Feathered Touch (Wyrd Bound Book 2)

by Shen Hart

  Dan gave a little clap when we were finished and I bowed low for him with a smirk on my face. He was a cheeky little shit sometimes, but he had his place.

  “Are we still going to attack the angels?” Dan asked.

  “Of course.” I replied.

  “Then shouldn’t you show us how to go about it?” He replied with a little hopeful lilt.

  I looked at Lee and thought about it. I didn’t want the cubs near the angels if they didn’t have to be. Angels were assholes, and the cubs weren’t ready for that level of fighter.

  I looked back to Dan. “You need to be very fast. Most of them are at least as old as I am, probably older. They have centuries of experience, but they’re arrogant. Use that arrogance.”

  He nodded and wandered off. I hoped he wasn’t planning anything stupid. He called out to Nik to spar with him. Ryan remained separate. He hadn’t completely healed yet. I assessed Ryan’s stance as he went through some katas. It should have been stronger and firmer, but the knee would take a few more days to fully heal. Ark had been confident that it would set properly, so I had to hope for the best.

  The ritual was fast approaching. We put the boys through their paces with their blades, making sure that they knew what they were doing with them. Nik was a quick learner, but Dan much preferred his gun. He was stubborn and tried to show off. He did relent and learn, though. None of them were experts, but it was enough to get them out of some trouble and give us time to save them. They were tired and retired to argue over who used their bathroom first while I lay out on the grass and looked up at the stars.

  Lee lay down next to me. “How long since you heard their song, Suriel?”

  I sighed softly. “Since the day you said goodbye.”

  He brushed his fingertips over my hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s their fault, not yours.”

  Alex lay on the other side of me. “And why is it my fault?”

  “Because you gave me no warning. Lee was open and told me what was going on. You simply left. Just as you simply… gave in to your aggression.”

  “I am sorry, Baby Girl, but I won’t continue to say it. You know I’m sorry, and I do all I can for you.”

  I nodded and returned to looking up at the stars. I still felt a great peace when I looked up at them. The overwhelming calm and sense of belonging, of having a place in the world. It was a happiness unlike any other, and I was grateful to at least have that back. I had refused to look skyward for a long time, because I saw nothing but pinpricks of light and felt nothing but a chasm within me. At least I had some peace back.

  Lee headed inside once the boys were back downstairs and making clattering noises in the kitchen. He made some excuse about Nik giving him cooking lessons. “Let me help you, Baby Girl.”

  I smiled, more to myself than to him. Only time would help me, and that was the one thing I really had. The Sisters wouldn’t let me go, I was far too useful a tool. No matter how much I tried to make myself useless to them, to make their lives difficult, I still remained theirs. His lips brushed my cheek before he stood and joined the others inside, leaving me with the stars, and my peace.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  “I want to kick some angel ass, it’s been far too long since I did.”

  I laughed at Ark. “Elfie, you’re best staying here and brewing your awful potions. Anyway, it was always me who kicked angel ass because you pissed them off!”

  “You stole from them!”

  “Because you were dying for that damn book! And then the gem thingy, and then the staff…”

  He tried to give me an innocent look before he pouted and sighed melodramatically. “Fine.”

  He couldn’t help but grin at me and wrap his arm around Adam’s shoulders. “Looks like we’re making particularly potent and extra gloopy potions this time.”

  Adam smiled and nodded noncommittally. Bless him, at least he was relaxing a little even if words were still a bit beyond him most of the time.

  “Did I hear you want to kick angel ass, Ark?” Alex said with amusement.

  Ark put on his very serious voice. “I’m afraid that I’d take away your glory, Alex, if I did. So I’m leaving them to you and Thalia.”

  Alex grinned, the first time he’d shown any sign of lightening up all day. “Thanks for being such a good sport. I look forward to choking down your potions later.”

  That brought up a completely different image in my mind. I had to walk away. Ark laughed uproariously at me.

  I gathered the cubs up. “Now. No pulling stupid stunts! Do not confront the angels alone. If you are in a pair and you feel you have absolutely no choice, you may do what you must to get out. Do not harm any more humans than are absolutely essential. If you get close enough, kill Alistair. Do it quickly and properly. We do not need him coming back as a zombie or some other absurd angel-based shit. Understood?”

  “Could he really come back as a zombie…?”

  I shrugged. “These are angels we’re dealing with. They do all sorts of crazy, twisted, fucked-up shit.”

  “What Thalia meant to say was ‘no'.”

  I scowled at Lee for ruining my fun. I was quite enjoying the looks of bemused horror on the cubs’ faces.

  Lee took over from where I’d finished. “Do not waste your bullets, choose your shots carefully. We do not need you accidentally harming each other. Do not get smart and try to make difficult shots. There’s a 65% chance that you will miss. Aim for the chest.”

  They all nodded, but Dan had to argue. “We’ve been practising for a long time, why is the chance we’ll miss so high?”

