Hidden Realms

by Dean Murray

  "At some point today the Principal is going to announce a school-sponsored trip to Vegas on the night of the next full moon. I'm going to be on it."

  Instant, if quiet, chaos was the predictable result.

  "Are you crazy? Brandon's pack always spends at least part of that night pushing us really hard. How do you expect us to stand them off without you?"

  Jasmin was the one who voiced the question, but it was obviously heavy on everyone's minds. I verified that none of Brandon's pack were within hearing range before responding.

  "Isaac will be in charge during my absence, so it will ultimately be his call, but I expect that he'll decide to run a patrol right up to the border of the other pack's territory. If we temporarily take a more aggressive stance it should push them off balance enough for my departure to go unnoticed."

  James' fingers had gone white on the table as he tried to stop himself from ripping fist-sized chunks out of it. The disagreement had raised the discussion up into the audible ranges as everyone tried to shout each other down, but the crackle of the loud speaker interrupted the rapidly escalating fight.

  "This is Principal Gossil and I've got an exciting announcement. The school is sponsoring a trip to Las Vegas to see the production of Les Misérables that just started. Tickets are available at a discounted rate in the office for the next two days."

  The pack turned almost as one to shoot me a look of unhappiness, but I paid no attention, instead focusing on the rest of Mr. Gossil's speech.

  "We'll be holding a drawing for five free tickets. All those wishing to be entered into the drawing should stop by the office between today and noon tomorrow."

  The cafeteria at large seemed completely disinterested in the announcement, but there was a high-pitched sound of delight immediately heard from the direction of Brandon's accustomed table. I somehow knew it originated from Adriana Paige.

  The pack as a whole still wasn't happy but I allowed my beast to bubble up to the surface, just a sliver away from transforming, silencing them all with a hurricane of power. My point made for now, I stood and left, my food uneaten on the table.

  Since I shared most of my classes with Jasmin, the departure bought me only a temporary reprieve. All too soon I was sitting next to her in Chemistry and wishing there was a way to permanently shut her up.

  Her subvocalized monologue wasn't entirely without merit. I was endangering the pack, and I hadn't really given them good reason. It was a good thing she didn't know the next step I was considering.

  If Adri really was from the Coun'hij, then returning her note, especially with my sigil on it, would give her exactly the opportunity to execute me she'd been looking for. Considering the fact that she very much appeared to be dating Brandon these days, even if she wasn't moonborn, there was still an element of risk to it all.

  I tuned Jasmin out for the rest of the hour and tried to decide whether or not to go through with it all. I'd essentially decided against it by the time the bell rang; but when I made it to Physics, Adri looked up at me with the barest trace of a smile and almost without conscious thought I turned around and left the building.

  The fact that we had a sub was convenient, but it wasn't the full reason. It was as if something compelled me to act in opposition to my best judgment.

  I left my car a quarter mile from her house and ran the rest of the way in just over a minute. There wasn't a vehicle out front, which was pretty good reason to believe the house was empty, but I still felt exposed as I walked up to the door and pulled out the heavy stock I'd brought just in case.

  The pen felt good in my hand as I wrote. Not as good as a paintbrush, but still right and proper. A minute later I pulled back and looked at what I'd written.

  Adriana,

  Your words of thanks were altogether unexpected, but decidedly appreciated. You're most welcome for whatever small part I might have played in helping events to unfold as they would have in a perfect world.

  My actions were not such as to merit any large boon from you, but still I must ask one. Please never show this note to anyone. I ask not for myself, but for the others such knowledge could affect.

  I hope your circumstances continue on much as they are now, but on the chance they do not, I can be reached by leaving a note in the hollow of the lightning-struck tree half a mile to the east of your house.

  —@

  I signed it with my personal sigil, the symbol of my family altered ever so slightly to make it mine, and walked away without looking back.

  Chapter 12

  I hadn't intended on returning to school, but James called as he headed into his last class. Apparently Dom's drama teacher was being a jerk again and she needed help finishing up the props for the school's production of a Midsummer Night's Dream. I agreed to come relieve him from guard duty at the tutor lab, and then turned around and headed back into town.

  Once I arrived, I sent James a text letting him know he could leave, and then waited outside the tutor lab and listened to everyone inside. Rachel was muttering to herself about whatever problem she was working on, and the sound brought a grin to my face.

  A few minutes later I heard books rustling and then Rachel's cheery voice filtered through the window.

  "Are you ready? James had to leave early, but don't worry, we've still got a ride home."

  Adri responded after just a short pause.

  "Great. Britney's been avoiding me like the plague. I didn't even see her leave today."

  I didn't hear Rachel laugh very much anymore. It happened so infrequently I'd forgotten just how much I missed it. It was one more thing to put on the ledger. A plus if Adri was a human, a negative if she was about to disillusion my sister even more than life already had.

  "She left about five minutes before James did."

  "Was she still chatting up her prime candidate for the big dance?"

  "Yep, she's definitely settled on Tim Parsons, who is perfect if you like your men fairly handsome, moderately popular, and built like an ox."

  I wondered for just a moment if Rachel was quite that feisty with anyone else, and then the door was opening and both girls were blinking in the blinding Utah sun.

