“You’re one to talk of compassion,” I said. “You murder Rakshasa fledglings. You kill your own kind, to gain power for yourself. You’re a monster.”
“We both are,” he said. “I’m merely more aware of what I am.” He clicked his tongue. “But we’re not here to discuss philosophy, are we?”
I blew into the receiver, closing my eyes. “No.”
“Then let’s get started. At first light tomorrow head north, to Lake George. It’s dry this time of year. Go to the wind generators on the far side just as dawn breaks, then await my instructions.”
There was a faint click as he hung up, followed by the dull beeping of the dial tone. I moved the phone away from my head, replacing it on the phone.
“You can’t be thinking of going,” Ishan said, his face close to mine. I reached up and cupped his cheeks, looking into his sky blue eyes.
“I have to. Katelyn’s life’s at stake, here. She’s been my bestie forever. I can’t leave her to be killed.”
“Katelyn said it was a trap. Even I could tell you that it is. The Champawat Tiger doesn’t want to bargain with you, or do any kind of fair deal. He wants us all dead so he can have the power of the Rakshasa for himself. Everything he does, every move he makes is a bee-line towards that goal. Even if he’s genuinely not trying to kill you this time, next time he will. It’s all he wants.”
“I know.” I inhaled a lungful of air, held it for a second, then slowly let it out. “But for now, he’s got Katelyn, and we’ve got till sunrise to figure out what the hell we’re going to do about it.”
11
The Net Snags Both Ways
It was 7:04 p.m. A quick Google on Ishan’s phone told us that sunrise was at 5:48am. We had less than ten hours before we had to meet the Champawat Tiger to follow the next stage of his directions.
Most shops were starting to close by this stage but Ishan drove us into the city centre anyway. The ride was performed mostly in silence but my mind was whirring. Why would the Champawat Tiger even want to bargain with us? What did he stand to gain from doing what he had done? What was out by the wind turbines that could matter so much to him, so far away from the Garden of Shadow and our home in the mountains?
Ishan’s car sped through the evening traffic, weaving expertly between the other cars. In the past I might have freaked out over it all, but speed seemed to matter less to me now. Despite being well in excess of the speed limit and attracting a number of annoyed honks, the car seemed to be moving terribly slowly.
We pulled up at one of the car parks on London circuit, right at the centre of town. As I pushed open the door and stepped onto the pavement, three figures moved towards us. Initially alert, I recognised one as Asena, a tall Caucasian woman with frizzy red hair. She was one of us, one of my coven. I gave them a firm nod as they approached.
“Aurora,” Asena said, gesturing to her left, “I want to introduce Vriko…”
Vriko was a shorter, dark-skinned, youthful-looking Indian man with a thin beard and goatee and black-rimmed glasses. He seemed nervous to me, constantly glancing around as though he was expecting the shadows to reach out and grab him.
The name Vriko was familiar to me. On the night I had first met Ishan I’d been locked out of my apartment. I broke a window with my rain-destroyed iPhone but in the morning it had been completely repaired. Ishan told me that Vriko had the ability to repair broken things simply by touching them.
“… and Susi.”
Susi, even shorter than Vriko, was a lighter-skinned Indian woman who was wearing comfortable-looking slacks and seemed relaxed and composed, her hands casually resting inside her pockets. She gave me a friendly nod.
“Hi,” I said to them both, then to Vriko, “thanks for fixing my window.”
“No worries,” he said, looking to Ishan with a wary look on his face. “Is it necessary to bring him? Do we need to involve the Rewa in this? This is an Altaican matter.”
I could sense Ishan’s unease. There was a sudden, palpable hostility in the air as the three Altaican Rakshasa stared down Ishan, the lone member of the white-striped Rewa clan.
“Ishan’s with me,” I said, keeping my tone even. “He’s going to help us with this. All I want is for Katelyn to be safe. I’m really not concerned about inter-clan politics.”
Vriko looked unhappy with that answer but looked to Asena anyway. “Right, well, so what’s the plan, with Eclipse?”
