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

by H B Lyne

  Eyes reached Free River Tower a little before 9am. The revolving door was locked and the lobby was dark. Eyes went to the buzzer system and found the button for Harris Intermediaries at the top. He pressed it and waited. After a moment there was a click and an unfamiliar male voice greeted him.

  'Harris Intermediaries. Can I help?'

  'I have a meeting with Mr. Harris, it's Martin Davison.'

  'Of course, come on up.' The intercom went silent and the revolving door started to turn. Eyes made his way through the door and across the dark lobby to the lifts. At the push of a button, the doors glided open immediately and Eyes stepped inside. The ride up there in the lift was slow. Finally the lift slowed to a halt and the doors slid open almost silently.

  The double doors opposite the lift were open and Theodore sat at his desk. He stood and ushered Eyes inside.

  'Martin, do come in. Thank you for coming.'

  Eyes looked around cautiously before entering the office. Theodore came out from behind his desk to shake Eyes' hand. Footsteps approached from the hall and a young man in a nice suit entered with a tray of coffee. He was human and his hands shook slightly as he put the tray down on the desk.

  'Thank you,' Theodore said, a little too loudly. 'You can go back downstairs now. I'll be heading out after this meeting.'

  The young man nodded, mumbled something polite and closed the doors carefully as he went.

  'Your assistant?' Eyes asked, taking a seat.

  'Recruited for this morning from the insurance division downstairs. Useless, they're always useless. They scurry around in abject fear all the time.'

  'You have no idea why?' Eyes said, raising a sceptical eyebrow. Theodore looked at him sternly.

  'Of course I understand why,' he replied with a scowl. 'But I need someone who can overcome that and do the damn job without tripping over themselves.'

  Theodore passed Eyes a cup of coffee and the two of them sat in slightly awkward silence for a moment. Eyes wondered what on earth he was doing there and burned with questions about the Glass Wolves, and about how Theodore had managed to build such a successful business whilst living as a shifter with all of the responsibilities that carried. He guessed that Theodore was several decades old and had had a lot of time to acquire wealth and success. It was unlikely that he also had a family to attend to in addition to everything else. That was what took its toll most on Eyes.

  'What did you ask me here to discuss?' Eyes asked at last.

  'Right, yes,' Theodore put his own coffee cup down and moved some papers around on his desk. 'I am involved with a project and could use your expertise.'

  'What kind of project?' Eyes asked. He was curious and cautious in equal measure.

  'It's rather grand, but I have for a long time now wanted to see Caerton develop an underground rail system. After I don't know how many years, I have finally got all of the right people to approve it. I have politicians, city planning officials, architects, engineers, financiers and safety experts all working on it. What I need is a legal expert.'

  Eyes swallowed a mouthful of his coffee and looked at Theodore carefully. He couldn't quite decide if Theodore was serious or a dreamer. He had never had the powerful Alpha pegged as a dreamer before, though he was clearly ambitious.

  'I'm a criminal barrister,' Eyes said slowly. 'I would assume you need a solicitor versed in contractual law. You must have an entire legal team here.' Eyes indicated their surroundings.

  'I need one of our people on this and you are the only such person.' Theodore's eyes were fierce and deadly serious. Eyes felt extremely uncomfortable and rather lacking in choice. 'I can bring you in-house, get you out of chambers. It's one less alibi for you to worry about. You can tell me when your territory needs you and never need to worry about how many sick days you take.'

  Eyes loosened his tie slightly, his throat felt tight. Theodore made a good argument but something inside him was telling him to be careful here. Theodore already knew too much about Lightning Lord business, what he was proposing would give him unparalleled access to a rival pack.

  'I would retain my autonomy, yes?' Eyes asked.

  'Of course. You would remain the Alpha of the Lightning Lords and be in no way tied to the Glass Wolves, although I would hope you would count us as your allies. I will better your annual salary and give you few fixed working hours. As long as you can attend the meetings I would need you for and get the work done on schedule then you can call your time your own.'

