Ghosts of Winter: A Dark Shapeshifter Urban Fantasy (Echoes of the Past Book 2)

by H B Lyne

  'Look,' Stalker said, turning to him and catching his eye. 'I know this is all kinds of weird, but you are totally welcome.' She put an arm around his shoulders and turned him to face Weaver. 'It's meant to be, Weaver will back me up on this. Weaver, James is a half moon.'

  Weaver's eyes bulged.

  'Oh my,' she said. 'That is quite special.'

  James looked around at them, a puzzled expression on his face.

  'We now have one member of each phase. Owl, cat, badger, wolf and fox,' Stalker said with a broad grin.

  'Sort of,' Weaver said with a sly grin.

  'Well, yes,' Stalker said, releasing James. 'I was born under a new moon, but not strictly of the fox.'

  'Okay,' James said, looking at her carefully and in utter confusion.

  'Stalker is unique,' Wind Talker said, as he picked up his bag from by the sofa and started looking for something inside. 'We haven't found an animal yet that she can't shift into. I've been researching your condition by the way. There is no record that I can find of any other shifter who can take multiple forms from the day they change. Not outside of legend and myth, anyway.'

  'Oh, right,' Stalker said, suddenly very self-conscious.

  'Artemis has great plans for us,' Weaver said, patting Stalker on the shoulder. 'She has given us the two of you.' She looked at James and gave him a beautiful smile.

  'Let's cross over,' Wind Talker said, heading through to the kitchen without waiting for them. They followed and all crossed the veil into the garden.

  Unchained Lightning was there, circling around the little space, glowing brightly. Stalker watched James for his reaction. He hesitated in the doorway, looking mildly alarmed.

  'Is that a bolt of lightning?' James asked.

  'Sort of,' Wind Talker said, smiling. 'This is our ally, Unchained Lightning.'

  The power fae flared up and crackled.

  'You wish to join the Lightning Lords?' Unchained Lightning's voice hissed like static on the air.

  'I do,' James replied firmly.

  'Very well,' the fae said.

  There was a moment's pause and then he launched himself upwards, drew level with the top of the house and then discharged his power down into the garden. The small space glowed with electric blue light and static filled the air. All of their hair stood up on end and Stalker felt her skin tingling. She felt James connect with her, with all of them. Unchained Lightning couldn't grant them telepathy, as Grins-Too-Widely had done, but he was granting them empathy. It seemed as though he had been waiting for James to arrive. He was her brother and they were now a blessed pack, perfectly balanced as if Artemis herself had hand-picked them to be together.

  Chapter Nineteen

  'Thank you, Unchained Lightning,' Wind Talker said and bowed his head slightly to their ally. There was a ripple of energy and then the fae shrunk back to its normal size and resumed circling the garden.

  'Eyes told me to track down the boy from last night and stop the Witches from getting to him. We need to know if he's spoken to the police, as that could be bad for us,' Stalker said as they filed back into the house and across the veil.

  'Are you working this afternoon?' Wind Talker asked Stalker.

  'No,' she said, shaking her head. 'It's my day off. Interestingly, James here is a private investigator.'

  'Are you able to check police records, James?' Wind Talker asked, not missing a beat.

  'Yes,' James replied cautiously. 'But I need you to tell me what's going on. I can't just hack into any old thing without considering it.'

  'Of course,' Stalker said, giving him a reassuring smile. 'We wouldn't want you to leap right into compromising your integrity. Last night there was a fight in a tower block in St. Catherine's, a girl was killed, and part of the building came down. There was a witness, a boy of about sixteen, he was a gang member. He had a Knight's balaclava in his back pocket. We need to know who he was and what he told the police, if he could identify any of the parties involved.'

  'Would those parties happen to be you guys, by any chance?' James asked, wearily rubbing his forehead.

  'Yes,' Wind Talker said bluntly.

