by Limelan Z
Since nobody cared about my preference, I forced myself to step outside.
‘Great,’ Ossi said with a grin, either oblivious or uncaring to all the werewolf emotion buffeting around the room. ‘The ladies are the next floor up.’ She leant closer, conspiratorially, and said: ‘We have a rooftop bar.’ I wasn’t quite sure why that was so exciting but then I realised they could fly so a rooftop anything was great.
‘I’ll level with you,’ she said as we swung round a corner towards a staircase. ‘We don’t usually have guests. This is sort of an inner sanctum, so the others might be a little tetchy about you bringing pets.’
I glanced at Vince who was thankfully in no place to give a shit. He just stayed by my side. Like a guard. There if I needed him.
‘They’re pack,’ I said in defence, even if they weren’t my pack anymore. ‘It’s the alpha underneath all those bandages.’
‘Yeesh!’ She sucked her teeth. ‘Losing all that skin has gotta hurt! Rival pack set off those bombs?’
I thought back to the other wolves. I guessed that was it. After all, here would be the perfect place to attack. London was too populated and Wolfe was too protected there. Out here, he only had those specially selected few. The few that I had complained about bringing. Most now dead.
But who were those other werewolves? Someone with their own claim on the Northlands, perhaps? That meant only a matter of days ago I had been in the same room with them back at Fareham. I tried to swallow my growing unease. It was a dangerous, political world. I was not cut out for it, even with my Ariane arsenal.
The roof looked like a bar at some beach club. Bar, stools, booths, sofas, a dance floor – there was even a jacuzzi! In Scotland? I guessed there were outdoor heaters too. Music played. People drank.
Ossi led us to the bar and then jumped over it like it wasn’t 5ft high. ‘What can I get you, sis?’ I wasn’t really sure how to answer. Which was lucky because something beyond me caught her eye. ‘Ugh, help yourselves, would you? It looks like Raya’s mortal might have had too much of a good time.’ From nowhere, her wings appeared, spread, and she lifted straight from behind the bar to the far ledge just as a young man lost his footing.
I glanced at Vince but without even turning he reached over the bar and grabbed a beer. ‘Cider?’ he asked over his shoulder at me. I gave a nod – it was my standard order – and he came back with two bottles, flipping the lids off each of them and passing me one. After taking a long drink, he leant against the bar and looked around. ‘This is seriously fucked up, Ceri.’
I sipped my drink. I didn’t disagree. Even though he could have been referencing any number of things.
‘Is she really your sister?’
‘I don’t know. I don’t remember anything from before. I get the odd flashes of memories when I sleep, but they are mostly of blood.’
‘She looks like you.’ Did she? ‘Around the eyes.’
I had so many questions for Ossi but my head was filled with Wolfe. ‘How long does it usually take for an alpha to come out of this kind of coma?’
Vince rubbed his face. He was uncharacteristically edgy. The opposite of his laidback self. ‘I don’t know. I’m not aware of it happening before.’
‘Is Trevelyan in charge?’
He glanced at me as though debating what to say, then gave a nod. ‘Talin – the beefy ginger guy with the beard – he’s next in command out here, though.’ I’d seen Wolfe speaking to him a few times at the station. ‘He would have relayed events to James in London. You shouldn’t really move someone when they’re in that state but out here we’re exposed. And Wolfe’s Wolfe. He may want to bring us back.’
I sensed dissent. ‘But you don’t think he should.’
He let out a breath. ‘I don’t know, Ceri. Right now we’re in some kind of Valkyrie stronghold but who knows when they’ll kick us out. We’re over an hour away from Inverness, then there’s the connection to Edinburgh and add another half-a-day to get back to London. We are seven mostly-uninjured and one very-injured. And someone clearly wants us dead.’ He didn’t like our chances. The phrase “sitting ducks” sprang to mind.
‘Did you recognise any of them?’