  'I need some time to consider it,' Eyes said, watching Theodore's face carefully for his reaction. He didn't so much as twitch.

  'Of course.'

  'I'll get back to you on Monday. Is that agreeable?'

  'Absolutely.'

  'Why are you doing this?' Eyes asked, suddenly struck by the peculiarity of the situation. 'Why build an underground railway?'

  'Caerton needs one,' Theodore said smoothly, standing up to indicate the end of the meeting. Eyes stood slowly, still thinking furiously.

  'No, there's something more to it than that. What's in it for you?'

  'Curious man, Martin,' Theodore said with that smile of his that showed too many teeth. 'But if I told you I'd have to kill you.'

  Eyes swallowed a nervous laugh. Theodore spoke with a smile but he was absolutely serious. Eyes left the office feeling like he had been trampled by rhinos. This was not going to be an easy decision to make.

  He arrived at Grove Street soon after, to find the others assembled in the kitchen eating breakfast, James sitting at the table with a laptop open in front of him.

  'Morning,' Eyes called in greeting as he entered the kitchen. 'What are you doing, James?'

  'Looking for an office to rent in St. Mark's. The pickings are slim.'

  'We'll help you find somewhere,' Stalker said, leaning over his shoulder and blinking sleepily at the screen. 'How about this one? It's only about ten minutes' walk from here, near the high street.'

  'It's too expensive. Don't worry, I'll find something.'

  Wind Talker handed Eyes a bacon sandwich and propped himself back against the counter to eat one of his own.

  'Who are you trying to impress?' Wind Talker asked between mouthfuls of food.

  'I just had the strangest meeting with Theodore Harris,' Eyes replied. He loosened his tie and sat down at the table. 'He offered me a job.'

  'Okay,' Wind Talker said slowly. 'Why?'

  'He's building an underground rail network and needs a legal advisor.'

  'An underground rail network?' James repeated, his voice full of curiosity and confusion. 'Why?'

  'It's weird, right?' Eyes asked, before tucking into his food.

  'I take it he's got human approval and whatever else he needs for it?' Wind Talker asked. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter, his face set in a deep frown. Eyes nodded, his mouth full of food.

  'It's an ambitious project, sure,' Stalker said, a frown on her brow. 'But why are you so suspicious?'

  'I'm not sure,' Eyes said, having swallowed. 'It just doesn't feel right. Our kind don't normally do this. We're not normally big power players in human affairs. We just control the demons and try to stay alive. This sort of interference strikes me as very unusual.'

  'But we do have people in key positions though,' Stalker said. 'I mean, there's Last-Breath-Echoes in the morgue.'

  'One of the Glass Wolves is a police officer,' Weaver spoke up and everyone looked at her. 'Vengeance-of-Steel, or Sergeant Rachel Snow as she is otherwise known.'

  'That's interesting,' Eyes said, raising an eyebrow.

  'Warden-of-Stones is the curator of the museum,' James said. 'And she's a city councillor.'

  'Really?' Eyes said, looking more and more intrigued. He knew a few politicians in the city, but not every councillor.

  'It's like chess,' Stalker muttered.

  'Hmm,' Wind Talker murmured. 'It is rather. Why do I get the feeling that someone is assembling pieces into critical positions?'


  Everyone looked at him and silence hung in the air.

  'By someone, do you mean Theodore?' Eyes asked. Wind Talker nodded. 'What is his shifter name? Does anyone know?'

  'No,' Eyes replied. The others shook their heads. 'He always calls me by my human name too, even when we're alone.'

  'Are you going to take the job?' Stalker asked him.

  'I think I have to, it isn't much of a choice. He's offering me a very appealing deal which will radically simplify my life, and it may give us the opportunity to find out more about him and what he's up to.'

  'We could do with knowing more about this railway business,' James said.

  'Oh!' Stalker exclaimed, sitting bolt upright in her chair. 'I have a friend in the Development and Regeneration department, or something. I'm having lunch with him on Tuesday!'

