The Shifting Storm (Book 4)

by Jeff Hale

  I was woken by a soft knock on the door sometime later. I was still on the couch where I had fallen asleep, Angel curled up on my hip. I gently pushed her off of me and stumbled to the door, muzzy headed, sensing before I even opened the door that it was still raining heavily outside.

  Celeste stood there, a wide umbrella keeping most of the water from her. She had a long jacket on over her white blouse and black skirt, the same clothes she had been wearing at the trial. I stood aside to let her in.

  “Thanks, Kat. I went home fer a while, then went ta see Travis at the hospital, then drove around, and I didn’t feel like goin’ back home yet.” She closed the umbrella, but she just stood there, as though she were trying to hold onto her composure.

  “What happened?” I asked her.

  “After the trial, Rick sent me away, like he never wanted ta see me again.” Her voice trembled some, and despite the fact that she was talking about a man I loved as well, I could only feel sorry for her.

  “But he’s okay?”

  “Yeah.” She finally seemed to really look at me. “Are you okay?” Her eyes dropped briefly from my face, lingering on something below my chin, my necklace maybe.

  “Not really. Kris was in a car accident. She’s in the hospital. I was gonna call you, but I was just so tired….”

  “Oh! Is she okay?” Her eyes went wide as she stared at me. I saw her glance flicker down again for a moment, saw some emotion I couldn’t quite pinpoint go through her eyes.

  “Yeah, she will be, just a few broken bones.”

  “Poor Kris.”

  “Could have been worse, at least that’s what I was told. She’s a fighter, though.” Once again I saw her eyes flick to whatever it was had caught her attention and she gave herself a little shake. “So how is Travis?”

  She sat on the arm of the couch and shrugged. “Good enough, I guess.” She shivered. “I dunno, fer some reason, I’m findin’ it really hard ta care.”

  She shouldn’t. “I don’t blame you.”

  “Where did ya get that?” she suddenly asked me, all her attention focused on where her eyes were. She had one hand to her forehead as though she had a headache. I realized she was staring at the necklace Aerick had given me.

  The one that he had told me he had originally given to Serena, that her sister had returned to him after Serena died, and that he had given me to show me how much he cared about me.

  “I… Aerick gave—” I started to say.

  “That’s mine!” she asserted, although she looked confused even as she said it, as though she were trying to reconcile something in her mind. “He gave that ta me!” Her voice was rough, unsure. “Why do you have it?”

  I watched the girl in front of me, watched as her eyes closed and her head tilted to one side like she was in pain, watched her whole body fight some realization. I could tell that she wasn’t entirely in control of herself and I didn’t want to get into an argument over the necklace, so I unclasped it, holding it out to her as a peace offering.

  “Here, Celeste.”

  Her brilliant green eyes jumped to mine again, blinking rapidly and she gave her head a sharp shake. She snatched the necklace from me, then ran to the door and let herself out, popping the umbrella for cover once she got outside.

  I stood there, staring at the open door, the cat trying to sneak out finally breaking me out of my stupor. And then suddenly, I desperately wanted to see Aerick. I knew that I needed to talk to him… about a lot of things, not the least of which had just run out of my apartment. I didn’t want to wait, because after tomorrow, I might never be able to see or talk to him again.

  I hurried into my room, changing out of the sweat pants and t-shirt I was wearing, not sure why I felt the need to look as attractive as possible for Aerick, pulling on a mini skirt and a one of my corset tops. I knew it was raining, so I opted for my buckled Doc Martens then put my hair up in a loose ponytail.

  I didn’t realize that I had forgotten my own umbrella until I had gotten halfway to my car and was soaked. At that point it didn’t matter, so I just got in and drove to the Velvet Flame. The seats on my car would dry.

  I passed Lucien on my way through the club. He gave me an odd look, as though he hadn’t expected me, but nodded at me as I headed to Aerick’s room. I pounded on the door, wanting to see him, to prove to myself that he was all right. Plus, I needed to hear it straight from him why he had resorted to such extreme measures. I had to know.