  "Alec!"

  Rachel ran over and gave me a hug. She knew better than to tie my arms up around a potential hostile shape shifter, I moved slightly to the side and wrapped one arm around her for a second.

  "You didn't think I'd forget, did you?"

  "Not forget, no, just maybe be a little late."

  It was a slightly painful reminder of just how little I'd been around lately.

  The three of us walked over to my Porsche and Rachel slipped into the back seat, leaving the passenger seat open for Adri. The last place I wanted a potentially hostile hybrid was behind me.

  "Did you enter the drawing for Les Misérables tickets?"

  There was a slightly knowing quality to Rachel's voice as she leaned up between our seats and looked at Adri. No telling whether the rest of the pack had filled her in on our argument, or if it was pure intuition.

  "Yes, but so did everyone else. My chances are so dismal they're not even worth mentioning."

  I heard a slight movement off to my right and Adri's voice came out pitched higher and more breathless than normal.

  "Rachel, you should be wearing your seatbelt."

  "Why? It isn't like anyone is going to pull us over and give us a ticket."

  The sudden spike in Adri's pulse reminded me of the rumor we'd manufactured. The rumor which had been partially based on Adri's reaction to people talking about car wrecks. Without intending to, I found my mouth opening.

  "She's right, Rachel. You should be buckled in."

  A quiet click attested to the fact that Rachel was buckled in, but as soon as Adri's pulse had settled back down, she turned back to me.

  "Isn't that a bit hypocritical? I mean you tell her to buckle up, but you're not buckled up yourself."

  I wanted to laugh. It would take one heck of a car wreck to put me do
wn. In fact, even without a seatbelt on my odds of walking away from an accident were better than Rachel's with one. I managed a shrug.

  "Yes, I suppose it does look hypocritical at that. Let's just say that Rachel would be missed if we hit another car, but nobody would need to miss me."

  I reached the lane back to her house and turned into it, filing away the fact that she'd reached for the door as if expecting to have to walk.

  Rachel jumped out of the car as soon as it slowed down and opened Adri's door for her. "Enjoy the rest of your night, and don't lose hope on Les Misérables. You never know when you're going to beat the odds."

  That was a bit too obvious. Rachel needed to learn to play things closer to her chest. Adri looked for a moment like she was going to say something else, but then just thanked me and exited the car.

  I pulled out of the driveway before Rachel could see Adri find the note.

  That night was another hellish experience. Brandon and his wolves pushed into our territory and then just waited for us to come to him. It was an out-and-out bid to destroy us, but we couldn't ignore him or we'd be admitting we couldn't control our own territory. It was only a short step from there until the carrion birds would be circling us.

  We crept towards his pack, paying special effort to keeping downwind of them. He should have had scouts out, but was probably worried about having them cut off from the rest of the pack. That or maybe his wolves were more scared of what we'd do to them than his threats.

  It's hard to truly get close enough to surprise another wolf. By the time you're into what humans would think of as unarmed combat range they can hear your heartbeat. We did the next best thing by approaching as close as we thought we could get away with and then springing towards them with all of the inhuman speed of our kind.

  James, Isaac and I were in the van, and we rolled up the three closest wolves while everyone was still trying to figure out what was going on. I'd tangled with Nathanial of all people, and took great pleasure in sinking my claws deep into his guts.

  Before I could go for the kill Brandon hit me with roughly the kinetic energy of an SUV. I was completely outmatched and only Isaac's abandoning the bloody mess that had been his opponent saved me from being maimed.

  I dodged roughly half of Brandon's attacks but the ones that landed were deep. I caught glimpses of the rest of the fight in between blows. Jess and Dom seemed to have locked up with their opponents. It was hard to tell who was winning, but the sheer amount of motion indicated that neither fight was close to over yet.

  Jasmin had clinched with her first opponent, torn their throat out and already moved on to another. Isaac and I launched a flurry of blows at Brandon but he dodged most of them and blocked the rest with enough force to knock us back a step. A flicker of motion brought me partway around and reflexes that I'd spent the last two years training whipped my left hand up just in time to rip Simon out of the air.

  Brandon used the distraction to attack, raking long furrows down my back, and then I was back around and his blows were raining down on Simon. Seemingly overcome by blood lust, Brandon struck again and again until his claws finally caught on Simon's ribcage and ripped him from my grasp.

  The sight of their leader shredding one of their own caused two of the remaining wolves to break, which further eroded the morale of both Dom and Jess' opponents.

  We had the edge in numbers now, but James had definitely come out for the worse in his fight with Vincent, and none of the rest of us were much less marked. It was anyone's guess as to whether or not we could take them, but Cassie and Vincent seemed to have lost their stomach for the fight. They began backing away, and not even Brandon was capable of taking all five of us.

  Brandon and Vincent each picked up two of their fallen comrades and then backed away from us. I expected an argument when I ordered everyone back to the house, but apparently we weren't any more desirous of continued bloodshed than they were.

  I was feeling strangely weak by the time we made it back to the estate. The last thing I remember before collapsing was Donovan limping out from the house in an effort to catch me.

