Wild Keepers

by Dee Bridgnorth

  He stood up, suddenly, and started pacing the room. “What I am about to tell you will not be easy,” he said. “You’re going to think I am mad…but then again, after what you’ve seen tonight, perhaps not. Anyway, you must know the truth now, for your own good.”

  Maya kept staring at him. “Evan, just tell me.”

  He stilled, and sat back down on the bed next to her. “Maya, Leonie is not of this world,” he said slowly. “Or rather, nothing you are aware of. She is a demon, and what you saw tonight was her true form. I think she was what you saw on the ceiling of that room.”

  Maya gasped. “A…demon? How is that possible?”

  Evan sighed. “It just is,” he said. “And it sounds like the other girls that you live with are demons, too. It was probably one of them that you saw in the crowd at the shopping mall that day. They are all part of the Vilgath, a race of demons that inhabit this city.”

  Maya looked down at the bed. “It’s unbelievable,” she whispered. “A race of demons? But then… I have seen them with my own eyes!” She looked up at Evan. “How do you know this?”

  Evan took a deep breath. “Because I am sworn to battle them. Just as my father, and his father before him. I am part of a group of shapeshifters, Maya. Wolf shapeshifters who protect this city from the Vilgath.”

  Maya’s face drained of all colour. “You are telling me you are a wolf shapeshifter?”

  “Yes.” He stared at her. “I didn’t want to tell you, but for your own safety, I have to. It’s why I am working at the theatre, Maya. My leader suspected Vilgath involvement with everything that has been happening there.”

  “You aren’t a regular security guard?” Her face was as white as snow.

  He shook his head, slowly. “Not at all,” he said, taking her hand and stroking it gently. “I am a Wild Keeper, sworn to protect this city. I change into a wolf to do it, as required. It is the only form that can defeat the demons when they are fighting as themselves.” He took a deep breath. “But most of the time I try to solve the case in my human form. Weasel them out with my wits.”

  Maya put her hands to her head. “Evan, this is too much,” she whispered. “How do I know that you aren’t simply crazy?”

  He smiled. “You have seen the demons,” he answered. “You have been questioning your own sanity, but you know deep down in your heart that what you have seen is real. If the demons are real, then is it so hard to accept that there are wolf shapeshifters in this world, as well?”

  She stared at him, her eyes wide. “No. I suppose not. Although it is all so crazy I feel like I am in the middle of a nightmare, willing myself to wake up.” She suppressed a sob. “Evan, if what you say is true, why are they targeting me? What were they trying to do tonight?”

  Evan sighed deeply. “I think that they were trying to make you one of them,” he said slowly. “They can do that—convert people into demons. This Leonie is very, very dangerous. Whether she was born a demon or converted to one I don’t know, but the result is the same. Those girls are all demons, and they want to change you into one, as well.”

  Maya sobbed. “I just want to dance,” she whispered. “This was supposed to be my lucky break. My first position as prima ballerina. And I’ve walked into this…nightmare.” She stared at him. “I’ve always hated this city, and I have never known why. I grew up here, but I couldn’t wait to leave. And it was only the carrot of prima ballerina dangled in my face that made me come back.”

  Evan nodded. “You have walked into a nightmare,” he said simply. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you anymore. You are being targeted by them, and they will kill you if you don’t convert.” He took a deep breath. “Maya, I think that you need to leave the city, right now. I can find you a safe place somewhere. I will take care of the rest.”

  “Leave the city?” Her eyes blinked rapidly. “But…opening night of Giselle is next week. I can’t desert the production, now. It will ruin the CBC once and for all. I am prima ballerina, Evan!”

  He took her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “Maya, your life is more important than a ballet production. You must realise what danger you are in. If you return to that theatre, she will be there, and so will the others. I can swear to watch you twenty-four hours a day, but I still can’t guarantee your safety.”

