by M. J. Caan
“Well…I thought maybe the shifter community would take them in until…”
“Until when?” she interjected. “Until after the war is over, when who knows how many of them and us will still be standing? Allie, all these people left their lives to follow you. You asked them here. What Gar did was the right thing.”
“I guess I just didn’t think it was cool to ask them to give up their homes and fight for us, but then tell them they have to live in a commune outside of the town they’re fighting for until all of this is over,” Gar added. “The shifters living up there are one thing. They made the decision to move there. The Otherkind did not.”
“No, of course. You’re absolutely right,” I said. “But that brings us back to your cryptic statement, Aunt Lena.”
“Yes,” she began, “well, this house is a lot more than meets the eye, my dear.”
“Oh is it a Decepticon or an Autobot?” Gar chimed in. The glare I gave him only made him shrug.
“Ummm, I’m not sure what you mean by that,” said Aunt Lena, “but I’m just going to ignore it. This house is built on a very specific type of Ley line, the innate power that runs throughout the bedrock of this town. In our case, the house is constructed over the conflux of mystical power that warps spatial configurations.”
“Okay that sounds like something Lieutenant Data would say,” said Gar.
I had to agree. I was lost. “What does that mean?”
“It means that we have more room than you would think,” said Aunt Lena with a wink. “Tell me, have you checked out the attic?”
“We don’t have an attic,” I answered.
“Oh really?” she said, arching both eyebrows in a truly comic fashion. “You mean you have never wondered what that pulldown door in the ceiling outside of our study is?”
Gar and I looked at one another questioningly. We had explored every inch of the house over the years; there was absolutely no way we would have missed seeing an attic door.
“Why don’t you go check?” said Aunt Lena. “I’m going to make myself some tea.” With that, she stood and started back towards the kitchen.
Gar and I followed, but then made our way through the crowd of people to the stairs that led up to the loft and our aunts’ study. There, just before the closed door that led into their most private of spaces, was an attic door cut into the ceiling from which a white cord dangled. How had we never noticed it before? Grabbing the large wooden handle that was tied to the end of the cord, I gave it a pull. The door dropped down smoothly, and a wooden ladder that was folded in on itself sat attached to the inside of the trap door. We unfolded it so that the ladder was planted on the carpeted hallway, inviting us up into the—until now—hidden space.
Gar didn’t hesitate; he brushed past me and climbed into the attic. For once I wasn’t worried because I knew that our aunt would not have sent us to explore a space that could present a danger to either of us.
“Oh, wow!” said Gar stopping halfway up the ladder. Then he quickly finished his climb, hauling himself out of my view.
“What is it?” I called up after him. “What do you see?”
“Allie, get up here. You have to see it for yourself.”
I followed my brother up the ladder and stuck my head into the space that before now didn’t exist. Well not to us, anyway. What I saw defied description. It shouldn’t have been there, but somehow, there was what appeared to be another full floor of living space sprawling out before us.
“Gar…how can this be?”
He was too busy studying the space around us to answer. Making the turn from the attic entrance revealed a large, open living area comprised of another kitchen and comfortably-appointed living room, complete with television, beautiful furnishings, a full floor-to-ceiling bookcase and wonderful floor lamps flooding the room with an abundance of light.
Branching off from the great room were a series of hallways that led to closed doors. I followed one of the halls and opened the door to see what was behind it. It led into a very comfortable bedroom, complete with a full en-suite bath. How was this possible?
Walking back up the hall, I ran into Gar coming from one of the hallways that had split off opposite the one I had taken. “Bedroom?” He only nodded before shaking his head in amazement.
“This is crazy, sis!”
I could only agree as we walked back into the great room. Looking around, I counted ten hallways branching off of it. We would definitely have more than enough room for everyone now. But I was still marveling at how this was even possible. I had started to think that I was the shit with magic, but maybe there was still a ton I needed to learn, because clearly the laws of physics were not at play when it came to this house.
We both went back downstairs and smiled at the knowing looks the aunts gave us. The considerable space up there solved the issue of where everyone would sleep. But that wasn’t the only problem facing us right now.
“Everyone, if I can have your attention for a minute…” I said, making my way to center of the living room. “First, thank you for all agreeing to fight with me and my family in this war.”
“No,”said Lady stepping forward, “it’s we who thank you, Allie. You’ve given us something that is beyond any hopes or dreams that any of us could have fathomed. I know what is being asked of us…and I for one am ready to make the ultimate sacrifice if need be. Just having a moment of true realization and experiencing my true self…it was beyond what I could have ever imagined. And definitely worth fighting to the death over.”
A mummer of agreement passed through my new friends and all of them were nodding in agreement. It was almost too much for me, but I blinked back my tears and smiled back at everyone.
“We’re going to do this,” I said. “I don’t care what gets thrown at us…we’re not losing. We can’t. Tonight, I want everyone to settle in.” I saw Gar’s body stiffen out of the corner of my eye.
“We’re going with you,” he said before I could stop him.
“What? Where are you going?” said Austin.