  'Perfect,' Eyes said, grinning at her. 'How do you know him?' He couldn't help but marvel at her connection and was intensely curious about how it had come about. He wondered if this was the person she was always sneaking off to see and who she sometimes smelled of.

  'We went to school together. We moved to Caerton together straight from school and he got an internship with the council. He's just like an admin person, not high up or anything, but he might know something.'

  Eyes nodded along, pleased at her openness, and something told him that this was not her secret. He wished there were no secrets in the pack, but on reflection, he knew that they were inevitable and perhaps, given the intimacy of pack life, it was no bad thing to keep some things for themselves. He felt that way about his family, after all.

  'What else do you know from your time with The Watch, James?' Eyes asked, changing tack.

  'Not much, they kept me separate from pack business.'

  'Do you know anything about their allies?' Wind Talker asked.

  'No, nothing. I didn't even really know about that stuff until I met Unchained Lightning.'

  'Too bad,' Wind Talker said with a disappointed sigh.

  'But I did hear things,' James said, looking uncomfortable. Eyes watched him carefully, waiting. 'Things I don't think I was supposed to. I got the impression that they are really worried about something and I heard mention of a missing king.'

  'The King-of-Glass-and-Steel,' Wind Talker said, nodding his head. 'The city's soul, basically, he is missing. I expect The Watch are heavily involved in working out that particular mystery, seeing as it's their job to serve and protect the city.'

  'I don't know,' James said. 'It seemed like they were taking it pretty personally. Could he have been their ally?'

  'Oh my god!' Stalker shouted. 'Yes. I knew that. I'm sorry, I forgot all about it. Shadow's Step told me once. I thought it was odd at the time, Ragged Edge must have already known that the King was missing and didn't want to say because he didn't want his pack to appear weak to the others. Red Scythe asked him to ask his patron, that was the word he used, about the demons being restless and disorganised, and Ragged Edge got all sort of flustered and wandered off. Shadow told me that the embodiment of the city was a close ally of The Watch.'

  'So The Watch tried to hide the disappearance from the rest of us at first, but they must have told the other packs about it because Theodore told me about it that first day after the Blue Moon,' Eyes' voice trailed off and they all exchanged troubled looks.

  'I found a place marked on the map that might be worth checking out,' Wind Talker said, breaking the uneasy silence. 'It's labelled The Watchtower, maybe there's something there that can clue us in to what's going on with the city.'

  'Good idea,' Eyes said.

  Once they were all ready to face the day, Wind Talker led them south, in Hepethia. They negotiated the tangled maze of brick houses and emerged onto a crystalline plain, the ground smooth and shining with the occasional formation of jagged quartz sticking out of it. Ahead was a bluish haze and Eyes squinted, trying to make out any landmarks.

  'It should be around here somewhere,' Wind Talker said, his voice barely above a whisper. 'It's hard to map Hepethia, but it didn't look far from the maze.'

  Stalker pointed and took a few steps into the fog.

  'There,' she said. Eyes followed her, looking around cautiously. He caught sight of James and saw the anxious expression on his face.

  'You okay?' he asked. James nodded, but Eyes didn't believe him. 'Is this your first trip out into the wilds of Hepethia?'

  'Yeah,' the new pack member whispered. His hand patted his jacket tentatively and he breathed a sigh of relief. Eyes cocked an eyebrow, bemused by James's odd behaviour.

  'Checking you didn't forget your keys?' Eyes asked, a smirk slipping onto his lips before he could stop it.

  'No,' James said, surprised. He opened the left side of his jacket and Eyes glimpsed the grip of a handgun holstered there.

  'What do you have that for?' Eyes spat. His reaction surprised both of them and James stopped walking. Eyes stopped and faced him. 'I'm sorry, but seriously, why do you have a gun?'

  'I had a close call a few years ago, I was shot on a job. Obviously, I survived, but it stopped me working for a while. I lost my confidence and my psychiatrist, that they made me see, suggested arming myself.' He was scowling at the memory of being forced into therapy, and Eyes suppressed a smile. 'I don't think this is quite what she had in mind,' he shrugged. 'But it was what I felt I needed to do to be able to get back to work.'

