by H B Lyne
'I made myself clear,' Theodore was saying. 'Your department will have to keep up. I'll see you for an update in two weeks.'
The council official turned away, his cheeks blazing. He marched back to Ben and gave Eyes a look of sheer exasperation.
'Deluded,' he muttered. 'You'd think the world revolved around him. We can't dig up that much of the city at once, it's just not possible. But he won't listen.'
'I suggest politely nodding and agreeing with him in the short term,' Eyes said conspiratorially.
'It's been like this all year,' he hissed. 'Come on Ben, back to the office.'
Ben and Eyes exchanged troubled glances and half-hearted smiles. Eyes looked down at the table as they walked away. He caught sight of a map of the electricity supply network for the whole city. Theodore was busy fending off another complaint from someone, so Eyes hurriedly rolled up the map and slipped it into his case. He glanced nervously around, and let out a slow breath. It seemed no one had seen him take it.
As everyone left the conference room Eyes got out his phone and typed a text message to Stalker.
Just met your friend, Ben. You might want to make sure he's ok. Theodore's not having the best day. Hope you're ok. See you soon x
'Martin,' Theodore called, just as Eyes reached the door. He stiffened slightly, slapped on a polite smile and turned to face his boss.
'Theodore.'
'Close the door, would you?'
Eyes did as he was asked and walked back to the table. 'Everything all right at your end?'
'Fine, thank you,' Eyes replied stiffly.
'I gather there was an upset among your group. Seems to have righted itself now.'
Eyes felt the question of how Theodore knew anything about that die on his lips. He knew the names of every shifter he met, Wind Talker that of every other supernatural, Claws knew a lie when he heard one, and Stalker could dig deep to find someone's inner truth. There was no telling how much more information an old shifter like Theodore could tell from a single glance.
'That's right,' he said. 'Everyone is back where they belong.'
'Well, almost,' Theodore said softly.
'Okay, I can't let that one go. How?' Eyes snapped impatiently.
'Teri came to me early this morning.'
'Oh.' Eyes blinked in surprise. 'I see.'
'Don't worry, she hasn't told me anything. She was obviously upset, and wanted somewhere to stay, but I didn't pry.'
'I didn't even know you two knew each other.' Eyes couldn't hide the chagrin from his voice.
'Speaks-With-Stone introduced us. The science department of the university is just up the hill, so it was appropriate that we be introduced. And it was decided once her talent became evident that she would need a mentor for that.'
'Oh,' Eyes said, fighting back even more surprise. This was the first he had heard of Theodore being gifted with visions. He couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy that Weaver had never mentioned any of this to him. 'Is all of this because of a message from above?' He swept his hand over the table, still littered with blueprints, schematics, and plans.
'Yes,' the elder replied.
'I wish I'd known,' Eyes snapped. 'Is she all right?' he added more softly.
'She will be, she feels betrayed. Wounds like that take time to heal. But I believe she'll be back with you once she knows you're back in charge. Shall I tell her?'
'No, let us do that. Just look after her until she's ready to come home. Please.'
'Of course,' Theodore replied, inclining his head.
'Well, I'd better be going,' Eyes said. He held out a hand and Theodore shook it.
Eyes drove back to Grove Street, his mind churning over recent events. He was just parking outside the house when a message came through on his phone. It was a reply from Stalker.
Ok, I'll call him. You ok?
Eyes tapped out a hasty reply.
Yeah, fine thanks. I need you back with the pack tomorrow. We need to finish what we started.
He went inside, rather than waiting for her reply. Wind Talker and Claws were talking quietly in the living room.
'How are you both feeling?' he asked as he joined them.
'Better, thanks,' Claws replied, looking up. They did both look improved, but Claws' wound was still not healed, and Wind Talker looked drained.
'We have anti-venom,' Wind Talker said stiffly, not making eye contact with Eyes. 'The poison's not as bad as it would be if we were human, but it wasn't getting better on its own.'
'We went to the hospital,' Claws said reluctantly. 'We said something crawled out of our bananas.'
'And bit both of you?' Eyes asked, raising an eyebrow.