  He opened the door and just stood there, staring at me.

  “You gonna let me come in? Or do I just stand here all night?” I finally asked when he continued to just stand there. I was wet and uncomfortable. He took a step to the side and gestured for me to come inside.

  I walked past him and dropped onto the end of the bed, not caring that I was dripping water all over the bedding. I vaguely hoped the suede of my corset wasn’t ruined from the rain.

  “Come to lecture me more? Or call me names? Or just to tell me you want to see me dead and that your verdict has been decided and that I’m going to die tomorrow?” He closed the door with a decisive movement and came to stand in front of me. He didn’t look overly happy.

  “You deserve the lecture at least. There was no call to hunt down and murder someone for the actions of someone else,” I told him.

  “You didn’t listen to Alex very well did you? Or hasn’t he talked to you yet?”

  “He did. And believe me, we know Henry’s pack is a still bunch of deranged psychos,” I said. “I’m not surprised. I guess Darien was just hoping it was all Henry and that his pack might take a different path. Alex says not.”

  “You should listen to him. I never got the idea it was just Henry that was like that. None of them seemed to be against the idea of raping and killing Celeste and the others. And are you not hearing the fact that they work for Baba Yaga? The Iron Hag that wants to bring a demon army into our world?”

  What Aerick didn’t realize was that it didn’t matter. There wasn’t anything we could do about it. “Did you have to kill them?” I included the ones from the Circus Circus in the question.

  “Look, they were shifters. If I don’t kill them they just keep coming back until I do. They would have kept coming at me until I was dead or they were. I just expedited the process a bit.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Ever fought a crazed shifter who has lost themselves to their animal entirely? From what I understand it doesn’t happen often. I thought that the poor soul could be saved, despite what MAGE kept telling me. I kept trying to incapacitate him, and he kept healing and coming after me. Eventually I just had to kill him. I didn’t have a choice. Once a shifter sets their sights on something, crazed or no, they don’t let go until they get what they want. You should know that by now. So what choice did I really have? Was I just supposed to let them kill me?”

  He wasn’t, although he was a little off on shifter mentality. And I honestly wasn’t sure that Henry’s pack wouldn’t have kept harassing him. “No. Of course not. Now that you put it that way. But you do realize constantly lording your greater powers over other Aetherics is just a form of bullying? You keep showing them off and telling people to not fuck with you or you’re gonna use them.” Henry had seen Aerick as a challenge.

  “Yeah, ‘cause your precious Darien is any different.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “You do realize he beat the hell out of Alex for kissing you, right?”

  I sighed. I did. I remembered. That was why he was never going to find out that more had happened. “Yeah. I know. Am I happy about that? No.”

  “He lords his power as Alpha over shifters and even over humans, and you can sit there and think that he is any different than me? And by the way, I have never used my powers for anything except work, self-defense, and defense of others. Check the facts on that and I guarantee that you won’t find a single instance where, at the time, from my point of view, I wasn’t doing any one of those things when I
actively used my powers.”

  Aerick sat down on the bed next to me. I could smell him, smell his aftershave, and it took all I had to not reach out and touch him with him this close.

  “Have I threatened with them to get Aetherics who wanted to have a pissing contest to back off?” he continued. “Sure, but that’s harmless. The hope on my part is that they will back down when they see what I’m capable of. But no, they think I’m just a human with some neat tricks, so of course they have to push, and they have to test. Especially shifters. It just ends badly for them because they just have to go that extra stretch and try to kill me. If they came at me like they were sparring or trying to just incapacitate me, I’d do the same, but the moment they use lethal abilities, so will I.”

  Asking a shifter to not use lethal abilities when you had challenged them was like asking a skunk not to spray you if you stepped on it. Wasn’t gonna happen and I knew it. Aerick didn’t understand shifters, but even I could tell he thought he was doing the right thing.

