by Helen Harper
I raised my eyebrows meaningfully at Julia. One of your shifters is missing.
She didn’t look around to see who it was but her shoulders stiffened visibly. It occurred to me that it wasn’t just the werehamster herself who acted in a confounding manner; it was anyone in this damn county who had anything to do with her.
She left a phone message. Everything in Trevathorn is clear.
I took an authoritarian stance. After Staines’ recriminations, I didn’t feel I had much choice. She should be here.
I can send someone…
Forget it. I didn’t mean to sound quite so short with her but this wasn’t the time for any petty rebellions, no matter who they came from. Maybe I should drag Mack kicking and screaming to London with me so I could teach her some manners. I smiled slightly at the thought then focused on the matter in hand.
‘This has been a black day. A day of grief and pain and blood. But it was one battle against one monster. Because you worked together and co-operated, you injured it and sent it running for cover to whichever hole it came from.’ I dropped my voice until it was almost a whisper. It would be a damn sight more effective than shouting. ‘Now look at you. Brethren to one side.’ I pointed at the cluster. ‘Cornish pack to the other. We are as one. We should be as one. Today you all fought as one. The losses may have been Brethren but Cornwall had already lost John. We are all in pain.’ Several of the shifters dropped their heads. ‘But we are not victims!’ I snarled, suddenly speaking louder. They jerked their eyes back up again. ‘We are the pack. Brethren or not, we are strong. We have potential and power that the mages and the Fae and the bloodsucking damn vampires can only dream of. Because we’re cohesive. We work together. And we are going to damned well work together to find whoever is responsible for all this.’
I noted the mage, Floride, hovering to the side. I wondered whether he was insulted that I’d effectively relegated him and his kind to the sidelines. His expression still seemed vaguely amiable though. I raised up my right hand and pointed at him. ‘Mage Floride is going to find out everything he can about what’s on the other side of that portal. He has bound it for now. We are safe for now. But when we know enough, we will go to that place, wherever it may be, and we will take the fight to them.’
I straightened my shoulders and looked each and every individual in the eye. ‘Be strong. Because one way or another, we will overcome. We are the pack,’ I repeated.
Staines gave me a nod of approval. Despite my concerns about the fighting ability of the vast majority of the Cornish pack, I could see a fire had been lit in all their eyes. Satisfaction filled me. Then, bizarrely, applause started. I couldn’t tell who began it but once they had, others took it up until the whole room was clapping. The noise grew thunderous and there were cheers and whistles.
I smiled grimly and used the Voice to speak to Staines. It’s going to take more than a pretty speech and a standing ovation to win the day.
Perhaps. But it’s a start, my Lord.
Unwilling to risk overdoing it, I turned on my heel to walk out. I wanted to go to the beach to see the damn portal for myself. There was someone I had to take care of first though.
Where the fuck are you?
Mack didn’t immediately answer but I was taken aback by the sudden – and very unexpected – feeling of delight that emanated from her. Then the front door of the keep burst open with an almighty crash, the oak splintering, and all hell broke loose.
I barely had any time to react before a massive beast launched itself at me, jaws snapping. There were at least three others bounding into the keep. As I twisted left to avoid the creature’s vicious teeth, I shifted into my werepanther form in an explosion of fur and flying material, and landed on all fours. Shrieks and screams came from behind me as the other intruders launched themselves deeper in. My own assailant leaped towards me so I flung myself up and met it in mid air. Our bodies collided and my shoulder jarred. Whatever it was, it stank of rotting meat. We both crashed heavily to the ground and I heard the thing whine.
Pulling myself out from underneath its heavy body, I aimed for its flank, swiping my claws deep into its flesh. It howled in agony, head jerking round to try and catch me with its teeth as it lumbered to its feet. I sprang away, taking one deep breath into my lungs, then threw myself at it again, rising up onto my hindquarters so I could make use of both my paws.
I scraped into its skin, drawing blood from its muzzle. Its mouth yawned open and glowing red eyes fixed me with venomous hatred. I only just managed to avoid its flashing teeth by jerking my head up and sinking my own fangs into its ear. It snarled, making a sound that only some kind of hellbeast could be capable of making. Thick, dark blood that tasted of cancerous death filled my mouth and I spat it out.