'We couldn't ask for any more supernatural healing,' Wind Talker said, shaking his head. 'That has hardly worked well for us in the past.'
Eyes' jaw twitched. It didn't seem like a dig at him, so he let it go, but he felt responsible nonetheless.
'It's fine, there are two hospitals in Caerton, we went to one each. Sorted,' Claws said.
'Have either of you slept?'
'Not yet,' Wind Talker replied.
'It became problematic when my joints totally seized up after you left this morning,' Claws said, rubbing the back of his neck.
'Ah, sorry.' Eyes sat down next to him. There was an uncomfortable silence, broken after a minute by a message coming through on his phone.
Fine. Have you spoken to Weaver?
'It's from Stalker. She'll be back tomorrow. I picked this up at Theodore's office today.' He got the electricity map out of his briefcase and passed it to Wind Talker. 'We can study it to find a good place to cut the power and trap Glimmering Wires.'
'Excellent,' Wind Talker said, his face lighting up with a smile.
'I just want to get one thing done this evening, then we should all get some sleep.' Eyes stood up and led them out to his car. 'We're going to visit Sparking Clank,' he explained, as the three of them climbed into the car.
'Are we taking your car across the veil again?' Claws asked, a wry smile on his lips.
'Yes,' Eyes replied. 'It ought to get his attention and bring him to us, instead of us having to get across that minefield again.'
'Good plan,' Wind Talker said with a grin.
They drove north towards Northgate and on an empty street with poor lighting, the three of them willed the car across the veil. The car rumbled, then emerged in Hepethia, where there was no road. The four-wheel drive came into its element, traversing the rocky terrain easily. Eyes drove to where the huge factories worked tirelessly, and found a rough road up to the gates of Sparking Clank's domain. They all climbed out, and looked expectantly towards the factory doors. They were flung wide and Sparking Clank came lumbering towards them with remarkable speed. The construct jumped over the high fence that surrounded his territory and landed heavily before them, nose to nose with Eyes' car.
'What do you want?' he snarled.
'We destroyed Limb Chewer, like you asked,' Eyes replied. The construct looked at him with narrowed eyes. 'Will you ally with us against Glimmering Wires?'
'Hmmmm. You have my gratitude. I will assist you.'
'Thank you,' Eyes said, bowing his head. 'We will move against him as soon as possible.'
'I will know when you do,' Sparking Clank replied.
The three shifters dipped their heads and climbed back into the car.
'Wind Talker, can you get us safely back across the veil without being seen?' Eyes asked, glancing sideways at his pack mate, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Claws stifled a laugh behind his hand.
'I believe I can manage that,' Wind Talker replied stiffly. And he did.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Stalker-of-Night's-Shadow
The ring tone went on and on, with still no answer. Stalker hung up and tossed her phone onto the pile of her clothes on the floor. Rhys stirred next to her and flung his arm across her middle. She rolled over to face him, and kissed his lips softly.
'
Morning,' he murmured sleepily.
'Morning. You have to get up, you'll be late for work.'
'What day is it?'
'Wednesday.'
Rhys groaned and buried his face in his pillow. 'It's understandable how I lose track,' Stalker teased, 'but I don't see how you can. You have your whole routine thing going on.'
'It gets muddled up when you show up at all hours.' His voice was muffled against his pillow. Stalker gently shoved his shoulder and he turned to look at her. 'Did you sleep okay?'
'So-so. It's still weird for me to sleep in a bed with someone else.' She was used to sharing a floor with her pack, but sharing sleep with assorted animals was a very different experience to sleeping in bed with Rhys.
'Stuff on your mind too, though.' Rhys stroked her hair. He understood her so well, even though she hardly told him anything. She kept her pack's secrets, mostly.
'Yeah.'
Her phone started buzzing with an incoming call, and she lurched across the floor to get to it. Weaver's name showed on the display, and Stalker answered breathlessly. 'Hi. Thanks for calling back. Are you okay?'
Rhys looked at her carefully for a moment, then discreetly eased out of bed and into the bathroom.
