The Cursed Prince: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Fated by Magic) (Volume 1)

by Taylor Fray

  She startled up.

  “Wait, stay calm,” he said as she panicked, realizing she was totally and entirely naked. She covered herself as best she could. He looked away. Tears, gasps, screams, they all wanted to pour out but all she managed was ragged breathing for several moments. Zak stood like he was looking for something.

  “…Help,” she finally managed to say.

  Zak picked up Morgan’s clothes, the ones she had slipped out of when she had transformed. He handed them to her and looked away. “That’ll make you feel a little better. It’s not much but it’s a start.”

  She nodded and began putting them on frantically, as if clothes would bring her out of the trauma of the experience. “Did that—did that really just happen?”

  “Yes. It did. But it’s over. Just breathe. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  They both looked around at the devastation of the room, Morgan trembling and crying silently. Albhanz’s body lied bloodied and lifeless on the ground, as did Pete’s.

  “How the hell are we going to explain any of this?” Morgan asked.

  “We’re not. We’re going to torch all of it.”

  “That still won’t solve everything. Cops, FBI, they’ll be swarming this place. They’ll find out I was asking questions, about my sister. I had spoken to both of them. Someone will report them missing.” She glanced at the two bodies, a cold panic setting in, a thousand worries invading her mind.

  “Listen, right now, we just have to get out of here. This wasn’t the only Shifter in this holding. It’s still dangerous.” He stepped to leave.

  “But we’ve left footprints. DNA, all kinds of evidence.”

  “Remaining here isn’t going to help any of that. Now as soon as you’re able, let’s go.”

  “No, I can’t!”

  “Are you hurt?”

  “No—I mean yes. Some, but I can walk. What I means is… what good is it I survived if I spend the rest of my life in prison? We can’t just leave it all like this!”

  Zak’s eyes fluttered between the bloodied room and Morgan. “No matter what, I think your life has changed forever. But very well, if it’ll put you at ease and let us get out of here, I’ll take care of it.” He stepped back in, studied the room, and took a small pouch from his pocket. “I was hoping to save this, but looks like I need it now.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “I need silence. You can close your eyes if you like.” He unfurled the pouch, and held it out in his hand, with focused purpose, almost ceremoniously. “By this ash of the living, now dead,” he spoke as if someone else was in the room. “By this ash of the ancestors, I call you Lord of Death and Desolation.” He flung the ash, scattered it with a toss of his hand. The room became cold, and a darkness fell over it, covering the walls so that it seemed the darkness expanded to forever. Morgan stepped back, her chest tightening, but she couldn’t look away. “I call you, Eater of Eyes and Livers. Come, and accept this bloodshed as your feast.” A swooping sound resounded from afar; then two enormous feathered wings emerged from the darkness. Had Zak not stood his ground, Morgan would have run screaming in fright. There was just enough light for Morgan to see a massive vulture’s head emerge in front of Zak. No bird could have been that large. It had an ethereal quality, a subtle purple glow that suggested it was not a physical creature at all.

  It stared at Zak with eyes that were like cold fire. Zak bowed his head. “Favor us, Great Vulture, and accept this meal.” It replied with a shrieking caw. Zak stepped back. Morgan shook with fear as she watched it slowly dematerialize. As it did, the dead bodies dematerialized as well, along with the blood in the room, anything that had once been part of a living creature. The blood seemed to sizzle, the bodies slowly burn away in a heatless, blue fire. Finally, the darkness vanished, and all that was left were Morgan and Zak in the stone room. He stood for a moment, as if he was in deep thought. Then he turned once more to Morgan. “Let’s go.”

  She was speechless. Zak led her out of the stone chamber into the tunnel. Her hands felt the cold metal of the ladder that led back to the surface and their feet clattered as they climbed. They made it back out into the forest and hurried through the foliage. Zak took her by the hand and they began to run. When she struggled to keep up, he simply took her in his arms. They made it to Zak’s car which was parked next to Morgan’s. It was a silver muscle car that suited him.

