by Dean Murray
We were too used to the movement, the sudden slashes and lightning strikes of hybrid combat. We'd see the appropriate opening, but not take it where Jasmin lunged in without even considering the fact that a miss would mean she was dead.
Without any other options, I'd spent hour after hour sparring with Isaac and James, but there was only so much you could learn from fighting the same two opponents when they were your same skill level.
It made me long for the days of Jaldul. In addition to breaking the southern shape shifters at roughly the current-day border with Mexico, he'd created a school for his sons and his most loyal hybrids.
It was one of the many things that'd fallen apart with his death. We'd become little more than barbarians. Each pack passed on the tricks and techniques they learned over the centuries, but when a pack was as decimated as ours had been, relatively little expertise survived.
Mallory hadn't been able to demonstrate any techniques, but at least she'd been able to describe them to me. It wasn't much, but it was part of the reason we'd survived against Brandon's larger pack as long as we had.
I'd expected the infighting among our pack to get worse as we got closer to Ashure Day, but instead it seemed as though everyone made their peace with what was coming. There was no telling how much James' mother had come through on her promise to calm him down, but he'd settled into a grudging acceptance that we were all likely to die. Even Jasmin had stopped haring off unpredictably.
If the pack had been one bit more unsettled I never would have agreed to let Adri come to one of our last remaining training sessions, but they weren't and I couldn't deny her. We'd been in my room reviewing her Biology when she'd looked up at me with those clear blue eyes and all but begged to be let a little further inside our terrifying world.
I never really had a chance, but once I'd agreed, I put in as many safeguards as I was able, and made sure I'd have plenty of time to wear the rest of the pack out before she arrived. We went up to the north end of the estate where the two spurs that cradled the family land came back in and attached themselves to the mountain.
It was our usual spot, deep enough in that stray hikers wouldn't chance upon us, just like the unusually dense canopy also served as protection from discovery by fly overs. The trees had been planted almost simultaneous to the original pack's arrival in what came to be known as Sanctuary. It showed astonishing foresight for a time when the idea of human flight had been so fantastic as to be completely unbelievable.
Once we'd all arrived and discarded our normal forms I set James and Jessica in particular against each of the other pack members in turn in an effort to wear them down to tractability before Adri arrived.
The half hour passed incredibly quickly. It seemed only moments before Donovan was leading her into view. The breeze had been out of the north all day, so her arrival came as a complete surprise to everyone but me. The other five turned to watch her hesitant progress up the cultured gravel path, but I spared only the briefest of glances for her. My attention had to be on the pack, and I'd felt my beast roar up with surprising strength at the prospect of Adri being injured.
Donovan led her to within twenty feet of the sandy square Jasmin jokingly referred to as 'Donovan's Zen garden.' Jess had been tensing up with each step that Adri took towards us, but when she growled I struck out before my conscious, human mind realized what was happening.
I managed to turn my hand, catching her with the back of my fist rather than the deadly claws that otherwise would have disemboweled her, but even so I sent her flipping end over end with a yelp of pain that brought Isaac around with alarming speed.
I'd counted on Isaac's control withstanding whatever it took to keep Jessica in line, and for several seconds I thought things were going to devolve into a bloody mess, but Jess rolled back to her feet, apparently no worse for the wear, and Isaac calmed back down to something more near his usual demeanor.
The threat of sudden death having lapsed, I turned back to Adri and felt a pang of concern over how she would respond. This was the first time she'd seen this form since I'd killed Simon and Nathanial, and there was still a chance she'd run away screaming.
Dom slowly passed Jessica, who was pacing back and forth with her hackles raised. Adri gasped slightly as two hundred pounds of midnight-furred jaguar slowly stalked towards her, and I let a low growl make its way out of my throat.
Everyone was well aware of just what would happen if they harmed Adri, but Dom was the only one I'd have let get even that close to her. Dom dropped to the ground at the sound, rolling onto her back in a clear display of submissiveness as she looked back at me for permission to proceed.
I let her remain for several seconds before finally nodding. I could have spoken, but I found myself oddly unwilling to speak around Adri in this form. Maybe if I could keep this me and the other me safely compartmentalized she'd be able to continue to ignore the savage animal that didn't belong in her world.
Moving with caution so as not to spook either Adri or I, Dom stood up and walked over to Adri. She reared up onto her back legs, rested her paws on Adri's shoulders so that they could look each other in the eyes, and then walked around Adri, reminiscent of a common house cat in the way she rubbed up against Adri's legs.
Adri didn't really relax until Dom butted her head up against Adri's quivering hand. An obviously bewildered Adri watched as Dom then bounded away to change shapes.
Dom could no more speak in her cat form than Jess or Jasmin could as wolves. The hybrids being able to speak was one of the few advantages we'd had over the southerners. Body language could communicate an awful lot, but it still left room for the kind of misunderstandings that led to people killing each other.
