by Sean Stone
"If that is the case then I wish you all the best in your endeavours. And you will need this." She handed the phial of purple liquid to Clara. "Your powers at this moment are weak. Jamal has been inhibiting them. You wouldn't last long in a fight with Nickolas' weakest disciple. Consume just a mouthful of this elixir each day and your powers will grow. On the day that you are to face Nickolas, consume all that remains."
Clara took the phial. Learning that Jamal had been sabotaging her whilst pretending to help her was the biggest shock. More so than learning that he was Nick's right-hand man. It was like it was the final confirmation that he was not on her side. She nodded respectfully to Kayla and she nodded back. They probably would not be meeting again and both of them knew it. The chances were fairly high that by the end of the week they'd both be dead. But that would not stop Clara. She would not even consider stopping. Katrina had already foretold Nick's downfall and if that meant Clara had to sacrifice her life then she would do it a thousand times over. She marched down the steps and out of the church. She needed to hear the plan from Katrina.
Clara went straight back to the house. Katrina told her everything she needed to know and then Clara headed back to work. It was time to brief Phil, and then start putting things in place. When she walked into Phil's office Genevieve Laurent was sitting with him. Since the new recruits had arrived the SIT headquarters had become common knowledge to the races. Clara looked at Genevieve and a chill passed over her. Katrina had said that she would be here. Clara had seen enough to know that Katrina was the real deal, but now that so much relied upon the seer being correct Clara was appreciating it all a great deal more. She couldn't stop thinking about Katrina's warning, though. One minor change could throw everything off course.
"Clara, Mrs Laurent was just filling me in on recent events in the coven," Phil said. "Why don't you join us. I'd rather have all the unit chiefs and my deputy but they're out." Clara wanted to warn him about Jamal there and then but she couldn't tell Genevieve. Kayla had warned her to only tell Phil the main bulk of things.
She closed the door and took a seat at the edge of Phil's desk.
"It turned out that the Thirteen were not responsible for the recent murders. A ghost had possessed Adam Kent," Phil said.
"What?" The word flew out of Clara's mouth. Phil's statement was possibly the most ludicrous thing Clara had heard all day. Then another thought occurred to her. If the coven weren't against Nick then the plan was already off course.
"Yes. Henry Montford had come back with a score to settle. I won't bore you with all the details, I'll let Director Gatling fill you in later."
"What about Adam?" Clara suddenly thought about him. It explained the weird way he'd been acting. But had Henry killed him in the possession or what?
"He's alive," Genevieve said. She looked own. "But barely. He's in hospital in a coma. The whole thing seems to have left him in a rather bad way. For the time being, I will be leading the coven. Just until Adam is back on his feet."
"Will he ever be?" Clara asked. Genevieve shrugged. "So I suppose this means you no longer want to fight the Thirteen?"
"Oh, quite the opposite. Mr Blackwood and his minions sacrificed some of our sorcerers which is what led Adam to Montford Manor in the first place. That wretched bunch of warlocks have a lot to answer for. That is the other reason I am here. The coven now has something of tremendous value to all of us."
"The Horus Sarcophagus," Clara said, recalling Katrina's prediction.
"How did you know?" Genevieve asked.
"A friend told me."
The three of them discussed things for over two hours. Katrina had told Clara exactly how much to tell Genevieve and she made sure to tell her no more than that. Tactics were discussed and plans were made. Genevieve was sworn to secrecy, she was not even to tell the coven until she absolutely had to. Genevieve then departed, leaving Clara to discuss the more private matters with Phil.
"You must be joking?" Phil snapped when Clara told him the truth about Jamal and that for now, they had to continue playing dumb. "What proof do you have of this?" he asked sceptically.
"An ancient told me," she replied.
"You expect me to believe intelligence gained by a mythical being who I haven't even seen?" Phil said sardonically. He still hadn't quite forgiven Clara for showing him up at the meeting between the races. Clara was starting to think he never would.
