Playing With Fire

by Adrienne Woods et al.

  ‘OK, Askuwheteau,’ I started.

  ‘Call me Ash. It’s less of a mouthful.’ I was thankful for that. It had taken a lot of practice to get my tongue around the name. What was it with the Paranormal society that we needed to have unpronounceable and impractical names? Thank God for abbreviations.

  ‘Right, Ash. Let’s start with a bit more information about you.’ He lifted his brow in surprise. ‘You were the owl, and later the heron at the Country Club.’ That last one was a guess, but it registered, so I took it as a yes. ‘Are you a Shapeshifter?’

  He shook his head. ‘No. I’m not. You’re partially right, I was them, but I’m not the creature itself. I borrow its consciousness. Take it for a ride as it were.’

  ‘You borrow it?’ I’d never heard of that before.

  ‘Yes. I hitch a ride in their minds and see through their eyes, hear through their ears.’

  ‘And what happens to them? Afterwards?’

  ‘Nothing. They might be a little bit confused because they have no memory of coming to where ever I took them. But that’s all. As is said I “borrow” their consciousness. No harm comes to them.’

  ‘Can you do that with people too?’

  ‘I can.’ He was candid, I’ll give him that. ‘Though not with everyone, there are those who can block me. Others are much easier to connect to.’

  ‘Me?’

  ‘You block me. I don’t think that you do it consciously—you already did it as a baby, I cannot connect with your mind.’ Well, that made me feel slightly better. Not that it made much difference. He seemed to know more about me than I did. For a control freak like me, that’s bad.

  ‘As a baby?’ He’d referred to seeing me as a baby before. It just seemed so strange. Mum would have told me. Should have told me.

  ‘Yes. I tried to contact your mind when your parents came here to see me after you were born, but as young as you were, your guards were already up. I think that was one of the things that worried your mother most. That you were so adept at something that most adults don’t even get right. She was very worried for you. For your safety.’

  ‘Why?’ I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear if he did.

  ‘Because of who you are.’

  ‘What I am, you mean.’

  ‘Who and what you are is undeniably linked. But I meant who.’ His voice softened. I could feel soft pinpricks behind my eyes. I blinked, pushing away any stupid superfluous emotions that I felt. Life had toughened me up. It had bitten me, swallowed me and spat me out. I didn’t do emotions. At least, not usually. This guy was seriously getting to me. Him and the whole messed up situation I was in now. I prided myself in having my life in order. Being the owner of my destiny. Yeah, right.

  ‘This cannot be easy for you Trish,’ he continued in a friendly tone. ‘You have been running your whole life because of your destiny. Because of who you are. Your parents were taken from you and you have been alone for much too long. You don’t have to be.’ I thought he just said he couldn’t get into my head. It sounded as though he was repeating verbatim everything my stupid emotions were telling me.

  ‘You don’t have to run anymore. You can take a stand. We will stand with you. All of us.’

  ‘Take a stand against whom?’ My voice broke. I heard a snick and was disgusted with myself. I roughly rubbed the tears from my cheek with my sleeve. This wasn’t me. I don’t do emotions.

  ‘You know.’ There he was again with the cryptic stuff, just when I thought he was starting to help.

  I stayed silent. I knew, he’d said. Did I? Did I really? Doubts surfaced, About me, my strength. Everything I had done up to this point. I didn’t know my real enemy. Other than the one who was responsible for my mother’s death, I had no idea. I tried to push myself farther back in the chair. Escape from all this. ‘Stop it,’ the voice in the back of my mind shouted without sound. It’s an extremely irritating voice, it questions everything and worse than that, it’s usually right. OK, so instead of bumming me, how about helping me, I thought. Who is the enemy? Who wants to hurt me, has hurt me in the past? It all boils down to one entity. Everything comes back to that one opponent.