‘No.’ He drew on his bottle. ‘But it was a concentrated effort and a big number. Someone knew we would be coming and they had the manpower dispatch a twenty-wolf unit to the Northlands with enough time to set car bombs.’ He looked at me then. ‘Pack plans are private; discretion is key. Very few people know about them in advance – even fewer would have known about anything to do with you. It’s off-limits. 100%. And it was so last minute anyway.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘I’m saying someone in our pack leaked information to a rival. They knew who was travelling, where we would be, our timings, everything! Ceri, it’s really not good.’ A major understatement.
A rotten apple in the barrel. I frowned. At least one. And then I remembered the vampire attack. Wolfe had said he would discipline whoever had made it public that Ariane was back. Had they found that person? Were they the same person responsible for all this?
I mulled it over as I drank, barely seeing the incredible creatures who had saved my life as they partied and wings appeared and disappeared before me. Was there anyone who had stood out? Anyone who so clearly hated or resented him? Or me?
Surely Wolfe would have been able to tell if there was dissent? But, then, I supposed that wolves could read emotion not minds. He might be able to tell someone was nervous around him, but he hardly was the kind of personality to put people at ease.
By the time Ossi returned, Vince and I were still sombre and silent.
She rolled her eyes. ‘Relax, sis – your alpha’s fine. I’ve seen dogs come back from way worse than that.’ She did that flippy thing behind the bar and started mixing some elaborate cocktail. ‘So what have you been up to all this time, Elin? You didn’t call, you didn’t write… I was starting to think you didn’t care about me.’ She paused her cocktail shaking to pout before filling a tall glass with ice and pouring some colourful liquid on top.
I couldn’t stop staring at her. She moved with such confidence in her body, with such ease. Yes, there was a little insanity behind her eyes, but I was starting to think that was part and parcel of being an immortal.
And then I seemed to hear her.
‘Elin? Did you call me Elin?’
She briefly garnished her drink with a cherry, then ate it with delight. ‘You mean, your name? Yes. Do you go by something else now?’
‘Ceri. I had no idea that was my name,’ I said at length. I didn’t remember the name at all.
She seemed amused. ‘Well, you disappeared for like forever. What happened to you? We thought you were dead up until last night.’ There was a lot to fill her in on.
I frowned. ‘What happened last night?’
She reached across and pushed my arm. ‘Don’t play coy with me! You Shone last night. We all felt it. How do you think we knew where you were?’
I was so confused. She knew about what happened to me on the train? How? ‘I don’t understand any of this. At all. Up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t even know I was a werewolf.’
Her expression changed. ‘Ew – a what? You’re a werewolf? Gross.’
‘Can’t you smell it?’
‘Smell it?’ She looked away and sipped on her cocktail. ‘That’s disgusting.’ I exchanged a look with Vince.
‘I mean scent it, like tell that I’m not human.’
She shook her head. ‘Up until last night, for all intents and purposes you would’ve been human.’
‘What happened to me last night? When I “shone”.’ She cast Vince a look of suspicion. ‘You can say whatever you want in front of him. I trust him.’ I left out the part about him probably being able to hear whatever she said from anywhere in the house.
She mulled it over and then shrugged. ‘It’s no great secret, I suppose. You Shone. Think of it like a coming of age. It’s when a fae gets
her powers.’ She leaned forward and tapped my nose. ‘Before that, you were just a little baby immortal.’
There went my theory about Ariane keeping me alive all those years. ‘But how can I be a werewolf and a fae? And isn’t a fae like a fairy?’ I had so many questions. Not least was why hadn’t she come for me before.
‘You can get half-breeds. You have to be born a fae but at any place along the road you might pick up some of those other…impurities,’ she said looking at Vince. ‘And yes, we are fairies. Or Valkyries. Or angels. It’s all the same.’
‘I had no idea I had family.’
She sobered. ‘We had no idea you were alive. When we found what was left of mother, there was a lot of mess and no sign of you. We assumed you had died too.’
‘We?’
‘Me and father. He died in the last Reckoning. 1832. We have a brother, too. He’s off being a jackass somewhere in South America. He’s moody because he’s the eldest and still hasn’t Shone.’
I had more family? ‘What makes a person shine? Why did I do it?’
