by Holly Evans
"Something is wrong in the city," Azfin said.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
"The energies have been unbalanced and upset for some time, but they've been shattered and re-attached as of late. The disruptions are growing, and we're quite sure we saw another of those abominations, as you called them."
I remembered the broken, haunted looking men who had died with animal paws clawing their way out of their chests. A chill formed at the back of my neck.
"The celestials talked about an old witch, did they not?" Azfin asked.
I nodded.
"We have looked into the energy disruptions and spoken to our people. There was a very old, very powerful witch in Iceland not long ago. It is believed that she moved here just before something began tampering with the energy network."
I didn't like the sound of that. Normal witches were difficult enough. I remembered the terror on Serena's face; the witch that had driven her coven out of the city must have been incredibly powerful.
"We need to remove this witch before she does too much damage."
Azfin's cold gaze settled on me. I held up my hands. “I take down lycans and redcaps. I am not in a position to kill a very powerful old witch. I've had enough trouble with normal witches, thank you."
The Sidhe's mouth tightened. "I don't think you understand what's at stake here, Evelyn."
"Clearly not,” I said.
He stood slowly; Haeyl followed suit. Their eyes never left mine. My hands went down to my celestial blades. Lysander tensed behind me.
"We have not felt a witch of this power in a very long time. Witches aren't normally a concern, they leave the energy networks alone and cause very little trouble. This one appears to be trying to play at being a goddess. If she continues, then there will be far more than a few abominations to concern yourself with. There is a risk of her harming the veil between the planes, or more."
"Now you're just being melodramatic,” I said
He bared his pointed teeth at me, but remained still. "Do not ignore this warning, Evelyn. She has a large coven with many connections. The abominations are only the beginning. She has already demonstrated she'll work with demons. There are rumours of her trying to become a goddess. Do you know how many lives would be taken should that happen? Is that a risk you're willing to take?"
I gritted my teeth. "And what I am supposed to do about a witch that powerful?"
His mouth twisted into a smile. "First we will find her, then you will help us. You're more than you realise, Evelyn Hawke."
I curled my lip. "I'm growing tired of people saying that."
He moved a little closer to me; my hands tightened around the hilt of my blades.
“Are you sure you’re completely human, Evelyn?” he whispered.
I restrained the urge to draw my blades and put an end to his pushing. No good would come of it. He laughed at me.
"We're done here. We'll be in contact when we have further information."
He had the nerve to dismiss us with a wave of his hand. I glared at him but turned and returned to the tram stop.
I cursed out a few gods, careful not to include the moon goddess. Why had they allowed such a witch to become possible? I thought their crone was supposed to keep them in line. I paced up and down the concrete strip while we waited for the tram to arrive. What did the Sidhe think I could do against such a foe? Yes, I had killed Serena, but they were saying this Icelandic witch made her look like a child. Lysander pulled me into his arms and rested his chin on top of my head.
"You are not doing this alone, Evelyn. Do not forget that."
"What am I supposed to do about a fucking super-witch from Iceland?" I said, throwing my hands in the air.
Elise sighed softly. "I don't know Evie, I really don't. My lady has nothing to say on the topic."
Lysander said, "You could work on controlling your fire, there isn't much that can stand up to hellfire."
I took a deep breath and pushed aside the sarcastic comment; he meant well.
"That's a good idea, Lys; it'll give you something to focus on, Evie. Perhaps you'll develop other skills from there, like Quin has."
"Do you know why that is?" I asked Elise.
She gave a non-committal noise with a little shrug. I pursed my lips and stared at her.
"Tea?" she asked with a little smile.
I didn't appreciate people hiding things from me. Taking a deep breath, I focused the frustration down into a small ball and tried to push it through to the palm of my hand. The increasingly familiar flickering heat formed down my arm, but the flame that formed in my palm would have ashamed a match.
"It takes time Evelyn. You expect too much too quickly."
He ran his fingers down the side of my face. I kissed his fingertips and relaxed. Fretting and stressing wasn't going to resolve the problems. A knock came at the door.
Elise poked her head around the doorway. "Lys, can you get that?"
He bowed his head a little in acknowledgement and strode out to the main door. Gruff deep voices came from the doorway; heavy footsteps came behind Lysander's lighter ones. I twisted to see who it was. Felix's second-in-command, or beta, whatever they called them, was standing with a scrawny, weedy male behind him. Lysander didn't look amused. He sat down next to me, his hackles raised.
The second smiled and held my eye-contact. "Evelyn, I bring a gift from our pack. We are pleased to finally be on such good terms with you and your brother. We would like to maintain these terms, and as such, give you this cub."
He pushed the scrawny teenager forward. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Had they just given me a teenager? A lycan cub? What did I do with that?
I held back the groan and smiled. "Thank you, that's very kind."
He grinned. "He is yours to train; we hope that he will make you proud."
With that he lowered his head but kept his eyes locked on mine before he left. Elise came out with a tray full of teacups.