“She’s going after someone who’s been using magic to attack her lately. Most likely the witch consort of the vampire that is trying to kill her,” replied Gar, his eyes burning into me.
“I’m not going to confront anyone,” I say. “The witch is using some sort of artifact to bounce her spells off. If I can find it and take it out, it will mean she has to attack me more directly. Taking away her ability to launch sneak attacks levels the playing field.”
“You’re not going alone,” said Austin. “That’s what we are here for, right? To provide backup and muscle?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “But tonight is not the night. You’ve only just been reborn as a shifter. I would rather you get little more used to your new forms. None of you are battle-tested and tonight is not the night to try out your new powers.” All eyes were on me and I could feel them weighing my words. “Plus, there is no reason to think tonight will be anything other than an ordinary snatch and grab. Also, I think you will all be more effective with the element of surprise on your side.”
“But you can’t go out alone, Allie. I thought that was the plan; to have the Totem Shifters here as backup?” said Gar.
“Right now Mallis has no idea you all even exist. We don’t want to ruin that by needlessly revealing your presence tonight.”
“And she won’t be alone,” came a voice from the stairwell. Elion entered the room, effortlessly gliding between bodies until he reached my side. He tilted his head to one side, surveying my new friends. “Very interesting.”
“We are going as backup as well.” It was Cody this time. He walked in through the front door and tossed his keys onto the entry table. “I picked up a friend.”
Esmee entered the room behind him. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and I could see the hilt of her silver rapier peeking above the collar of her black leather jacket. “Hello, Allie. So, you thought you were the only one having fun tonight?”
/> I glanced at Cody, not bothering to hide my annoyance. “Cody, it was just supposed to be the three of us. I don’t want anyone put in danger that doesn’t need to be.”
“You aren’t the only one that has been attacked, Allie,” said Esmee. “We’ve been through this. I still owe that vampire bastard and his she-wolf a beatdown. Besides, if something happens to you, we are all royally fucked. So yeah. I got your back no matter where you’re going.”
Warmth spread throughout my body. The kind of genuine warmth that only true friendship and love can bring. I really was feeling like the luckiest witch in the world right then.
“Okay then,” I said. “That settles it. Cody, Esmee, Elion and I will go to try to find out what the witch is using to cloak herself with. The rest of you settle in and get some rest. We only have a few days left until the eclipse so I have a feeling things are about to ramp up around here.”
“What about me?” asked Gar. “Jhamal and I can help as well.”
“No, you stay here. I would rather Jhamal be here to help the new Totem shifters acclimate to their new abilities.” His shoulders slumped and he cast his eyes down at his shoes. “Besides, what I’m about to do is a piece of cake. You have a much harder job tonight.”
“What’s that?” he asked suspiciously.
“You get to settle all the fights between everyone when they start picking their rooms upstairs.” Despite himself, he laughed at the thought, his face lighting up at the possibilities.
Turning to my aunts I hugged them both. Aunt Lena gave me a silver strand with a blue crystal attached to the end of it.
“This will lead you to the spot we saw,” she said. “Be careful, Allie. This witch is nobody to play around with.”
I looked over at Cody and nodded. “Neither are we, Aunt Lena. Neither are we.”
With that, we left the house and piled into Esmee’s Navigator. It was time to stop playing defense and ram this ball down someone’s throat.
As soon as we piled into the car, the crystal Aunt Lena had given me fired to life. It burned brightly in the darkness and tugged at its chain, pulling up and outward until the tether was taut and the crystal pointed to the right.
“I guess we go right,” I said. Esmee eased the big SUV out of the drive and headed in the direction the crystal indicated.
“Cool trick,” she said glancing at the glowing gem. “Would make a hell of a replacement for my maps navigation system.”
“It’s a scrying crystal,” I said. “They are meant to seek out and locate whatever they are enchanted to find. In this case, my aunts commanded it to lock onto the signature given off by the artifact the witch was using to attack me.”
“Oh,” said Esmee, “so what you’re saying is it won’t help me to find a Starbucks if I’m in a new town, huh?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and it seemed to release all the tension in the air. I turned in my seat enough to catch a glimpse of Cody in the backseat. “You boys good back there?”
Cody snorted in response. “Just peachy.” He was staring at Elion, who was sitting ramrod still next to him.
“Okay, if no one else will, I’ll say it’s time we address the…er…wolf in the room,” said Esmee. “What is going on between you two?” She glanced into the rearview window, her eyes darting from Cody to Elion.
“It’s a supernatural thing,” said Elion. “Wolves and vampires are not created to be…equals.”
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?” said Cody heatedly.
“It’s the truth,” said Elion. “Your kind was created with the express purpose of serving my kind. You were our daytime watchdogs. No offense, of course.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I chimed in, trying to defuse the situation. “Sounded pretty offensive to me.”
“Agreed,” added Esmee with just a touch of annoyance creeping into her voice. “Play nice back there. Isla will kill me if I get claw marks in the leather.”
Cody snorted. “It’s something instinctive isn’t it?” He directed this at Elion. “I don’t know why, but from the moment I laid eyes on you, I not only didn’t trust you, but I didn’t like you either.”