'I'm fine. How are you?' Weaver asked.
'Not bad. Eyes took control back. Wind Talker backed down as soon as Eyes challenged him. He said he had done it all to make Eyes a better Alpha, if you can believe it.'
'I don't, but hey, that's a pretty good way to keep the peace going forward.'
'Sort of. It upset me a lot.'
'Where are you?' Weaver asked, a sudden edge of caution to her voice. Weaver knew Stalker well too, well enough to know that she typically bailed when she was upset.
'With a friend. Where are you?'
'With a friend.'
'Oh?' Stalker felt a rush of intense curiosity.
'Just a friend,' Weaver said, a smile in her voice. 'Not your sort of friend.'
'I don't know what you mean!' Stalker laughed. Relief washed over her, it was wonderful to be chatting to her sister like this. 'Please come home.'
'I can't, I'm still too angry.'
'Come and talk to us, let's try and work this out.'
'I don't know.'
'We need you back. Remember what you said when Claws came to us? Remember how we all just knew that we were special, that Artemis had brought us together for a reason? We're not complete without you.'
There was a heavy silence on the other end of the phone. Stalker was vaguely aware of the shower running in the next room. The seconds ticked by.
'Okay,' Weaver said softly, barely audible.
'Really?' Stalker sat bolt upright, a grin spread across her face.
'Yes, I'll meet you back at Grove Street before lunch. Promise you'll be there.'
'Of course! Oh thank you, Weaver. I can't wait to see you.'
'Yeah, well, it's just to talk. No promises of reconciliation.'
'Okay, okay.' Stalker bounced up and down, giddy with excitement. 'See you soon.'
'Yeah. See you.'
Stalker hung up and grinned at her phone. She heard Rhys singing in the shower and jumped out of bed to go and join him.
Later that morning, Stalker walked into 32 Grove Street to find her pack brothers laughing together in the kitchen. She paused, surprised to hear such happy noises, then went on through to join them.
'Morning,' she called out, certain that they hadn't heard her enter. Wind Talker stood at the cooker frying bacon. He looked well, and free from the heavy weight that had been hanging off his shoulders for the last week. He paused in his laughter, his smile lingering on his face, but clearly nervous to see her.
Their awkward eye contact was broken by Claws virtually tackling her from the side. He threw his arms around her and they stumbled sideways slightly. Stalker laughed and patted him on the back.
'Welcome back,' Eyes said softly from the table. Claws released her and looked embarrassed.
'Sorry about that,' he muttered.
'No problem. You seem to be recovered.'
'Yeah, we got sorted out yesterday.'
'Oh?' Stalker raised an eyebrow. 'Do we owe anyone anything?'
'No,' Wind Talker replied gently, turning his attention back to the bacon. 'We went to the hospital.'
'Oh, okay. Sorry.' Stalker didn't know where to look.
'It's okay,' he replied, not quite looking at her. 'Totally understand why you would ask.'
'Weaver's coming to talk,' Stalker said, promptly changing the subject.
'Oh, that's great.' His eyes lit up.
'She said no promises.'
'Fair enough,' Eyes said soberly.
'Do you have any idea where she's been?' Claws asked, pouring coffee for Stalker.
'She just told me she was with a friend. I've never known who her shifter friends are.' Stalker caught a glimpse of Eyes as he drained his coffee mug. There was something in his eyes, a glimmer of knowing. 'What?' she asked him, catching hold of his arm as he moved past her to the sink. 'What do you know?'
'She's with the Glass Wolves.'
'Really?' Stalker blurted, shock gushing forth.
'That's a surprise,' Claws said, frowning.
'Apparently she's on friendly terms with Theodore.'
Stalker took the coffee held out to her by Claws, and struggled with the fact that she didn't know Weaver half as well as she ought to. She felt guilty, she realised she had spent so much time wrapped up in her own concerns that she had neglected to form the sort of bond with pack mates that she ought to have. She glanced at Wind Talker, and wondered if they could ever move on from what had happened between them. At least she wasn't alone in finding this news about Weaver and Theodore surprising. Evidently, Weaver had kept this close to her chest. That lessened Stalker's guilt somewhat.
