by Melle Amade
SHIFTER CHRONICLES BOOK TWO
REMNANTS
A Dark Urban Fantasy
MELLE AMADE
REMNANTS
Copyright © 2017 by Melle Amade.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations em- bodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For information contact:
www.melleamade.com
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Book and Cover design by Derek Murphy @Creativindie
Cover art: Consuelo Parra | Model: Tris-marie | Bg: Malleni-stock
ISBN: 978-0-9979806-3-9
First Edition: March 2017
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Dutch born, Matilde, the estranged niece of Lord Van Arend, barters with her scheming mother to spend the summer with the only friends she’s ever had, the Ravensgaard at Castle Brannach. The only problem is, what she has offered her mother is information, information that will break her friends’ trust and begin the downfall of the regime that governs them all.
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For my mom
who showed me how to soar
1
Blood drips from the sky as the raven’s beak stabs into the eagle’s neck. The birds grapple midair, black on gold, each vying for advantage to push the other out of the air. The raven is smaller, but faster. It beats its wings with ferocious speed, flipping itself on top of the eagle, then using its weight to drive the eagle into the earth. A cloud of dust erupts as the birds slam together into the ground. Whirling dervishes of dirt rise as they shift and transform. Their bodies grow and feathers disappear. Aiden and Callum emerge side by side out of the swirling, dust-ridden air; sunlight and dark shadows. They rule over me, Zan, Roman, the Ravensgaard and all Muiderkring West. These two young men make an amazing team. They know each other so well, have lived as brothers for the last year and after the battle against Callum’s uncle when he tried to overthrow Aiden’s dad, well there’s nothing that can separate them.
And the Ravensgaard that have flooded into Topanga know it. We sit at the new Ravensgaard training grounds that have been established in the field by the derelict Topanga Zoo. The charred canyon hills rise above us. Black leafless trees stabbing out of the scorched earth.
My gaze goes straight to Callum. I don’t know if it’s because I’m mostly a raven now, but he’s like a magnet too me even though we haven’t spent a minute alone since I shifted into a raven a month ago. Those couple of random hot moments we had before I became a shifter are completely a thing of the past.
Maybe he likes humans like his brother. Maybe ravens are off limits to each other. Haven’t dared ask. My friends have enough on their minds without me having some unrequited romance with the new leader of the Ravensgaard. But at least that burn for Aiden is over. That’s a relief. Probably because Zan’s dating him, but whatever. I don’t need more angst in my life. Now it just seems like I had some childish crush on an unobtainable guy.
There’s something about Callum’s darkness that I resonate with. Callum’s had it so much worse than any of us. But now he’s in his element at the center of the Ravensgaard. He may have found the family he lost. I can’t help but be happy for him. Even if it means he doesn’t need me anymore. It’s more important that he has a family.
Aiden sits down on the bench next to Zan and puts his arm around her shoulder. I’ve been sitting with her and Roman watching the ravens train, my arm in a sling to make sure no one asks me to shift. That wouldn’t be good. Whatever ability I had to shift into a raven seems to have vanished. All I have been lately is a dove. And that, is deadly.
Zan and Roman are taking notes and tracking Ravensgaard performance. Zan wants to track their abilities back to their blood lines and Roman wants to see how it can be enhanced through biology. I’m not even sure what that means.
Shanahan, the Ravensgaard lieutenant and Callum’s new right-hand man, lumbers across the field a slow clap pacing out his heavy footsteps. He stops at the guys, who are recovering themselves. Aiden’s got a hand on the slice in his neck where Callum cut him with his beak, but when he takes his hand away and the cut is gone. That still amazes me how quickly shifters heal. I wonder if that’s why they’re so brutal in training. This is only the second-time Aiden has let me come to watch, so I don’t know, but it seems like if they don’t draw blood, they don’t think it was a good sparring match. Shanahan rests a massive hand on Aiden’s shoulder. “Nice effort, Heir.” His Irish brogue rings out into the cool morning.
Callum tosses his black hair back from his green eyes. Sweat flies off his brow. “He lost, Shanahan!”
“But he gave you a good run for your money, now, didn’t he, Ridder?”
Callum scowls in answer.
“It’ll do you no good to butter me up.” Aiden grins at the huge Ravensgaard. “Callum’s your commander.”
“Aye.” Shanahan winks. “But we all know you pay the bills.”
“My father.” Aiden ducks his head in deference to Lord Van Arend, who none of us have seen much of lately.
“Still,” Shanahan says, “it’s easy to go into a battle you’ll win. It takes more courage to go into battle when you know you’re going to lose.”
“He’s saying you can’t best Callum,” Roman, who’s sitting next to me on the sidelines, calls out.
“He’s a Ravensgaard, frog.” Shanahan yells out to everyone who’s gathered on the field to watch the morning training. “No one can best us.” A loud cheer goes up from the ring of black-clad Ravensgaard. I can’t stop my voice crying out with theirs as Callum and Aiden walk towards us with Shanahan looming behind.
