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

by H B Lyne

  'I'm heading out soon. I'll be back tonight,' she told the pack.

  'Where will you be?' Eyes asked.

  Stalker glanced at the curious faces of the others. She had come this far without ever mentioning Rhys to anyone, not the Blue Moon or anyone else in the shifter world. She clung to her secret, reluctant to give him up to the scrutiny of her pack.

  Weaver was watching her with a curious smile on her face. Stalker felt her cheeks burning.

  'Erm, just with a friend. In town.' She bolted out of the door before her treacherous cheeks could do any more harm. She heard Weaver laughing and the men making confused noises behind her as she jogged down the stairs.

  She left the house and headed straight for Rhys's house on foot. It was a cold day, with a clear sky; the first clear day in what felt like months, and she pulled her jacket tight around her against the biting cold. Winter had arrived.

  She arrived at Rhys's house and knocked eagerly on the door. He answered quickly with a broad smile on his face.

  'Hi,' he said, holding the door open for her. She stepped inside and he pulled her into his arms as the door swung closed. He captured her lips in a passionate kiss and she melted into it. He made her feel so alive and so human. They stumbled blindly across the room and onto the sofa, hardly drawing breath. They sat facing each other, kissing intensely and grabbing at each other.

  Stalker tugged Rhys's t-shirt up and slid her hands underneath it and across his back. She could feel the subtle difference in texture where the ink of his tattoos weaved across his skin. Gently, he brushed her hands out from under his top and placed them either side of his face. He held her face and kissed her so tenderly that her chest ached.

  He broke the kiss and stared into her eyes, still cupping her face in his hands. 'I thought maybe we could go out, it's such a nice day. We could take a walk. Maybe we could drive back up to Fenwick and check out the sunset later.'

  Stalker remembered their date, only a few weeks ago, the night before she had changed for the first time. It was a tempting offer. But she couldn't go into Fenwick any more. He couldn't take her to the museum either, that was on Watch territory. Future dates would need to be carefully planned and approved. She felt a little disheartened.

  'It's surprisingly cold out, actually,' she said. She moved away from him slightly and his hands slid slowly down from her face and neck, over her shoulders and down her arms. 'Can't we stay here?'

  She smiled seductively and leaned in for another kiss. She had one thing on her mind, the one thing she really needed in order to feel connected to another human being. He returned the kiss but Stalker felt like he was holding back and she let the kiss end. 'Is something wrong?'

  'No,' he said a little too quickly. Stalker pulled away from him and looked him in the eye. She felt frustrated and confused. 'You are amazing, you are the most passionate and warm person I have ever known. I have to literally pinch myself on a regular basis to check that I'm not imagining you being in my life.' He seemed absolutely sincere and Stalker began to relax again. His words made her blush.

  'But you are holding back,' she said, not willing to let this go.

  'Yes.'

  'Is it the age difference, or something about me?' Stalker had been worried that it would be difficult to have a relationship with a human since the very first day of discovering her true nature. Fortune and Shadow, even Stone, had all warned her that it might not be possible. Humans often felt uneasy around shifters, knowing on some level that they were in the company of something supernatural. Rhys stifled a laugh.

  'No, there's nothing about you that's putting me off. But I can't say that I never think about the age gap between us. I don't want to rush this. I don't want to dive into something physical without a solid emotional foundation first.' He lifted her hand and kissed the palm.

  Stalker released a slightly frustrated sigh. She wasn't a kid, she was a woman and she had needs. Yet, he made a good point and was being more of a gentleman that any man she had ever been with before.

  'Well, thank you for being honest and for being a real gentleman.' She looked into his dark eyes and saw that wonderful openness that she sometimes glimpsed. It held for a long moment without suddenly vanishing like it usually did.

  I'm scared of the day I lose you.

  Stalker shook her head at the intruding thought. She wasn't entirely sure who it belonged to. Rhys seemed undisturbed, though he looked at her a little strangely, and she tried to laugh in order to break the tension.