  'Those small handguns are prohibited, you must know that.'

  'Yes I do.' James straightened his jacket and lifted his chin. Eyes let it go. Now was not the time and who was he to call his new pack mate on breaking the law after the things he had done recently?

  'What's the delay?' Wind Talker asked, striding over to them. Eyes looked around at him and saw Stalker and Weaver a short distance away, waiting.

  'Nothing important, we're coming,' Eyes replied. As they walked on through the strange mist, a shape began to emerge just ahead, a dark tower loomed overhead, suddenly very close. Breath caught in his throat and Eyes looked up at it. It was a little taller than a three storey house, made from old stone bricks that weren't uniformly shaped, and parts of the tower were crumbling and covered in moss. The Lightning Lords crept inside the circular tower through an open arch in the base that was just a little too low for Eyes to walk through without stooping. Inside was overgrown with weeds, and fallen leaves were piled several inches deep. Half of the roof was long since gone and a stone staircase spiralled up around the inside of the walls. Eyes led the way cautiously up the steps onto a landing near the top that covered half of the width of the tower; above was open to the sky.

  In the centre of the space was a stone chair, and in it was an ancient looking fae in rusted armour with furs about his shoulders and long, tangled brown hair and beard that trailed all around him. Ivy was growing all over the throne and it twisted up over the wizened fae and into his hair, seeming to become a part of him. A cold gust of wind accompanied the Lightning Lords into the throne room and blew dry leaves across the floor. The figure in the throne looked at them wearily from under hooded eyelids.

  'Autumn Reaper,' Wind Talker said quietly, addressing the fae. 'Greetings.'

  The fae drew a long, slow breath. It lifted its head slowly and then dropped it again with a loud sigh. James stepped forward, exuding his steady aura that sometimes seemed to contradict his own disposition.

  'Do you know anything about the disappearance of the King-of-Glass-and-Steel?'

  'We are in disarray,' Autumn Reaper said with a sigh. 'Neither here nor there, unsure of the path forward without our king. Not unlike yourselves.'

  Eyes felt a stab of indignation at the cutting remark, undoubtedly the fae was referring to the missing heir of Caerton and Eyes resented the idea that the shifters need a monarch to lead them.

  'Do you know where he is?' James asked, an edge of impatience in his voice.

  'No,' Autumn Reaper replied. He closed his eyes and seemed to settle back to sleep.

  Eyes moved to the wall
and looked out over Hepethia. They were above the fog and below was a blanket of the grey-blue substance. Far away to the north the red light of the telecoms tower blinked.

  'We're not going to get any more from him,' Eyes said quietly, turning back to the others. 'I think he might be hibernating or something.'

  'Let's cross the veil and see where we end up,' Weaver suggested.

  They made their way back down the crooked steps and out of the tower. Eyes held his breath, it was a risk to cross somewhere unknown, they could emerge in the middle of a road right in front of a crowd of people, but shifters had made this place for a reason; they must have done so somewhere safe.

  He stepped across, his pack mates at his side. They found themselves in the empty lobby of a small office building. There were a few vague sounds of life somewhere above, and there was noise from the street outside, but otherwise it was quiet. Eyes strode to the door and opened it. The bright sunlight from outside spilled in through the doorway and he blinked against it. He stepped into the street and turned to look at the building as the others filed out after him. The street was rammed with cars and pedestrians, and right where the desolate stone tower stood in Hepethia was the modest office building they had stepped out from. It was part of a terrace, built mostly of sandstone, with a large sign plastered to the front, declaring “First Floor Space To Let”.

  It was like a giant invitation addressed directly to them and Eyes couldn't help but laugh out loud.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Stalker-of-Night's-Shadow

  Stalker glanced at James, who was staring at the building in disbelief.

  'You have to enquire,' she urged him. 'It has to be a sign from Artemis. You came to us from The Watch, and the Watchtower in this world happens to have a vacant office when you need a new one.'

  He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

  'I'm not sure I believe in signs from deities,' he murmured.