“I heard a Ravensgaard could even take a Berzerken,” I say to Roman.
“Undoubtedly Ravensgaard propaganda.” Roman laughs as Callum gives him a gentle punch to the shoulder.
“Let’s just start with getting Callum and I up to standard.” Aiden smiles at me.
“Exactly.” Zan looks up from her book for a brief second. “The only reason Shanahan has you sparring with each other is because you guys can’t take any of the Ravensgaard yet.” Her arm sweeps out to encompass the heckling crowd.
“Get up there, you lazy buggers. A Hunter could’ve taken half you lot out while you’re all heckling your Ridder.” Shanahan’s command shuts the Ravensgaard up and a mass of them shift and rise into the air, launching themselves at their sparring partners.
“Should they all be sparring at once?” I ask. Topanga’s a pretty small community and a whole bunch of black birds battling each other is sure to be noticed, just like the eagle and raven battle last month brought a ton of curious humans up here. It’s not like we want to draw that kind of attention again.
But
I probably shouldn’t have said anything. Shanahan’s dark eyes round on me full of suspicion. “How’s that shoulder, missy?” he asks.
I keep my face straight. Gotta make this believable even though it’s a bit ridiculous that a shifter would have their arm in a sling. “Painful, but getting better,” I say.
“That’s the problem with all you kids today, your too privileged,” he says. “You’ve evolved into molly-coddled brats. It’s all ‘my shoulder hurts’ or ‘I can’t do training today.’ You better be ready tomorrow, little raven.” His laughter sounds like a raven’s caw.
“No pressure,” I mutter.
He cocks his head sideways at me, his eyes squinting even though it’s not that light yet. “You know,” he says, “it’s just so odd you’re a Ravensgaard. The first time I saw you on the battlefield, it seemed so clear you were something else.”
“Something else?” I repeat as my back stiffens.
“Yeah, something like a dove.” Shanahan’s face is broad and his mouth spreads across it in a sneer as he speaks. “A Passief.” Like it’s a bad word.
Roman and I force the same kind of laugh out… high pitched and false.
“Like they even exist anymore,” Roman says. “Extinct years ago.”
“Strange light up here,” Zan says.
“She’s definitely weaker than the rest of us,” Callum smoothly steps between me and Shanahan. “Obviously, or she wouldn’t have that lingering injury. But she’s all raven. I was a bit surprised, too, but I had Zan track her pedigree. Her mom is a lost descendent from that old Kelley clan that came out of County Clare.”
“Yeah, weird, right?” Aiden chimes in. “You wouldn’t think a Ravensgaard could get lost, would you?”
“Not unless they wanted to.” Shanahan frowns at me, but he’s not going to go up against Aiden, who’s the Heir, or Callum, who’s now the Ridder and leader of the Ravensgaard.
My stomach flips a bit. They shouldn’t all chime in like that. It’s a little too defensive. The only thing that’s going to get these Ravensgaards to accept me, is if they see me shift into my raven form and train with them. The only problem is that I haven’t been able to shift into a raven since the trial. Every single time I shift, I turn into that stupid white dove.
“I’m sure I’ll be right tomorrow.” I grin hoping my eagerness is all he needs for now.
The grimace on his face doesn’t move.
“What do you want for the final set?” Callum draws Shanahan’s attention back to the field. “We do have to wrap the training up before too many humans are out and about. Topanga might feel remote, but Los Angeles is right over that hill. This isn’t Castle Brannach.”
“Aye.” Shanahan nods, pulling his gaze from me as he and Callum turn towards the Ravensgaard and start an animated conversation about aerial battle tactics.
My breath escapes me, but the tension doesn’t leave my shoulders. They’re locked like iron. It’s just a matter of time before I’m discovered.
“It’s going to be okay,” Roman mutters under his breath.
“Easy for you to say.” He’s not the one that’ll be killed for shifting into a Passief.
“We’ll figure this out,” Zan says.
“The problem isn’t in your books, Zan.” My tone is much harsher than I intend, but I can’t help it. My stomach knots whenever I remember being held up for execution. “It’s in my body.”
Aiden puts a hand on my shoulder. He’s trying to calm me but it makes me jump. I glance self-consciously at Zan. “Come to the manor later and I’ll help you practice,” Aiden says.
Zan’s gaze twists out of her book and up at Aiden for a millisecond, before she hastily returns to her pages. “I can give you a lift,” she mutters. Something is off, stilted, between those two.
“Um, maybe?” I stall. Awkward when your best friend’s boyfriend invites you up to his house. But I guess he’s just doing his job as Heir, making sure all his subjects can pass inspection.
It’s weird his job is to lead a third of the shifter world, Muiderkring West, which apparently covers all of Europe and North America. With his dad mostly absent, Aiden has been picking up the reins and making decisions for everyone. Even though it’s been a month since the loss of Jon, the Murtagh revolt, my trial and Callum being named Ridder, I’m still not used to it. A whole new world has opened to me. A world where I can shift into a bird, well two birds to be exact. And hopefully I’ll be able to figure out how to shift back into the correct one again, the raven. Being a dove isn’t going to work in this society. And who wouldn’t want to be a raven.