"Phil, you know I'm working with Katrina."
He sighed. "Alright. But you can;t expect me to keep a mole on the team."
"Nobody but the two of us can know any of these details anyway. Jamal is in the dark. And if we out him it will undo everything. Please, Phil, you have to trust me. If we don't do this exactly as Katrina said then Nick will not fall."
It took a bit of persuading but eventually Phil came round and agreed to leave Jamal for now. But he was not happy. Clara had the worst deal, though. For the next week whilst they set everything up she had to continue to be Jamal's girlfriend. She thought about making excuses to avoid him, but she didn't want him to suspect anything. So she had to pretend. She had to eat meals with him and sleep next to him, all the while knowing that he was the top lieutenant of her biggest enemy. That he had been put in place to spy on her. To sabotage her. She was glad by the time the new moon came and she had slept next to him for the last time. He had a lot to answer for and she only hoped that there would be an opportunity to get those answers before the end. If not then so be it. After all, the ultimate goal was to bring down Nick and if everything went according to plan then today was to be Nickolas Blackwood's last.
*
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Eric was in the garden exercising. Training. Preparing himself. Clara Winters had paid him a visit and invited him to take part in a secret plan. A plan to take down Nickolas Blackwood. Only an idiot would refuse. Nickolas had killed Eric's grandfather and that act had not been forgotten. The pack could not yet be told about the plan. Apparently, it was imperative that only essential people be told until the time was right. That was no problem for Eric. He could wait. Serena had been disgruntled by his refusal to share what Clara had said, but that was a bonus for Eric who wasn't particularly fond of his mother right now. He was just packing his weights away when he heard Natalie issue a small cry from inside. He raced inside and found her in the sitting room. He'd been expecting her attacker to have returned or worse, but she was sitting on the edge of the sofa staring down at her forearm.
"What's the matter?" Eric asked. As he got closer he saw. The upper section of her forearm was dominated by a bright red mark. Several holes lined the outskirts of the mark in a circular formation. The skin around the blemish was dry and flaky. Eric recognised it for what it was straight away. A werewolf bite. His blood ran cold as he realised the reality of what had happened. It had been a werewolf that had attacked Natalie in her flat. There had been no marks because werewolf bites disappear until the new moon appears in the sky. From then the bite gets gradually worse until the full moon when the first transformation takes place. He still didn't understand why there had been no scent. Whoever had done it must have used magic to cancel their scent. A sorcerer was helping them. This could mean war if that sorcerer was a member of the coven.
"Eric?" Natalie asked. He sat down next to her on the sofa. He wished he didn't have to tell her the truth but there was no way around it. He took a deep breath and then told her what it was. She took it quite well all things considered.
"Will it hurt?" she asked. She didn't look at him. Her eyes were fixed on the bite.
"Yes." There was no point lying to her.
"Will I lose control of myself?"
"At first. In time you'll regain it," he had managed to regain control on his second transformation, but he was born into it. She was not.
She nodded. "Is it… all horrible? The whole night?" she asked.
"No. Once the transformation is over it's the most exhilarating feeling in the world. Running with the speed o
f a wolf. The heightened senses. Increased strength. It's the most phenomenal thing you will ever know." But she still had to get through the pain first. "You haven't asked me if there's a way to stop it?"
She shrugged. "I already know there isn't. If there was you would have said so already. Besides, if I'm a werewolf then your pack won't have a problem with us being together anymore." It was so like her to try and find a silver lining. She'd be feeling very differently in two weeks time when her bones starting breaking. Then her words hit Eric properly. Her being turned did solve the problem that the pack had with their relationship. It was convenient. Too convenient.
"Wait here," he said, standing up. He was in a daze as he made his way upstairs. He listened for the sounds of his mother's movements and followed them to the bathroom. He didn't bother knocking. This was no time for courtesy. She was standing fully dressed in front of the sink. Water was flowing into the bath. She turned when she noticed Eric in the doorway.
