Winter of Discontent (Four Seasons Book 1)

by T. S. Harvey

  We must have walked for a couple of hours before we headed back to camp. There was a quiet riverside restaurant on the way back, so we stopped off for something to eat. We ordered dinner at the bar, got a couple of soft drinks, and went back outside to the benching to wait for the food to come.

  ‘Oh, my God. I thought you said we were gonna be on our own!’ Sarah snapped.

  I turned round to see what she was looking at and couldn’t believe it when I saw Jared walking towards us.

  ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

  I was clearly annoyed by his appearance but I was equally concerned. He wouldn’t turn up here without good reason.

  ‘Sorry, guys,’ he grinned awkwardly. ‘Just me and my paranoid senses.’

  ‘What did you see, J?’

  ‘I’m not sure; I just know it was here.’

  ‘Great. Just don’t think you’re bunking down with us,’ sulked Sarah.

  ‘Of course not, I’ll just sleep outside the tent. I don’t mind the outdoors,’ winked Jared.

  I tried hard not to laugh, I really did, but I failed. Even the sharp poke in the ribs from Sarah couldn’t stop me. I knew she was annoyed, disappointed even, but this was my brother and my best friend. It wasn’t like he’d just turned up to spoil things on purpose – he had some kind of premonition and I know that, like me, he’d do anything to protect her. She was important to me and that automatically made her important to him.

  Jared hadn’t been sat down for more than a couple of minutes when I sensed it; a Tracer.

  ‘Come on, we’re leaving,’ I said, pulling Sarah from her seat.

  ‘It’s too late, E.’

  I looked back toward the towpath and there he was. For a moment, I thought perhaps we’d got it wrong. Tracers always travel in twos, but he was alone.

  ‘Stay here,’ Whispered Jared.

  I moved Sarah so she was positioned behind me and watched carefully as he walked towards him. He stopped about thirty feet from us and waited for Jared to reach him.

  ‘What’s happening, Erik?’ asked Sarah, as I strained to hear them.

  ‘Shhh. I need to listen.’

  Their voices were low but I could just make out them out.

  ‘Where’s your partner?’ asked Jared.

  ‘This is not what you think,’ he answered quietly.

  His voice was cracking. He was like no Tracer I’d ever come across before. He was nervous, not as self-assured as they usually are.

  ‘I’m alone. I don’t mean you any harm; nor the girl. I take it she’s the one they’re all looking for?’

  ‘You sensed who we are; of course you mean us harm!’ snapped Jared.

  ‘No, I don’t. I haven’t been involved with The Council for over ten years. I broke away; I’m living in hiding the same as you are. I almost turned and walked away when I sensed you.’

  ‘So why didn’t you?’ Jared snapped again.

  I could sense him starting to change, his power starting to build as the Tracer continued to talk. It was a good thing that Jared was dealing with this; I didn’t yet have his control and I’m sure I would have already lost it with him.

  ‘I disagree with what they have planned. I’ve gotten close to a human woman, I have friends –I don’t want to lose that. I even have a proper job; it’s nothing flash but it’s honest work. I don’t hurt anyone’

  ‘I don’t get it. It’s in your nature to hunt, to kill. And what did you mean when you said you disagreed with what they have planned?’

  The Tracer looked confused at this question.

  ‘About the men. You know?’

  ‘No I don’t know. What about the men?’

  The Tracer started to look uncomfortable and moved uneasily from one foot to another.

  He moved closer to Jared and leant in to him. I knew he was still speaking but it was quieter now and I couldn’t make it out. When he’d finished Jared said nothing, he just stood there and shook his head.

  I needed to find out what was going on.

  ‘You stay here; I need to see what’s happening.’

  Sarah hadn’t said anything after I’d told her to keep quiet and she just sat back down as I walked over to them.

  ‘J?’

  ‘It’s OK. He’s not a danger to us.’

  ‘How can you be sure?’

  ‘Are you questioning me, Erik?’ he said sharply.