  'Okay, there are three options here,' James said, with a little more enthusiasm. 'I can call a contact of mine who may have those details, I can try to hack into the files or I can track him down and question him myself. I would prefer the first option, but if you need to keep this way under the radar then it might not be the right route. The problem with the second option is that if I get caught, well, that could inflame the situation. The third option relies on having some more information on the boy in order to find him, but I wasn't there last night so he can't identify me and won't know of my connection to you guys.'

  'We know where he lives,' Stalker said. 'The fight happened in his block, or at least it looked that way. When we arrived they were stood outside one of the flats. It was probably his.'

  'It's got to be that option,' Weaver said firmly. 'We need to talk to him in any case about things the police won't understand.'

  'He never saw my human face,' Stalker said. She felt a hard knot forming in her stomach. She had a feeling where this was inevitably going to end up. She would have to go with James to show him which door it was, to positively identify the boy and as back up against anyone else who might be sniffing around the place. She felt sick at the idea of returning to the scene of the fight, the murder. She had to fight the urge to run and hide though, she had to be part of fixing this. 'I'll come with you.'

  'Okay,' James said, looking her over. 'Do you have a suit?'

  She raised an eyebrow at him.

  'No. Why?'

  'A PI needs to look the part.'

  'I have a jacket. Will that do?' She looked him over in return and noted again the poor fit of his suit and the rumpled shirt, loose tie and dirty shoes. James glanced over his body and cleared his throat as he hurriedly straightened his tie and tucked in his shirt.

  'Yes, that will be fine.'

  Stalker went upstairs to find her smart jacket. This was going to be hard, she knew it. She pulled the necklace she had taken from the girl out of her pocket and ran her fingers over it. The tooth was old. It was smooth and slightly yellow. It looked like it probably came from a wolf. Stalker lifted it by the leather lace and tentatively tied it around her neck. The tooth came to rest on her chest, next to her feather pendant, and it suddenly occurred to her that the tooth almost certainly had mystical properties too. She thought of the way the girl had broken right through all those levels of the building and shuddered. She hurriedly took the necklace off. If that was what this pendant did she didn't want that kind of strength. She could hardly control her own supernatural strength right now, never mind adding to it so significantly. Stalker shoved the necklace into her pocket, grabbed her jacket and bounded down the stairs.

  As she reached the living room, Stalker's phone began to ring. She pulled it from her pocket and recognised the number as belonging to Last-Breath-Echoes. She answered the call.

  'Hello?'

  'Hi, I have the body on the table. This is Angela Carter,' Echoes said, as if the name were significant. Stalker looked around the pack and switched the call to speaker phone.

  'Should we know that name?' she asked.

  'Carter is the surname of the Alpha of the Witches,' Echoes replied.

  Stalker felt as though she had been punched in the gut. She looked around at the ashen faces of her pack mates.

  'So this is her daughter?' Wind Talker asked. He looked genuinely worried.

  'I would guess so,' Echoes replied.

  'Did she have ID on her?' James asked.

  'Yes,' Echoes replied. 'Do I know you?'

  'It's okay,' Stalker said quickly. 'He's one of ours.'

  'Okay,' Echoes replied, sounding reassured.

  'Do you have the police report there?' James asked.

  'Yes,' she said. 'Why?'

  'Do they name any witnesses?'

  'No, it says there were none. But I can
tell you they're wrong.'

  Stalker looked at the phone and then at James, who was frowning.

  'Oh?' Stalker said.

  'There was a boyfriend, Ian White. I have certain ways of knowing what she saw before she died, so I know he was there. Besides, his DNA is all over her and he has a criminal record. I haven't put that in my report yet. Should I leave it out?'

  'Yes please!' Stalker and Weaver said in unison and they looked at each other with relieved smiles.

  'Okay. Well, I have a lot to do here, but I can clean the body so that the Witches don't get a whiff of who did this when they claim the body.'

  'Will they do that?' Stalker said, alarm rushing through her mind and body. 'Enter the city to get her?'

  'No, not literally. Or at least, I don't think so,' Echoes replied. 'It will come through as official looking paperwork from a funeral arranger and the body will be moved to Fenwick. The police will be notifying the family about now. I thought you should know.'