"You shouldn't walk in on me like that. I might have been naked," she said.
"You must've known I'd find out," he said quietly. He didn't ask if it was her. He didn't need to.
"What?" she looked puzzled. She hadn't clocked on to what he was talking about.
"You weren't there when Holden challenged me. Everyone else was there but not you. Because you were busy doing something else. A backup plan in case Holden lost to me."
"I knew that Holden would lose to you, Eric. He was a weak old man and you are a Royce. He was never going to win," Serena said.
"So that's why you attacked Natalie. You just used Holden as a distraction."
"Attacked Natalie? Nobody attacked Natalie."
"Look out the window, Mother!" Eric growled. She did as he instructed. "What do you see?"
"The new moon," she said quietly. She understood.
"But how did you cover it up? That's the bit that really confuses me. Did you have magical help? Was it someone in the coven?"
She remained looking out the window with her back to him as she spoke. As she confessed. Each word she said only heightened his anger. "I was careful. I trod lightly. I made sure my claws didn't leave a scratch in anything. The only thing I damaged was her."
"And your scent?" he asked through ground teeth. No werewolf could avoid leaving their scent behind.
"I bought an elixir that removed all odours. I used it on myself before I transformed."
"From Alistair."
"No. From a warlock in Maidstone."
"How could you possibly think this would end well?"
Serena turned to face him. She too was angry now. "It has ended well. You insisted on being with her despite her being an inappropriate mate for you, so I made her appropriate."
"You've forced her into a life she cannot escape. Did you ever think about what she wanted?"
"If she didn't want this then she should have stayed away from werewolves."
"You have to be punished for this," Eric said, but there was no punishment that he could think of which fitted the crime.
"Oh, don't be so silly, son. I am your mother."
"I AM YOUR ALPHA!" he roared. "And you do not tell me what I can and cannot do."
"How dare you raise your voice to me. How dare you stand there in my house and speak to me in that way. I have done nothing but look out for you. I told you to stay away from her. I told you to choose a suitable bride. You ignored me. You insisted on her. So I took your little human slut and—" Her words were cut off when Eric's fist smashed her on the side of the head. The force of the blow sent her to her knees. She clutched the side of the bath to stop her from falling completely. Her face was red, from both pain and shock. She looked up in disbelief that her son had actually raised a hand to her. Eric was surprised himself. It was a reflex reaction to her words.
"Do not speak about her that way again," he warned. His whole body was shaking.
"You dare to raise your hand to me," she spoke in barely more than a whisper. "I've given you everything. Even after you fucked up and lost it all, I got it back for you. I made you alpha when you were nothing but a snivelling little boy." She was angry, but that wasn't all. Her voice was low and shaking, he'd never heard her this way before. She was scared. And he liked it. He liked her being afraid. After everything, she had put him through. Everything she had made him do. He'd wanted a quiet life with Natalie, out of the spotlight. She'd forced him to become alpha. Forced him to murder Connor. Now she'd forced his girlfriend into a cursed existence.
"You gave me nothing but burdens. The burden of leading this pack. The burden of being a murderer. You have ruined me," Eric said. In his anger, tears were breaking to the surface of his eyes as he finally confronted her about all she had put him through.
"All these years I've just been trying to turn you into the son I deserved. I should have just accepted I'd given birth to a little girl."
Eric snapped. With a scream of rage, he grabbed his mother by the hair and shoved her face first into the bath. "Shut up!" he screamed as he held her down, under the water. She thrashed wildly, trying to break free, but he would not let up. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" he screamed again and again. As he held her he pictured Connor's face, looking up at him, red and choked of breath. His eyes watery as the last signs of life fled them. Serena had made Eric do that. Now she should feel what it was like to have your breath stolen away. Bubbles rose to the surface in quick succession as she screamed under the water. She was banging about with her fists, whether it was to try and call for help or to fight her way free Eric was not sure. Eventually, her arms stopped moving and flopped down. The rigidity in her neck dissipated and there was no longer any force opposing Eric. He released his mother and let her head bob atop the bath water. His rage was gone. It died with her. He didn't take her out of the bath. He didn't want to see her dead face. He left her leaning over the edge, face down in the water.
