The way her eyes lit up and a smile curved on her face, I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. But I didn’t have much choice in the matter either. “I’ll trust you, but don’t be screwing with me, got it?”
“Oh Victor, I would not dream of that.”
Chapter 2
I woke up to the sunlight breaking through my tent. It didn’t seem that long ago when I fell asleep, but the morning wouldn’t be denied. The light, white fabric that the tent was made of offered little more than cover to us. Fortunately, the Sphinx set up some sort of perimeter with her magic that kept that animals and the rain out. Storms on Neverland were particularly nasty.
I walked out to the fire, which had rabbits roasting over the flame. The smell didn’t even trigger anything with me anymore. I’d eaten way too many rabbits while being stuck here. A craving for well-cooked red meat caused a rumble in my stomach.
My attention went from breakfast to the storm clouds building in the center of the island. There wasn’t any thunder yet, but I imagined by midafternoon, we’d be in for another boomer.
From what I gathered, we were on the western edge of the island. In fact, my little run last night was the shortest path to the beach on our side of the island. To the east and towards the center, that was a place I hadn’t even seen the Sphinx venture to. I asked her what was out there and she answered simply with, “certain death.”
The one place I know she went to a lot was just south of us, the former camp of Pan and the Lost Boys. In fact, it was there where the Gem of Babylon was being held. When she told me, which was one of the first nights I was actually coherent, that she put it there for safe keeping, the irony wasn’t lost on me. Pan and Jonathan had done everything in their power to get that jewel and now it was hidden at the one place Pan would never want to go again.
I yanked the rabbits off the spit when they were good and done. I knew all three were meant for me as the Sphinx ate hers the moment she killed ‘em. A side effect of being a wolf means I usually like my meat pretty rare, but I wasn’t taking any chances with these things. Each day I let mine cook until they were well done, just in case they had any weird Neverland parasites in ‘em.
I heard the approach of the Sphinx; she’d obviously been back to the camp. I yelled over to her, “When do I get to go on a field trip down there?”
She laughed at my always wanting to leave this little prison she’d set me up in. “I would have thought after this morning’s excitement, you would be pleased to stay here for a day or two.”
“I’m getting bored just sitting here. If I’m not eating small woodland creatures, I’m just waiting for the impending storms or rousing small talk sessions we have together.”
“Patience Victor, that is all about to change.” She dropped a small sack into my lap. “I know it is not your pistol, but it is time you were given a weapon.”
Unsure, I opened the bag and saw a very ornate silver knife at the bottom. It had carvings in the side that made it look very old and a worn leather handle. “Where did you get that? It almost looks like one of Pan’s.”
“It was probably one of his that was left behind. The blade is made of silver.”
Silver – the bane of all supernatural creatures. My grandpa’s tantos he’d made for me were silver too. In fact, Full Moon made its name years back with the old silver mine just outside of town. I don’t know why, but this weapon felt good in my hand. A small voice inside of me wanted to test my luck and try and cut the Sphinx, but an even louder, primal voice told me how futile it’d be. Two curse, two voices? I doubt that was a coincidence.
Her smile was unnerving. “I know you want to try to attack me, but it would not work. Silver may sting, yes, but a blade that small would not be fatal to me.” She had a weird way of knowing what I was thinking a lot of times. “I do not blame you though. I am holding you here against your will.”
That she was, but she’d also saved my life. I couldn’t deny it, without her, I’d be deader than dead. I sat the knife down on the sand before looking up. “Thanks for trusting me enough to give me that.”
“Trust, yes I do trust you. To further prove that, I’d like for you to come with me on an excursion. I cannot promise safety though, so you will need to be protected and ready for anything.”
It was like being rewarded for being on my best behavior. “Where are we going?”
She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder the way she’d just came. “I am going to take you to Pan’s camp. There is plenty scattered around that you could learn from and also, it might give you some insight into your enemies.”