  Jared only ever called me Erik when he was annoyed with me, when he was disappointed with me.

  ‘No. Sorry, of course, if you say so,’ I stammered apologetically. I should know better than to question him, he was the best there was, there was no way he was wrong.

  ‘You need to keep her safe. Keep her away from them.’

  ‘You think?’ I snapped sarcastically.

  ‘OK, E, calm down, he’s leaving now. Aren’t you?’

  The Tracer nodded meekly. He held out his hand but Jared didn’t take it.

  ‘OK. I understand. But take this, please,’ he said as he took a pen from his pocket and started to write on the back of a cigarette packet that he picked up off the floor. ‘If you need my help.’

  As he walked away I looked and saw that he’d written his cell number down. I went to take it from Jared, I wanted to throw it into the water but he pulled it away from me.

  ‘You never know. I’ll hold onto this.’

  ‘What was his name?’

  Jared looked at the back of the cigarette back and grinned, eyebrows raised in surprise.

  ‘Menae, Collum Menae.’

  ‘What? But that means he wasn’t a Tracer, he was a Seer.’

  ‘Come on, I think I need a drink. And your dinner’s going cold,’ he grinned.

  Jared started to laugh as we made our way back to the table; he must have felt we’d be safe now. I didn’t know everything Menae had said but was sure that if I needed to know, Jared would tell me. If he hadn’t turned up things could, and probably would, have turned out very differently. Seers didn’t have the power that Warlocks had but they were still dangerous. I’d been so hung up on keeping Sarah at arm’s length that there was a good chance I wouldn’t have noticed him as quickly. I might well have reacted badly when I did and Sarah could have been caught in the crossfire. It might have put a bit of a dampener on the weekend with Jared turning up, but I couldn’t help but be impressed with him; he was just the coolest person I knew.

  By the end of the night, Sarah had totally forgiven Jared for his intrusion and agreed he could share our tent. Jared could be charming, even without his Warlock tendencies, and it wasn’t long before he had us both laughing at his stories; even if most of them were at my expense. I didn’t mind, though – anything that had Sarah smiling was OK with me, and anything that took her mind off sex was definitely all right. Although she questioned us about who Menae was, we didn’t let on. Jared said he’d sensed something but that it turned out he was just a Warlock from a different line. It wasn’t a total lie and it seemed to satisfy her curiosity, and stop her worrying, so that was OK with me too.

  Chapter Thirty-seven – The Betrayal

  Erik

  It had taken us a couple of buses to get over to Arrowhead but, as Jared was there, we figured it only made sense to get a lift back with him. Ordinarily, I’d have stayed at Sarah’s for a couple of hours when we arrived back, but I needed to go home. I wanted to know what Dad thought about what had happened with the Seer. I knew they would want to keep me away from any possible repercussions but I was old enough now to make my own decisions. I can’t explain just how pissed I was that, by the time we pulled up at the house, Jared had already Whispered everything to Dad. Enzo hadn’t believed that we could Whisper over such long distances but we could. Dad and Jared were stronger than I was and they could go further than I could, but we were still pretty awesome compared to most. I think that possibly it was how close our relationship was that allowed us to communicate and sense each other over so many miles but, whatever it was, it came in very useful, and
saved a fortune in telephone calls!

  I was disappointed that Dad didn’t want to talk about it. He reckoned Jared had already told him enough and that we should put it to the back of our mind and let it lie. The only comment he made was his disbelief that we hadn’t heard any gossip about a Seer defecting.

  ‘Yeah, that surprises me, too, but he was telling the truth. He meant us no harm; here, you’d better put this somewhere safe, just in case,’ said Jared, as he handed Dad the cigarette packet with Menae’s details on it.

  After dinner I planned to take a walk round to Sarah’s. A telephone call before I left however changed those plans.

  I was upstairs getting changed when the phone rang. When I got back downstairs, Jared called out to me from the lounge.

  ‘Lorcan just rang. Apparently they have another meeting the day after tomorrow; we need to be there by all accounts.’