She smiled in an all-knowing way. ‘It was your time.’
‘What does that mean?’
She shrugged, playfully. ‘I have no idea – it’s just what they say. I’d wager good money that being in the Northlands helps. That’s why Erik’s hopping from hotspot to hotspot trying to trigger it. Probably also the sex and drugs.’
I rubbed my brow. I could feel a headache coming on. As if it wasn’t confusing enough to be a werewolf with a really badly injured sort-of boyfriend caused by some pack informant, I now was part fae with a sister and wayward brother.
‘Anyway, I want to know what happened to you. Where were you hiding all this time?’
Where to start? ‘I, er… Well, I was turned that night with mother. According to legend, I spent the next fifty years or so tearing anything and everyone to shreds in the south of England—’
‘Wait a minute.’ Ossi grabbed my wrist, her eyes boring into mine. ‘Holy shit! Are you Ariane?’
I exchanged a look with Vince. ‘You’ve heard of me?’ I assumed only werewolves would have known the name.
‘Ho-ly shit,’ she grinned again and then turned around to retrieve a bottle of something fizzy. ‘We are celebrating.’ She blew on her fingers to give a loud whistle and get the attention of the other fae, then hopped up onto the bar. ‘Ladies, we are celebrating! Not only has my little sis come back from the dead and become a fae all in one night, but she – and I shit you not here – was Ariane, the most ruthless beast to torment that age.’ She popped the bottle and grinned down at me. ‘It figured that we’d be related.’
There was a flutter of wings as the other fae crowded round to get a closer look at me. Unlike when I’d been introduced to the werewolves, there didn’t appear to be the same formality here. I was thumped on the back in welcome, forced to do tequila shots and generally treated like the future would be brighter now.
I hoped it would.
Chapter 25
The drinking had gone on for hours. Until long after the sun had disappeared over the distant mountains. Eventually, exhaustion had caught up with me and I passed out on Vince on one of the sofas.
A little before sunrise, something roused me. Voices. Grunts. Struggles. A fight. I thought I was still dreaming until I heard a howl.
I shot upright. Vince did the same, taking a moment to orient.
‘Did you hear that?’
The howl came again – this time laboured with injury. ‘Cara,’ he grunted, breaking into a run.
I raced after him through the house. Without pause, he broke through the door of Wolfe’s room.
There he was, still unconscious and wrapped in bandages on the bed. But now there was fresh blood.
Vince was already in wolf form and leapt across a limping, injured wolf – Cara? – towards another.
There had been four in that room with Wolfe. One was Cara. One lay dead on the floor in front of her, its throat ripped out. Two remained, poised and ready to attack. She was more than just a healer if she’d taken out one of the elite, even if she now limped.
My presence seemed to give them pause for thought, then one charged at Vince and the other at Wolfe’s limp body. But why would he do that? Wolfe couldn’t fight back! It was an assassination not a challenge!
Vince lunged for one, Cara shooting quick behind him to help despite her injuries.
That left the other for me.
I ran in front of Wolfe, arms outstretched. The wolf hung back and began to pace. He was probably wondering what I would do. After all, going up against Ariane was a death sentence. But I wasn’t Ariane. She was still sleeping.
‘Stop,’ I said as commandingly as I could. ‘Why are you doing this? Who told you to do this?’ I knew he couldn’t answer. Perhaps some part of me thought he might turn back into human form so we could have a more civilised conversation.
He snarled. Bared teeth. Fangs dripping.
And then he seemed to sense Ariane’s absence. He stalked forwards until his fur was against my outstretched hand and my heel against the bed.
Come on, Ariane – now would be a really good time to take over.
‘You don’t need to do this,’ I said. But we both knew I had already lost.
I glanced across at Vince. He was bleeding, his beautiful coat stained, as he and Cara grappled with the other wolf. Would they be enough? Vince wasn’t a fighter. And Cara was already badly injured.
I looked back at Wolfe. So calm, so serene, so oblivious to all this. Had he been awake, he would have known what to do. He would have put a stop to it.
Fur pressed further into my hand. The wolf’s jaws stalked closer pressing against me.