They are badass.
My heart surges with pride as my gaze falls on Callum, the Knight of the Realm. This quiet, 16-year-old young man now rules the Ravensgaard. Since Murtagh’s revolt the Ravensgaard have been arriving in Topanga in droves and it’s impossible to miss that Callum heads up a collection of warriors.
They fall from the sky now, moving to grappling tactics in human form.
My gaze surveys the Ravensgaard that line the perimeter of the training ground. They’re a motley group of men and women dressed in black, seal skin leather, strung tight across their torsos, arms and legs. Firm black bands hold the garments in place and give them ample places to tuck weapons in as needed. The sun peeks over the high canyon walls of Topanga and glints off their sharp metal blades. These people are armed to the teeth.
A quiver moves through me. The thought of being one of them, moving in formation and being able to take another Ravensgaard down… it’s exhilarating and frightening all at the same time.
“Do they really go into battle?” I dig my elbow gently into Zan’s side. She nods without looking up.
“But against who?” I ask.
“Whoever the Order tells us to,” Roman murmurs.
“Right, but I thought they’d just battle as ravens. Why are they fighting in human form, too?”
“Opposable thumbs,” Roman holds up his hand and wiggles his thumb. “Helps you hold weapons better.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, I know you guys hate Passiefs-”
“We don’t hate Passiefs.” Roman’s big brown eyes blink in the morning light.
“I know you don’t,” I shrug. “I just mean… who…?”
Zan places a finger carefully in her book to mark her place and raises her head. Her curls have grown shockingly long in just the last month. It must have something to do with the newly released shifter blood pumping through our veins. It’s so pretty, glistening in rolling, red waves down her back. “Shifters have a lot of enemies,” she murmurs. “Primarily humans.”
“But they don’t even know about us,” I say. “Doesn’t it seem weird that the Order keeps the Ravensgaard all up in arms against an enemy that isn’t supposed to know we exist?”
“Hunters know we exist.” Roman digs his toe into the dirt.
“If you’re parents would let you come to class at the manor, you’d be finding out this stuff, too.” Zan’s tone is sharp.
“Well, they don’t. So, you guys better teach me.” I keep my voice gentle and touch her leg as I talk to her. Lately it’s been like talking to a caged animal.
“We’re just finding out stuff,” Aiden shrugs. “Apparently, they’re called The Alliance for Righteous Humanity. They discovered shifters a couple thousand years ago and have been trying to eradicate us ever since.”
“They think we are the spawn of the devils. Some sort of demons,” Roman says.
“And they have a sacred, God-given duty to wipe us off the face of the earth,” Zan adds.
I glance at the mass of Ravensgaard sparring on the field. “Well, the Alliance doesn’t seem to be winning.”
“According to Balthazar, there used to be a lot more of us,” Aiden says, referring to his father’s closest servant. “But we’ve found ways to protect and hide ourselves.”
“Like up here,” Roman nods. “In Topanga.”
“So the Ravensgaard protect
us from the Hunters?” I ask.
“And anything else that threatens Predators.” Zan nods.
“Like Passiefs,” I murmur.
“You’re not a Passief,” she barely whispers the word. “You’re a raven. You’ll be part of the Ravensgaard soon.”
I wobble my arm back and forth in its sling. “Sure, I will,” I say. “Once I can master how to shift into a raven every time.”
“You’ll get it.” Zan encourages me.
“I better figure it out soon,” I say. “They’re not going to buy this injury much longer. I mean, how many of these badass, fast-healing shifters do you think have ever had to wear a sling for a single minute in their lives?”
It doesn’t just put me in danger. It puts all of us in danger. They are vouching for my authenticity as a raven. Aiden is staking his High Seat and Callum is staking his title as Ridder. I can’t screw that up. Callum’s worried enough that some of the Ravensgaard might not swear fealty to him.
“I know,” Aiden says. “When you’re up to it.” It was his idea I wear the sling when I begged to watch the Ravensgaard train. I need to know what they do. If I can actually become a Ravensgaard, I need to know what I’m in for.
“Haven’t been able to yet,” I mutter.
“You shouldn’t be shifting without one of us there,” Aiden says. “My father insisted on that when he agreed to keep you under his wing.”
“How is your dad?” I deflect the conversation. The last thing I want to talk about is my recent attempts to shift.
“He’s fine.” But the grim set of Aiden’s jaw makes me think he’s not quite as fine as all that.
“Is he going to come down and see the Ravensgaard train?” Callum asks.
“I don’t think so,” Aiden says. “He’ll be at the commendation ceremony, though. He’s going to want to make sure that everybody’s on board and sworn to Callum. We’re hoping with a strong turnout it’ll avoid the Berzerkens coming.”