by H B Lyne
'Next Saturday. Nana and Grandad are coming for lunch.'
'Yay!' she squealed, bouncing on the stool. 'Is there cake? I want a monster cake, with sprinkles.'
'We'll see,' Chloe said. 'Do you have to go to work today?' she whispered as she dished up his breakfast.
'Yeah, I really do. I'm sorry.'
'Will you be home tonight?'
'Of course.' He pulled her against his chest and kissed her lips softly.
When Eyes arrived at Grove Street early in the afternoon the rest of the pack were gathered around the kitchen table deep in serious discussion. Stalker was back and Eyes tried not to think about what she had been doing all night.
He went to the kitchen window, as he did every day, to check on Unchained Lightning. His cocoon throbbed and glowed, it was getting bigger and brighter by the day.
'Eyes.' Wind Talker got his attention and beckoned him over to the table. 'From what we learned last night, I think we need to seriously consider doing whatever we can to weaken the Witches. We're working on a plan now.'
Eyes looked down at the table and saw the sheet of paper that they had been brainstorming on; most of the ideas had been crossed off.
'We know they own a new age shop,' Weaver explained. 'We can probably do a few things to mess up their business, cause them some trouble so that they get distracted from coming after us.'
'We don't know that they will come after us,' Eyes said. 'It's been two months since the Alpha's daughter was killed.' He glanced at Stalker, she barely flinched and he took that as a positive sign that she had come to terms with what had happened.
'They might not know we killed the girl,' Wind Talker said. 'But they will certainly be part of the campaign against Caerton. Whatever we can do to interfere with them will benefit everyone.'
'Okay, so which plan is looking most favourable?' Eyes asked.
Claws tapped a note on the paper.
'This one, plant drugs on the shop premises and call the police.'
'We thought we could mug a drug dealer and steal his stash, plant it at the Witches' shop so that it looks like they are dealing drugs out of the place,' Stalker said.
'And you're okay with this plan?' Eyes asked her warily.
'Fine, as long as no one gets killed.' She shrugged.
'Okay,' Eyes said, though he wasn't sure about the plan at all. 'Let's do it tonight. Destroy this.' He indicated the paper and Claws ripped it up without hesitation.
The pack spent the afternoon exchanging stories from the Danegeld. Wind Talker, Weaver and Claws were curt with him and cast him resentful glances. He shrugged it off. He really didn't want to have to justify his actions to them, he couldn't tell them the real reason for wanting to leave and he didn't want to have to lie to them too. His life was already too full of complicated lies.
It seemed that a few other shifters shared Theodore's scepticism about the Furies, but largely the rest of the city's shifter population was deeply concerned. There had been a lot of talk of defending territory, but none of cooperation between the packs and no one but the Berserkers wanted to go on the offensive.
Stalker relayed much of what was said among her fellows and Eyes struggled to take it all in. He wondered how Fortune had juggled all of this. Maybe he hadn't had to. Red Scythe had implied that things were getting worse, that all of this activity was unusual.
Eyes returned home for dinner and helped put Amy to bed. He kept one eye on the clock as it got dark outside and he dreaded having to broach the subject of going out to Chloe. They emerged from Amy's room and Chloe snaked her hands around his waist.
'Last night was a nice surprise,' she whispered. He kissed her gently, his thoughts flashing back to what she was talking about and briefly wandering to Lightning Claw before he stamped out that particular image. 'I may be wearing my most sexy underwear.'
Eyes groaned in frustration and pulled away from her reluctantly.
'I'm really sorry about this, but I've been asked to schmooze some new clients and take them out tonight.'
Chloe shoved him hard, her face furious.
'Oh no you don't,' she hissed. 'You can't do this to us any more. You can't be gone all hours of the night and day, then swan in here, fuck me like a demon and disappear again. What do you think I am?'
She stormed down the hall and slammed their bedroom door. Eyes winced and hovered by Amy's door to listen for her waking up. There wasn't a peep out of her so he slowly approached the slammed door. He opened it and saw Chloe sobbing on the bed.