She placed the tray on the coffee table and looked the new presence in the room. He kept his eyes low. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his jeans, and his dark blond hair fell in his eyes.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Elise said sweetly.
I looked between her and him. "I have no idea what the fuck just happened."
She laughed. Lysander refused to take his eyes off the cub.
"I think Felix and his pack just gave me... that." I gestured at the cub.
Elise pursed her lips. "He's not a ‘that’, Evie, don't be cruel."
"What am I supposed to do with him?"
He shuffled his feet a little. Elise sat down opposite me and waited with her patient smile, her eyes dancing with merriment. I felt like I'd been set up.
I turned to the cub. "What do I call you? What am I supposed to do with you?"
He raised his head to look at me with hazel eyes; his hair fell away a little and settled. It looked as though it wanted to curl but couldn't quite commit.
"I'm Raif, and I don't know. They told me that I am to make you proud, so terms stay good with the pack."
I sighed. Fantastic. Now I had another mouth to feed; an unwanted, scrawny, untrained cub no less.
"Why you?" Lysander asked.
Elise shot him a dark look; he didn't seem to notice. Raif shuffled his feet again and hunched his shoulders.
"They said I'm broken. I shift into a full wolf, not a lycan."
"They sent me a broken cub? The gift isn't seeming anywhere near as kind now."
"Evie!" Elise said.
"What? They said he was a gift, and he's broken,” I replied.
"He's a living breathing boy, with feelings!"
"You have him, then."
She gave me her best upset mother look. I relented.
"Are you in school? Have you had any training?"
"I finished school, and I can fight."
I looked him up and down; his balance appeared to be good, his stance wasn't bad. Lycans were p
roud, aggressive creatures. He was likely telling the truth about the fighting part at least.
"And what if we come up against a rogue lycan, what will you do?"
His eyes widened a little. He squared his shoulders. "I will do whatever is necessary. You are my pack now."
His voice had hardened more than I expected. Perhaps he had some potential, after all.
"Come and sit down, have some tea,” Elise said.
The cub looked between us before he came and sat at the other end of the sofa. Lysander scooted closer to me.
"Tell us a bit about yourself, Raif,” Elise said gently.
She handed him a cup of tea. He sniffed it before he let it rest down near his lap. Elise handed me my tea while we waited for him to talk. I mentally cursed out the gods for their twisted sense of humour while I waited.
"I am nineteen years old, son of Viktor and Petra, brother to Jarek. I can shift into a full wolf when I choose, but I cannot partially shift. I have more control than most my age, and I do not have the strong reaction to silver the rest of my pack do."
"What would cause such changes?" I asked Elise.
She shrugged and smiled. "Evolution, random mutations."
Raif took a sip of his tea. "This is very good, thank you for your kindness."
Elise smiled widely. "I'm Elise, I'm a priestess of the moon goddess. That is Evie, or Evelyn, I believe you're familiar with her. And that's Lysander."
Raif looked at us, his eyes flicked over us taking in every detail before he returned his focus to his tea.
He sniffed the air and said, "What are you?" to Lysander; he kept his eyes low as he said it.
Lysander sat a little taller and growled, "I am Evelyn's hellhound."
Raif's eyes shot up, his mouth dropped open for a second before he looked away. "I'd heard about you… I didn't expect to meet you."
"What is your true bloodline?" Lysander growled.
Raif took a long drink of his tea. "My mother refuses to speak on it."
We finished our tea, and I accompanied Elise to her little kitchen to wash up.
"What am I supposed to do with him?" I hissed.
She smiled. "Train him, I'm sure he'll become a fine hunter."
"Your lady told you this was coming didn't she?"
She gave me that infuriating little smile. I leaned back against the counter.
"You'll grow to like him, Evie"
I glared at her. The last thing I wanted or needed was another complication.
Quin was far more receptive to the idea of the cub, to my surprise Kadrix wasn't at home with him. I had no doubt the elf would enjoy poking and prodding him trying to see why he wasn't like the other lycans. I wasn't sure if he was even a lycan, technically speaking, not that I cared all that much.
"Where's Kadrix tonight?" I asked casually.
I didn't think they'd spent a night apart in a good while.
Quin shrugged. "With Sabine."
He changed the channel on the TV and looked away. I stabbed at the steak in front of me; that damn elf had better not hurt my twin. The ‘open relationship’ thing wasn't making Quin happy, and that didn't make me happy. It might have worked between the elves, but Quin wasn't an elf.
"Evelyn, I was hoping to eat that at some point tonight."
I looked down at the chunks of steak and realised I'd been taking my frustrations out on it. I seared them and put together a simple sauce; it wasn't the grand meal Kadrix had made, but it was food.
Raif came out of his shell a little with Quin. They talked about movies and some sport stuff, like they were normal guys. Lysander kept a close eye on the cub, but said nothing. I tried to figure out what the hell I was supposed to do about… everything. I didn't know much of anything about magic; how I was going to deal with the Icelandic witch I didn't know? For that matter, why was it all on my shoulders? I was far from the only hunter in the city. Lysander remained close to me, but tense. I stroked the back of his hand and up the inside of his wrists. He relaxed a little, but not fully.