Jumping into the air, I twisted hard, somersaulting to land behind the thing’s body. As I spun through the air, I caught sight of blood and fur all over the place. Red dimmed my vision and I could hear my own pulse thundering in my ears. I raked my claws down its back, dragging it down to the floor. Then I ripped a chunk of flesh from its side, just as a wolf joined me from the other side. Dimly recognising Tom, I rolled to the side, my claws still embedded in the beast’s flesh so I could force it onto its back. With its vulnerable belly exposed, Tom was able to lunge forward. Letting out an inarticulate grunt of rage, he ripped its skin while it writhed under my tenuous grasp. Then I felt it shudder. Going for the kill, I pushed my claws deeper into its body just as it pulled itself away. I lashed out once more, but this time my paws met nothing but air. It had vanished, dissipating into a cloud of black, choking smoke.
Not waiting to work out what in the hell had just happened, I spun round to help the others. The sightless eyes of one of the Cornish girls stared glassily at me from her broken and lifeless body. There were moans of pain from all quarters of the house. I heard a sudden sharp scream and pounded forward and out into the garden. A scene of hell greeted me. To one side there was a leg lying incongruously in a leafy herb patch. There was no body attached to it but, sickeningly, I recognised the shoe. Julia. To the other side, another werewolf staggered, lurching from side to side as if he were drunk. His pupils were dilated and blood streamed from a gash in his side. In fact, everywhere I looked there were fallen bodies. Most had shifted but there were a few who hadn’t even had time to complete the movement. Moans of terror reached my ears.
Someone grabbed me. I pivoted round, snarling, only to see Staines blinking at me, with deep scratches down his face and neck. ‘My Lord. Are you alright?’
I growled in the affirmative, pulling away.
‘They’ve gone. Whatever they were, they’ve gone. They just…’ he shook his head as if unable to believe it, ‘disappeared in a puff of smoke. Demon dogs or something.’
I sniffed the air. He was right. It wasn’t just my own attacker that had vanished. They’d all gone. But we still didn’t know if they were coming back.
Get whoever is still able to stand to secure the perimeter. We need guards all around here.
‘Yes, my Lord.’
I located Fenewick. Are you finished with Lucy?
Yes, my Lord. Is everything okay? I could hear…
Just get down here. There are a lot of wounded to deal with. Then I shifted back and went looking for the rest of Julia.
***
She was in a bad way. The one, tiny saving grace was that she had lapsed into unconsciousness. Fenewick, expression grim, bent down beside her to bind her leg. I was gallingly aware that I could do something to take away a lot of the pain and suffering from both Julia and the other shifters around me. I was too afraid to weaken myself, however. If those hellhounds came back, all would be lost. We were in too much of a state of disarray to be able to conduct any sort of serious defence. I still couldn’t work out why they’d suddenly disappeared in the first place.
‘Why?’ One of the young Cornish shifters asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. ‘Why would they do this?’
&nb
sp; Anton moved up beside her to provide support. She grabbed him, clinging on as if he were a life raft. ‘They were looking for something.’ Rage that was no doubt mirrored in the face of every still-conscious shifter present flashed in his expression. ‘They didn’t find it so they’ve gone.’
My eyes narrowed. I realised that he suspected just exactly what it was they were looking for. For some reason, however, he wasn’t saying. Throwing in a touch of compulsion, I focused my attention on him. What do you think they wanted?
He looked at me. I have no idea, my Lord. He said it gratingly, as if it almost pained him.
I frowned, both at his lack of answer and the puzzle itself. What if it wasn’t something they were after but someone? Mack had already been conspicuous by her absence. I mulled it over. It didn’t make any sense though. Why would a pack of Otherworld hellhounds be so bothered by a werehamster? Even if she were so strong as to defy credibility… My frown deepened. Mack really was strong. If she’d been here she could have done something to help. The suspicions I’d had about her in the beginning started to rise again. Why wasn’t she back yet? It couldn’t be a coincidence that she’d taken the very moment the keep was attacked to hide herself away.
The fury that I’d only just been managing to keep hold of began to flare up again. Everything somehow seemed to keep circling back to her and I still couldn’t work out why.