'Chloe,' he whispered. She sniffed and then lay still, ignoring him. He sat down on the bed and placed a gentle hand on her hip. 'I'm really sorry.'
'Prove it,' she snapped, turning over to face him. 'Call your boss and cancel tonight.'
'I really can't do that,' he said quietly, hating himself. 'I've been spending a lot more time at home lately, you know that.'
'You were out late last night.' She scowled at him and he nodded reluctantly.
'I was, and I came home as soon as I could.'
'I just don't want things to go back to how they were before Christmas. You were hardly here.'
'I changed jobs, it was awful and crazy and I walked away from my career as a barrister for you, for something with less hours. It won't go back to the way it was.' He was telling the truth, but he couldn't tell her that it wasn't his job that was keeping him away from home, his job had hardly consumed any of his time in months. If war really was on the horizon then there was a very real chance that pack business was going to keep him from his family just as much as it had done before, if not more.
'Why do I not believe you?' she said quietly.
'I have to go now. We'll talk about this again later. I am really sorry.' He stood to go and left with a very heavy heart.
Eyes met the others back at Grove Street. Claws had found them all balaclavas to wear, just like the Knights of St. Catherine's. Eyes participated half-heartedly, his mind still on Chloe. He felt terrible and just wanted to get back home to her.
'I know of a guy who deals near the Circle,' Claws said. Eyes was loathe to go anywhere near that place, after his last experience there against the Red Minister who had swarmed them, but he didn't have a better suggestion so he went along with it. They went on foot, so as not to allow either of their cars to show up on CCTV in the area, and Claws led them to where this drug dealer was normally to be found.
The area surrounding the Circle was poorly lit and extremely deprived. The roads were wide and lined with empty shops, disused offices and cramped houses filled with squatters and illegal immigrants who had nowhere else to go. Cars drove through quickly, often not risking stopping at red lights, as carjacking was rife.
The railway passed close to the Circle, raised high on a viaduct and in one of its arches, away from prying eyes, the Lightning Lords stopped to finalise their plan. A quiet road ran under the blackened bridge and a solitary figure stood illuminated in the pale light of a lit bus stop.
'That's him,' Claws said, under his breath.
'We shouldn't all go right in there,' Wind Talker said.
'Right,' Eyes agreed. 'Stalker and Claws, you two see if you can handle it, the rest of us will wait here as backup.'
Stalker rolled her eyes at him before pulling her balaclava over her face. Eyes grabbed her arm as she spun away and she glared back at him. 'I want you in there to make sure it doesn't go too far,' he said in her ear. Stalker considered him carefully for a moment and then nodded in understanding. He released her arm and watched her and Claws slip quietly towards the guy leaning against the bus stop. The rest of them watched from the shadows down the street.
His pack mates approached the dealer swiftly and silently. There was a surreal moment as the human's face was caught between amusement and horror. Eyes felt tension in the pit of his stomach as he watched from a distance.
There was a small scuffle as they forced the drug dealer into the shadows and pinned him up against the wall and Eyes listened careful
ly for any hint of a problem. He caught a glimpse of Claws' gun pressed against the scumbag's temple. Eyes considered the possibility that he ought to fiercely oppose this plan, but he just couldn't. He mostly felt numb about it, it was a means to an end and if it paid off then it could land the Alpha of the Witches in jail, where she could do relatively little harm. It also took a drug dealer off the market for a while, at least.
Stalker and Claws came pounding down the pavement towards them, snapping Eyes out of his thoughts.
'Run!' yelled Claws and they all set off at a sprint away from the scene. Eyes cast one quick glance back at the drug dealer in a heap on the ground. Once they were several blocks clear they ran up a side street and into a small, covered car park behind a row of shops and came to a stop.
'What happened?' Eyes asked, only a little breathless.
'We got it,' Stalker said, holding open her hand with about a dozen little baggies, some filled with pills, others with white powder.