  I looked at him again, feeling my anger at his actions trickling away. With the anger’s absence, longing set in again and I moved a little bit closer, finally giving in and resting my hand on his leg, letting him see how much I still cared.

  “I know it’s been rough for you,” I said softly to him, “with Celeste, and how you must feel about her, and me not being very understanding with you. I know my kind can be… difficult sometimes.” I thought of Darien and how he was with me.

  “Yeah, sometimes she says.”

  “Okay, most of the time, and I can see why you felt the need to kill Henry’s pack members. No, I don’t expect you to just lie down and die for them. I just don’t like it.”

  “I know, and I feel bad that they couldn’t take a different path, but they didn’t and I did what I had to do to protect myself or others. You didn’t see the werewolf standing behind Celeste, stroking himself, claws in her shoulder, ready to… kill her, maybe worse. I mean I know you saw the tape… but in person was… different.” His hands were clenched and I could tell he was trying to keep his anger in check.

  “I know, Alex told me,” I said. “He also said that you were giving up any chance at being with Celeste so she could be safely away from our kind and live a normal life. That couldn’t have been easy.”

  “No. It wasn’t. It isn’t. I want… I don’t know what I want right now. I sent her away when she wanted to talk after the trial today. It hurt like nothing else. I can’t stand to continue this with her.” A sigh broke from him and he fell forward, his head resting against my shoulder. He was crying.

  My heart ached and bled for him, part of me wishing that it could have worked out for him and Celeste, part of me glad that he wanted her out of his life. But he was right here, right now, and I still loved him. “It’s okay. I know it hurts you to do this, but maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s for the best. Besides, there’s always me,” I told him in a low whisper.

  His head came up, staring at me, surprised. “What about…?”

  “Let me worry about Darien. We’re not together anymore. He’s being an ass again. I can barely stand to be around him right now,” I told him, even though I knew I didn’t want to hurt Darien. But if Aerick and I got back together, there was no way around it. “I’m just glad that I was wrong about you on this Henry thing. I kept wondering where that great guy I met in High School went to. I’d thought you’d lost that person forever. I’m happy to see that you’re still the same deep down.”

  He was still staring at me, the lost and anguished look in his eyes tearing at me. I wanted to hold him to me, feel his skin on mine. I leaned in closer, pressing my lips to his, feeling his mouth open under mine. That kiss was like the sweetest thing to me, like a gulp of water after days of being parched. My tongue moved against his, softly, wanting to relish every little touch, every little caress. I lost track of time, lost myself in his taste, until a surprised gasp had us pulling apart.

  Celeste was standing in the open door, her eyes locked on mine over Aerick’s shoulder. I had been so engrossed in Aerick that I hadn’t heard her until she had gasped. Her hands were clenched at her sides, her gaze shifting to Aerick as he looked at her. She seemed so small, her face a mask of anguish as she tried to hold back tears.

  I had no clue why she was here and I gave Aerick a confused look. “I thought you told her to stay away?” I asked in a whisper.

  “I did,” I said.

  “Yeah, ya did! Obviously so ya could be with that little tart!” Celeste exclaimed angrily, her words cutting into me. “I see how it is! Damn ya ta Hell, Ricky!” Celeste turned on her heel and stormed away.

  “Um, so I guess Celeste’s kind of mad at you? I really am sorry,” I told him, frowning, although I wasn’t entirely. I loved Celeste, I wanted her to be happy, but I loved Aerick too.

  Aerick nodded, his eyes still on the door in shock. “Yeah. She is. But that wasn’t Celeste. That was Serena.”

  He pulled away from me, a look of sick despair in his eyes that made my heart break one more time, then rushed out the door. I followed, watching as he jumped the entire set of stairs down to the next landing, doing the same to the next. As I caught up to him, I saw Lucien blocking his path. When Aerick went to push past him, Lucien held up a hand and Aerick slid back toward the stairs.

  “Luce, I gotta go after her, let me past!” he begged, a frantic edge to his voice.