‘Stop,’ I said again. Anger flooded me. Outrage flooded me. Injustice flooded me. I hated war. I wanted peace. ‘I said stop!’ I shouted, only this time something happened.
With each pulsing heartbeat, something cool charged through my body and across my skin. I gripped the wolf’s neck, locking eyes with him as the charge flicked and grew. And then…
Just like the light on the train, the light seemed to shoot from me. It travelled through my hand into the wolf, filling him with whiteness. I felt him still as I filled him with it. Then watched the light appear in his eyes.
A moment later, it was beaming through his fur and filling the room. Was my fae calming him? Was it stopping him?
My fingers hummed as the power continued to surge. Then all of a sudden, it stopped. I pulled my hand back and watched as the wolf continued to glow, to light, to expand, and then…
To disintegrate. Before my eyes. His body was split into pieces with my ray and then floated off into nothing. Had I killed him or just made him disappear?
I sank back against the bed, panting. I didn’t feel the pleasure I had felt the first time the light had coursed through me. I just felt exhaustion. Fresh exhaustion and desperation.
I looked across at Vince and Cara. They had used any temporary distraction caused by my show to go straight for the jugular. The other wolf was down.
Ossi chose that moment to tap on the door. She glanced around the room at the blood, the two dead werewolves, the two werewolves changing back, at me.
‘Are you guys good to keep it down?’ she said with a croaky voice. ‘Mummy’s got a hangover.’ She pointed to herself.
My emotions were shot. I wanted to cry. Instead, I nodded, still panting.
‘Thanks, babe.’ She made to leave but then hung back in the door frame. ‘Neat blast, by the way, Elin. You’re a natural. Remember to drink some electrolytes. And remind me to show you tomorrow how to do it without having to touch them.’ That had been normal for a fae? Was that why Ariane had abandoned me to sleep – because she thought someone else could fight for a change?
When the others had finished changing, I hurried to help Cara into a chair. Vince helped me. She did not look good.
‘My bag,’ she grunted, wincing as she pointed at the oversized bag sh
e had left by Wolfe’s bed. I hurried to get it for her, and then to do whatever she needed me to do.
‘What happened?’ I asked when she had finished stitching and bandaging herself, and pulled on some clothes. Vince had a few more scratches to go with his shoulder – particularly about his throat – but he had escaped quite well out of it.
‘Talin got a call from London about half an hour ago. I don’t know who it was or what was said, but it was over pretty quickly. He went for Zosimos. I changed – they did too.’ She looked at Vince. ‘We need to call London. We need to wake up Wolfe. Something is going on.’
Chapter 26
No one was picking up.
‘What does that mean?’ I asked, eyes darting between Vince and Cara as if they had all the answers.
Cara was clearly in charge, even with her injuries. She shook her head. ‘Whatever’s happening down there isn’t over yet.’
‘What do you think is happening?’ Vince asked.
One word. ‘Insurrection.’ I swallowed. What kind of future did that mean for Wolfe? ‘There is some contingent who want to take over.’
‘Isn’t Trevelyan in charge while Wolfe’s away?’ I asked, stupidly. I felt a wave of fear wash over her even though she gave no outwards reaction.
‘Yes.’ Her mate was likely there fighting. He would be the target of any of those hoping to stage a coup. He was the closest thing to Wolfe that London had. ‘Let us hope there are enough in support of Wolfe.’
I glanced at his limp form. I couldn’t see much underneath the bandages but in the time since we’d brought him in some of the more visible scratches had begun to fade.
‘Does this sort of thing happen a lot?’ I asked.
‘No,’ she said. ‘A pack is loyal to their alpha. If there is a challenge for alpha, it is done honourably. One-on-one combat.’ She brow darkened with distaste. ‘Not by car bombs hoping to fell the mighty, or by ganging up four-to-one. This was not a leadership bid. This was an attempted assassination. And whatever is happening in London right now is a fight to the death between the truly loyal and some weak mercenary wolves tempted away by…’ By what? She looked at Vince. ‘Did you have any sense of this?’