'What about the man?'
'He'll live.' Stalker shrugged.
'I had to knock him out,' Claws said.
'Right,' Eyes said, nodding. 'Stalker, how do you feel about taking it from here? You're the only one of us who can sneak onto their territory with even the faintest hope of going unnoticed.'
'Fine,' she said with a slight smile and a sparkle in her eyes.
'Good. Get it done. I have to go home, I am not popular tonight.'
'Trouble in paradise?' Wind Talker asked and Eyes ignored the dig.
'Good luck, Stalker. Text me when it's done and let me know you're okay.' He fixed his eyes on her and she gave him a reassuring nod.
'Piece of cake. I hope you and Chloe are okay,' Stalker said quietly. Eyes gave her a small nod and watched as she shifted into her fox form and ran off down the street.
The others got back to Grove Street safely and Eyes drove home, half worrying about Stalker and half worrying about how he would be received. The house was dark and quiet when he got home; it was nearly midnight so he had expected it to be so. He crept into his room and found Chloe asleep in the middle of the bed, naked. She hadn't slept naked in years and he watched her for a minute, trying to decide what to do. Was she inviting him to wake her again, or taunting him? He stripped off his clothes and climbed into the bed beside her. He rested a hand on her back and nuzzled close to her, but decided not to try anything.
'I love you,' he whispered before he fell asleep.
Chapter Four
Stalker-of-Night's-Shadow
Her paws padded lightly on the ground. She ran through the quietest back streets and kept her nose to the ground. Her breath was visible as little puffs on the cool night air. She rounded a corner and caught the Witches' scent in the air. It was a few hours old and she proceeded cautiously along the street. A sign caught her eye hanging over a doorway in the middle of a long parade of shops. There was a sombre-looking Green Man on the sign and the name of the shop was The Witching Hour. This had to be it.
Stalker doubled back and found the narrow road that the shop backed onto. The windows on the back of the building had bars on them and the back door had a mesh security door across it. The scent of the Witches was all over the place but the building was dark and silent.
Looking up at the back of the building, she noticed an air vent above the door. She quickly glanced around, it was almost pitch black and the narrow back street was empty. Stalker drew a breath and slowly forced her body to shrink. Her limbs disappeared, her body withered away to almost nothing and wings erupted from her back. In moth form, Stalker fluttered up and crawled in through the dusty vent and emerged in the back hallway of the building. Flying around the back of the shop, she found an office with an inviting desk. She shifted back into her human form and stretched her limbs briefly, shaking out the stiffness from their confinement.
The office was shrouded in darkness, with just a hint of light from the hazy orange sky casting a faint glow across the floor. She held still for a moment, waiting for an alarm or some supernatural security device to be triggered. But the room remained still and peaceful.
She went to the desk and glanced over it. There were stacks of invoices and all of the mundane trappings of an orderly office. She carefully opened the desk drawer and peered inside, flipping through a few files and papers, but found nothing of interest. There was a small, metal cash tin with the key in the lock. Stalker clucked her tongue and suppressed a smirk. She lifted out the tin and unlocked it. Inside was a small amount of cash. She lifted the black coin tray out and put the little bags of drugs inside, then replaced everything just as she had found it.
She took one last look around, then left the same way she had entered. She shifted into the form of an owl and flew all the way back to Grove Street, enjoying the air rushing past her feathers and the elation from successfully completing her mission.
She sent a message to Eyes, just as he had requested and then turned in for the night.
The following morning, Claws left an anonymous tip with the police and they went about their business as usual.
Stalker was on her way to work when she got the text from Rhys. It had become unusual for him to reach out to her more than once a week, so twice in a few days took her by surprise.
Hi, I hope you had a good weekend. I'd really like to talk to you, if possible.
She automatically deleted it and stowed her phone in her locker as soon as she arrived.
Work had become routine in the month since returning after Christmas. Stalker greeted her familiar students with smiles and mundane chatter. The little vial of water against her chest felt pleasantly cool as she worked, filling her with calm. When it came time to show her class a new block and throw combination she had a handful of volunteers eager to partner with her for the demonstration.
