A game was about to start – she could hear that from the shouting and the excitement.
Jask and Corbin, amidst a group of about twenty others, were getting into position at either end.
She watched on in fascination as it all kicked off. It involved three balls the size of footballs – one oval, two round. There were two teams, both vying for top and bottom lines as well as sidelines. Some balls were carried up to the hoops, the lycans moving with admirable speed and agility as they were pursued to the top.
She didn’t recognise the rules. She didn’t recognise the game. At first it looked like chaos, but then what Sophia saw was the ultimate in teamwork – each team monitoring the location and position of each ball, each member having to be vigilant of what others in their team were doing – defenders, chasers, blockers. It was enthralling to watch. It was fast, ferocious and the most exquisite teamwork she had ever seen in a sport.
Because it was a sport – an easy-going, enjoyable sport that showed not only how close the lycans were, but just how physically impressive. She homed in on Jask in particular, open-mouthed at his speed and nimbleness – the way he climbed the frame and hooped the ball before dropping from the full height as if he were just jumping down from the bottom step of the stairs.
And as he flicked back his hair, rolling his shoulders and letting every muscle ripple as he shouted orders at the others, she let out a slow and satisfied sigh.
Until she caught a glimpse of Rone leaning against a tree in the distance.
Her heart pounded. It was her opportunity – Jask and the others distracted, Rone clearly not a participant.
Now was the time to use her escape tools. She slipped off Jask’s T-shirt and pulled on one of the tunics. She hurried back into the bedroom to grab her still-sodden boots for the tools hidden in the heels and made her way over to the door. She checked the handle first and was shocked to find it unlocked.
Not wanting to waste time deliberating, she left her boots behind and hurried barefooted out into the corridor and down the stairs.
It was dead in the lobby – and she had no doubt where everyone had gone.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, the yells and cheers echoed from her left.
She turned at the foot of the stairs, past the dining hall on her right and continued on down the hallway, past another room on her left before reaching another mosaic lobby, this one much smaller.
The door was open, the late afternoon air and cheers wafting towards her. The sun, already touching the horizon, was now a rich but dark amber glow in the distance. There were a few curious glances in her direction as she made her way down the steps but, on the whole, it was if she wasn’t there.
Rone looked across from the tree, but made no attempt to approach her.
Sophia hurried over to him. ‘We need to talk.’
‘I have nothing to say to you,’ he declared, looking back ahead at the game, his blue eyes narrowed, the curls of his fair hair wafting in the breeze.
‘Good, then that gives you more time to listen, which suits me just fine. You lied to Jask.’
Rone’s attention snapped back to her, his panic barely concealed. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said, brushing past her towards the way she had come.
She caught his arm. ‘Yes, you do. You told Jask you stumbled on me by accident. We both know it was anything but.’
He glanced over his shoulder to see that, even amidst game, they had caught Jask’s attention.
‘Not now,’ he hissed in a hushed voice. ‘Later. I’ll find you. Keep it shut.’
She glanced back across at Jask who had now stopped, his hands on his hips as he faced their direction.
‘There might not be a later,’ she said as he continued walking away. ‘Rone!’
She folded her arms and turned to face the pitch. Jask had reverted his attention back to the game, but there was no doubt there would be a follow-up. Before that, she needed to make the most of the opportunity. She pulled her sleeves down over her hands and pursued Rone back up the steps.
Skimming through the lobby, she reached the bottom of the stairs. She glanced anxiously around but they were very much alone. She followed him, ascending two at a time. ‘You know, don’t you? You know what I’m a part of.’
He stopped. Turned to face her. His eyes flashed with concern, with shock, but not confusion.
He did know – and he wasn’t denying it. And she needed to make the most of it while she could.
‘You came to the ruins for me,’ she continued. ‘I know because those vampires were expecting lycan company. I heard them say it. You were going to interrogate me just like they were. Only you don’t want Jask to know or you would have told him already.’
He looked around warily. ‘Have you told him any of this?’
Finally the confirmation she needed. ‘Of course not.’
‘Why not?’
‘Make sure he knows about the existence of The Alliance, you mean? Seriously?’
‘But if you already knew we knew about you, why didn’t you say anything when we said we were going to call Corbin?’
‘I seem to remember you debating whether to just kill me outright. It hardly seemed smart to add to your reasons whilst I was chained to a wall. And I didn’t exactly plan on sticking around when he and Jask turned up.’ She pulled level. ‘Why not just tell him?’
He tried to turn away but she caught his arm. She may as well have tried to handcuff him from the way he recoiled and wrenched free.
‘I heard them talking, Rone. You’d been willing to pay for information with your herbs. That’s very risky business. Is that why? Is that why you don’t want him to know?’
His eyes flared. He lowered his voice even more. ‘If you’re smart, you’ll keep your mouth shut.’
‘If you’re smart, you’ll want me out of here to make sure that happens.’
‘What?’
‘You get me out of here or I’ll tell him.’
‘And expose your Alliance? I don’t think so.’
‘He’s got to find them first. But he knows exactly where you are. You think I’m bluffing – you try me.’