“There was a time,” said Elion, “when you would have given your front paws to protect my kind. But that was many, many of your generations ago.” He sound almost remorseful.
“So what, you miss having your slaves?” said Cody. His voice was raw with emotion that I had never heard from him before.
“What? Not at all,” replied Elion. “I remember when the first wolves were created. How your ancestors fought against the sting of the vampires’ silver-laced whips until you were finally beaten into submission. I watched as the light of defiance was smothered out of you. I saw you become…domesticated.
“The truth was that we didn’t really need you. At the time, there was civil war brewing among the ranks of the vampire elite. Some of our kind had splintered off to form new clans of our own, away from the Mallises of our world. Yes, we may have done some pretty terrible things, but believe it or not, not all of us wanted to pillage the land and feed on every human we came across. Some of us simply wanted to be left alone. We were powerful enough that we had no need to fear the humans that were foolish enough to hunt us. However, the witches…” I could feel him glance at me, “that was a different story. But we knew that they would not hunt us as long as we left them alone. Back then, they didn’t go around looking to be the defenders of mankind. They kept to themselves and minded their business.
“It was Mallis and his cabal that started the war with the witches. He wanted their power for his own. When he could not replicate the power, he discovered a way to tether male witches to their female counterparts and siphon their power for his own vile uses. He started the war that resulted in the birth of the wolves. Creatures that were designed to protect us from witches and…” His voice trailed off and he turned his head to stare out the window.
“And what?” I said. “You’ve said this much, might as well get it all out in the open.”
He turned to face Cody and I could tell he was measuring his words carefully. “Your kind was not originally created to be our daytime bodyguards. You were created to hunt witches. Sniff them out, bring them to us…or kill them.”
“What?” exclaimed Cody. “That’s a lie!”
“Why would I lie about such a thing? I was there…I know what your original purpose was.”
“So you’re saying the werewolves were created to…kidnap witches for Mallis?” I asked.
“Kidnap…among other things,” said Elion.
The silence that descended in the car was more than oppressive. I wanted to do something, to yell at Elion, to call him a liar and let him know that what he was saying didn’t make sense. But part of me, somewhere in the back of my mind, was replaying the incident when I was snatched out of my body and cast into the blackness. The blackness where Cody’s wolf was prowling.
“She knows,” said Elion nodding in my direction. “She feels it. Probably always has. Haven’t you ever wondered why the two of you are so drawn to one another? I bet it happened after he changed, didn’t it? He could smell you long before he could put it into words what you were.”
“Shut the fuck up!” yelled Cody. “You’re a lying piece of shit, you know that?”
Elion didn’t answer, but instead returned to looking out the window.
“Think about it,” he finally said. “Mallis is so ancient that even the sun may not fully destroy him. Do you really think he needs protection from anything? He only covets more power…to use in his own dark, twisted ways. Your kind is the means for him to achieve that power.”
Cody opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Esmee. “Hey guys, does this road seem familiar to anyone?”
I had been so wrapped up in the conversation that I hadn’t been paying attention to where we were going. The scrying crystal I held was pulling violently in my hand. The gem was flashing and sparking rapidly, trembling in midair as it struggle
d against the silver leash. Wherever we were going, it was very nearby.
I peered at the road we had turned down. To be honest, it looked like almost every other side road in Trinity Cove: unpaved and overgrown to either side with tall populars that reached across the road to touch branches. But Esmee was right, this did look familiar.
Then it hit me, and I struggled to hold back the bile that threatened to fill my throat.
“Hey,” said Cody, “isn’t this…?”
“Yes,” I said. “The driveway that leads to Dr. Garner’s house.” Or what was left of it.
“Yes, that’s it,” said Esmee. “Isla and I came out here when we first moved to Trinity. There was nothing left of her aunt’s farmhouse. We’ve never been back here since. But how do you know the house?”
“It’s a long story,” I said. “This is where Cody’s father used to bring him for his medical care as a child.”
“What? But like Isla, her aunt was a veterinarian, not a pediatrician…oh. I see.” To her credit, if she was shocked, she didn't let on.
“Esmee, hold up, let’s not get too close. Just in case,” said Cody.
Esmee nodded and eased the car into the tall grass that made up the shoulder of the driveway. Placing the car in park, we all climbed out and surveyed the surroundings.
“I don’t smell anything,” said Cody.
“Nor do I,” added Elion.
“That doesn't mean we’re alone,” said Esmee, drawing her rapier and holding it in front of her as we advanced.
“No need for magic to light the way this time,” said Cody glancing skyward. I nodded.
Full moon tonight.
Even though considerable time had passed since the fire, I could still make out the smell of burning embers as we neared the ruins. The old house had once served as the community veterinary service and the personal abode of a highly respected member of our little society. The smells also brought back the memory of bloodshed and great violence. I tried to block out the picture of Dr. Garner dying in my arms. Guilt made me glance over at Esmee and I quickly averted my eyes when I realized she was staring at me inquisitively.