I picked up my new knife and went into my tent. I didn’t have much in terms of clothes, just what the Sphinx ‘made’ for me. Her magic was a thing I’d never experienced before – the way she pulled materials the island gave to us together and turned them into useful items was absurd. I pulled on a pair of dark down pants made from a deer hide, a light linen shirt, and the jacket from something I didn’t recognize. Whatever it’d been, the skin was waterproof and protected against the rain.
For herself, the Sphinx could form the magic around her to any form she wanted. Lately, she’d been going for a jungle explorer, but today, she’d kept the black samurai looking get up on. Strapped to her back was a long sword that I’d actually not seen her use yet. Something told me that if she needed to, we’d be in a world of hurting.
I rejoined her over by the fire. “I’m ready whenever you are.”
She looked off to the distance, taking in the storm clouds. “The sooner we get there, the better. Worse case, we can take up shelter there until the weather clears.”
For the first sanctioned time, I was leaving the camp. Last night, I couldn’t see a damn thing, so I was excited to see the island during the day. The dense growth and closely gathered trees made it hard to see anything from my stationary position. As we left, the first thing that caught my eyes were the giant dinosaur looking footprints right outside the camp border.
I put my foot in one of them and it wasn’t even close to the same size. “What the hell made this?”
“Push the image from your mind if you can. That is a lesson for another day.” Reluctantly, I did as she said. There was no forcing the issue with her.
We were quiet, as if not to disturbed anything that might be just out of sight, sleeping. I saw more weird footprints and even stranger, marks of trees that looked downright vicious. Some of the trees were a good fifty, sixty feet around and the claw marks looked to go in quite a ways. Whatever could go that, well they’d filet me with no problems.
I saw the Sphinx’s hand go up and close into a fist. I immediately stopped walking and held my breath. I didn’t smell anything, other than the normal scents in the forest, but I heard something. It was off in the distance, but the ‘thump’ sound was deep. It sounded like someone hitting a big old bass drum. Whatever was making that sound was very big.
Softly, “Come Victor, move quickly!”
The urgency in her whisper wasn’t lost on me, so as soon as she moved; I did my best to keep up step for step. It was tense, but soon the thumping noise was well clear of us. At that point she finally slowed down. “The creatures of this island are territorial. Even in all of Pan’s time in exile, he never was able to befriend them.”
“How do you know that?”
“For an insane vampire, he kept very good notes. Most of them are still in his camp.”
“Ah-ha!” I pointed at her in victory. “So that’s why you spend so much time there!”
“No, not at all. I skimmed his writings and moved on. Nothing he wrote was useful to me.” Well that put a damper on me. “I am more interested in what is under his camp.”
Under? I never thought of anything being under the ground on this horrible island. “Did you find anything good?”
She shook her head yes. “Little did he or any of the Lost Boys know, but their camp was setting right on top of something so special and yet so secret, that even if t
hey discovered it, I doubt any would have known what to do with it.”
Underground seemed a good place to put stuff. The Gem of Babylon for instance… “Well, what’s under there woman! Tell me already!”
“I do not have to tell you.” Well that sucks. “But I can show you. We are here.”
Sure enough, one minute we were in dense forest, and the next we crossed into something that looked like village in the trees. In the center was a large open pit. It looked like it had been used for large bonfires. “Whoa… where did this come from?”
“Pan constructed it well; this is his hidden camp. Before we go to his personal dwelling so you may read and learn, come with me.” She reached out with her hand. I hesitated, but I took it. “Excellent. Let me show you a secret worth dying for.”
I was scared and excited at the same time. We walked around the perimeter to a spot where a large boulder was wedged into the ground. The Sphinx touched it and it opened up, revealing a stairway that led straight down. Smells ranging from mold, to sea water rushed out of the open door.