  ‘You’re kidding! Sarah’s gonna spew. We were supposed to be taking some time out together next week. Do I have to go? Surely it’d be OK if it was just the two of you?’ I protested.

  ‘No. I’m sorry, Erik, but we go as a family, you know that. This might be the second meeting in less than twelve months but we’ve only had these two in the last five years. Lorcan was adamant that he’d need our support with some of the other covens, so we have to go.’

  ‘Why? They are the same bastards that want to hunt down and kill Sarah. Why the hell would we want to support them?’ I spat.

  ‘For that exact reason, E. Think about it, if they have news of her whereabouts or have changed their plans in any way we need to know. We can’t rely on Leon to let us know – we never hear from him as it is.’

  Jared was right; I guess it was the old ‘keep your enemies closer’ thing he had in mind.

  I was right. Sarah spewed, totally lost it. Having sworn at me, which she never does, she promptly hung up on me.

  ‘She’ll come round,’ Dad said reassuringly as we boarded the plane.

  ‘She’d better!’

  ‘Come on, E, how’s she gonna resist your natural geeky charm? Just promise to do her homework and alphabetize her CDs and she’ll be putty in your hands!’

  ‘Not even vaguely funny, J!’ I snapped.

  I was in no mood for humor. Jared and I were incredibly close, and I know he was only trying to lighten the mood, but I didn’t want to feel brighter – I wanted to sulk and wallow in self-pity. Although the prospect of having to control myself while I was alone with her wasn’t one I’d relished, I really had been looking forward to having more time together.

  Dad had tried to ease the blow of missing half of my Spring break by booking us on a direct flight. It was still five hours long but it was better than a miserable stopover in Seattle.

  Ben Tillington had offered to meet us at the airport. We weren’t keen on the idea but under normal circumstances we would have been happy about it so we agreed, to be sure we didn’t raise needless suspicions.

  Ben and Jared spent most of the journey talking ice hockey; it never ceased to amaze me just how many subjects he could hold an informed conversation on.

  When we arrived at Lorcan’s, the street was lined with a large quantity of parked cars and I guessed the meeting must be important if that many Warlocks had turned up.

  As we stepped out of the car and made our way up the drive Jared held back.

  ‘Something’s not right,’ he Whispered to us.

  Dad stopped for a moment and looked around. There didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary. Just then, Leon came out to greet us.

  ‘Logan. Boys.’ he said holding his arms out to us. ‘Come on in. It’s about to start.’

  Jared shook his head but Dad beckoned us both on.

  ‘Whatever it is, it’ll be OK. Leon wouldn’t call us in if there was anything wrong.’

  Jared put his arm around my shoulder as we went into the house.

  ‘Stay close to me.’

  I just nodded. I didn’t sense anything was wrong, but the fact that Jared did made me uneasy. I trusted his instincts better than I trusted my own.

  Lorcan’s house had two living areas downstairs with a set of ornate internal doors separating the two rooms. Last time we’d been there, we had held the meeting in just one room. However, this time there were so many Warlocks there that both had been opened up for them all to be accommodated.

  ‘Logan,’ said Lorcan warmly. ‘Welcome, come on in.’

  Dad went through first – I followed him, and then Jared.

  We had barely got through the door when it was closed tight behind us. The sound of it being slammed shut caused us all to turn and look; when we turned back, we weren’t ready for what we saw. There in front us, just a few feet away, stood Ben Tillington, complete with handgun pointed right at me. Jared saw him first; either that or he was just quicker than Dad was, as he moved to stand in front of me.

  ‘What the hell’s going on, Lorcan?’ said Dad fiercely.

  ‘This doesn’t have to involve you, Logan. It’s Erik we want.’

  ‘What? You’re joking right? He’s my son, for fuck’s sake – of course it involves me and whatever this is, you need to explain yourself.’