With no 'generals' among their ranks to serve as voice for the pack, the cats had reverted to a solitary existence. All of South America was a complete snake pit and had been for years. The last feline uprising had been put down by unknowing Spanish conquistadors who'd done the weakened wolves an incredible favor. Most of us prayed every day that there wouldn't be another one in our lifetimes. There were plenty of other things that needed killing without us wasting ourselves killing cousins.
My thoughts served as a distraction until Dom reappeared, gingerly picking her barefoot way back to the sand. She had shoes on the other side of the court, but it was typical of Dom not to want to make anyone else wait on her.
Donovan gave both two-legged ladies a bow, nodded to the rest of us, and then retreated back towards the house and the mountain of duties awaiting him there.
Confident that Dom could handle Jess if she tried anything, I turned back to Isaac and James and motioned them to begin.
The rest of the sparring session went about like normal. We practiced every permutation of wolf against wolf, hybrid against hybrid and wolf against hybrid before moving to uneven groupings where one of us was up against more than one opponent.
The three hybrids were careful to use fists instead of claws, but even so things got heated nearly every fight. James could be counted on to lose his temper anytime things didn't go his way, and Jasmin and Jess weren't much better.
I took nearly as much damage separating combatants when things boiled over as I did when it was my turn to spar. I was careful to stay between the rest of the pack and Adri, but the worries proved to be for naught. It was a tired, bloody group that finally shifted back to human form, pulled shoes on and then walked back to the house carrying their clothes.
Adri had been exceptionally quiet on the way back through the tall hedge maze that Andrew and Donovan took such pains to maintain. It wasn't unusual for her to spend fairly significant chunks of time quietly thinking though, so I didn't worry until it extended through dinner. It only took a few minutes of thought to realize the likely cause of her mood.
The sight of the five of us fighting had finally been too much, and she'd realized we really were monsters. I'd been too busy to listen to her conversation with Dom, but maybe there'd been some indicator there.
I was sitting on the bed, waiting while she changed in the bathroom when the realization struck me. I was still looking for the right words when she came out clad in her usual shorts and tank top.
She paused momentarily before the massive, two-handed sword hanging from my wall, and then went silently to the bed and took her usual spot on the left side. I turned the lights off, and then went back and stretched out next to her.
"Alec, what's the sword for?"
Past experience had shown she didn't always remember our conversations when she got this tired. Still, it wasn't the kind of thing I should be telling her.
"It was forged in the days of Jaldul. He was the first king over the northern shape shifters, the wolves. Our people were strong and fast, but we were faced with enemies who were still stronger and faster. The king feared his people and the dayborn he'd been charged with guarding would be destroyed, so he ordered the creation of swords that could be wielded by the hybrids, and they swept their enemies away before them."
She was quiet for so long that I almost thought she'd fallen asleep. When she did speak her words were quiet, almost indistinct.
"Why don't you use it in your fight with Brandon?"
I suddenly felt every blow I'd taken over the last several days of sparing. I'd been tired before, but now it was as if even breathing was too much effort for my battered body.
"I'm not really trained in its use. My father was the last of the royal line who could have trained me. More than that though, it's been outlawed. It's a symbol of nobility in a world where depravity now rules. I can keep it as an artifact of ancient times, but to take it out and wield it in battle would be a death sentence for the entire pack."
Adri sighed in puzzlement but didn't comment so I continued.
"Even the beasts it was created to destroy have become untouchable. It really is nothing more than a relic of the ancient, dying past. Not even worth an equivalent weight of scrap metal."
Adri turned her face slowly towards me but didn't open her eyes.
"It's not worthless because it reminds you of what you need to do, of who you really are. I trust you. You always do the right thing, no matter the cost."
She'd slipped into true slumber which precluded further conversation, but I remained where I was nevertheless. She'd once again said exactly what I needed to hear.
We hid now for fear of humanity, its countless numbers and terrible technology. It hadn't always been that way. Once we'd protected them because might was responsibility, we'd had the ability and accepted the obligation.
The exhaustion was gone. I'd still need to sleep before the night was over, but I no longer felt the leaden listlessness that'd nearly overcome me just minutes earlier. I quietly rolled out of bed and padded across the carpet towards my studio.
I might not have time to finish this particular piece, but it was pulling at me, demanding to be brought into being. It would be the crowning achievement of my life so far, but at least I'd have my subject close at hand for the short time remaining me.
Chapter 29
It'd become almost painful to be separated from Adri. I'd driven myself away from her long enough each day to take care of the most important of my duties, but it was becoming harder and harder.
Ashure Day dawned clear and sunny. By the time the pack finally finished a light training session I was trembling like a heroin addict two days into forced abstinence. I raced ahead of everyone else and returned to find Adri studying in my room.
Her smile warmed the icy spot in my chest that woke each day convinced she was going to finally decide it was time to leave while she still could.
"How was training?"
The lilting sound of her voice pulled me back from the mental precipice.
"Fairly well, all things considered. We took it easy though..."