Beneath the odors you’d expect this close to the water, there was another underlying presence (not so much a smell, but I could tell it was there) to this passage. It gave me a brief flashback to the London Labyrinth and its secrets. For some reason, I got a twinge of pain from the scar on my chest. It only lasted a split second.
She took a step down and beckoned me to follow. “You will not let a woman go into the big scary cave by herself, would you?”
Rubbing my chest, I knew better than to believe that load of malarkey. But curiosity was eating at the back of my brain over this secret. “Of course not ma’am. It’d be my pleasure to escort you down.”
Chapter 3
**Liz**
The flight to Ireland had been an exhausting affair. I rented a car for Bernard and I, a small compact vehicle was all that was available, and we headed to the hotel. Our rooms were joined, but separated by a door that locked on my side, so we each had a bit of privacy. He may have been like family, but it would have been very odd to share personal space.
This was the second time in my long life I grieved for someone this long and with this much emotion. Victor reminded me a bit of Remy, my first true love from centuries ago. Both were infuriating at times, could be childish, but each was loyal to a fault. Remy’s death had occurred after we fell out of love, but it still hurt. This time, I was still very much in love with Victor when my brother ripped him from my life.
Both Bernard and I put our grieving on hold to undertake this mission of revenge. For me, I could not let myself heal from the pain. That was what was fueling me; the incredible amount of pain Jonathan had bestowed upon me. For Bernard, he was the sword his family would wield to get retribution. As he told me, nothing hurt more than knowing his son would never see his uncle Vic again.
Traveling with Vic’s brother was incredibly hard. He looked like an older, scruffier version of my deceased love. Even his mannerisms were almost identical. I think Bernard knew how tough this was and offered to tell me embarrassing stories of his brother’s past.
We were sitting at a local pub outside of Dublin called McCray’s and Bernard was on his fourth beer. “So Vic is like eight years old and he’s stuck in a tree! Dad came running out and said ‘Damnit boy, you’re a freaking wolf not a yellow bellied cat!’ Then he yells at me and tells me it’s my fault he’s stuck up there!”
I took a drink of my beer and lifted an eyebrow. “Was it your fault?”
“I can’t help it he took me seriously that wolves always land on their feet. After I climbed up and got him down, old Callum put a whoopin’ on me.”
I smiled a bit, trying to enjoy the company, but it was hard. “Thank you for coming along Bernard. I know it was hard to leave your family.”
He sat his mug down on the counter. “There was no decision to be made. My brother needs to be avenged and the two of us will do that.”
“Victor would be alive if he had not met me.”
“Nonsense Elizabeth!” Bernard put his finger under my chin and lifted it up. “My brother was never appreciated in our town like he should’ve been. You, as sad as it is, were the first person to love him for being the big dumb goof he was. If it’s anyone’s fault, it lies with the Red pack. We should’ve done a better job after his incident.”
The incident Bernard was talking about was when Victor did not turn into a werewolf. From that point on, he was an outcast, relegated to the Omega of his pack. “Be that as it is, Jonathan is my brother and he killed him in cold blood.”
“This isn’t easy for either of us. It never is with family.”
I raised my mug. “I will drink to that.”
As we finished our current rounds, two men walked over to us. More specifically, two wolves. Each one approached Bernard and reached out with a hand. After the pleasantries, Bernard introduced them to me. “Liz, this is Fergus and Reggie. They are the Alpha and Beta for the local Red pack here.”
Fergus, the wild, mop topped red haired man, reached over to me. “Good ta meet ye lass.”
“And you as well Alpha.”
His faced turned as red as his hair. “No need ta call me Alpha. Yer with friends now and we’d be willin’ to help ye out.”
The Beta, Reggie, was more composed than his Alpha. A crew cut fit his muscled physique. “Callum reached out ta his old blood and explained yer predicament. We’d be willin’ ta give the two of ye any recourse necessary ta complete the job.”