  ‘The Council.’ It was barely a whisper. I looked up at Ash. He nodded slightly, encouraging me to continue. ‘Everything comes back to the Council. I was looking for the one person who was responsible for my mother’s death, but it’s not one. It’s the whole. The Council is accountable.’ The familiar heat of rage took root in my abdomen. It felt like a fire I couldn’t quench. It heated my blood. Pushed my anger through my veins and into my whole body. The Council. I pushed my hands on the arm rests of the seat to jump up. I had to do something, get to those responsible. Kill someone. Then common sense brought me back down to earth. ‘How the fuck am I supposed to take on the whole Council?’

  ‘Not alone. And not right at this minute.’ There was humour in his voice. It was somewhere between laughter and a little bit patronising. I didn’t appreciate the last. ‘Think it through. You need allies. Many of them. And you have already started to amass your army.’

  I looked up. My army? That sounded outright ridiculous. Sure, I’d need one if I was to take on the might of the Council.

  ‘You are not the only one who has a beef with the Council,’ Ash continued. ‘There is much bad blood towards them. They have killed and persecuted. It is time they paid the price.’ That sounded downright revolutionary.

  ‘The Sabres.’ I understood what he was saying. They had suffered by the hands of the Council. Charmaine still did, every day.

  ‘Amongst others, yes. And you are already aligning yourself with them.’

  ‘Yes, but what about Gabriel and the Wolves?’

  ‘They are also your allies.’

  ‘How can that be? They and the Sabres are sworn enemies. They will not work together.’

  ‘You have ties with both factions. Ties and claims to their loyalty.’ He was referring to the bonds of the soul mates. Both Metisse and Gabriel had legitimate claims to me as a mate, and I to them. I felt the pull of both of them. Not as deeply as they did, but there was unmistakably a bond.

  ‘How can I choose?’ I asked exasperated.

  ‘Why would you?’

  I was flabbergasted. ‘Why would I?’

  Now that was a novel thought. Why would I indeed?

  Food for thought.

  Chapter 42

  I spent the next few days alternating between my two lovers and Ash.

  First, I went on a road trip with the pack, then to yet another party with Metisse and finally I found myself back in the cabin on the reservation. I had to make a plan and the one person who could help me was Ash. He wouldn’t decide for me—he made that abundantly clear. But I could run my ideas by him. His long life on this planet meant that he had amassed an enormous amount of knowledge. Though very humble about it, the man was a fountain of information. I was starting to wonder how I made it this far in life without him.

  The more we spoke, the better I started to feel about the whole thing. Prophecy and all.

  The basis of our plan was to unite the Sabres, the Wolves, and all the other paranormal creatures in the struggle to overthrow the Council. They all had to work together. That meant that any old adversity and prejudice would have to make way for cooperation.

  There were major challenges. My relationships being the foremost one on my mind. The liaisons gave me a unique insight into the two groups, but they could also be the catalyst for a lot of complications. Neither of the men seemed to me to be the kind who would take quickly to the idea of sharing me. Both were possessive. Both professed they had waited for me for a long time. It was a hurdle that I would have to take. I wasn’t looking forward to it.

  I tried to get help from Ash, but he could offer no real suggestions. My predicament was new for him too. He just advised me to follow my heart and my intuition where my lovers were concerned. Great. That was what got me in this mess to begin with.

  The Sabres and the Wolves
would need to get along. Ash didn’t seem to think that it would be such an issue. That surprised me, but he wouldn’t clarify his remark any more. ‘They have more in common than you think,’ was all that I got out of him.

  Once we had these two groups united—and I still thought it was a stretch—we would need to expand our influence. Not just to the other packs and clans, but over the whole paranormal community. How we would achieve this phenomenal task, was our next decision.

  We determined that staying in the shadows would not be an option. Once the Council heard of my new mission and finally recognised who I really was, they would throw everything they had at us. It made sense to take the initiative and decide when and where they found out. This was where my little parasite would come in. I never thought he would actually be of use to me. It would more than likely cost him his life, but that was an occupational hazard in his line of work. Spies never lived long.