  She let out a long, shuddering sigh. “I…just don’t know. I have been training so hard for this, Evan. It’s against everything that I believe in to abandon ship like this. And it would mean that she has won.” She looked him directly in the eye. “She would have ruined the production, just like she has been trying to do. I can’t let that happen.”

  He shook his head. “Maya…what you are saying is noble, it really is. I believe in sticking to your guns and following through as much as the next person. But not when your life is at risk. Retreat, and live to dance another day.”

  Maya sighed again. “I will think about it. That’s all I can say. It’s just all too much for me to process at the moment.”

  Evan nodded. “You’ve had a big shock. What happened at that house, and now the truth of it all. It’s not easy figuring it all out.”

  She stared at him. “Evan…I’m sorry.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry that I let Leonie manipulate me, and turn me against you. When I saw you and Rachel on the steps of the theatre…she set that up, didn’t she?”

  Evan nodded again. “She certainly did. And I believe that she did it at Leonie’s request. They are a group of some sort, and Leonie is their leader. They are all working together for the same purpose.”

  Maya blinked. “So, her motivation was just to get you out of the picture so they could get to me?”

  Evan sighed deeply. “Yes, that was definitely part of it. But I think that it goes even deeper than that.” He reached into his jacket pocket, taking out a folded piece of paper. “This was what I found tonight. I brought it with me when I decided to go to your place to convince you that what I was going to tell you was the truth.”

  Maya stared at him, unfolding the paper. It was a print of an old photo. A ballet company, by the look of it. Then she saw that it was the Covenester Ballet Company in the year 1902. She looked up at him.

  “Why do you have a print of this old photo?” She stared back down at it. “It’s a lovely piece of history, but what is its meaning?”

  He took out the magnifying glass from his pocket, passing it to her. “Look at the faces of the ballerinas, carefully.”

  She did so, scanning the photo. Her gaze hovered over it, then she gasped. She stared up at him, wide eyed.

  “This dancer is the spitting image of Leonie,” she whispered, in a shaky voice. “Is it her grandmother or something?”

  He shook his head slowly. “I don’t think so. In a normal world, there could be that possibility, but not now that I know she is one of the demons I have been chasing.” He paused. “The photo identifies her as Leonora Adams. A slightly different name, but she probably changed it to Leonie as the years progressed to modernise it, and evade detection. The demons are immortal, Maya. She was dancing with the CBC in 1902.”

  Maya paled again, letting the paper flutter out of her hands. “You are joking, aren’t you? You are telling me that Leonie was alive in 1902 and dancing at the theatre then?” She shook her head incredulously. “This is so much to take in! How did you find this? What made you even look?”

  Evan smiled slightly. “Good old-fashioned detective work. I told you, I have to use my brains in cases like these, Maya. I didn’t have a lot to go on.” He paused. “It was the ghost stories that surround that place that intrigued me, to start with. Then I wanted to know if anything strange had ever happened there. It turned out that something strange did happen back in 1902.”

  Maya gasped. “What happened?”

  “A terrible fire.” He gazed down at the photo. “It ruined a section of the theatre, and it had to be entirely rebuilt. And a man died in it who was never formally identified.
In the same costume room where you discovered David Wagner, and where Ariane the dressmaker died as well.” He paused. “I thought it was too much of a coincidence.”

  Maya nodded. “Yes. That costume room has an eerie energy about it. I’ve always felt it.”

  “You are spot on,” he said. “That room is the centre of the demons’ power in that theatre. I found this there when I went back to have a look.” He scrolled through his phone then held it out to her. “It is a Vilgath ill-wish. Something that they use to bind their power to a place.”

  Maya gasped again, staring at the photo. “Evan, this is the same as what was on the coffee table tonight, near the candle. It is the same shape, and has the same symbol on it.”

  Evan nodded grimly. “I thought so. Leonie is trying to bind her dark energy in your home the same way that she has done it in the costume room. Probably as a conduit to convert you and strengthen the group.”