  Alex took over. “Because you’re not used to combat and your brain will override you with its desire to not kill whoever you’re aiming at. As you’re predators, your chance of not missing is higher than humans. Still. When you’ve been doing this for a few decades it will go down to a 20% miss rate, hopefully lower.”

  Dan pursed his lips and appeared to be running it through his mind. “But if we’re aiming at them, we want to kill them.”

  “You’ll tell yourself you want to, but you’re hard-wired to keep your own kind alive unless they’re directly responsible for harming those genetically related to you.”

  “But we’re shifters… they’re humans.”

  “They still look like us. Brains are stupid.”

  They all nodded and finally seemed satisfied with the results.

  “Everything clear?”

  They nodded again.

  “So… was Ark serious about the really gloopy potion…?” Ryan said.

  Ark shouted from the back of the room, “Deadly serious. So you’d better be careful and not do anything stupid.”

  Ryan turned a slightly green shade and nodded vigorously. “I learned that lesson.”

  “Are we ready?”

  Alex nodded and Lee put his hand between my shoulder blades. “We’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”

  I felt a little nervous, not for myself but for the cubs. This was going to be bloody, and I hoped they were ready for it. They hadn’t seen proper combat before. I knew that they’d have to face it at some point, but I remained nervous nonetheless. I took a deep breath and allowed the jaguar forward. As much as the raven’s calm was good, I needed the purely aggressive, predatory edge the jaguar gave me. There could be no holding back.

  ~*~ ~*~

  No one spoke as I drove over to the site. It was another hill climb, which I wasn’t happy about. It left us exposed and tired before we’d even reached the ritual. Lee and I could have flown, but the energy saving didn’t balance against having the pack split up. The tension was palpable in the car. The boys were becoming nervous and anxious. I don’t think they knew what to expect, and the unknown is a scary thing. When we parked, we made sure that everyone had their guns and blade or blades secured. Lee had his kunai on him, and I had both of my poignards as well as one of my Glocks. Realistically, I hoped I wouldn’t need either of them. I wanted it to be a quick and easy job.
Kill Alistair with a rifle shot, and head home. My rifle felt odd on my back. It’d been a good while since I needed to carry one. I took a deep breath and looked around the boys. We’d decided to approach it as a united front. Being split into pairs hadn’t done us any good thus far.

  We were a pack, and we were going to work as one. Alex and Nik took point to scope out the lay of the land and start setting up in the best position. Lee, with his kunai, took the rear to try and watch our backs and keep the cubs corralled and safe. We moved up the hill quickly and efficiently. There was no point in sprinting and wasting our energy, but no good came from sedately walking, either. I strained to listen for any noises around us, any suggestion that we may have been noticed. The damp grass soaked through the bottom of my jeans, and I wondered why I hadn’t put knee-high boots on. I reminded myself that I’d be lying in that before long, and the raven muttered about a nice comfortable nest. My walking boots slipped and slid a few times before they found purchase at the base of a clump of particularly stubborn grass. My eyes remained firmly forwards. We had to focus on the ascent. I kept my muscles as relaxed as possible and my breathing steady while my heart rate threatened to pound in my ears.

  The clouds were tightly knit overhead, and there was a distinct damp chill in the air that threatened to sink into my bones. My hair fluttered behind me, a few strands freeing themselves from my tight, practical bun. The boys’ breathing was calm and steady around me. Ryan growled under his breath as he pitched forward when his foot slipped from under him. He recovered himself and continued to push forwards. We were almost there. We lowered our bodies as we approached the crest. My focus was completely on our goal.

  Once we crested, we lowered onto our stomachs and assessed the situation as a whole. The wet grass pressed against my face as I peered into the darkness, thankful for my night sight. They had candles once more, allowing them to see in the dim light. The boys close by gave me feelings of both trepidation and comfort. I almost wanted to send them home and not risk them. The blond angel had already harmed Ryan. I couldn’t lose them. I focused myself again, taking in the details, the slight decline away from us. It would be slippery, and we’d have to be careful if we moved in at any speed. We couldn’t risk falling and breaking something.

  I took a slow and steady breath and looked through my scope. We were some 200 yards out. Alex could potentially have made that shot without a scope, but the cubs didn’t have a chance and I saw no reason to risk it. Four angels were present. The blond looked particularly sour and had some form of bandaging around a lot of him. They all openly carried their blades, translucent affairs that shimmered an odd pale blue-green. I never had figured out what angel blades were made from. I wanted one, but they’d vanished from the angels I’d killed. They were sharper than anything I’d dealt with before and imbued with impressive amounts of energy work. The angels were uptight and looking around. We weren’t going to have the element of surprise for long. They expected us to show up. The humans were tightly knit around a central altar, where Alistair was. I couldn’t help but hope that his ego and arrogance would make him an easy target. If he would just stand on a pedestal or some such then it would all be over in a few minutes. Of course, things are never that easy.