It was more and more work to keep her in the dark regarding things like the Coun'hij and the bloodsucker plague that was slowly taking over the eastern seaboard. She read me more easily even than Donovan or Rachel. She knew I was leaving stuff out, but didn't press me anymore.
"Only you would come back dripping in sweat and say you took it easy."
The mischievousness curl to her lips pulled at me in ways that felt simultaneously good and bad. I nearly reached out to her, but instead shook my head in resignation.
"I don't know what I'd have done without you these last few weeks."
She didn't respond, so I changed the subject before things could get awkward.
"How's your homework coming?"
The question earned me a frown. "I think my mind's going to explode if I look at my Biology book even just one more time this weekend. Other than that things are great."
Only Adri could manage melodrama without becoming ludicrous. I chuckled almost despite myself. I'd convinced myself that taking Adri with me to see Mallory would be the wrong thing to do, but now that I was here with less than twelve hours until the challenge match, I couldn't bring myself to be parted from her again.
"I take it you'd be up for a brief field trip then?"
She perked up just like Rachel at the mention of shopping.
"A field trip sounds great. Except I have to be back at least three hours before the dance, or Rachel and Jasmin will eat me. At least that's what they said, and I tend to believe them."
She was so casual about it all that I couldn't help myself. This time I did reach out and run a finger along the side of her face.
"Only you could manage to make a joke out of having fallen in with monsters."
She shrugged easily, "What else is a girl to do?"
I returned the shrug as I headed towards the bathroom.
"Be that as it may, I think you don't give yourself enough credit for just how amazing you are."
**
I hadn't realized Adri had never been on my motorcycle with me. She'd spent the entire time I was in the shower chomping at the bit ready to go, and then almost backed out when I took her out to the bike. She tried so hard to be brave that I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was obvious she was terrified of the low-slung sports bike.
I started to give her a way out, but she pulled the helmet out of my hand and crammed it onto her head with hands that had only the barest trace of a tremble. I took the first part of the drive well under the speed limit, and then as I felt her start to relax and lean into the turns with me, cranked it up to triple digits.
Once we were at something closer to my normal speed the rest of the trip passed quickly, and all too soon we'd arrived at the abandoned shed I used to hide the bike. I felt a brief surge of disappointment as her hands loosened around my waist and she leaned back. It had been a rare moment of guilt-free contact. There'd been plenty of clothes between our skin and consequently no risk of increasing the Ja'tell bond.
I killed the power to the bike and then listened for several seconds for any sound of pursuit.
"Are we here?"
"Disappointed?"
She blushed, but stuck her tongue out. I suppressed a grin and shook my head.
"No, we're not quite there yet, but before we continue on, I need your promise not to discuss this with anyone. Not even the rest of the pack."
As always, her scent told the story her face was so good at hiding. She was a little offended that I felt like I needed to remind her, and, unless I was very mistaken, starting to get the least bit dehydrated. I fished around the magnetically attached tank bag and pulled out a bottle of water for her.
"I'm sorry, Adriana. I know I can depend on you, this is just important enough that I needed to make sure you understood what's riding on your discretion."
She took a long pull from the bottle and nodded.
"I won't say anything. What exactly are we going to see?"
"Not a what, but a who."
I carefully picked her up and shifted her around so she was riding piggyback. It put her arms in contact with my neck, but the touch couldn't be avoided. It would take more than hal
f an hour for us to make the journey at merely human speeds.
A couple of minutes later I pulled up in front of Mallory's cabin and felt the first pang of remorse at bringing Adri. I knew she wouldn't betray my trust, but the secret I was including her in wasn't just mine.
Donovan had left a sealed envelope on his desk with my name on it, but for all of his preternatural abilities of anticipation he couldn't have expected that I'd endanger Mallory like this.
I loosened my grip on Adri and helped her slide down to the ground. I steadied her, and then watched as she looked around, finally noticing the cabin, set well back into the mouth of the cave so as to blend into the hillside.
Her expression of pure delight at the discovery helped banish some of my fears and I walked over and knocked on Mallory's door. Mallory's characteristic shuffle sounded from inside and then she appeared wearing a simple blue dress Donovan had ordered for her last year.
She gave me a hug, and then stepped back so she could look up at me without craning her neck and pulling on the scar tissue that laced the front of her throat.
My worries that she'd be angry with me for bringing Adri evaporated as she flashed a dazzling smile and carefully moved back out of the way so we could enter.
"Mallory, I'd like to introduce you to Adriana Paige. Adriana, Mallory."
Adri smiled hesitantly as she offered Mallory her hand.
"I'm very happy to finally get to meet you, young lady. Alec is better company than most, but it's nice to have a new face around here."
I helped both ladies into two of the worn chairs in Mallory's living room, and then nodded at Mallory's command.
"You go ahead and do your chores. Us girls will just get to know each other, and then once you're done, you can bring me up to speed on the latest developments."
Donovan had arranged a food drop a few days before, so I went around behind the cabin and picked up the heavy bar and two baskets that would allow me to carry more than would easily fit in my arms.