  He looked Morgan in the eye, who was still trembling. “Listen, I know this is all one horrible vision right now. But I’m going to help you through this. You will live. You will be stronger for it.” Morgan swallowed. “Can you drive?” She managed to nod. “Alright, get your car and follow me. We’ll leave your car here in town, where no one will find it until things have settled down. I’ll drive us somewhere where you’ll be safe, where you can learn everything you need to about… who you are, what you are.”

  Morgan had a strong mind, but right now, with the sudden monstrosities she had witnessed, she desperately needed someone to tell her what to do, to reassure her life would still carry on. So it was easy to simply go along with this plan, which seemed more sane than any she could come up with right now.

  They both drove their cars away. They arrived at a garage in town. He told her to park her car there. It would be safer to drive together. Her face was white with shock, but she did her best to nod in agreement, and got into his car.

  She realized that somehow it was comforting to be in an enclosed space like that, where someone could take her away from it all.

  “I know you’re worried about your… human life,” Zak said. “But if we go to the police now, they won’t believe anything, they’ll arrest you, and worse, we’ll give away our location to more Shifters…to more monsters like Albhanz.” He revved the engine and pulled out of the garage’s driveway. “So I’m taking you to Grey Home. It’s where I grew up, the capital city of my clan. Werewolves like us are safe there, because we rule there. There’ll be people who can help you live a human life again, if that’s what you want.” She breathed deep and nodded, again, this time with more composure. “But you might find that is not your path anymore. Whatever happens, you’ll feel better than you do now.” He gripped the wheel and gunned the engine. He sped off toward this place he said they would be safe, this place he called Grey Home.

  6

  “I don’t know where to even start asking questions,” Morgan said as they drove through a winding mountain road. The sun was rising. They had driven for a long while in silence, Morgan letting her nerves settle. For the first time since she could remember, she lost her knack for interrogation. They drove on through lush hills dotted with cabins and carpeted with thickets of maples.

  “Albhanz killed your sister,” Zak said, anticipating her questioning. “He was a Shifter, like us. Except, he was a Kamazot, a werebat.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about all this?”

  “When we first met, I realized you were a Shifter. Your smell. It gave it away. So I was on guard. I thought you might be working for another clan, perhaps even Gestaffos.”

  “Who?”

  “Albhanz’ brother. Like him, but higher ranked in the Black Hand, and far more dangerous. After I got a better whiff of your scent, I realized you were not with him at all—you had never even shifted. I tried reaching you—felt it was my duty to help someone who was ignorant of their wolf blood—but then you shot me.”

  “About that…”

  “It’s alright. I could have been a lot more of a… human, when we first met. Werewolves have a thing with rage… me especially. So when you shot me I thought it best to just get the hell out of there so I wouldn’t hurt you. And anyway, a bullet wound isn’t the end of the world. We heal quickly.”

  She looked over at him. Saw that his shirt was bloodied but the wounds from their fight with Albhanz had indeed healed.

  “Why did he kill her, my sister? He said something about… breeding?”

  “Shifters… we’re not monsters. But beca
use of what we are, because we’re connected to magic, we’re susceptible to the influence of darkness, even more so than humans. Albhanz was corrupted. There wasn’t any turning back for him. He’s part of a clan called The Black Hand. All of them have gone demonic. My clan, The 13 Moons, they’re trying keep them from turning the world into a living hell. Some within the Black Hand have taken to this strategy, to find female Shifters and force them to birth more of their kind, so they’ll raise them and grow their ranks.”

  “That’s disgusting.”

  “Yes. Luckily not all of the Black Hand see it as a workable plan, or it would be a lot worse.”

  “So what are you then… like a soldier, for your clan?”

  “No. I no longer follow my clan’s edicts. I’m taking you to my clan because you’ll be safe there, not because I’m part of them any longer.”

  Morgan took that in, unsure what to say. Arriving at a place full of werewolves seemed intimidating to say the least, but right now trusting Zak seemed like her only option. “Pete, was he… one of them?”