  I tried to move Jared out of the way but he wouldn’t budge. By normal standards, I was super-strong but he was a lot older than me, his power was entire and I was no match for him. Unfortunately, Jared was no match for the two Warlocks that grabbed him by the arms and dragged him over the other side of the room. Before Dad or I had time to react, we were also restrained.

  Without Jared blocking my view, I could see Ben clearly. He had a look of hate I hadn’t seen before.

  Dad and Jared tried to pull free but couldn’t. They’d have easily taken these men one on one but two on one was just too much. Clearly, Lorcan had been concerned about Jared as the two holding him were built like Steve Austin.

  ‘So come on, Lorcan,’ Dad asked, ‘what’s this about?’

  Dad’s tone was calmer. He was still angry but I guess he wanted to get things resolved peacefully.

  ‘He’s hiding that bitch,’ spat Ben. ‘Did you really think I was taken in? No Warlock shares his childbearer. But then, she wasn’t there for that was she? Bring her out!’ he shouted.

  The door to the kitchen opened and in walked another Warlock, followed by Jess. She looked terrified.

  She looked across at Ben, still pointing the gun at me, and started to cry.

  ‘Shut up!’ shouted Lorcan, as he slapped her hard across the face.

  Jess stood there trying hard to hold it together. I should really have felt sorry for her but, in truth, I didn’t really care. At any other point in time, I’d have defended her but, right here, right now, things were too serious to worry about a slap across the face to some woman I didn’t really feel anything for.

  ‘Carry on, Ben,’ ordered Lorcan.

  ‘I came across your so-called childbearer last week. I recognized her straight away, but she had no idea who I was. I knew immediately something wasn’t right. It didn’t take me long to go into her mind and extract the information I needed. Just a shame she didn’t know where you were hiding the Moirai.’

  ‘I’m not hiding her,’ I protested.

  ‘The time for lying is past, Erik,’ interrupted Lorcan. ‘You either give her up or we have no choice but to hand you over to The Council. It didn’t have to be this way.’

  ‘Hold on, Lorcan. You are not handing my boy over to anyone. I swear to you, you harm him and I’ll kill you.’

  ‘Well, not today you won’t, Logan. The house is protected. I’m the only one here that can use magic. Release his left arm,’ he ordered.

  Dad lifted his hand toward Lorcan. Nothing. He pushed it forward, the look on his face pure determination; but still nothing. Dad tried to pull free his right arm but the goon to the left helped pull him back in line.

  ‘Logan. We can resolve this without any blood being spilled. You must know where she is, give her up. Give her up, we’ll
deal with her and then you can all go home.’

  Dad looked across at me. It was clear he would do anything to protect me. They both would. I shook my head, I tried to Whisper to him not to do it but the protection spell stopped it getting through. I didn’t need to say anything, though. He knew what I was thinking, he knew I would never give her up and he knew I would never forgive anyone else that did.

  He stood there looking at me. The room was eerily quiet but for the soft muted sobs coming from Jess. I could just about hear breathing coming from the two men holding me when, all of a sudden, I heard laughter. I looked across to my right and there stood Jared, laughing like he’d just finished watching Seinfeld. I grinned broadly. I had no idea what he was doing or what he was laughing at, but just the sound of him filled me with confidence.

  ‘Shut up. Shut the fuck up,’ screamed Ben, as he turned the gun to point at Jared.

  I’d hardly had time to react when the door to the lounge threw open.

  ‘Just relax, Ben,’ came a voice from behind me. ‘No one needs to get hurt.’

  ‘Who the fuck are you, and how the hell did you get in?’ screamed Lorcan.

  I recognized the voice, but couldn’t get free enough to look round. Although it wasn’t so loud now, I could still hear Jared laughing.

  ‘Are you OK?’ said the voice.

  ‘Yeah, I’m good. Glad to see you, though,’ answered Jared.

  I looked across at Dad and he was smiling too, now. As the man walked forward and turned to face me, I could see why. It was Mr Trent. I wasn’t sure why Jared thought this was amusing. Lorcan had protected the house, so we couldn’t use magic. What the hell did he think Mr Trent could do to help?