people. She felt Amber and Rebecca looking at her from time to time, as if they were waiting for her to say something, but she ignored them. Kassandra was, however, harder to ignore. There was something about the woman. She wasn’t a witch, of that she was sure, but she had some sort of powers. Every time Kassandra looked at her, Camille felt naked and vulnerable. She hated it.