  Chapter 13

  It would have been nice for them to have picked a weekend for their attack so that everyone at least had a chance to heal up before having to go back to school. We'd all come through without any visible wounds, but underneath our clothes everyone was a mess of gauze and bruises, and I was still a little shaky on my feet from having lost so much blood.

  All four of the wolves we'd hurt the worst were absent from school and I had a few moments to wonder whether or not we'd killed them. Vincent passed me in the hall, much of his normal arrogance restored, and informed me that all four would be back for another round within a couple of days.

  The wounds across my back were especially tender. They combined with the healing itch across most of the rest of my body to make it extremely difficult to concentrate on anything. Still, the closer it got to fifth hour the more my mind kept returning to the drawing. I'd specifically told him to run it during Physics, but now I worried that the instruction hadn't been explicit enough.

  The end result would be the same, but I wanted to see her expression when her name was read. I left Jasmin after fourth hour and went directly to Physics without even stopping at my locker. Once I found my seat I tried to distract myself, but anyone that knew me well would have seen just how anxious I was.

  Adriana arrived a few seconds later and it was all I could do not to stare at her. Despite my best efforts my gaze wandered over to her several times and it wasn't until I saw her glaring at me that I finally got myself under control.

  The loud speaker kicked on and Principal Gossil cleared his throat before proceeding. "It's my pleasure to read off the names of the five winners in our drawing for tickets to Les Misérables."

  There was a pause, and I heard a rustle of paper as a name was drawn, unfolded, and smoothed out.

  "The first winner is Pam White."

  The resulting explosion of noise a few classes down was loud enough that I was pretty sure even the humans could hear it from here. Thankfully Mrs. Alexander pulled the door shut as Principal Gossil drew another slip out of the box.

  "Also winning a ticket to Les Misérables next weekend, Mr. Andrew Webbs."

  I was starting to get a headache as another round of screaming broke out. Thankfully the two from our class that cheered gave up quickly so as to better hear whether or not their names were next.

  "And the third lucky person is Suzanne Bergerman."

  Adri's pulse had skyrocketed over the last few names. I could hear her breathing pick up with each new name, it almost drowned out the sound of the next draw.

  "Congratulations goes to Amy Birch."

  This set of yells was thankfully on the other side of the school, and I wondered for the first time if Gossil was going to defy me and just not give the last ticket to Adri. It was too late to do anything about it, but I felt my grip on the desk tighten to the point where the wood let out a slight groan.

  Principal Gossil finally cleared his throat and continued. "The fifth winner is Ms. Adriana Paige."

  As the room broke out in half-hearted cheers I realized there hadn't been any rustle of papers before he'd read her name. Had all of the other drawings been loud enough for humans to notice them? Would anyone notice the lack if they had?

  It was too late for worry to accomplish anything. I watched as Adri thanked everyone, and then turned towards me.

  "Congratulations, Adriana. Les Misérables is one of the best. I hope you enjoy it."

  The undertone of anger as she thanked me defied understanding.

  Chapter 14

  Lately Adri smelled like she'd rolled in Brandon. The rest of the pack liked it even less than I did. It was extremely unsettling to be sitting calmly in a class and then suddenly smell Brandon coming towards you. Jess was getting especially jumpy. We'd been fairly careful to set our schedules up so that we'd have as limited contact with Brandon as possi
ble, and it suddenly felt like he was everywhere. Mentally knowing it wasn't him didn't help much when stacked against more than ten thousand years of instincts.

  I was sitting in my art class, unsuccessfully trying to recapture the simple joy of painting when I once again had Brandon's stench assault my nose. The curious gait just outside the classroom wasn't heavy enough for him so I knew it was probably Adri running errands for Mrs. Campbell again.

  The bell rang a few seconds later, but I wasn't in any hurry to put my supplies up. I kept hoping I'd be able to abandon the currently-stalled piece I was working on, but every time I tried to start something else I ended up just futilely throwing colors on the canvas.

  The rest of the class trickled out as I finally gave up and quickly began cleaning up. The normal din of several hundred students traveling towards the lunch room nearly caused me to miss the collective gasp on the stairs just outside the art room.

  Even when I heard it I didn't necessarily think anything of it until I felt the conflicting surges of power that signaled a fight.

  "What are you looking at, freak?"

  Vincent's bellicose tone identified exactly who'd faced off against Isaac's cool pool of power. It was hard to believe anyone from Brandon's pack would risk an actual fight out in the open, but Vincent was becoming increasingly restive over their failure to absorb us. I didn't have any idea what Brandon was doing to keep him in line, but the leash was starting to wear thin.

  I threw the rest of my supplies into my drawer and started out the door as Vincent whispered something only barely audible from my new position. "After we kill you and Alec I'm going to lay claim on Jess. She's scared enough to be all the sweeter when I break her."

  He'd done his research well, there was really only one thing guaranteed to get through Isaac's control, and I felt Isaac's beast surge forward to within a whisper of breaking loose.

  I was within sight of them now, surrounded by a cluster of nervous teenagers. They were carefully circling each other, hardly noticing the uneven terrain the steps provided.