  “You know you can’t leave the building until after the verdict has been given,” Lucien told him calmly. “Besides, she is in a very fragile state right now. She needs to deal with everything that has happened. You pushing her right now very well could break her. Permanently.”

  “Dammit!” The word exploded out of Aerick with violence. He drove his fist into the wall next to him, doing no damage to Lucien’s magically reinforced brick. He continued to take his anger and frustration out on the wall as I quietly came up behind him. His hand was a bloody mess and all I wanted to do was make the pain go away for him.

  When he finally gave up trying to take the wall out, I put my hands on his shoulders to comfort him, catching him and taking us both to the bottom step as he curled up into me. I rocked with him as he cried for all he was worth, ready to do anything within my power to make everything all right for him. When it seemed he had nothing more in him he looked up at me with red, puffy eyes.

  “You feeling better now?” I asked him softly.

  “Not really,” he whispered dully, as though nothing mattered anymore. ”Can you guys just pronounce your verdict now and get it over with. I really don’t give a damn what it is anymore.”

  I bit back tears. “We can’t, I’m sorry, it has to be given officially tomorrow.” I stood up carefully and offered my hand to help him stand, offering something harder in my next words. “I can go after her, if you want. If she still remembers the past several months, then I can talk to her. After all, we were friends. Well, that is if she isn’t too mad at me for what happened in your room.”

  “Are you sure? I’m not sure it’s the best idea…” he said, giving me a look that said he wasn’t sure what he wanted.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll find her for you,” I told him, turning to leave so he wouldn’t see my face.

  “Thanks,” he said from behind me, voice still unsure.

  “Yeah, don’t mention it. Ever,” I said sadly and headed out the door before he could see me cry.

  Unfortunately, the rain made it almost impossible to catch her scent outside, so I was going to have to look for her the human way. I went to Celeste’s house first, still not sure myself why exactly I was going out of my way to help Aerick. Deep down I knew, knew that I loved him enough that I would do anything to make him happy, even if that meant finding where the woman he had loved most of his life had run off to.

  She wasn’t there, in fact the house was dark, and it took me a moment to remember that Travis was still in the hospital recovering from the shifter attack. I found the spare key where Celeste no
rmally hid it and let myself in, looking in her room to see if she had even been here at all. It didn’t look like it, but my eyes lit on her diary where it lay on her nightstand. I knew she wrote all kinds of stuff in it; there might be something in there that would let Aerick in on what was going on, where she might have gone, what had been going through her head recently. I picked it up and took it with me.

  I made one more stop before calling Aerick, thinking that maybe she might have gone to the sorority house. Tiffany and Erin might be there, and feeling she couldn’t come to me, she might have gone to them. When I got there, Tiffany and Erin weren’t there, neither was Celeste, and none of the other sisters had seen Celeste for the last several days. A thought occurred to me and I called the hospital, but Kris hadn’t seen Celeste either. I called Aerick.

  “Hey, I’ve checked the sorority house and her home, but she wasn’t at either. Got any ideas?” I asked him when he answered.

  “Not a clue, you have no other ideas as to where she might have gone?” he asked me.

  “No. But… you really think that she’s Serena?”

  “Yeah, I do. Why?”

  “Because I found her diary.” I looked at the leather bound book with its lock. “I hate snooping into someone’s private stuff, but if she really is Serena…. Anyway, I could bring it to you, there might be some clues in it.”

  “Yeah, good thinking,” he said

  I was back at the Flame before a half hour was up, but Aerick was so tired and exhausted that he looked ready to drop. I gave him the diary and left before he could say anything.

  I spent the rest of the night curled up against Matt on the loveseat in Kris’s hospital room, Matt and I both watching her as she slept, me through a haze of tears, as I pondered the lengths people would go to for someone they loved.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  DARIEN

  It was almost eight o’clock in the morning and I was beginning to wonder if Kat was even going to show up for the verdict and sentencing. When she finally walked in the door a few minutes later, she looked tired, her eyes dark and puffy.