‘They were ours, not yours,’ Lucy’s soft voice said from behind, although there was an edge of angry steel to it.
Annoyed that she’d pulled herself out of bed when she should still be resting, I spun round just in time to see her limp away. That’s when I realised I’d only caught the end of her conversation – and who she’d actually been talking to. Doing my best to ignore Mack’s pale, trembling skin and the blood that was dripping inexplicably from her body, I seethed.
‘I called you. Why weren’t you here?’
She tensed, her eyes darting away as if in misery. ‘I…was trapped. There was a faerie ring.’
I moved closer to her. The scent of her blood mingled with the rest so I was unable to discern it from anyone else’s. A faerie ring sounded like just too damned convenient an excuse. ‘Then how did you escape?’
Mack swallowed. ‘I don’t know. After I heard your Voice – and Julia’s – I hit the edge of the ring. A lot. And then it gave way. I don’t know why.’
She seemed to think I was an idiot. I damped down my anger and stared harder at her. ‘That’s not possible. Did you have iron?’
She shook her head. There was an odd ring of truth to her words but it was ridiculously implausible.
Aware that the other shifters around us were watching the tense exchange, I tried to keep calm. ‘Seems awfully convenient that this is the time you chose to suddenly get yourself trapped by the Fae.’ My lip curled. ‘And then miraculously escape.’
‘If I’d had a choice, I would have been here, my Lord,’ she snapped. ‘I would not have abandoned my pack. And I think that between the terrametus and the ispolin, I’ve proven my loyalty. I was stupid and I didn’t look where I was going, but if you’re trying to suggest that I’m some kind of traitor…’
Her obvious anger added weight to her words but I wasn’t willing to let this go just yet. ‘And yet, even with the ispolin, you still didn’t shift when you could have.’
‘And you know my reasons for that.’
I glowered at her. I knew the reasons she’d given me. I just wasn’t sure I believed them, however. ‘I’d compel you to tell me everything, Miss Mackenzie, and yet I wonder if it would work after, as you say, what happened with the terrametus.’
She raised her open palms to me, indicating her submission. Her eyes flickered and I wondered what in the hell she was thinking. Part of me wanted desperately to be able to trust her and the other part of me wanted to wring her damn neck. She looked so small and so vulnerable right now, her hair matted and her strangely coloured eyes filled with both pain and desperation. Against my better judgment, my heart went out to her. Then I tried to quash down any sympathetic emotions.
‘My Lord Corrigan,’ Fenewick interrupted from down by Julia’s side, ‘we need to move her inside. I will try my best to heal her but she may be too far gone.’
Remembering that I needed to stay calm in order to reassure everyone else, I merely nodded before eyeing Mack sternly. ‘The keep’s perimeter needs to be repaired. You will make sure that it is. And then you had better get that taken care of.’ I gestured towards her wounds.
Mack agreed meekly before turning pained eyes back to Julia. ‘Anything she needs, anything at all, tell me.’
I growled in annoyance. I was the one who’d help Julia out if she needed it. Fenewick nodded, however, and Mack turned and disappeared back to the destruction inside.
Chapter Eighteen
I stared over the destroyed garden, hands stuffed in my pockets. It seemed like we were never going to catch a break. Another three deaths. Another alpha whose life was on the line. Sighing deeply, I ran my hand through my hair. Nothing was going right.
When I heard a shuffle behind me, I half turned. Mel and Boran were standing in front of me, heads bowed in submission. ‘We have failed you, my Lord Alpha.’
The anger that I’d barely kept under control with Mack threatened to return to the fore. ‘You have not failed me,’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘The attack on the keep was completely unexpected. No-one could have foreseen it.’
Boran stretched out his neck. I recognised the gesture and it didn’t help my mood. ‘I offer my life as penance.’
‘Good grief! Do you really think more death is going to help anyone here?’
‘The Way says…’
‘Screw the Way.’
Both their faces paled in shock at my heresy. I took a deep breath. ‘There are parts of the Way that are helpful. And there are parts of the Way that are not. I hardly think sacrificial lambs are what we need right now.’