He had another quick scan around the lobby below, wariness in his eyes. ‘I’ll think about it,’ he said, turning back up the stairs.
She grabbed his arm again. ‘What’s to think about?’
‘Jask finds out about this and I’m out of here. Do you know a lycan’s odds in Blackthorn without their pack?’
‘Exactly. So you don’t need a mouthy serryn on the loose around your boss, do you? You need to get me out of here.’
‘You think it’s that easy? Even possible?’ He looked around warily again. ‘The longer you spend talking to me, the less likely I am to put my neck on the line.’ He yanked his hand away. ‘I’ll find you later.’
‘And a phone. I need to get to a phone.’
But he was already making his way back up the stairs.
She exhaled with impatience and made her way back down. Stopping on the bottom step, she gazed at the doorway ahead, her arms folded. Puffing out her lips before letting out an unsteady exhale, she strolled across the lobby and wandered outside.
Skirting the empty quadrant, she headed back through the arched tunnel, only this time she decided to take a left through the gate.
She stepped over the thick branches of old rhododendrons stretching onto the worn path, ducking out of the way of a few branches before opening the wooden slated door into the outbuilding. She pushed aside the rubber strips that reminded her of those found in an old hospital and stepped into the enclosure.
The comforting humidity wrapped itself around her immediately. The room was awash with greenery, heat lamps suspended from the ceiling and strung from the walls, sprays of water resounding from her left. The windows were blackened out, the plants surviving on the bright, artificial light that bathed them.
A female busily tended to the plants she was watering, her long, slender
fingers gliding over their leaves as though she were dressing a small child’s hair. Sensing Sophia, she glanced up, her blue eyes flashing wariness. But she said nothing.
Perspiration lined Sophia’s brow as she continued through the varying plants, past the potted shrubbery. She slid back the glass doors to expose another chamber, this one filled with natural light. Water trickled somewhere in the distance, plants reaching the ceiling from their artificially created beds, a narrow laid path leading through further shrubbery.
She’d heard how self-sufficient the lycans were, but this was the proof. It was certainly true when it came to managing their condition – their response to the lunar cycle an allergic reaction managed only by a remedy of herbs that their ancestors had discovered, which counteracted their condition.
They’d been allowed to continue growing them even after the regulations, but the meds devised by the Global Council were always on standby. From what she’d heard, their intention had always been met with scepticism by the lycans. Especially as the meds were born out of research by the geneticists who had first explored lycanthropy – through experimenting on “volunteers” to devise their own version of managing the condition. The research allegedly funded by the Global Council who had once wanted to create their own breed of lycans to send into locale cores to manage vampires.
‘You smell funny.’
Sophia stared down at the source of the voice.
Large, grey lycan eyes stared back up at her.
‘Is that right?’ Sophia remarked, turning to face the child.
The child that had giggled furiously as Jask had lifted her over his head nodded, oblivious to the potential offence of the statement.
‘Maybe it’s because I’m human,’ Sophia added.
‘What’s your name?’
‘What’s yours?’
‘You first.’
‘Phia.’
The little girl’s eyes widened.
‘P-H-I-A,’ Sophia explained. ‘You can spell, right?’
The little girl nodded. ‘I spell every day.’
‘So what’s your name?’
‘Tuly.’
‘Nice name.’ She looked over her head. ‘Where’s your mother?’
‘Watching the game.’
Sophia took her opportunity to be sure. ‘And your father?’
‘Playing.’
‘Is that Jask?’
The little girl put her hands to her mouth to mask her giggle. She shook her head.
‘Jask isn’t your father?’
‘Uh-uh,’ she said, shaking her head again.
‘Is Corbin?’
The little girl smiled, flashing Phia a hint of the protruding canines indicative of their kind, and nodded.
And Sophia smiled back – for more than one reason.
‘Tuly, come here!’
Tuly looked over her shoulder as the blonde female closed the gap between them, her hand held out for Tuly to take – the female Sophia instantly recognised from the dining hall, and from the quadrant with Jask and Corbin.
‘I’m talking to Phia,’ Tuly declared. ‘She’s human.’
‘I know what she is,’ the female declared, her hand stiffening as she kept it held out in summons.
‘I’m not going to do anything to her,’ Sophia declared, unable not to feel affronted by the concern in the female’s eyes.
‘Tuly!’ the female said again, her eyes flitting anxiously from Sophia to her daughter.
With a sigh, Tuly pulled away.
The female instantly swept her up to rest on her hip.
‘I told her she smells funny,’ the child whispered in her mother’s ear.
‘She smells different, that’s all,’ the female said. She looked back at Sophia, apology for her daughter’s blatancy clear in her eyes. ‘I’m sorry.’
Sophia shrugged. ‘I’ve been told worse. Believe me.’
The lycan eyed her swiftly. ‘You found the clothes then,’ she said, a little more appeased by having her child in her arms. ‘Jask asked me to get you a few things.’
Sophia clutched the hem and splayed it by way of acknowledgement. ‘Thanks.’