Quin looked at us with a small smile. "It's a male thing, two male canids in the same home."
Lysander growled quietly.
"Raif's a cub, I'm the alpha. There's nothing to fight over here,” I said.
"Oh you're the alpha are you?" Quin said with a grin.
"Raif and Lysander both belong to me, so yes, yes I am." I stuck out my tongue.
The corner of Raif's mouth lifted; Lysander wrapped himself around me.
Quin laughed, saying, "then you'll have no problem training Raif; he could probably teach you a few things, too."
"I doubt that,” I said without thinking.
"Stop letting your prejudices hold you back, Evie,” Quin said with a sigh.
The conversation was over. I went and ran a bath. I had too much on my mind as it was.
My dear hound joined me in the hot bubbling water. He helped all of my worries and stresses fade away into nothing. Once the water had begun to get cold, we dressed and I went to talk with Quin. I didn't like the rift that was forming between us.
"I'm sorry, Evie, I shouldn't have snapped at you."
I sat near his feet on the sofa; Raif and Lysander had headed into the kitchen to wash the dishes. I wasn't sure it was a great idea having them in close proximity with the knives, but they'd have to get along.
"We're both stressed at the moment. Azfin seems to think that it's down to me, or us, to remove the super-witch from power. How are we supposed to do that? They talk about her as though she's a goddess. I know nothing about magic, I can barely form fire. What's happening to us, Quin? What have we gotten ourselves into?" I asked.
He sat up and took my hands in his. "It's ok, Evie, we'll do this. We have the moon goddess on our side. Kadrix is a talented alchemist, Lysander was a marrok. We're not weak."
I slumped back against the back of the sofa. "It feels like too much."
"One step at a time. The witch isn't a direct threat; we have time to train, to refine our new magic."
"Where did that magic come from?" I looked into his face, hoping for some answers.
"I don't know. Kadrix said our blood is... unusual. That's as much as he'd tell me. The celestials are involved with something somewhere. They kept hassling him, but he wouldn't tell me about what."
"I don't like being kept out of the loop."
"There's not much we can do, Evie. We have to work with what we have. Right now, that’s some magic. I don’t know where it came from, or why we have it, but we have it. So we need to use it. I know you hate magic, and I get why, but this is a chance to be and do more. We could really keep the city safe.”
I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “We kept it safe before.”
“And things have changed. This new witch is here, the Sidhe are upset about the energy network. Things are changing, and we need to change with them."
"I am trying with my fire. I just can't… get it."
"You're holding yourself back. You've always done it."
I wanted to snap at him, but his expression was so soft; he was trying to help. I nodded and accepted his words.
Two large dogs came into the living room. I realised the smaller grey one was a wolf. Raif was all legs and sinewy muscle in his wolf form as well, compared to Lysander's bigger, bulkier hound form. They circled around each other before Lysander pounced and they began wrestling on the floor. I looked to Quin, who was smiling. No blood was shed, so I left them to it. Let them have their weird canid rituals.
The cub slept on the sofa. No blood was drawn between him and Lysander; my hound came out of it seeming happier with things. Raif shrugged the entire thing off. I woke up with no idea what I was supposed to do with him. The temptation to drop him off with Kadrix and let him poke and prod him all day was quite strong. Quin shut that plan down, though, saying they were doing complicated alchemy and they couldn't afford the distraction. I was stuck with him.
We headed to Elise's; maybe I'd be able to leave him w
ith her for a few days, or weeks. She was in her full priestess garb when we entered. Another priestess was with her, dressed in heather greys and a splash of copper. The other priestess looked Lysander up and down, drinking in every inch of him. I put my arm around his waist and allowed my bracelet to slip out from under the sleeve of my jacket.
She smirked at me. "He's a rather good specimen, isn't he?"
Lysander gestured to Raif. "I'm not available. That one is, though. If you're looking for a toy."
She didn't even glance at Raif. Elise glared at us both.
She turned to the priestess. "Thank you for stopping by, Zoe, it was a pleasure as always."
Zoe slipped out the back. "Evie, Lysander, you should know better than to offer the poor boy as a toy like that! He is a person, with feelings, not something to be traded."
I held her eye-contact, but said nothing. I hadn't actually done anything wrong, but as Lysander was my hound, I was taking the shit for it.
Raif growled quietly and said, "My pack traded me amongst themselves my entire life, I’m quite used to it by now."
Lysander growled softly and said, "I understand that feeling."
Elise relaxed and smiled. "See. You two have something in common."
"We're both unwanted freaks that get shunted around, you mean?" Raif said a little louder that time.
Elise pursed her lips. "I'm sure you're not unwanted."
He raised his eyebrow. "They were quite explicit that I was unwanted."
"What did I do to deserve this?" I asked the moon goddess.
"It's unpleasant knowing that you can't form proper bonds because you'll be traded again. The feeling that you'll never feel true affection,” Lysander said, the growl still edging his words.