by Oxford, Rain
The entire “studio” was wall-to-wall electronics; an eight-by-eight room filled with beeping, buzzing, and blinking. This wasn’t the only room in the house with his gear, but this was the only one I needed. The main computer in front of me was about the most complex thing I had ever seen, yet Marcus often tried to teach me how it worked. All I needed was to flip a few switches, hit a command button, type in a few codes, and click yes, when it asked if I wanted it to self-destruct. The ominous ticking was meant to sound like a bomb, and it achieved its purpose of giving me the chills. Only… that isn’t right.
I felt like something went very wrong. All the blinks, beeps and buzzes were right, the lights were the correct colors, and the process wasn’t rocket science, but I felt like I needed to get out right that second.
My phone rang.
I exited the room, not bothering to close the door, and went to the back window as I answered the phone.
“You were followed.”
“Not a chance.” The rhythm of buzzing from the control room suddenly changed and my heart dropped into my stomach. Explosions in the forest around the house shook trees.
“She tripped the outer security! Run!”
The door to the control room slammed shut and the living room started filling with gas. I wadded part of my shirt up to cover my face and went to the kitchen, where I pushed the fridge out of the way. By then, I could barely see, so I kicked blindly until the wall panel snapped and I was able to slide down the escape shoot. I landed in the pitch black basement.
Cautious of any more traps, I pulled out my penlight and made my way past boxes and power tools until I got to the second escape tunnel. By the time I made it out into the forest, the explosions had stopped. Fire was going to be an issue, but Marcus had someone else to deal with that.
My phone rang, startling me. I had no idea how I managed to hold onto the damn thing. “You’re getting too old this job, brother,” Marcus said when I answered it.
“I hate you.”
“I bet you say that to all the guys who nearly get you killed on a weekly basis.”
“Nobody goes out of their way to get my face blown off like you.”
I wanted to go back to school where I could rest. There I only had to deal with vampires, shifters, fae, wizards, dragons, betrayal, magical weapons of mass destruction, and shadows that kill people. Yeah, my life is a fucking cakewalk.
* * *
I woke to a familiar pounding on the door. Familiar and dreadful. One might ask how a knock could sound dreadful. A dreadful knock could be impatient, too hard, seeping with desperation, or, for an intuitive person, feel ominous. This was a case of all of the aforementioned. Thus, I knew it could only mean one person.
If it weren’t for my mother sleeping in my room, I would have ignored it, but she was a light sleeper and needed her rest. I got up from the couch and went to the door. Darwin sat up beside the coffee table, awoken by the knocking as well.
Regina was soaking wet and crying when I opened the door, which made me forget what I was going to say. “What happened?”
“The cops took me to a cabin in the woods, but a huge creature broke in and attacked them. I escaped. I think it killed them.”
“What kind of creature?”
“I didn’t see it well.” When she took a step forward, I held up my hand to ward her off.
Part of me was worried about her head hurting from my magic and part of me just didn’t want to let her in the house. Unfortunately, despite the fact that she made my life Hell any chance she got, I couldn’t stand seeing a woman cry. These weren’t Regina’s standard fake tears. “Darwin, would you get her a towel?”
He left the room, but not without shooting her a glare.
“What did you see?”
“It appeared out of nowhere.”
“Out of the shadows?”
She shook her head. “It was invisible. There was a sound outside, one of the cops answered, and he was slung across the room. I heard a growl before the cops started screaming. I got out then.”
“He was invisible?” Darwin asked.
I left Regina at the door and picked up my gun from the coffee table. Darwin and I shared a look as he handed me the towel. We knew only one shifter who could turn invisible, and I saw three options: Gale got the amulet back, killed Henry, and took his power; Henry turned on us; or there was someone else who had the ability. Knowing the jaguar shifter, I was leaning towards the latter. Henry was nothing if not resourceful and although he wasn’t as loyal as Darwin, I trusted him not to turn on us. At least not in his human form.
Darwin nodded subtly; we communicated telepathically enough that we had a pretty good idea of what the other person was thinking. In this case, we were agreeing to believe Henry innocent and alive until proven otherwise.
I returned to Regina and placed the towel over her sopping hair. She took the opportunity to step forward into my arms. I remembered then what I saw in her in the first place. Regina could be extremely sweet, open, and vulnerable. It was all a façade, of course. Plus, I was lonely.
I should have gotten a dog.
I was expecting it when she hugged me. Habit kept me from pushing her away immediately, and when I did, I was gentle. Then I pressed the barrel of the gun against her head. “Sorry, Gale, you’re not my type.”
The man imitating Regina reached out as if to push me away and something sliced through my shoulder. I covered the wound instinctively with my left hand and held back a grunt as the sting worsened.
“You missed,” I said.
She/he grinned. “I wasn’t going for your throat. How did you figure it out so quickly?”
I indicated her/his arm with my gun. “No track marks, not even the scars. The newer marks on Regina’s arms were hours old, yet her eyes were completely clear. I figured you hypnotized her with a vampire thrall, got her blood, and used your stolen shifter powers to change into her with that blood. You had to have used a powerful thrall to break Clara’s. Also, I know a woman’s touch and you don’t have it.”