  Maya started to tremble. “If their power is so great, how can you hope to defeat it, Evan?”

  Evan’s face hardened. “I have defeated it many times, Maya, and I won’t fail this time either.” He gulped, staring at her. “This time it’s personal. They are trying to hurt you, and I won’t let that happen. But there’s something else, as well.”

  “What?” Her eyes were wide.

  “I know who the man was that died in that fire in 1902,” he said slowly. “My great-great-grandfather. His name was Horace Watts. Leonie killed him, and she did something else. Something that has affected my family for generations.”

  Maya stared at him, mystified.

  “She cursed all the males in his family,” he continued, staring hard at her. “They have all died at the same age that Horace did, all those years ago. And if I don’t stop her now, I am going to die, too.”

  ***

  Evan stared out the hotel window. It was a full-length bay window with sweeping curtains to the ground. Outside the streets were quiet; he could see a few people scurrying along, but most of the restaurants in this area had closed for the night, and there weren’t any nightclubs or bars along this strip. For that he was grateful. Maya needed to rest. And it also meant that he would be able to spot Leonie or any of the other dancers if they were walking along relatively easily.

  He glanced back at the bed. Maya was sleeping, now, thoroughly exhausted from everything. She looked so pale, and her long dark hair streamed around her. He got up, slowly, letting the curtain drop. It seemed that they were safe, at least for the moment.

  He walked over to the bed, staring down at her. Anger threatened to overwhelm him, and he could feel his fists clenching into balls. Leonie had almost succeeded in her plan tonight. If Maya hadn’t been quite so strong and fought off the effects of the ritual, she would now be one of them. He would have lost her forever.

  His teeth clenched. He should never have left her. Even when she said that she didn’t want to see him anymore, and that she didn’t need a bodyguard. He had known that those women were liars and manipulators, at the very least. He should have seen them for what they truly were long before now.

  But he had been trying to respect her decision. She had a right to make it, after all. It was her life. He wasn’t about to force her. And yes, he had been hurt that she had believed them over him. His pride had been wounded.

  Maya moved restlessly on the bed, her head twisting from side to side. She was dreaming, he could tell. And whatever she was dreaming about, she wasn’t liking it. Hardly surprising after all that she had endured. And yet she was still determined to return to that theatre and continue as if nothing had ever happened. He didn’t know whether to admire her spirit or gnash his teeth in frustration at her pig-headedness.

  They had talked about it again before she had gone to sleep. She had been so tired that her voice had started to slur slightly.

  “The show must go on,” she had whispered, staring at him with those lovely brown eyes. “That is what I have been taught from when I was young, and it is true. Whatever else is happening in your life, you have to pick yourself up and overcome it.”

  He had shaken his head in disbelief. “Maya, your work ethic is commendable, but not in this case. Do you realise the danger you are in?”

  She had nodded, slowly. “Yes. I do. But it is also my reputation that is at stake here, Evan. If I run away from Covenester with my tail between my legs and desert the production, my name will be mud in the ballet world.” She took a deep breath. “I will probably never be hired by a ballet company again, and certainly not in the position I have now. They would think that I am reckless and unpredictable, and I could hardly tell them the truth of it all, could I?”

  He had bit his lip. There was truth in what she was saying, as much as he wanted to deny it.

  “Your career means everything to you, doesn’t it?” he had said, softly, staring at her.

  She had hesitated. “It has meant everything to me. It’s all I’ve ever known, Evan. I was raised to be this, for better or worse. I didn’t have a choice when I was younger, but I learnt to love it. If I didn’t dance, I think that I would die.” Her eyes swam with unshed tears. “It is like breathing to me. It’s something I have to do to live.”

  He smiled gently. “You are a beautiful, brave woman, Maya Roberts,” he said slowly. “I know I gave you a hard time when we first met, and I am so very sorry for that now. I had a chip on my shoulder, like you said. I had this stereotype in my mind about what a ballerina was like, and you blew it completely out of the water.”