Eclipse was the Rakshasa name of the Champawat Tiger. The human papers thought he was a serial killer and had assigned that name, perhaps ironically, to him. He’d been killing people for some time, but things had only recently come to a head.
The name Eclipse conjured worrying images in my mind. Since my transformation I’d experienced powerful, shared dreams with Ishan, always ending with an eclipse and a gunshot.
Asena spoke to all of us. “We don’t know what Eclipse is planning, but we know what he wants. He wants us”—she glanced to Ishan—“and the Rewa, eventually, dead. Taking human hostages is a new thing for him, but I think he realised when you and Ishan confronted him that the only way he can kill is if he finds the fledglings alone, which we’re making harder for him. Perhaps he wants to split us up, perhaps he wants to test our strength…”
Vriko spoke up. “Or perhaps he’s just playing with us and Aurora’s friend is already dead. Or maybe this whole thing is a Rewa trick.”
“Or maybe,” Susi began, but I cut her off.
“Her name is Katelyn,” I said, “and I heard her voice over the phone.”
“So?” Susi seemed unconcerned with Ishan’s presence. “Eclipse’s power is unknown, but many Rakshasa have demonstrated vocal mimicry. It’s a common power.”
“It’s a common power,” Asena said, perfectly mimicking Susi’s voice.
That didn’t seem right to me. The Champawat Tiger had spoken over Katelyn, cut her off. And it was her: I’d known Katelyn for years, and there was no way anyone could mimic the subtle inflections in her voice, the edge of terror that pervaded her every word as she tried to warn me against rescuing her. That was no impostor, that was really her.
“Then why did she warn us not to come?” I said.
“Because,” said Vriko, “that’s what he expects she would say. It’s a neat little bit of reverse psychology. Maybe this whole thing is a set-up.”
“But—”
Ishan held up his hands for calm. “It’s unreasonable to speculate that Eclipse possesses vocal mimicry when he could have simply, genuinely taken Katelyn. Nobody’s seen her since he claimed he did. It’s not unreasonable to suggest this is what’s taken place.”
I smiled at him and he returned the gesture, the two of us exchanging a brief but electrified stare. We had barely spoken to each other outside of the dream world, but already the connection here was strong. It seemed strange to love someone primarily in my dreams, but it was what it was. I was beginning to accept it.
“Right,” said Susi, but she didn’t seem convinced. There was a moment of awkward silence as the five Rakshasa stood around the busy Canberra streets, the noise of cars driving past and music from a nearby club pounding away in the background.
“So we’re doing this. First things first,” Asena said, reaching into her pocket then looking to me. “You need a new phone. Catch.”
She tossed me a small black object and I caught it with a grace that surprised me. I was usually rubbish at catching. I opened my hand and saw another phone, just like the one I’d had soaked.
“Thanks.” I slipped it into a pocket of my jeans.
“Keep it on you at all times,” Asena said. “We’ve all got the number. We might need to stay in contact with you if something goes wrong.” She gave a subtle glance to Ishan. “And make sure he has the number, too.”
“When something goes wrong,” I clarified. “Katelyn said it was a trap.”
“That’s the thing, isn’t it?” said Vriko, an eager grin forming over his face. “See, we know it’s a trap,
and Eclipse knows that we know it’s a trap, but what Eclipse doesn’t know is that we know that he knows it’s a trap, and we’re going to spring our own trap on him.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment.
“Huh?” I said.
“Don’t mind Vriko,” Ishan said, casually slipping closer to me and putting his arm around my shoulders. “He drinks too much caffeine.” I leaned in against his chest, resting my chest against him, gently breathing in his scent.
“The point is,” said Asena, “we know we’re swimming into his net, but Eclipse is going to discover that nets snag both ways.”