  'Thank you,' Stalker said.

  'You're welcome,' Echoes said and ended the call.

  Stalker put her phone away and looked around at her pack. Weaver was chewing her lip and Wind Talker looked more concerned than he usually did.

  'We killed the Alpha's daughter,' Stalker said, feeling even more sick than she had before. How could this be happening? Her life was spiralling so far out of control and she was petrified of never grabbing hold of it again.

  'It would appear so,' Wind Talker said. 'You two get going. As soon as she knows she will be all over this. Get the boy, make him talk and do whatever you need to do to stop him talking to her. I'll phone Eyes and update him.'

  Stalker shot him a cold stare. Was he telling her to kill the boyfriend? She wouldn't do it. Not if there was any other way. She turned and strode from the house, James scurried behind.

  'We'll get on a bus,' she said, not looking at him. 'We don't want our scents all over this.'

  'I have a car, it's parked in the city centre.'

  'Perfect,' Stalker tried to smile.

  They ran to the main street and got in line for a bus to the city centre. James looked deeply worried and Stalker could feel his apprehension coming through their empathic bond. 'I'm sorry,' she said quietly.

  'It's okay,' he replied, waving a hand dismissively. But his face remained set in a deep frown. 'It's not your fault. Who was that on the phone? One of our people?'

  'Yes,' she whispered, aware of the humans standing either side of them. 'Someone in a very useful position.'

  'Hmm, very,' he replied.

  The bus pulled up a few minutes later and Stalker paid their fares. The bus took a direct route out of St. Mark's, south through China Town, where they disembarked and walked the rest of the way to the city centre. James led her to his car, which was parked in a multi-storey behind a shopping centre. 'I haven't driven it since I changed,' James said as he unlocked it. 'I was parked here that night and haven't been back since. This is going to cost me a small fortune in car park fees.'

  There was something familiar in his voice and the look in his eyes. Stalker knew how he felt. That loss and longing for an old life, now inevitably left behind. They got into the car and drove slowly to the exit, where James paid at the machine with a grimace. James drove carefully out of the city centre and west towards St. Catherine's, crossing the river near the castle. They were taking a route right through Old Town, territory of The Watch, and Stalker watched James's face carefully for signs of strong reactions. His cheek twitched a few times and she wondered if they passed the place where he changed or any landmarks he knew from his weeks with the old and strange pack that claimed this area of Caerton. But he didn't volunteer any information and she wasn't going to ask.

  They turned north, out of Old Town and into the unclaimed territory of St. Catherine's. Stalker directed James towards the block of flats. It was midday and the street was busy. There was police tape all over the place and press were still milling around, but no one was being prevented from entering or leaving the residence. They decided it was best to be subtle about this though and James parked at the back, where there was a place for the bins to be collected and a service door at the rear of the building. They got out of the car and headed to the door.

  Stalker led James inside. It had been cleared up substantially. The rubble was gone but there were blood stains on the wall and floor and the gaping hole in the ceiling remained. There were signs declaring “caution” everywhere. In a different neighbourhood the building might have been evacuated, but this was St. Catherine's. The residents were accustomed to their homes and businesses being vandalised, falling into disrepair and their lives being otherwise disrupted and the police didn't care one bit about the residents.

  Stalker and James climbed the stairs. On each floor the holes had been fenced off but in more than one place the fences had been knocked over to form precarious walkways across the holes. When they reached the sixth floor, Stalker led James cautiously along the corridor to where she had found the couple kissing the night before.

  'This is the place,' Stalker whispered.

  James gave her a quick wink and knocked sharply on the door. They waited, there was movement inside but no one came to the door. James knocked again, but his face looked grave. Stalker knew no one was going to answer. The building stank of fear, she could even smell it with her useless human nose.

  'There is definitely someone in there,' James whispered. 'What do you want to do?'

  'Try calling out. They might think we're the police.'