  'Okay,' she said and she pushed him against the sofa cushions and straddled him. He grinned and grasped her hips. 'This is how it's going to be, I'm going to kiss you again and you're going to enjoy it and you are going to relax and not worry so much. What will be will be.'

  He looked like he wanted to protest so she quickly placed a finger on his lips. 'I agree with you, I think a strong emotional foundation is a good idea and I promise not to coax you into doing anything more intimate than you're comfortable with.'

  She released her finger from his lips and brushed her lips against his instead. It was a soft, lingering kiss, filled with yearning and a promise of what was to come.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Fights-Eyes-Open

  Monday morning rolled around and the Lightning Lords assembled early for their day of productivity. They drove to the retirement home in Eyes' car. It had been a good weekend for Eyes, he had spent some quality time with his family and been able to catch up properly with the pack too. He knew that he was going to accept Theodore's job offer, but had yet to summon the courage to make the call. He would do it later. They needed to investigate the rat nest first and make a plan for taking down the Plague Doctor. He needed his attention on this task, Theodore would have to wait.

  The retirement home was towards the east of St. Mark's in a slightly more leafy and affluent area. James directed Eyes and pointed to a driveway on the right. The gates stood open and a high wall with tall trees behind it hid the property from the road. Eyes turned into the drive and followed it carefully as it swept in a curve through lightly wooded gardens. The trees gave way to a gravelled car park in front of a huge and very old manor house.

  It was built from dark grey stone and had two round turrets front and centre over a grand entrance way with steps leading up to the wooden doors. It was quite an imposing building and as they all piled out of the car and looked up at the dark windows, Eyes couldn't help but shudder.

  James took the lead and Eyes fell into step just behind him. He glanced back at Wind Talker, who was walking with the others and had a hand hovering nervously over his new talisman, which was hidden away under his shirt.

  They entered through the main entrance into a brightly lit lobby with a large reception desk. The windows were small, so the space was lit with artificial lights, and the dark wooden floor gleamed. A woman's fast footsteps echoed down the wooden hallway and Eyes turned to see her approaching. She was late middle-aged, with neat, greying hair and a crispness that punctuated her appearance and demeanour.

  'Hello? Can I help?' she asked as she neared them. James stepped forward and raised a hand.

  'James Harper, we spoke on the phone yesterday?'

  'Yes of course, about your father?' The woman extended a hand and James shook it.

  'That's right,' James replied. 'This is my family. We all wanted to look around and make sure we're all happy with where Dad will be.'

  Eyes nodded along and was quietly impressed with how James was doing.

  'Of course, this way please.' The woman led them down the hall. James walked up front, listening and answering her questions and asking plenty of his own. Eyes hung back with Wind Talker, while Weaver and Stalker pretended to look interested in the facilities.

  'What are we looking for?' Eyes whispered, half to himself.

  'We'll know when we see it,' Wind Talker replied.

  Eyes looked at him and noticed a slightly glazed expression in his eyes.

  'Are you all rig
ht?'

  'Fine,' Wind Talker replied absently, his concentration fixed on something in front of them. 'The place is a fortress in Hepethia, but deserted. The infestation must be downstairs, in the basements.'

  Eyes looked at his pack mate carefully. Wind Talker reached out and grasped Eyes' arm as they walked, as if he needed steadying and Eyes realised that the new talisman around Wind Talker's neck must allow him to see across the veil.

  'That must be disorienting,' Eyes whispered.

  'Very,' Wind Talker replied.

  They slowed down as they passed an unmarked door on the right, and Eyes checked behind them. There was no one in sight and they slipped through the door into a narrow stairwell. It was dimly lit with walls on either side, the stairs leading down. Eyes went first, with Wind Talker's hand lightly touching his shoulder for guidance.

  At the bottom of the stairs a narrow corridor stretched before them with small doors leading off it. They followed it to the end, where it turned right into a wider corridor with exposed pipes and a few twists and turns.