I was surprised at how little we actually purchased while we were in Canberra city. I was given a short list and when we were done we all met back at Ishan’s car, then we loaded the things into the boot. Asena carried a crate of dehydrated food to replenish supplies at the coven, Vriko produced a stack of batteries for the lanterns while Susi had boxes of numerous odds and ends.
Most notable, though, was what I was supposed to buy: two first aid boxes. Ishan returned carrying a small, square package that was wrapped in several layers of thick cloth.
“Hopefully we won’t need those,” I said, grunting slightly as I lifted the boxes into the boot. I was surprised by how light they were carrying them back; my body was getting stronger and stronger, but when the time came to place them into the car they both felt unnaturally heavy.
“Those aren’t for us,” Ishan said, resting the package gently down on the car’s bumper with a metallic tink, then slipping his hand around my middle and giving me a gentle squeeze. “They’re for Katelyn. We don’t know what kind of state she’ll be in.”
I nestled in to Ishan’s chest, frowning slightly. I felt slightly worried, looking at everything we’d gathered. There were a lot of supplies. “There’s almost enough here to take care of a small army. If Katelyn’s hurt, can’t we just take her to the hospital?”
Asena shook her head. “She knows about us. She’s seen Eclipse in his natural form. If we take her back to the hospital, she’s certain to reveal us. We cannot have that.”
“Well, what if she’s badly injured? What if she needs surgery?”
Asena looked uncomfortable and couldn’t meet my gaze. “Then, well, we do whatever we can and hope for the best.”
Perhaps it was this statement, or perhaps it was the stress of it all, but I felt distinctly unwell. I snuggled my back up against Ishan’s chest and his strong arms held me tightly. His skin seemed paler than usual and I, somewhat strangely, sensed a general feeling of unease with the other Rakshasa. My eyes wandered down to the small package Ishan had put on the boot.
“What’s that?”
“Something we can use against Eclipse.” With a careful hand Ishan peeled back the cloth, revealing the solid wooden top of a heavy box underneath. He eased open the lid, revealing its contents.
A block of gleaming silver.
Instantly I felt sick just looking at it. I felt as though I were looking at a corpse, revolting and horrid, so disgusting I couldn’t look at it anymore. I turned away and closed my eyes.
The faint clunk of the lid closing abated the feeling somewhat. “What the hell are you going to do with that thing?” I asked.
“I don’t know yet,” Ishan replied, “but it could come in useful. We have a small smelting room at our coven. I’ll take it to Hailstone, see what he can do with it.”
I opened my eyes just in time to see Asena roll hers, subtly, but I caught it.
“Sounds good,” I said, as much to her as to Ishan. “We all need to work together on this one.” I twisted around, glancing up over my shoulder to Ishan. “What help can the Rewa provide?”
“Little,” Ishan answered. “They will be unwilling to become involved in what they see as a purely Altaican matter. Eclipse is one of yours.”
“But if Katelyn’s… killed, there’ll be an investigation. The humans will become more suspicious. The Champawat Tiger threatens to expose all of us.”
He hesitated slightly, then rolled his shoulders. “Hailstone… is Hailstone,” he answered. “Once he’s made up his mind about something it’s difficult to convince him otherwise.”
I felt my blood rising. Katelyn was all I cared about, and the feud between the two Rakshasa clans seemed petty, pointless and risky.
But Ishan’s hands gave me a gentle squeeze and I felt my anger evaporate. Hailstone, although he seemed like a complete jerk and had threatened me to stay away from Ishan, didn’t seem to have anything other than his coven’s best interests at heart. Getting angry at Ishan’s covenmate wasn’t going to save Katelyn; quite the contrary, in fact. We needed all the allies we could get.
“Let’s focus on Katelyn,” I said, giving each of my coven a meaningful look, then turning around to look at Ishan. “She’s in danger. She’s the priority at the moment.” I turned back to the rest of the group. “We can do this.”
The unsteady look on Asena’s face betrayed her feelings, but she hid it well. “Yeah.”