Gale slowly changed. My skin crawled as Regina’s womanly features fattened into Gale’s. His hair darkened and became shorter, his jaw thickened, and the baggy black sweater and matching sweatpants filled out to fit the man, who was about my size.
“Not another one,” Darwin groaned.
I don’t think it ever occurred to Darwin to be afraid of Gale, who had infinitely many powers. “No, he’s using stolen shifter powers along with Regina’s DNA.” I reached out to control his mind, but it was blocked.
“I may not have your power yet, but I still have more than enough to keep you out of my head,” Gale said.
“What do you want?” Darwin asked, more irritated than angry. We spent all summer trying to find Gale, but we never actually came up with a plan for what to do afterwards. On top of that, my mother was in the other room.
Gale grinned, completely unperturbed by my gun. “I got what I came for.” He stepped back and vanished.
Not in a cloud of smoke or the shadows or anything; he just disappeared.
Chapter 2
I saw her running, heard her panting breaths, smelled the blood seeping from the wound across her waist, and felt her heart hammering in her chest. I wasn’t seeing through her eyes or mine. I sensed the location of the dark street because she knew where she was. It was dark and raining. The streets had bad drainage systems, so water pooled at her ankles. It was just a few degrees away from snowing. Her wound hurt. Exhaustion and blood loss made her legs weak, but she had to keep running. It was all she could do.
She was prey. Someone was after her; someone who knew her strengths and weaknesses. He was a killer by nature and by profession. Her wound was slowing her down because she was losing blood too fast.
She tripped over a pipe sticking out of the road and fell heavily into the water. Without enough energy to even stand back up, she propped herself against the brick wall of the building. An abandoned grocery store. Ironic, she
thought, because she was starving.
The street light about ten feet away, which was the only light remaining in the city, flickered out. Shadows prowled easily now, invisible to all but my eyes. As the light faded for the human eye, my vision accommodated. I could see perfectly in the dark and the rain, as light seemed to reflect from surfaces.
Nothing was in color, but I could see what was warm, what was cold, what was alive, and what shouldn’t have existed at all. Shadows moved; dark shapes which absorbed the light that only my eyes could detect. I could identify them easily against the inanimate, physical reality that the living saw. What preyed in the dark was not a living being.
He had found her. The shadows waited, eagerly watching the hunt draw to a close. They were ready to take every drop of blood left in her. Her eyes closed and she slumped against the brick wall, unable to hold on any longer. Her hand dropped from her abdomen and blood spilled into the dirty water faster. He moved in with practiced ease. This was what he did, and he was the best of his kind.
The shadows shuddered and danced with anticipation.
He knelt in front of her, not minding the frigid water soaking his jeans. It was another sensation to recall later, when he thought back on this kill.
I could see into his mind as easily as I could see into hers. He put the muzzle of the gun to her head slowly, savoring the moment. But she wasn’t dead. Her eyes snapped open. There was no fear as she looked up him, just resignation.
“Krechea sends his regards.”
* * *
If there was anyone in the world whose presence I couldn’t mistake, it was Astrid. She was snuggled up against me on the couch. I was so tired of dealing with people who wanted to ruin me, like Regina, or kill me, like Gale. What Astrid did was horrible and unforgivable.
I pulled her closer, tightening my arms around her so that her face was in the crook of my neck. It was dangerous and stupid, but one thing I knew for sure about Astrid was that she wasn’t out for herself.
She moaned softly. “You’re bleeding.”
“Have you ever heard the name Krechea?” I asked.
“No. Who’s he?” she responded, still half asleep.
I shook my head. “Nobody, probably. I thought I heard his name before and I just had a dream.” I had this particular dream before, yet I was still no closer to saving Astrid. I didn’t know who the man was who shoots her, what he was after, when or where all this was supposed to happen, or why she was hurt in the first place.
She sat up. “What kind of dream?” Through the window in the kitchen, the barest hint of morning light was creeping in.
“Get in the closet.”
“What kind of dream?” she asked again, more insistently.
I stood, ready to force her into the hallway closet, when the light reached her skin. The pale shade of her cheek reddened, but didn’t burn. “Why… How are you able to stand that?”
“I’m getting better.” She stood. “What kind of dream?”
“The kind I shouldn’t have had.” Not without my ring, at least. I obviously needed to go back to training with Vincent. As if summoned, Ghost appeared, instantly spitting and hissing at Astrid.
She rolled her eyes. “Can’t you do something about him?”
“He hates everyone. The only thing I could do is put him out of our misery, and I think my uncle would object to that.” The cat vanished, leaving behind a letter. I ignored it. “Are you sure that isn’t burning you?” I asked, reaching out and stroking her cheek gently. It was growing even redder.
“It hurts, but it’s less intense each time.”
“Does this mean you’re not a full vampire?”
“It’s not that easy to determine. Stephen thinks I might have one vampire parent and one other paranormal. If one of my parents were human, I would be full vampire. He also suggested that neither of my parents were vampires, but that my grandfather might have been giving me vampire blood long enough that my body adapted to it. That would explain why I changed so much after I killed him.”