  'Hello?' James called through the door. 'I'm looking for Ian White. I'm not with the police. I'm working for Ms Carter's family.'

  Stalker looked at him in alarm. If Angela was keeping Ian a secret from her family, he may not take James's cover much more kindly than a police intrusion. There was total silence inside. They looked at each other for a long moment. They had only just met, but they were bound together as siblings and could sense each other's strongest emotions. They seemed to think alike too, Stalker had warmed to him immediately. She nodded at him, knowing without the need for telepathy what he was planning to do. She granted him permission and a moment later he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a lockpick.

  'You are so useful,' she whispered, and they exchanged smiles. James set to work on the lock, which was at shoulder height. Stalker kept watch both ways down the corridor; the building was quiet, much quieter than it had been the previous night. There was very little movement and not much sound coming from the flats around them.

  There was a satisfying click as James unlocked the door. They looked at each other for a moment and then he opened the door and they moved quickly inside. The door opened into a small living space, with a kitchen at the back. It was dark, curtains drawn tight against the daylight. On the sofa was the boy from the night before, asleep or unconscious. Hovering over him was a hunched figure, who looked up in alarm as they entered. It was a man, or at least a rough approximation of one. He had sickly pale skin that hung off his face rather alarmingly, and was dressed in a black suit and top hat. His eyes were absolutely black.

  Stalker stood frozen and James twitched nervously beside her.

  The demon smiled a sickly smile and blinked eerily, thin white lids over black eyes. Its long white fingers stretched out towards them, turning into blades.

  'Greetings,' the demon said, its voice dripping.

  'Who are you?' Stalker asked, edging slowly into the room towards Ian.

  'Scourging Agony, at your service,' the demon replied. 'And you would be two of the shifters responsible for the mess out there.' The demon's eyes and blade-fingers flickered towards the hallway.

  'Not me,' James said, a little defensively. 'I had nothing to do with it.'

  'Are you working with the Witches?' Stalker asked, inching closer to the boy.

  'I would have thought that was obvious,' the demon said silkily, bowing his head slightly. 'And I'm afraid that now that you know that I can't let you
leave here.'

  Stalker had almost reached the sofa. Ian was breathing faintly. Scourging Agony lunged for her with his bladed fingers and Stalker drew one of her swords. She swung the blade down and took off one of the demon's hands. Black blood flew from the wrist as the hand exploded and disappeared. Shocked, Stalker stood for a moment. The demon was screaming but there was something deeply unnerving about the expression on his face. He was enjoying it.

  Stalker lunged her sword straight through the demon's chest and retracted it a moment later. His face froze before he dropped to the floor. The body shattered like black glass but the pieces vanished. Stalker felt the veil ripple.

  'He's not dead,' she said. She didn't know how she knew, she just sensed it. 'Maybe that's what happens when demons are killed on this side of the veil.' She looked at James, but he looked as confused as she felt. 'Grab the boy, we need to get out of here. We'll have to take him home to question him.'

  James nodded and moved over to the sofa to pick up the unconscious teenager. Stalker got her phone out and called Wind Talker. He answered quickly.

  'Stalker?' he asked on answering.

  'You need to summon and hold a demon, Scourging Agony, right now,' she said in a rush. 'We have to stop it reporting back to the Witches. We attacked it but it disappeared across the veil.'

  'Okay, I'm on it.' Wind Talker replied and ended the call.

  Stalker moved quickly to help James carry Ian and they left the flat as quickly as they could.

  Between them they got the boy down the stairs and out through the back door. Stalker checked that the coast was clear before they moved out past the bins and to James's car. They put Ian across the back seat and drove away.

  Chapter Twenty

  Stalker and James stumbled into the hallway at 32 Grove Street, with Ian propped up between them. Weaver ran to them from the kitchen.

  'What happened?' she asked, trying to help but the lack of space in the narrow hallway made it impossible. Stalker and James lurched awkwardly down the hall towards the living room.

  'Did Wind Talker get the demon?' Stalker asked as they heaved Ian into the living room and onto the sofa.