  “Yes, but only a servant. He wasn’t truly… evil like them, only a weakling Ratkith who couldn’t resist Albhanz’s dominance.”

  “What?”

  “Pete was a Rat-Shifter, a Ratkith. Albhanz had him under his sway. Influencing his mind. It’s a power that Bat-shifters have.”

  “I think that’s what he was trying to do to me. His eyes were glowing and I could feel him getting in my mind.

  “Yes, that sounds about right.”

  “So Pete, an innocent… person… an innocent rat thing died?”

  He clenched his jaw, seemed agitated by the question. “All beings are corrupt. Just some more than others.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Albhanz wouldn’t have been able to control him if he didn’t already have a tendency toward darkness in his heart. If he wasn’t so weak-willed.”

  “Still, it’s one thing to be a weak person, it’s another to get your throat ripped out for it.”

  “In the heat of the moment I wasn’t going to try and reason with those two. They were trying to kill the both of us. I needed all my strength to take Albhanz on, and that meant giving in to the side of me that is a natural predator. Believe me, Ratkith are not known for their nobility. I’m sure that idiot rat took whatever fell from Albhanz’ table rather happily.” Morgan thought for a moment about the bones she had found in his house—perhaps Zak had a point. “This is life as a Shifter. Tooth and nail.”

  “Shifter. That’s what you’re…” Morgan started, then realized the mind blowing truth that she was misspeaking, “that’s what we’re called?”

  “We’re called a lot of things. Shifters, Werewolves, Fenrirs, Lycans, but Shifters seems to be the going word these days. Though in a few years who knows what we’ll be calling ourselves, times changing just like that.”

  “I guess it kind of makes sense now, what I am. But how can I be one of you and not know it? I mean, isn’t this the kind of thing someone would have told me? I mean is it like a disease, was I born this way?”

  “Shifters are born. At least one of your parents had Shifter blood. Why they decided not to tell you, or if they even knew or lived long enough to do so, only you can answer. As for not knowing until now, it happens sometimes. Especially with Shifters who aren’t pure blooded. If no one teaches you how to release your animal, how to control it, it stays buried inside you. But I bet you were always a strong person, didn’t get sick much, healed quickly. You felt at home in the outdoors. You were always a little on the aggressive side, right? Liked going after things, chasing things down. Were probably athletic. Surprised people with your strength.”

  “Some of that’s true,” she said, hiding the blush on her cheeks at how much that was all very, very true. “Why does biting my lip make me transform?”

  “It doesn’t. I just thought in the heat of the moment having the taste of blood in your mouth would help. Same with the growling. Thought it might bring your wolf out. I could tell you were on the brink of Shifting, just needed that last push. But if you did it now, biting your lip, it wouldn’t work. It was in the heat of the moment. Shifting is something that takes practice, but once you learn it, it stays with you. You’ll get better, I’m sure. It’ll become second nature to you.”

  Morgan thought about the prospect of shifting again. While it had saved her life, transforming wasn’t something she was ready to do again just yet. It had been unimaginably intense, to have your whole body contort, to become something entirely different, bones snapping, organs flowing around rearranging themselves. It wasn’t for the faint of heart.

  “My sister. Did you know her?” she asked. “Two of her neighbors said that you ran from her house the day she was killed.”

  “I came to Gilbert because I was hunting. I knew this town had some Shifters in it. Black Hand. Like Albhanz. I came to hunt them down. To clear the territory. See, me and these Black Hand, let’s just say it’s become a personal thing, killing every last one of them. As I studied the town I realized that your sister was a target for them. She was a Shifter with no pack, no clan, with weak blood. She couldn’t control her wolf, might not have ever even shifted before. And sooner or later someone like Albhanz was going to either use her, or kill her.”

  “Why didn’t you save her?”

  “I tried. But it was too late. Albhanz got to her first…”

  Morgan held back pain at the thought of her sister suffering. “She must have felt all alone,” she said, “all those years after she suddenly changed. Her life fell apart. It was because of… all this. It must have been because she was a wolf inside, and she had no one to help her deal with it.”