“How did you change?”
“I think clearer now.”
“So when you think back to that night…?”
“I wish I could go back and kill my grandfather and Joseph Sanders all over again. Your mother, however, didn’t deserve what I did. I’m still the same person I was that night, but I’m unlikely to snap like that again. Above all else, you can count on me not to ever attack you.”
“You betrayed me that night. I still hate you for that.”
“Yet you slept right next to me and I didn’t kill you. I never would. I hate you a little bit for that as well, because I would do anything to protect you. I would kill anyone for you.”
“Why are you here?”
“You never told me what happened after I left the school. I heard from Stephen that you confronted Gale in the tunnels under the castle. I should have stayed. You should have told me to stay.”
“Darwin, Henry, and I defeated Gale. Or, at least we slowed him down.”
“That’s not the point. I don’t care if you love me or hate me or both, as long as you can’t stand to be away from me. I want you to look at me like you used to.”
“Why does that sound ominous?”
“I’m going to kill Gale myself, and anyone else who threatens you.”
“That’s the vampire talking. Not long after you found Seda, you told me all life was important and precious.”
“I was wrong.”
“That’s why I’ll never look at you the same way. I want my Astrid back. Get in the closet.” She obeyed, but not without giving me a heartbreaking frown on the way. I picked up the letter Ghost left behind, which was written with the normal green ink and spidery script. I expected my uncle’s usual, overly wordy letter that was both cryptic and encouraging.
Dear Devon,
There is a way through for you now. I must be brief, for we are out of time. From a place where boundaries bleed and fears fester, I have realized the flaw in my alliance. You must not trust your eyes, not even your Sight. The answers are clear solely in the absence of light. You are the only one who can make this journey, and you must do it alone.
I am afraid this may be the end for me, and I find myself with a single regret; you should have been my son. Farewell, nephew.
Sincerely,
Your Uncle
“What?” I asked aloud. When the letter didn’t respond, I looked around for the cat. “What?!”
I pulled the small pouch from my neck, snapping the thin chain, and upended it until my mysterious ring that Vincent had me use in training fell out into my hand. I tossed the pouch aside and slipped the ring on my left index finger, still clutching the letter tightly.
My vision darkened until I saw a world of true horror. It was like an old village where the houses were merely straw huts and the roads were dirt path. This wasn’t the gruesome part. There were bodies in random piles, burning. At first, I thought it was an archaic time when the plague was rampant and people were trying to stop infection from spreading… then I saw the little boy. He was the only person I saw alive, and he was eating the stomach of a woman who, by the looks of it, had been dead for more than a week. The boy’s eyes were red.
A burning sensation in my hands distracted me and the vision suddenly seemed to melt. I took the ring off and found the letter in flames. Fire ate the paper in an instant, leaving me with a hand full of ash and questions without answers. My uncle needed help and I had no idea where he was.
Although I had tried to see into Vincent’s mind before, it was always blocked to me, so I didn’t know what to look for. I also didn’t have anything of his I could use to track him. Hell, I didn’t even have a damn phone number.
At least, not Vincent’s phone number. I picked up my cell phone and called Maseré. “Can you find out where Vincent is?” I asked without pleasantries.
“I’ll call Logan; he’ll know.” The alpha wolf was all business. Like his son, he could go from goofy
and playful to completely serious in an instant. He hung up without another word, obviously hearing worry in my voice.
Darwin came out of Amelia’s room then. “What’s the plan?” he asked with a tone identical to his father’s.
“Why were you in her room?”
“I heard your girlfriend break in last night. Also, I didn’t want there to be a witness if your real ex-wife showed up and you wanted to hit her or shoot her or something.”
“I wouldn’t shoot Regina.”
He frowned. “You shot Astrid. Speaking of, where is the fanged fiend?”
“With your father, probably. I don’t think Gale was–”
“I was talking about Astrid, not Regina.”
“She’s in the closet.”
“Really? I thought she was totally into you.” I scowled and he rolled his eyes. “So she’s in the hallway closet, which is about a foot away from where your mum is sleeping? And you didn’t freak out and jump to conclusions?”
He was right; I had put Astrid’s safety above my mother’s. “We need to deal with Gale. What do you think he’s after, the amulet, or revenge? Use your probability.”
“That doesn’t work great on motives. Also, I don’t know hardly anything about him. Felicity gave herself up for him, and that was something I could never have expected. Personally, I would rather deal with Gale than her, but we don’t know how powerful he really is. Between revenge and more power, I’m thinking he wants more power.”
“I disagree,” Amelia said from the doorway of her room. She shrugged shyly when we looked at her. “It just sounds to me like she was the only person he had. I would think that the pain of losing the only person you love takes priority to gaining more power when you already believe you’re the most powerful.”
“You have a point,” Darwin said. “Besides, he did show up here looking like Regina instead of showing up at Henry’s place looking like…” His eyes widened dramatically as he trailed off. “We need to warn Henry. That must have been why he cut you; he wasn’t trying to distract you but get your DNA. He’s probably going to pretend to be you and get the amulet from Henry.”