  We spread ourselves out and took up positions a few feet apart from each other. The damp grass pressed against my body and soaked through my clothes. The raven wished I’d have put a blanket or some such on the ground, but we were already going to discard the guns, there was no point in having more to carry. We’d given the cubs bolt-action rifles, standard Remington Whitetail 770 Pros, good easy guns that Alex had picked up cheap second hand somewhere. They didn’t have enough experience to be given the semi-automatic FALs that Alex, Lee, and I were using. They needed to take the time to manually reload and realign each shot. There were enough of us that I wasn’t concerned about the speed.

  I glanced around to make sure that everyone was set up and ready. Ryan was taking a deep breath next to me as he looked down his scope and shifted his weight into a comfortable position. I looked down my own scope, sighting on Alistair. The plan was simple: We were all going to shoot at Alistair, and anything that got between us and Alistair. It was pure fire power and numbers. The time for class, dignity, and ambush had gone.

  We couldn’t afford to keep chasing down the angels and trying to break up rituals. We needed to kill Alistair and end it. It was unpleasant and dirty to continue shooting until he was dead or we were out of bullets, but we saw no other choice.

  Alex’s icy energies crept along the ground. A thin trail of cold threads that passed under my upper arms - that was our cue. I tuned out everything around me and focused entirely on the cross-hairs and the man between them. People kept milling in front of him, all of them entirely oblivious to what was about to happen. I hoped the cubs could deal with it. I took a long deep breath and took my first shot in time with the others. We needed to start together to give ourselves the best chance.

  A scream cut through the air. Another crack, another shot. A body slumped down in front of Alistair.

  I let the breath out slowly. Then squeezed the trigger.

  All hell broke loose.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  A wail erupted from the group, an unearthly sound of agony and terror. I almost paused before I squeezed the trigger again. A young man had been shot in the chest. Red stained his white robes as he crumpled to the ground. Those around him stood stock still in shock before they erupted into action. The young woman with the manicured make-up fled into the darkness. She stumbled and was trampled by the older man who had been hot on her heels. We’d barely begun, and yet the carnage had already started.

  I barely heard the rifle sound around me, the soft click of the cubs reloading or the crack of each shot. There was nothing but the human shouts, and the chaotic movements of Alistair and the group. Some valiant humans crowded around Alistair, whether hoping for the protection of the angels or trying to save Alistair, we’d never know. The angels held their blades out in preparation for battle while the humans ran around desperately trying to flee an unseen attacker. The main group had devolved into a collection of mindless people. Some of them ran towards Alistair, whether to protect him or harm him I’d never know. They soon fell under our fire, their life fading as their purpose had come to an end.

  My cross hairs sat on the chest of a pretty woman. She stared out into the darkness with her back to Alistair. I pulled the trigger and watched the shock form on her face as she looked down, blood soaking her hand. Alistair was back in sight. I readjusted my aim and squeezed the trigger once more. Miss. We needed to end it. Humans were dropping, and yet Alistair still stood. An angel snarled and bellowed in a language I hadn’t heard in a few centuries. I couldn’t help but smile at his frustration.

  The humans were beginning to be a problem. They formed layers and barricades around Alistair. My cross-hairs sat on the head of an older man with greying hair; he doubled over before I could pull the trigger. The blonde behind him slumped down when I took my shot. There were still more left.

  Two of the angels looked torn, they looked in our direction but flinched and looked back at Alistair. I knew I was missing something, but I had to focus. I’d already fired fifteen rounds. I didn’t like using such high numbers. It was undignified and messy. I cursed the Sisters for leaving us with no choice. Humans lay on the ground, some trampled, others crying and covered in blood. Alistair remained in the middle. In the brief moments I caught sight of him, I saw his calm façade. He was completely at ease with the situation. I almost envied him that. The complete faith in himself and those around him. I squeezed the trigger once more hoping to wipe the small smile from his face. Another human staggered backwards, knocking Alistair.

  The angels crowded around Alistair. It looked like they were chanting. A cold chill went through me. They were performing some energy work. That’s why they had stayed with Alistair. I broke protocol and took a shot at the dark-haired angel
in the leather jacket. He screamed and cursed in the old language. The chanting stopped, but Alistair remained.

  Two more shots, and Alistair was gone. They’d evaporated him. Vanished into thin air, with not so much as a scratch on him. I tossed my rifle down in anger. Alex looked at me over Dan, his mouth tight and his eyes dark. I wasn’t sure if it was at my display or the mess we now had to deal with.

  I stood slowly and surveyed the collection of humans that were before us. Those that could walk or run had done so. Those that were left were dead or dying, and we had to deal with that. “Discard the guns. Dan, work with Alex to burn them or something so there’s no trace back to us. The rest of you are with me. We need to clear up these corpses.”

  I couldn’t keep the resignation or anger out of my voice.

  We moved as quickly as we could down the slippery slope into the shallow bowl where the ritual should have taken place. I reminded myself that we had at least managed to stop that from going ahead. Or at least part of it. Some of the candles still flickered. They gave the corpses an eerie complexion.

  “Nik, start heaping the bodies up, we’ll cremate them. Ryan, you’re going to help me put an end to the survivors.”

  “Don’t you think Ryan should help Nik, Suriel?”