‘I’m Solstice,’ she said. ‘And you’re obviously Phia.’
‘P-H-I-A,’ Tuly spelt out.
‘Go and play on the green,’ Solstice instructed the child before putting her back down on the floor.
Tuly flashed Sophia another smile before waving and skipping away.
‘She’s a sweet kid,’ Sophia declared. ‘Direct but sweet.’
‘All the same, I’d rather you not talk to her.’
Clearly not that appeased.
Sophia rested her hip against the nearest worktop. ‘I’m guessing you know what I am then.’
Solstice warily held her gaze before nodding.
‘I thought it was vampires who were supposed to be nervous of serryns,’ Phia remarked, ‘not lycans.’
‘I know enough of your kind to know you’re not safe near anyone. Jask has his reasons for letting you wander around, but I just ask that you stay away from our young.’
Sophia exhaled, surprised at how offended she still felt, not least by how Solstice still looked at her like she was some kind of monster. But even she knew there was no greater monster out there than a fully fledged serryn. ‘She approached me.’
‘We’re not used to strangers here. She’s going to be intrigued. Let alone a human stranger. But this is a safe environment and we would like to keep it that way.’
‘Then talk to your pack leader; he’s the one keeping me prisoner.’
‘Not without good reason.’
‘A reason you know?’
Solstice frowned warily. ‘I know when to not ask questions.’
Sophia folded her arms. ‘Wow, you lycan girls really are under the thumb, aren’t you?’
It was Solstice’s turn to look affronted. ‘Not under the thumb. It’s called trust.’
‘You can call it what you like. I’ll call it a dictatorship. Jask still has the final say on everything, right?’
‘He’s a great leader. A strong leader.’
‘Not one who can protect you all of the time though. What happened with the TSCD only proves that.’
Solstice took a brave step towards her. ‘What happened with our pack was a set-up. Jask did the right thing to protect us, but don’t mistake it for weakness. I saw the way you looked at him at breakfast. You need to treat him with more respect.’
‘He hasn’t exactly earned it.’
‘Take some friendly advice – tread carefully, Phia. Those eyes of his might be pretty but what lies behind them isn’t.’
She turned away, making her way back through the plants.
Sophia knew she should have left it there, that she shouldn’t have pursued. But she couldn’t help it. ‘You’re with Corbin, right?’
Solstice glanced over her shoulder but kept walking.
‘So who’s Jask with?’
Solstice didn’t look back as she made her way back through the sliding doors into the next room.
‘Your alpha has got a mate, right? I’ve seen her clothes in his room.’ Sophia followed her over to the front door. ‘Don’t tell me she’s left him. Run off with a vampire, maybe?’ she added, hoping her light retort would get the lycan to respond.
‘She’s dead,’ Solstice said, turning to face her. ‘Ellen’s dead.’
Chapter Ten
Sophia stood outside the outhouse, uncertain whether the chill that crept over her skin was from the comparative rapid drop in temperature compared to the humidity of indoors, or a chill of a different kind.
It wasn’t just what Solstice had said before walking away – it was the sadness that had leaked from her eyes as she’d uttered it.
Whoever Ellen was, she had mattered to her too.
And no matter how she had intended the remark, Sophia felt the painful stab of shame.
She wanted to ask when, how. Maybe even just to apologise instead of st
anding there in gawping silence. Not that any of it mattered. Not that she had any place caring at all.
But to her detriment, she did.
She curled her toes against the cold, rough stone before strolling back down to the gate. Not sure where to go, what to do in light of the revelation, she looked left at the outhouse she’d tried to explore earlier. She resolved to make another attempt – needing the distraction if nothing else.
Careful to avoid tripping over the tree roots, she reached the door. She turned the handle, only this time it gave and creaked open. She glanced warily over her shoulder at the courtyard behind, checking she was alone before stepping inside.
There was a further temperature drop inside as she closed the door behind her. What was left of the late afternoon light leaked through the small, deep-set windows left and right, igniting the glittering dust motes. But even that fragment of light was fading with the encroaching twilight.
Her pulse raced to an uncomfortable throb, her ears attuned to any sound – any indication that someone else was in there. But only silence echoed back.
She peered into the open room directly ahead, at the table and vacant chairs she’d seen earlier, before heading down the corridor to the right.
She dragged her hand along the uneven stone wall as she descended the broad wooden steps. Even less light filtered through the four high-set oblong windows – the thick branches outside blocking the diminishing light as if darkness consumed that part of the building early.
She turned the handle on the first door on the left and warily pushed it open. Half-empty wine racks dominated the periphery of the dark room within, storage boxes piled up in the centre. She found similar in the next room along only this time it was stacked not only with bottle racks, but crates and barrels too.
She turned the handle on the third door.
Her heart leapt at what looked liked upright coffins lining the walls ahead as well as to her left and right. But each lay open and empty, exposing straps within as well as what looked like the equivalent of a moulding to fit a human form.
She tentatively crossed the threshold, checking behind the door before stepping further inside.
Blood Torn (Blackthorn Book 3) Page 12