The Bringer of War (The Sheynan Trilogy Book 2)

by Dylan Birtolo

  “And a picture?”

  “Sent through the sky. Little piece of information collecting on your phone. I did as you asked.”

  “Thank you. You’ve done well.”

  Twitch laughed like the madman he was, full of a level of glee that others could only aspire to. Bridget hung up the phone, his purpose served. She checked her texts, and saw the picture Twitch had sent when Darien left the hotel. He was wearing the same coat he had been for the past several weeks, and a generic pair of jeans. Bridget was glad that he was so predictable.

  She rolled out of bed and went to the pile of clothes in the corner, selecting an outfit that matched Darien’s. She had even taken the time to add in a tear to match the one on the sleeve of his coat. What some people called obsession, she believed was adequate preparation. And tonight would start the pay off.

  Once she was dressed, Bridget shifted, becoming an owl. They were common enough, even in the city. And it would be the fastest way to get to the hotel. Time was of the essence. She did not know how long she would have before Darien returned, and she needed to make the most of that time. The streets beneath her were mostly empty as she traveled, with only the occasional car meandering underneath the faded yellow street lights.

  Bridget landed in the alley next to the hotel, circling around a couple of times to make sure it was empty. Once her feet were back on solid ground she shifted again. This time when her change was completed, she looked like Darien. It was a trick she was willing to bet Darien didn’t even know was possible. Most shifters didn’t. Only Sheynan were capable of it, and even then it took her years to master.

  Wearing his skin, she went into the hotel and stopped at the front desk. They were more than willing to give her a spare key to his room. She made her way to the room door, pausing just outside of it to take a deep breath. She’d been studying Darien, both in person and in his dreams. Now it was time to see if she could act like him.

  She would make this work. Darien belonged with her. He was the only other Sheynan, and he shouldn’t be wasting his time with normal humans.

  Bridget slid the key into the lock.

  Chapter 6

  Susan stood at the window with her arms crossed and her forehead leaning against the glass. She had no concept of how much time had passed. The thought made her turn and look at the digital clock on the table between the beds. It read two twenty-five in the morning. With a sigh, she turned back to her vigil of the city. He probably wasn’t even at the meeting site yet.

  A solid thud sounded behind her—the bolt for the hotel room door sliding back. In one smooth motion, she turned and snatched her handgun from the table, pointing it at the center of the doorway. Darien’s silhouette filled the opening, all of the light coming from the hallway. She lowered her weapon and put it back on the table.

  “That was quick.”

  Darien walked into the room and sat on the edge of Richard’s bed. That was odd, but Susan shrugged it off. She sat down next to him and put her hand on his. He twitched at her touch, but left his hand where it was.

  “Sorry about leaving like that. I’m just trying to figure things out.”

  She slid closer to him and moved an arm up to rest it across the back of his shoulders. She squeezed.

  “What’re you trying to figure out?”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s not something you need to focus on. Richard come back yet?”

  His words stung, but she chalked it up to stress and being tired. She did let her arm slide from his body.

  “No, he hasn’t. I haven’t seen him since he left after dinner.”

  Silence filled the space in the room. Darien looked away, seeming to look everywhere but at her.

  “Darien, you can trust me. You know that. I know that there’s times when you need to go off on your own, and I think I’ve been pretty good about that. But something’s still bugging you. What did Alyssa tell you about your dream?”

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  That statement hit Susan and knocked the wind out of her. She could only stare at him for a few seconds as she recovered.

  “I’d think by now you’d know better. Try me.”

  “I’m just being practical. You aren’t going to understand it, because you’re not what I am. This is something that I need to think about. This is something that I need to deal with by myself. The less you know, the better off you’ll be. The safer you’ll be.”

  Susan stood up and whirled on Darien. She shoved a finger into Darien’s chest hard enough to drive him back and force him to use his hands to prop himself up. After all they had been through, where was this coming from?

  “Bullshit. That’s a load of crap and you know it. What happened to ‘not keeping any more secrets’?”

  “I’m just smartening up. Do you understand that whenever we go out there, I’m always worried about what’ll happen to you? I’m always finding some part of my brain thinking what could go wrong or what would happen if the Shadows get a hold of you. It drives me insane. I can’t bring you in on every single thing that happens to me. If I do, it’s too much of a risk. You’re too important to me. You should know that by now.”

  “You know damn well I’m more than willing to take that risk. Don’t you think I know that you’re putting yourself at risk too? How do you think I feel when you walk out that door and I don’t know if you’ll ever come back?” Susan took a deep breath and made herself relax her shoulders before she continued. They’d all been a little stressed living on the run for the past several months, but shouting wouldn’t accomplish anything. “I told you that I wouldn’t leave you from day one, and you accepted that.” She moved close and put her arms around his neck. “Talk to me. Let me help.”

  Darien took Susan’s wrists and unwrapped her from around his body. “Please, stop asking me about this.”

  “I will, once you stop being stubborn.”

  “I’m not going to tell you about it until I figure it out. It doesn’t matter how much I explain, you’ll never understand.”