He turned to leave and saw Natalie standing in the doorway watching. Her face was neutral. He panicked. She'd seen him murder his own mother. Now she was going to turn on him as well. She'd tell the pack. They'd kill him for this.
"Natalie, let me explain," he started, but the look that appeared on her face stopped him. It wasn't anger or disgust. It was… gratitude.
"Thank you," Natalie said. "You killed her for me. For what she did. Thank you."
"Of course," was all Eric could say. The only reply he had. He took Natalie in his arms, thinking about what she'd said. He hadn't killed Serena for her. It had started being about Natalie, but by the time his mother was dead in the bath, Natalie was the furthest thing from his mind. He'd killed her for him and nobody else. After a few minutes of standing in the bathroom in an embrace, Eric pulled away.
"I have to go. I have to help Clara," he said. "Will you be okay?"
"Of course," Natalie said. "Nobody can hurt me now. Just make sure you come back to me."
"I will," he promised. Although he was not sure it was a promise he would be able to keep.
*
CHAPTER TWENTY
When Nick had been in Elysium one of the lessons Set had taught him was to always stack the deck before going into a fight. Stack it high as you can. He'd done that this time. His disciples had the sword, they were channelling its power into Nick as well as providing him with their own power. That was as high as he could stack it. And he wasn't sure that it would be enough. Osiris was an ancient. The most powerful race in existence. He'd killed Aniketos with relative ease. It had been so long since Nick had gone into a fight not being sure that he would win, that the nerves he felt were almost alien to him. Most of the time there was no worry in a fight. Nick was immortal; if he died he would just come back. But Osiris might well be powerful enough to overcome Nick's immortality, and if he wasn't then all he needed to do was take the ambrotos dagger from Nick and kill him with that. Nick would have preferred to leave the dagger in a safe place, far from the site of the fight, but he needed it in order to claim Osiris' power.
&nbs
p; Nick was waiting on the high street. He didn't want to intercept Osiris too close to the castle in case he summoned the Cult to fight with him. Nick would never be able to overcome those odds. The Cult on its own maybe, but not with an ancient. Nick was sure that Osiris would be heading for the high street so he waited. Sure enough, not long after the clock struck eight pm, Osiris appeared at the far end of the high street. He walked slowly and confidently, clearly not at all worried about being attacked. He wasn't expecting any interference. Nick stepped into the centre of the road and waited for the ancient to reach him. He stopped about ten feet away and stared intently at Nick, his eyes squinted. It was rather like a cowboy standoff in an old western.
"Blackwood. What business do you have with me?" Osiris asked. His voice was no longer as raspy as it had been last time they'd met. He was fully healed now, though. His skin had changed as well, it was no longer as green. There was still a tinge of green to it, but it was a deathly pale colour.
"I've come to fight you. For your power," Nick said clearly. His fear seemed to have abandoned him now that Osiris stood before him, which was handy, it wouldn't do well to let the ancient warrior know he was afraid. Once he'd killed him and claimed his power, he'd never need to be afraid again.
"To kill Set? I told you previously, you need not worry about that matter. I will kill Set. Just as soon as you step aside and allow me to continue on my way." Nick heard the warning in his tone. He was unlikely to get another.
"I am not here to shield him," Nick said. He didn't want anybody to think that he was protecting Set. That was something he would never do. He abhorred Set. "But that doesn't matter. You're not going to make it to him."
"Try and stop me," Osiris challenged. He adjusted his posture ready to fight.
"No weapons? No soldiers?" Nick said.
"I fight with honour. And I need neither weapons nor soldiers to dispatch of Set. Even less so to dispatch of you."