She grinned as she picked Joey, and he scurried forward. He came in for an attack and she easily blocked his arm, hooked one foot behind his knee and brought him to his back without so much as winding him. He grinned up at her and she grabbed his hand to help him up.
'Easy,' she said, flashing a smile at the assembled class. They broke up into pairs to practice and she moved among them, helping the weaker members of the group.
As her last class of the evening filed out Stalker released a satisfied sigh.
It was gone 8pm when she got back to the house. Eyes was there, pacing the kitchen and running his hands through his hair repeatedly.
'I can't stay long,' he said. 'I just wanted to thank everyone for getting the job done last night. Hopefully we'll hear in the next day or so what happened with the police.'
A sudden crackling sound from the garden yanked all of their attention and they piled out through the back door. Unchained Lightning's cocoon had split open and bright light was spilling out of it. Fine forks of lightning flashed out and struck the house and garden wall, leaving the scent of burning stone, but mercifully doing no real damage.
'Great Artemis,' Weaver gasped. 'Can we get it across the veil before it attracts any attention?'
'No time,' Stalker said as the fae pushed its way out through the crack. His snout came first, complete with formidable pointed teeth. His front legs emerged, widening the crack in the cocoon for his thick body to push its way out. The cocoon disintegrated around him, disappearing completely, and the garden was drowned in blinding white light. Stalker shielded her eyes. The light began to fade and she lowered her hand. Unchained Lightning was uncurling himself and he stretched to his full height, which was now almost as tall as the house. He still resembled a dragon, but he was bigger and had enormous muscles bulging under his almost translucent skin. He was no longer a wingless Chinese dragon, but now had great leathery wings sprouting from his silver back and he spread them, filling the garden. Stalker gasped as she looked up at him.
Up on the high wall of the garden, two huge, black birds perched, watching them. As the great elemental stretched out his wings the birds squawked and took flight, but they circled steadily
overhead. A memory came back to her of identical birds watching them when they fought the Plague Doctor. But it was a worry for another time and she dismissed it.
Unchained Lightning looked down on the pack and opened his mouth. Sparks flew out, showering down on them like hot rain, but they didn't burn. His voice was like thunder when it rumbled out from his cavernous chest.
'I need a throne.' In a flash, he disappeared across the veil and back into Hepethia, leaving the Lightning Lords in stunned silence.
'A throne?' Stalker said after a few moments.
'That's what the big man said,' Wind Talker replied nonchalantly. He turned and went back inside. Stalker watched him, bemused by his reaction.
'What kind of throne? Is this normal?' Stalker fired her questions at Weaver, who blinked at her for a moment.
'I'm not sure,' she said slowly. She followed Wind Talker back inside and left Stalker, Eyes and Claws looking at one another with no answers. They traipsed back inside to find Wind Talker jogging down the stairs with a box from the attic.
'Ah, research mode,' Stalker said, nodding in approval. It was not her forte, so she cleared out of the house and let Wind Talker and Weaver crack on with it.
A few blocks from the house, Stalker sensed the presence of Pursuit-of-Midnight-Solitude, at first just a prickling up her spine but then a twitching shadow at the corner of her eye. A wide grin lit up her face and she sprinted along the dark street after the slippery shadow, eager for the thrill of running wild through the city. She chased it across St. Mark's to Red Bridge, which she traversed without her feet even touching the ground. She ran along the concrete wall, a sheer drop into the river below to one side and fast flowing traffic to the other. She swung around each rod that she came to that connected the deck of the bridge to the vast red towers that bore the load of it, flying out over the river, the air rushing past her grinning face. At the end of the bridge, she leapt down onto the bank and scrambled up it and into St. Catherine's. She powered through the unclaimed territory, climbing up buildings, leaping across rooftops and vaulting fences with ease. Always chasing the elusive spirit that had led her to her true name.