12
The Calm
Our tasks complete, our group split up to avoid being followed. Asena and the others went west and we went south, driving across the bridge over Lake Burley Griffin and towards Weston Creek, then beyond. The car was parked in a park on the southwestern outskirts of the city, then, our burdens easily lifted on our shoulders, we made sure we hadn’t been followed and then headed off into the woodlands and up the mountains.
Ishan carried the silver, wrapped in more cloth to shield us from the effects.
“Asena didn’t seem too sanguine of our chances,” I observed, putting one shoe before the other as I climbed up the steep hill with ease. “Neither did the others.”
“Eclipse is a powerful, dangerous foe,” Ishan said, “and while his ultimate goal is clear, his short-term motives are opaque. Rakshasa… tend not to work together very well. We’re individualistic. We’re not pack animals. Helping others doesn’t come naturally to us, even our own kind.”
“Why couldn’t I be a were-wolf instead,” I joked, but Ishan shot me a sober look.
I stared at him. “Wait, don’t tell me they’re real?”
“There are none in Australia,” Ishan reassured me. “At least, not that we know of. But yes.”
I couldn’t think of anything to answer to that. “Well, what else is real?”
Ishan smiled. “It’s a very long list, none of which concerns us very much at this point.”
“I want to know,” I pressed, but Ishan shook his head.
“When Katelyn’s safe we can discuss it, but I want your mind to be unburdened.”
“Okay.”
We walked for a little while in silence, cresting the hill and beginning down the next slope. The sun had long since set but despite the lack of landmarks and light I felt as though I knew the way, drawn to the place instinctively as though the distant cave, our home, was a place I’d always known.
“What’s Eclipse’s power?” I asked, breaking the comfortable silence as we descended.
“Hmm?”
“His power. We all seem to have them. You said he was once part of the Altaican clan. The Rewa seem to know a lot about us, so did you know what he could do?”
Ishan was silent for a moment. “Yes.”
“Tell me?”
“Eclipse was once an Altaican in good standing, yes, but he was removed from your coven for his recklessness. Although they were once friends, despite our rivalry, Eclipse killed Hailstone’s brother, Shadowheart. When they found the corpse, it was completely drained of blood.”
“He’s some kind of weird-arse vampire?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. Eclipse can ‘borrow’ the powers of other Rakshasa, for a time, by consuming their blood. But their energy soon fades from him.”
I nodded. “You told me that he believes the power of the Rakshasa is finite, spread among all our kind, so… by killing them and drinking their blood, he’s taking their power instead of letting it
return to the pool?”
“Close. He believes that at the moment of death, if he drinks of a dying Rakshasa’s life force, a portion of that strength stays with him permanently, in addition to the share he’d get from the death.”
I looked at Ishan, able to see his face clearly in the gloom through my glasses. My night vision had improved dramatically. “Does it?”
He didn’t meet my eyes, instead looking down at the sloped ground before him. “We don’t know. It does seem… plausible.”
I didn’t know what to say, so we walked further. Finally Ishan stopped, shrugging off his backpack. “We are close to Altaican territory now. I can’t come any closer.”
I grimaced. It was almost midnight and if we were to meet the Champawat Tiger at dawn, Ishan would have a long trek ahead of him. “Not even if I wanted you to come?” I shuffled slightly. “I could… use your company tonight.”
Ishan stepped towards me, sliding his hands around my body and drawing me close to him. I melted against his form, gripping him tightly, pressing my lips to his. We kissed in the cool, thin mountain air as the gentle breeze brushed my hair across my face.
“I’ll be with you, in your dreams.”
I bumped my nose against his, rubbing fondly. “I know.”
“Now sleep,” Ishan said, leaning forward and kissing my lips again, his warm hands holding me for a few moments longer. “We’ll need our rest.”
He stepped away from me and it was with a profound longing that I watched him slip into the gloom and disappear. When I was sure I could see him no longer I picked up his pack, including the heavily wrapped block of silver, then walked the rest of the way alone.
20 Shades of Shifters_A Paranormal Romance Collection Page 100