  Before then, however, we had a lot of work to do. Ash volunteered to contact other paranormals that were connected to the Native American people. The original peoples of this country were much more open-minded than the current leaders and had a long history of working and living with paranormals. They also appreciated secrecy. Ash never ceased to surprise me with the extent of his network. I guess if you’ve been around for longer than anyone else, you make contacts. He was a fantastic asset to the cause.

  Ash refused to talk about himself any more than what he had already shared. ‘When the time comes,’ was his standard reply to my questions.

  I ran into a wall with the prophecy. I knew the basics, and where I fit in. But as with any prophecy it came down to interpretation. Mine was still a bit cloudy. Ash was adamant that I was the one meant by “of two worlds” and how that would be an asset. But I was less convinced. It didn’t seem that what I was would be enough to unite the paranormal world in a struggle against the most powerful wizard that had ever existed.

  ‘Don’t be so sure,’ Ash commented when I voiced my concerns.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Cantix and Aquanaris are powerful. Without doubt. But theirs’ is a control based on fear and terror. It will only prevail until someone breaks the circle. There are other powers that are much stronger and that will bring the people together is a common goal; the alleviation of subjugation.’

  I looked at him quizzically. ‘You’re saying there is someone more powerful than him?’

  ‘As I said. It is not the amount of power. It is how you use it that counts.’ Hmm, that was basically a yes. I wondered who he meant. It wasn’t me; I knew that. I’m not a wizard. Sure, I’m strong and very good at what I do, but that alone would not let me get within striking distance of Cantix. I could not hope to kill him myself. The same applied to both of my lovers. So, who would do the deed? I looked at Ash, but he gave no more hints.

  I didn’t know what he himself was. I didn’t think he was a mage, though he had certain talents that bordered on what I knew some of the wizards possessed. His were more rooted in Native American tradition, much more attuned to nature than to magic. I didn’t know if he was a serious contender to oppose Cantix, or Aquanaris for that matter, in an open battle. And he wouldn’t enlighten me anymore. He just observed me with a smile in his eyes.

  ‘You will know when the time is right.’ Great. Thanks. That was a help.

  We both agreed that the first thing to do was unite the Sabres and the Wolves. For that we would have to get them to talk, or actually, to listen. It was up to me to get my lovers to come together and listen to what I had to say. They would need some hefty convincing. Ash promised to be there to support me. I was grateful for that, though I doubted that his presence would have any influence on Metisse. Gabriel looked up to Ash. He respected him. But Metisse? He had no reason to. I didn’t even think that he knew who Ash was. Not that I really did, come to think of it. Though I knew that I could trust him. Why? I had no idea. I just did.

  ‘Location is everything,’ Ash suggested. ‘The clearing where the first treaty was negotiated is the best place to have the meeting. It is neutral terrain, situated on the border of the two territories. The atmosphere of the place will help you convince them to listen to you. Both parties know of the significance of the site. It will not be lost on them. There are spirits there that will sway them. Both the Wolves and the Sabres have longstanding ties to the location where their status quo was determined.’

  It made sense. I doubted the sprit thing, but hey, I’m not so easily swayed by what I cannot see. I nodded my agreement. The clearing it was.

  As I rode the bike back to my safe house, I revisited the decisions we made today. It was all coming down to the wire. I had to do something. The Council would not wait on results forever. If I failed to fulfil their directive, they would send others. Assassins who had no emotional involvement. Who would not hesitate to kill both Gabriel and Metisse. I could not let that happen.

  The clock was ticking.

  Chapter 43

  We received word that the Council had summoned us. Me and Alex. Naturally I declined.

  ‘You cannot refuse again.’ He tried to sound confident and as usual failed miserably. ‘Cantix has summoned us to give a report on the mission.’

  ‘I thought you were keeping them informed,’ I retorted. He was so easy to confuse.

  ‘How can I report what I don’t know.’ He threw up his arms in desperation. ‘You never tell me anything.’ OK, that was true, but I wasn’t about to agree with him. Going to the Council now would be the worst idea ever. All that I learned in the past weeks convinced me of where my true enemies lay, and they were not in Waisland. I couldn’t risk losing control when I saw Aquanaris and Cantix again. There was no way that I would give them even a chance to find out what I was actually doing. They would play a central position in my plans. But not just yet. There was too much to do before I was ready.