“Your help and willingness is greatly appreciated.” I showed the barkeep four fingers as he looked over. I might as well buy my new friends a round. “My first question is in regards to the O’Byrne clan. I know Jonathan will try to make contact with them.”
The two newcomers looked at each other; their faces were touched with reluctance. Fergus swallowed hard. “Those old witches, ye don’t wanna mess with them. They’d rather turn ye inta some kinda vermin then help ye.”
“Liz here has a bargaining chip though Fergus.” Bernard smiled at me. “She’s got an O’Byrne working for her.”
“Ye do?! How the hell did ye pull that off?”
The barkeep sat the four beers down and I waited until he was out of range. “It is a long story Fergus, but suffice to say her name is Rosette and I saved her from a rather grim fate.”
Reggie slammed his bar down on the wooden surface. “Old Rosette is in America? Oh boy, this story is gettin’ better and better!”
“You know her?” As far as I knew, Rosette had nothing to do with wolves in Ireland.
“Of course we know her lass. She be the daughter of the head witch Anita.” Fergus’s eyes went dark. “Bad times when Rosette went missin’. Anita took her wrath out on a bunch of farmers a few towns over. She’s not ta be trifled with.”
“Dealing with witches is turning into something of a specialty for me.” Little did any of them, including Bernard, know of my past. I had dealt with a very dark witch once, Ameena Snokberg. “I will not drag your pack into this, but I must find this Anita.”
Reggie leaned in and whispered something into Fergus’s ear. The Alpha’s expression went serious. “Very well lass, we’d be willin’ to get ye information. Reggie will look into it and get back to ye.”
Bernard seemed keen to know more about my previous experiences. “What exactly do you know about witches?”
“I lost a very good friend to a Polish witch from the Snokberg coven. She was a nasty piece of work that had a Yeti under her control.”
All three wolves nearly lost their beer at the word Yeti. Bernard wiped his mouth off with his sleeve. “A Yeti? Come on, those are an urban legend.”
“I thought so too until I saw one for myself. Under the control of Ameena Snokberg, it ripped a fully matured Red Alpha in half.”
That piece of information hit close to home with Fergus. “Shit! Did ye put the creature down?”
“No, we broke the witch’s hold over the creature.” Getting to my point,
“I need to know what creatures this Anita might be able to gain access to. I do not want another situation like that to take me by surprise.”
“Lass, we’re gonna need another round of beer. Do ye know how many creatures are in Irish folklore?”
“Fergus is right, which be a first.” The more serious Beta pulled his stool closer. “There be leprechauns, banshees, cait siths, and selkies just to start.”
“Don’t bore her with piddly stuff Reg!” Fergus was putting the brews away faster than I could keep up. “If anything, she’d be wantin’ to hear about the Dullahan.”
My head was begging to hurt. “You know, this is why no one pays attention to your folklore. You have too many damn creatures to keep up with!”
“Yer on the Emerald Isle now lassie!” Fergus was having too much fun at my expense. “The mysteries of this place even elude my pack and we’d be livin’ here for centuries.”
“Why don’t you guys tell us about the Dullahan?”
Fergus left me to my thoughts and went to Bernard. “The Dullahan is a miserable spectral beast. He’d be a great big bugger with no head, with an enchanted suit of armor, and be swingin’ his giant sword around.”
Calmly putting his beer down, “Well that sounds awful.”
“Ye don’t know the half of it Bernard! The Dullahan can only be controlled by the one who summons him.” Seeing both of our faces go white, “But don’t worry ye two! I mean this only be a legend and can’t possibly exist right?”
After finishing my beer, and impressing the wolves gathered around me, “Yeah, it cannot be real. Legends never are…” I tried my best to keep my sarcasm to myself.
Chapter 4
“Sweet mercy, it smells awful down here!”
If the Sphinx was bothered by the dead fish, she sure didn’t show it. “I am sure a great many things have perished in this tunnel. No matter, do not let it concern you.”
The Curse of Oberon (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 3) Page 2