  'Rats,' Wind Talker gasped. 'Everywhere.'

  Eyes peered into the dark, there were no rodents on this side of the veil.

  'How many?'

  'Hundreds, a swarm of them. Crawling up the walls and along the pipes. He's down here, I can feel it. We need to leave, he could be on either side.'

  Wind Talker reached into his shirt and tugged the talisman out, breaking its contact with his skin. He gasped and pressed a hand to the wall as his vision adjusted to his surroundings.

  'Okay, let's go find the others and get out of here. We'll need a plan before we try to tackle this situation.' Eyes led the way back upstairs and opened the door into the hallway carefully, checking that there was no one there to see them emerge from the cellar. The coast was clear and he stepped out into the well-lit hall, Wind Talker right behind him, apparently desperate to escape the narrow, rat-infested corridors.

  They jogged after the others, catching up to them in a large dining hall. The woman was talking about the entertainment that they provide for the residents. Eyes gently took Stalker's arm and led her a short distance away.

  'Where were you?' she whispered.

  'Checking the basement,' he replied. 'It's infested on the other side. He's definitely here and has a whole host at his control. We'll need a careful plan. He may know we're here.'

  'Let's get out of here,' she whispered. There was no trace of panic in her voice, just calm authority.

  'James,' Eyes called out, interrupting their tour guide. 'I just took a call from the carer, Dad's in a bad way. We should go.'

  'Oh my, I'm sorry to hear that,' the woman said.

  She hurriedly showed them back to the reception. 'I'm just at the end of the phone if you have any further questions or need our services.'

  'Thank you,' James said as he shook her hand. 'You've been very helpful.' James was the perfect front man, calm, polite and just emotional enough to be believable.

  They piled back into Eyes' car and set off towards the van hire place that James needed to get to to collect his rental van.

  'It's a stronghold on the other side,' Wind Talker told them. 'Like a castle. It's old, older than the house. It could be that shifters built the house in order to have access to the place they created in Hepethia. But there were pipes in the basement, it looked almost normal down there, except for the rats everywhere.'

  'What do we do?' Stalker asked. 'Do we try to attack it? If so, how will we infiltrate it?'

  'We could come back here and cross over inside, that might be the only way in,' James suggested.

  'We should do some more reconnaissance first,' Weaver said, her voice anxious. 'We need to be prepared.'

  When they arrived at the rental place, James got out and went to collect his van. Eyes got out to stretch his legs and to call Theodore's office. The phone only rang twice before he answered.

  'Harris.'

  'It's Martin Davison,' Eyes said. There was a long pause.

  'Good to hear from you,' Theodore said at last. 'How can I help?'

  'I have given your offer due consideration and would like to accept.'

  'I am very glad to hear it.' Eyes could tell Theodore was smiling at the other end of the phone, though whether that was genuine happiness or satisfaction that his plan was unfolding correctly, Eyes could not tell.

  'I'll need a week to clear my case load.' Eyes couldn't quite believe he was doing this and he ran his free hand through his hair.

  'Of course, whatever you need. Welcome on board.'

  'Thank you.'

  Eyes ended the call and leaned heavily on his car. Stalker climbed out of the back seat and placed a hand on his shoulder.

  'Are you all right?' she asked.

  'Fine,' he replied wearily. 'I just made a deal with the devil.'

  'There's no going back now,' she said with a smile. 'Let's get James moved, shall we?'

  The rest of the day was spent emptying James's small office in Old Town into the back of the van and moving it all to his new place in St. Mark's. It was a bigger office, with a small reception hall and a door into his office with a frosted window in it, just like in the old movies featuring private investigators. Eyes wanted to see a well-dressed receptionist with stockings doing her nails and waiting for the phone to ring.