'She hasn't joined the Glass Wolves though, has she?' Stalker asked nervously.
'No, she'll be back with us,' Eyes stated firmly.
Right on cue, the front door opened and Weaver walked in.
'Hi!' Stalker called out, a little too enthusiastically.
'So, you were just taking about me, then?' Weaver asked, a wry smile on her lips as she entered the kitchen.
'Yeah, guilty,' Claws said. He drew Weaver into a gentle hug, which she returned. Claws was the warm glue of the pack, he had a connection with every one of them.
'How are you?' Eyes asked, his face and voice soft with concern.
'Better, calmer. Thanks,' she replied. The tension in the kitchen was palpable. Stalker looked from one pack mate to another, trying to judge how this was going to play out. Wind Talker stood by the sizzling pan, his gaze fixed on the food. Stalker saw a muscle twitch in his cheek. 'I thought about what you said to me this morning, Stalker.'
She looked immediately at Weaver, who stood fiddling nervously with her sleeves.
'Oh?'
'I might have been wrong about Artemis bringing us together.'
'Oh.' Stalker felt a stab of pain in her chest. She had been sure that would bring Weaver back. She hadn't meant to make her sister question it.
'I might have been, but I've seen what we can do when we work together properly. It's incredible. When we fought the Plague Doctor, we shouldn't have won that fight. That was crazy!'
Stalker broke out in a grin, remembering that victory, and seeing how happy it made Weaver was something to cherish.
'We were certainly outmatched on paper,' Eyes said, a smile tugging at his lips too.
'There are no coincidences in this life,' Wind Talker said softly. All eyes turned to him. 'I truly believe that we were brought together to achieve great things. All I've ever wanted is for this pack to reach its potential. How is it that the four of us survived the attack on the Blue Moon? What are the odds of that happening? Four newly changed shifters surviving a coordinated and meticulously planned attack by experienced warriors, when their elder pack mates are all obliterated? It shouldn't have happened. Artemis stepped i
n and protected us, I am sure of it. And then she brought Claws to us, just when we needed strengthening.'
They all glanced around at each other. Stalker felt faintly inspired by what he was saying, and a lightness filled her chest. 'It's sort of a taboo to use special abilities on a pack mate, but I welcome anyone who wants to try and validate the truth of what I'm saying.' He looked pointedly at Claws and Stalker in turn.
She glanced awkwardly at Claws, he returned her apprehensive expression.
'I don't know, mate. Like you said, it's taboo.' Claws took a sip of coffee and gazed into his cup.
Stalker cleared her throat and fixed her gaze on Wind Talker. She didn't share Claws' reservations. She focused on his eyes, searching them for the entry point. He looked right back at her, totally open to her ability. She probed into his soul, and saw flashes of his life. Childhood memories of lessons poring over ancient runes, battle tactics, myths and learning the songs of his kin. She swept them aside, looking for his inner truth.
She saw her face in his heart, and the rest of the pack. She saw him embracing each of them and felt his love for them all. Her consciousness rushed out of him, like travelling backwards at light speed with images of memories flashing past her. Her breath caught in her throat and she staggered slightly. Weaver caught hold of her and looked at her expectantly.
'He loves us, all of us.'
'You really want us to thrive together? All five of us?' Weaver asked. Wind Talker looked her right in the eye and nodded.
'Yes, I want us to be together and to become a strong and powerful pack, with Eyes as Alpha.' He glanced at Claws, his expression soft and almost yearning. Claws shifted his weight and nodded slowly.
'He's telling the truth.'
'Okay,' Weaver said softly. Stalker snaked her arm around Weaver's waist and rested her head on her shoulder. 'I'll re-join the pack.'
The air crackled with approval from Unchained Lightning across the veil. Eyes rushed forward and pulled Weaver into a warm embrace, dragging Stalker with her. Stalker felt Weaver's consciousness re-join the rest of the pack in her mind, stronger than before. Claws and Wind Talker piled into the group hug and a sudden breeze swirled around them.
Thank Artemis.