  She jerked her hands away from Darien’s grasp and crossed her arms. She wanted to shout at him but kept her volume steady.

  “Well, how do you know unless you actually try? Seems to me that there’s been more than once where I’ve been able to help when you thought I couldn’t.”

  Darien stood up and turned away from her. He took a step towards the door. He spoke without turning to face her.

  “You’re just proving my point.”

  “What the hell do you mean? You haven’t explained anything yet.”

  “I can’t explain it to you! Since you aren’t one of us, you aren’t going to understand. There’s nothing I could say that will change that. I won’t waste my time explaining things that you can’t possibly comprehend.”

  “Waste your time? Since when did I become a waste of your time?”

  “Obviously, I can’t talk to you about this right now.”

  Darien stormed to the door and jerked it open. After he stepped through, he slammed it shut behind him. Susan stood where she was, staring at the door and refusing to blink. She was more confused than anything else. Where did all of that come from?

  Shaking her head to try and clear it, she walked back over to the window. It felt like she was moving through a haze. On the streets below, she saw Darien walk down the sidewalk with a determined stride. She stood there for what felt like ages, but she saw very few people and there were long gaps between vehicles. The glass felt cold against the side of her forehead, but she was only vaguely aware of the discomfort. When a key slid into the lock, she didn’t turn from her vigil. The door flew open in a mad rush and Richard jumped through. When he saw Susan, he stood up straight and closed the door behind him.

  “Susan, is anything wrong? The door wasn’t locked.”

  Susan took a deep breath and turned around to face him. Now that the initial numbness of her exchange with Darien had worn off, she felt exhausted.

  “Everything’s
fine, Richard. Darien left a few minutes ago. That’s why the door’s open. I hadn’t gotten around to locking it yet.”

  Richard turned and locked the deadbolt. She heard him mutter under his breath as he did.

  “He left? Where did he go at this hour?”

  “I don’t know—I’m not his keeper. He made that painfully clear.”

  “What happened?”

  Susan walked over to her bed and sat down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.”

  “Is he in trouble?” Richard took his jacket off and tossed it onto the free bed. He sat down on the floor across from Susan and looked up at her.

  “No, he’s not. Darien woke up around two in the morning after having another one of his dreams. He didn’t want to tell me what it was about. All I know is that it upset him, a lot. He left in a rush, and said there were things he needed to work out. I tried to go with him, but he said that he was going places where I couldn’t follow.”

  Richard stood up and took off his shirt. He sat down on the bed, tossing the jacket to the floor. The bed groaned from the weight.

  “Well, he came back not that long ago and was still pretty wound up. We talked, but he got upset and stormed out. I saw him leave the hotel and walk down the street, but I didn’t follow him. He pushed me away.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s going through a lot. He’ll be fine.”

  “I know. I know that he’s under stress, and I know how much he’s given up to come this far. But, he’s never pushed me away like that before.”

  “You and I both know how he feels about you, so I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  “He said that I wouldn’t understand because I’m not one of your kind. I’ve never seen him that bothered; that out of it—not even when the Shadows first hunted him.”

  “Then there’s no use beating ourselves up about it. He’ll talk to us about it when he gets back. Might as well get some rest.”

  “I can sleep later. Even if I lay down right now, I know I won’t fall asleep. What were you able to find out?”

  Richard sighed and rolled over, turning his back to her. She recognized the blatant signal, but since he kept talking, he couldn’t be too annoyed. When he got to the point of not responding, Susan knew it was time to leave him alone.

  “Not much. I spent a lot of time looking for our messenger, but came up empty. That kid, Phil, didn’t know anything useful. The person who contracted him never showed up. I did find out that the Shadows have been active lately. Something has them all riled up, and I think it’s more than just us. Granted, they put a lot of effort into staying out of our sight. But, from what I’m hearing, there’s something else that has them acting like bees in a hive.”

  “How so?”

  “I’m not sure. They’re anticipating something. Whatever it is, it’s huge. They’re running around like wild rabbits before a brush fire. It could be internal to their organization.”

  “Is your source a Shadow?”

  “No, I’d never trust a Shadow with anything. There’s not a single one out there worthy of the life they have.”

  Richard’s voice drifted off into a sigh as he finished, and Susan knew the conversation was done. She crawled back to the head of the bed and turned off the light beside her. In the dark, she stretched out and closed her eyes, but as she’d predicted, sleep wouldn’t come. The sheets rustled as she tossed and turned multiple times. She opened her eyes and laced her fingers behind her head as she stared at the ceiling in the darkness. After a few minutes, she got up to continue her vigil at the window. She came back to the bed and tried in vain to fall asleep again.

  “Richard? Are you still awake?”

  “Kind of hard to sleep with all the noise you’re making.”

  “Do you have dreams like Darien does?”

  “Kid, go to sleep. We can talk about this in the morning. If I‘ve learned anything the last few years, you should get sleep when you can. Even if you don’t need your rest, I do.”