  She gazed at him. “If I’m going to be honest with you, I probably had a stereotype of what you were, too. I have only ever mixed in my own social circles.” She hesitated. “I realised what I have been missing out on. My world was so narrow, but you have opened it up for me.”

  He gazed back at her, reaching out to take her hand. It was cold. He had wanted to pull her into his arms and make everything better. Make-believe that there was only the two of them, and that the world was normal. But it wasn’t any such thing, and his heart ached that she had been inadvertently involved in all of this. She was a part of it now, for better or worse.

  “Guess we’ve both been wrong,” he said. He had turned and stared at the window. “Maya, I wish I could promise you that everything will be okay. But the Vilgath are clever. You have seen how clever they are. I swear to you that I will do everything I can to protect you, but by staying here and committing to the production, you are vulnerable.”

  She had nodded. “I know, Evan. And it’s a choice that I am making. You have outlined everything clearly, but I must do it.”

  He had nodded, decisively. “Well, I can’t pick you up and carry you out of the city. You are your own woman, and you understand the risks.” He paused. “If you are going to stay, and continue as normal, we must have a plan of defence, as well as a plan of attack.”

  “What do you suggest?”

  “Leonie is probably going to try to get you back onside,” he said slowly. “I want you to play along with it. Tell her that you don’t know what came over you when you ran out of the house. Act as if you still trust her and the others.” He paused. “It will buy us some time.”

  Maya blinked. “But I don’t want to go back to that house and be alone with them.”

  “I don’t want you to, either,” he replied. “In the theatre, with other people around, there is a limited amount that she can do. Make sure that if she or one of the others suggests going somewhere alone, you talk your way out of it. And don’t go into that costume room, under any circumstances.”

  She nodded. “That won’t be hard. I can just say that I hate the room after discovering David in there. It is the truth, anyway.”

  He nodded. “Good. Tell her that you have decided to stay with your parents until the production is over, that you can focus better there. But you won’t be there at all. Then if she decides to go there to pursue you, she won’t find you.”

  “My parents won’t be in danger, will they?” Her eyes were
wide.

  He shook his head. “I doubt it. She’s not focused on them.” He stared down at her, his eyes softening. “It is just to throw her off the scent of where you really are, and keep you safe. While this is happening, I will be watching you like a hawk anyway.”

  Maya frowned. “She’ll notice that. She knows that you aren’t my bodyguard anymore.”

  “Maya,” he said gently. “I am a wolf shapeshifter. I know how to watch from the shadows and tail someone without people being aware. It’s my job. She won’t know that I am watching, believe me.”

  Maya sighed. “So, that is the plan of defence. What is the plan of attack?”

  He stared at her. “I am going to try to get rid of that ill-wish in the costume room, and I am going to break into your house and try to get rid of the one there, too. I might even confront her and battle her. If I kill her, then none of the defence will be necessary anyway.”

  Maya frowned. “But if you kill her, the others will still be around.”

  “I can get rid of all of them,” he said drily. “But if I manage to destroy the ill-wishes, I think the power she has over them will be destroyed as well. They will probably wake up to find themselves normal humans again.”

  “Is that possible?” she breathed. “That you could save the other girls?”

  “It might be,” he said. “I will try, but if they attack, I will have to battle them. And I will kill them, Maya, if I must. One thing is for certain. You are my number one priority, and I am going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.” He stared at her, hard. “I pledge it to you, and my wolf pledges it to you, as well.”

  He stared down at her, now, tossing from side to side in her sleep.

  He had meant it, with all his heart. And his body and soul.

  He realised that he loved her. That he had always loved her, and that this moment had been destined to happen, just like everything else.

  And there was a chance, now. A chance for them. If he destroyed the demon, he might break the curse, and his life might be his own again. He might have a future.