  She cupped her face in her hands, the sheer emotion of all of it catching up to her. Tears of remorse started flooding her eyes. She could have helped her sister. She should have helped her. But she was gone now. She was gone.

  She trembled as angry tears pooled in her eyes.

  “It’s not your fault,” Zak said.

  The anger started building in her and no one’s words could hold it back now. Her eyes lit up yellow. Her face tightened into a fanged scowl. She grunted wildly, fur spreading all over her body.

  “Hold on. You can’t shift right now!”

  Cloth ripped as her body contorted. Her legs snapped back, the bones seemingly breaking and rearranging themselves. She was a wolf again. But this time she felt imprisoned inside a small space, her fangs bared. Her head kicked back as she barked, a nasty angry bark full of spit and grinding fangs.

  “Calm down!”

  She snapped her jaws at him threateningly; she tore at the interior of the car, leather ripping into pieces. Tires screeched as Zak pulled over to the side of the road. Her human consciousness was still there, but it was just swimming underneath the surface. It was her consciousness as a wolf that took over, and it operated on instinct, yapping and biting in rage.

  He clenched the wheel and roared. It was a big one, like a grenade of primal sound going off in the car—even at the end of it his throat was still rattling with its echo. That got her attention. But her ears were still reared back, fangs bared.

  “Listen, you need to get it under control. I know you can still hear me.”

  She panted, her eyes glaring at him.

  “I didn’t mean to growl at you like that,” Zak said. “I just had to spook you a little before you bit my face off.” He reached a hand out to her. She inched closer and nuzzled it. He ran his hand on her furry neck.

  “Alright, try shifting back now,” he said. She only stared back at him, her eyes twitching to see what was outside the window.

  “No, you can’t go out there like this. I’ll show you how to get by as a wolf, but right now we have to get back on the road.” Morgan barked again. Her claws scratched at the leather seats.

  “You’re tearing up the leather! Look at all this.” Zak was distraught. His baby was getting all torn up. Morgan put her head down on her paws.
“It’s alright,” he seethed. “…We’ll chalk it up to saving each other’s lives. But really, you have to change back. I can’t drive with a wolf riding passenger.” Morgan only reared her head up and spun restlessly in her seat a few times.

  “Great, you got yourself stuck,” Zak said, letting out a small laugh. “Hell with it.” He started driving. Morgan’s human mind couldn’t help but quietly laugh as she realized that if Zak had opened the window, she would have stuck her head out. About a mile down Zak veered off on a country road, parked his car at the edge of a dirt path. It was a path that came to a dead end at the base of a hill.

  “She’s been inside you your whole life. Only got let out now. It makes sense she wants to be free for a while.” Zak unbuckled and opened the door. Morgan yapped with excitement as he stepped out and she followed.

  Zak looked around to make sure no one was watching. He kneeled down.

  “Alright, a few hours of running around, some hunting, it’ll satisfy you for a while. We don’t have to go too far to get to wilderness. I’d say five or six miles. So let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Zak began running up the hill, weaving through thickets of maple trees. Morgan followed. Zak sprinted, jumping over rocks and ditches, sliding under fallen trees and low hanging branches. He was truly a wild man, a forest gymnast, able to push himself off an arm or a leg with equal ease, able to launch himself ten feet into the air with either. Morgan bounded. She was still not as agile as him, but she was already keeping up. Her human side watched as her wolf form ran faster and faster to keep up with Zak. The trees began blurring by, they were moving so fast. It was a rush to bound through the wilderness with an agility no human could come close to. She was so light and strong, like a metal spring. All her senses sharpened. She could spot birds everywhere, could count their faint chirps. She could smell prey in the air, could smell things that had left their tracks hours ago, or things that were miles away, cars and bicycles, raccoons and deer, wrappers and decaying food. The excitement of running beside someone like that, with her senses in a sublime state, it was unreal.