Mel lifted her eyes to mine. Stark relief shone from them. ‘Then what do we need?’ she asked softly.
‘We go back to the beginning. We stop chasing our tails and start focusing. John knew what this thing was.’ I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, scraping my thumb over the stubble. Shaving was a luxury I just didn’t have time to afford these days. ‘There’s a magically locked drawer in his office. Perhaps there’s something of use in there. I made an error in not getting the mage to open it before. There’s also that damned bolt of cloth.’
Boran cleared his throat. ‘Actually, while you were in London we made some headway with that.’
I raised my eyebrows. ‘And?’
‘It’s not just death it reeks of.’ His face was pale. ‘It’s power.’
‘That’s hardly surprising.’
‘Yes. However, we managed to isolate some traces of DNA.’
‘The woman? We know what she is?’
He nodded. ‘But you’re not going to like it.’
‘Try me,’ I growled. I was about to tell them that it would have been helpful to know this earlier, then I decided that this was hardly an appropriate time for a scolding. I doubted it would have made much difference if I had known the bloodthirsty bitch’s background.
‘Whoever she is,’ Boran said, ‘she’s a demi-god.’
I blinked. ‘Pardon?’
‘A demi-god. Or goddess, if you prefer.’
‘Sweet Jesus.’
‘Indeed,’ he agreed. ‘We’ve been researching all the potential suspects. The library here is surprisingly well stocked and the Othernet, of course, is also proving useful.’
‘How useful?’
‘We have a list of about sixty who we think it might be.’
‘Sixty?’ I was aghast. It may as well be six thousand. It would take an age to narrow down a list of that size. It's not as if demi-gods hung around on this earthly plane very often.
He glanced down at his feet. ‘Well, sixty-three to be exact. We’ve tried narrowing it down but…’ h
e shrugged helplessly, ‘we don’t have much to go on.’
‘The werebear is right. She’s after something. If we can find out what it is she wants then we might be able to work out who she is.’ I thought about the attack on the keep. They’d not been interested in any wall hangings or objets d’art. Those hellhounds were after people. After shifters. Or just one in particular – and I was betting I knew who.
‘Put a guard on Mackenzie,’ I instructed.
Meg’s eyelashes flickered. ‘Um, she’s not going to like that very much.’
‘I don’t give a damn what she likes.’
‘Yeah, but,’ she paused as if trying to choose her words, ‘she’s quite scary. And strong. If she thinks we’re following her around…’
They had a point. This was the girl who took out first Anton – a huge werebear – and, second, a terrametus. And she’d apparently had more success against the ispolin than anyone else. She was also someone who acted first and thought later. Given her temper, it might not be wise to be too obvious. ‘Fine. Be discreet. If she tries anything or goes anywhere, don’t approach her directly. Just contact me.’
‘Do you think she’s got something to do with all this?’
‘Possibly. Probably. I just don’t know how she’s involved yet.’ Despite my argument with her, my certainty that she wasn’t a perpetrator had solidified. Her emotions were too honest and too close to the surface to be faked. ‘Keep that to yourselves though,’ I told them sternly. That didn’t mean she was an entirely innocent bystander though. ‘There are other avenues to consider anyway. We also need to find where those damn beasts came from. Anyone who’s not working on immediate repairs needs to search the area for another portal. We know they couldn’t have come through the one on the beach because it’s been bound closed. There must be another one somewhere else.’
‘Yes, my Lord,’ they chimed in unison, before withdrawing.
I bent down, attempting to clear some of the broken earth and debris from around a pretty little plant. We were going to have to stop waiting for this goddess bitch’s next move and do something ourselves. But breaching an unknown portal was a dangerous prospect. I’d need to pick a team very carefully, ensuring that we were fully prepared and properly rested first. She had a lot of power and we had to be sure we were going to walk into a fight we could win. Despite the brute strength of Anton and Mack, it made more sense to use solely Brethren shifters. It’s what we were here for, after all. And if Mack really was what the demi-goddess wanted, well, there was no point in placing her in harm’s way. She wouldn’t like it but it would make me rest a hell of a lot easier knowing she was safe. Unwilling to examine my feelings too closely concerning that though, I spun round and went in search of Doctor Fenewick and Julia instead.