  They all laughed about it as they unloaded boxes of files and moved a desk and cabinets up the stairs into the first floor office. Eyes dipped in and out to make phone calls. He was shifting as many cases as he could over to colleagues and starting the wheels turning to get him out of chambers and into Harris Intermediaries. He was met with a number of surprised reactions to the news, which he tried not to let bother him. He knew it must look odd, such a dramatic change in focus, but it was no one's business but his own.

  Around dinner time he went out and picked up a takeaway for them to eat in the office and Weaver poured out a round of fizzy drinks into paper cups for a toast.

  'To James and his business. May it thrive here in St. Mark's.' Weaver lifted her cup.

  'Hear, hear.' Eyes joined the toast, happy to see smiles on all of the faces around him. He leaned closer to Wind Talker from his perch on the desk, as the others started chatting animatedly. 'Could I please borrow that talisman of yours?'

  'Of course,' he replied. He lifted it over his head and passed it to Eyes. Eyes took the necklace and looked at it. It was a small copper eye styled like something from ancient Egypt and it hung on a black bootlace. Eyes lifted the lace over his head and let the pendant rest on his chest under his shirt. It was the most bizarre sensation, like wearing glasses with pictures on them.

  'This is so strange, I know I'm sitting in the office, but I can see the Watchtower clearly at the same time, right through the walls and ceiling where there is no ceiling in Hepethia.'

  He wobbled from his perch on the edge of the desk and Stalker laughed as she quickly grabbed him and steadied him again. Wind Talker laughed too and Eyes felt content that the rift between them was on the mend.

  He stood and walked from the office onto the landing, his hands outstretched like a child playing blind man's bluff. Straight ahead, where there was a door into another set of offices in the human world, in Hepethia the ancient stone Watchtower lay before them, and sitting on the throne, tall and proud, was a new figure with a crown of ice upon his head. Frost ran all down his body, over the stone throne and spread out from his feet across the floor. The roofless tower opened right onto the night sky, crystal clear and filled with stars, the waning crescent moon shone down on the tower, causing the frost to glisten.

  Eyes smiled and removed the talisman, his vision returned to normal and he passed it carefully back to Wind Talker.

  'Beautiful,' he said with a serene smile. 'Seems winter has arrived.'

  They returned to their feast and unpacking boxes. Life was good, if only for a few hours.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Stalker-of-Night's-Shadow

&nbs
p; Stalker sat in the café, anxiously playing with a napkin on the table while she waited for Ben to arrive. She wasn't sure how she was going to bring up the subject of the underground railway or explain how she knew about it, and the whole idea of using her oldest friend to get information was a touch unpalatable.

  Ben arrived with a gust of ice-cold wind and he swept through the little café with a flurry of noise and activity. He dropped down into the chair opposite her.

  'I could murder an espresso,' he huffed.

  Stalker got the attention of the waitress and ordered a drink for Ben.

  'Stress at work?' He had provided her with the perfect opening gambit and she sipped her latte as she waited for him to take off his coat and settle himself.

  'Yes,' he replied. 'You would not believe what they expect. It's like they want everything done yesterday.'

  'What are you working on?' Stalker asked. The waitress returned with Ben's espresso and he took a careful sip, wincing slightly against the heat.

  'I wish I could say,' he gave her a reluctant smile.

  'You can tell me, I mean, it's not a breach of confidentiality if I already know from someone else. Is it?'

  Ben looked at her quizzically and she gave him a playful expression.

  'True,' he said slowly. He looked around at the half empty café and leaned across the table. 'Do you know something?'

  'Maybe,' she whispered back. 'I know something really massive is being built and I was wondering if you were involved with it.'

  Ben leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest.

  'How do you know that?'

  'I have my sources,' she teased. She could tell he wasn't really upset, he was playing. 'So is that what you're working on?'

  'I nearly told you about it a few weeks ago.'

  'You did?' She was surprised and searched her memory for a clue. 'When?'

  'It was the day after the Halloween party. We had coffee and there was a guy following you so you were totally distracted and didn't take the bait I offered you.'