  ‘You go,’ I suggested ignoring his earlier comments. ‘You can tell them that things are progressing now and that it will not be long before there will be results.’ Not a lie in all that. There would be results, just not what they had intended.

  ‘What will I tell them?’ Alex was desperate. He was well aware of the fact that messengers did not fare well if they brought the wrong kind of news.

  ‘Tell them that I have infiltrated the two groups and have not killed the men yet because I wanted to find out if they were the true leaders. I doubt that killing Gabriel and Metisse will stop the war.’ The lies were flowing easily. They even sounded acceptable to me. To Alex they must have seemed like a life line. He grabbed on to the thought and went with it.

  ‘I could do that. Say that you were looking for other strong people in the clans. Ones that would take the place of the leaders and pose a new problem.’ He rattled on. ‘I’ll say that you couldn’t come because that would blow your cover.’ I nodded enthusiastically. Once you got him going, there was no stopping this guy. ‘That sounds good,’ he continued, oblivious to me. He was caught up in his own little world. ‘That should work.’ All of a sudden, he turned; his face full of concern. ‘But it does mean that you might have to kill more than just the leaders.’ Sharp. Well, seeing as I wasn’t planning on killing anyone, another lie wouldn’t matter.

  ‘Of course,’ I answered much to his relief. ‘I will take out anyone I need to.’

  ‘Yes, yes. Anyone who is a threat.’

  Now that would be a massacre, I thought, if I had to kill everyone who posed a threat to the Council. And it might be a stretch seeing as I was about to head off that list.

  ‘I’ll be away for a few days,’ Alex continued, blissfully unaware of what was really going on here. ‘Should be back at the weekend.’ I nodded again. Great, that would give me three days of peace. Enough time to take the next step. One that the Council was definitely not allowed to know. Not yet.

  ‘You should leave as soon as possible,’ I urged him. ‘Then you can see your family too. Take a day off. You’ve earned it.’ He stared at
me. Trying to decide whether I was truthful or not. I put on my most innocent face.

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘I’ll be OK,’ I assured him. ‘If anything comes up, I’ll phone you. I have your number.’

  ‘Yeah. Phone. Right.’ That was enough to placate him. He turned and shuffled off into his room to pack. It took a lot of restraint not to break out into a mad laugh. The guy was pathetic. It was laughable.

  Chapter 44

  We spent the day with Charmaine in the cabin where she regaled me with stories of Metisse’s childhood, his somewhat rebellious puberty and the antics that he and his siblings got themselves into growing up in the Sabre clan. I loved every laugh and every blush that coloured Metisse’s handsome face when his mother remembered yet another embarrassing moment that just had to be shared.

  ‘Mom!’ he exclaimed more than once.

  ‘Oh, come on Metisse. Don’t be so heavy handed. Trish is your mate. She needs to know all the things that made you the man you are today.’ She waved away his objections. Once Charmaine was on the roll, there was no stopping her.

  Later on, the stories took on a much darker character when she spoke about the exile from Canada and how the clan left everything they had behind.

  ‘It was very difficult for our people,’ she said. Metisse stood behind his mother, his hand on her shoulder in support. ‘Most of us were born in Canada. We lived there our entire lives. Our friends were there. Our very roots.’ Her voice was still strong, defiant even. I admired her for her strength and tenacity. This woman was a force to be reckoned with.

  ‘We moved around for almost ten months before we found Waisland,’ she continued. ‘It was ideal for our purposes. Far away from most of humanity and in a dark spot where we thought the Council couldn’t find us.’

  ‘You must understand that the Council didn’t have the resources then that it has now.’ Metisse picked up the narrative. ‘This was more than two hundred years ago. The United States was in its infancy. It was a vast area with few people. The dark forests and mountains held no charm for the settlers. Only the Native American people lived here.’