  She closed her eyes and tried to be quiet. Richard’s breathing became slow and rhythmic as he drifted away from consciousness. She sighed and rolled onto her side. The clock continued its relentless change through the numbers as she watched. She heard the telltale sound of a key sliding home again at four in the morning. The door opened without a sound. The soft light of the hallway lit up the wall in front of her. In the middle of it, she saw a silhouette that she knew was Darien. The light narrowed and faded away as he closed the door behind him.

  He crawled into the bed behind her, holding his breath as he moved. He wrapped his arm across her, holding her but trying not to disturb her. Susan found herself smiling as she pretended to be asleep. It wasn’t long before she heard him fall asleep too. Now that he was back, she was able to drift away.

  Chapter 7

  Gregory sat behind a cleaned desk with two stacks of paper neatly piled in the corners. The room he was in was large and could provide enough room for forty people to sit comfortably. The only light came from a narrow tunnel in the center of the ceiling. That tunnel stretched through twenty feet of stone to end in a glass dome exposed to the outside world. That light illuminated a circle in the center of the room around a wooden chair. It worked well as an interrogation chamber. Even the cold stones of the floor added to the atmosphere, leeching the heat out of anyone unfortunate enough to be brought in here barefoot.

  He read through the message on the piece of paper even though he had committed the words to memory. His superiors were less than pleased with the lack of progress regarding Darien. They expected more obvious steps to be taken and could not appreciate the subtle approach that Gregory was using. He believed that, with the right pressure, Darien could be convinced to join their side. It was a delicate balance: telling his superiors enough to satiate their curiosity, but not so much that they knew the details of his plan.

  The paper crackled, disturbing the silence of the chamber as Gregory’s fist tightened. His arm shook as he squeezed for a moment before he forced himself to let go and ease the paper onto the stack on the left side of his desk. He smoothed it out as best as possible before glancing at the other stack—messages that he still had to deal with. Most of them would require little more than a glance, but they still needed to be checked to make sure everything was running smoothly. He was well aware how easily he could be replaced if he showed any sign of weakness. After all, that was how he got where he was.

  His chair creaked as he leaned back and the scent of oiled leather filled his nostrils. Now his entire body was concealed in the darkness. It was all part of the mystery that helped to keep some of his subordinates in line. When he was promoted to a leadership role, he was transferred to this cell in Texas where he knew no one. Of all the people in the conclave, only one had ever seen his face. They were all in the dark about his identity, just like he was clueless as to who his superiors were. It wouldn’t stop the more ambitious Shadows, but it did give some of them second thoughts when considering a power play. Here he was referred to only as the Dark, a title that made him want to roll his eyes at the childish nature of it, but some traditions were unwise to undo.

  The Shadows were strong, strong enough that they could provide a safe haven for the shifters until they revealed their identity to the world at large. But their key strength rested in their secrecy. Sometimes, it carried too far in their traditions for his personal tastes.

  Right on time, someone knocked on the only door leading out of the chamber. Gregory smiled at his second-in-command’s punctuality. It was nice to know some things were as dependable as the sun rising in the East.

  “Enter.”

  The door swung open without making a sound. Cameron stood in the doorway, a middle-aged man who stood with impeccable posture at all times. As he walked forward, his steps never faltered. He sat in the straight-backed chair in the center of the room and folded his hands in his lap. His pale face gave the impression that little impressed him. The epitome of this
was his eyes—gray, dull, and half closed. His dark red hair was cropped short and slicked back.

  “I serve the Dark with my life and place myself in his service.” Cameron gave a slight bow of his head without moving his back as he offered the ritualized greeting. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

  “Thank you, Cameron. Your services are appreciated and required once again. The Dark needs your unique talents.”

  “What information do you need?”

  “I need to know more about Darien. I must know whether Bridget has been in contact with him, and if so, to what extent. We know she has returned, but that is all.”

  “I shall do as you ask.”

  Bridget was the one piece on the chessboard that could destroy his entire plan. She was also Sheynan, and that meant that no one was quite sure what she was capable of. He needed to know her goal if he was to outmaneuver her. It could not be coincidence that she returned shortly after Darien’s arrival. He knew there was one thing she wanted: a book of rituals from their vault. But how Darien fit on the board was a mystery.

  “I also heard some whispers about a young Shadow getting killed this morning. Do you know what this is about?”

  “One of our members barely out of his first molt was found dead. From what I’ve been able to tell, he was trying to impress you. He went into the sewers on his own, despite my warnings to the contrary. His body was found by the police, and our agents are making sure to keep the story quiet. To keep others safe, the traitor will have to be allowed to roam free for the moment.”

  “Make sure that moment is short-lived, or else the consequences could be severe. You should not need to have those consequences enumerated to you.”

  “No, sir, I do not.”

  “How does he continue to elude our agents?”

  “From what we’ve seen, the corpses have been mauled by an animal. However, it’s not the same animal. Either he has found several shifters to team up with, or Bridget offered him her protection. The first is very unlikely. As for the latter, I don’t know what he may have offered her as a bargaining chip to procure her services.”