Shifter Bound

by Leisl Leighton

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So she could be using him to get to you?’

  Her eyes blazed with something he didn’t understand. ‘It’s possible. I just don’t know. I don’t know what her plan is. I just know that she hates the Were and that hatred has been passed down to her followers.’ She looked away, but not before he saw the bleakness in her eyes. ‘It was so easy to believe her because she played on our fear and ignorance.’

  ‘If you could learn not to fear, to see us for who we are, then maybe the others can too.’

  ‘Maybe.’ She frowned.

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘I don’t think it’s that simple. I think because of what I am it made it easier to see the Were. I mean, there’s a part of you that’s in me too. I couldn’t keep being afraid of myself. It’s unnatural. The others though—’ She tightened her hands over her knees. ‘They don’t have that. And I don’t know how to give that to them.’

  ‘That’s not your responsibility.’

  ‘Isn’t it?’ Her back stiffened and he could see her fingers tremble, even though she was gripping her knees so tightly veins could be seen through the white. ‘I’m supposedly some nexus and have great power. I should be able to do something, to create change, but I have no idea what being the Nexus means let alone how to use the power that’s inside me. How can I help anyone when I can’t even figure that out about myself?’

  He grabbed her hands again, held strong when she went to pull away, forcing her to look at him with the power of his will, his belief in her. ‘We’ll find out together. I promise.’

  She looked at him, eyes swimming with emotions deeper than any ocean he’d ever come across. ‘What if it’s not quick enough? What if they get to me first? They want me dead. What if I don’t have time?’

  A wolf growl in his throat, he pulled her into his arms. ‘I won’t let Morrigan or Cain or any of the others hurt you.’

  She wrapped her arms around him, her hands trembling on his back. ‘How can you stop him?’

  ‘Yes, how can he stop me?’

  Chapter 15

  Eloise stiffened.

  Familiar laughter echoed around her.

  Heart beating an unsyncopated rhythm in her chest, she jerked out of Iain’s arms, eyes darting around. It had been bright earlier, but now a pall had fallen over everything. The leaves on the trees, the grass, the flowers, even the blue of the sky was dimmed. ‘Cain?’

  ‘Cain’s here?’ Iain moved with lightning speed to stand in front of her, protective. His gaze darted around the clearing. ‘What are you seeing, Eloise?’

  Cain’s laugh came closer. Panic squeezed her lungs, her breath sharp gasps slashing at her throat. Her brother’s presence was a cold inside her as surely as Iain’s warmth pressed against her side. ‘Where are you? Show yourself.’

  A shadow loomed up out of the shade of the trees. A pearlescent shadow just like the one she’d seen in the caves. A shadow that had made her coven mates attack. ‘Cain?’

  Iain stepped in front of her, his body perched over the balls of his feet, growling.

  She’d never heard anything so protective yet threatening at the same time. ‘Can you see him?’

  ‘No.’ The growling became louder. ‘But I can sense him. It’s like lightning in the air—but wrong somehow.’

  The shadow shuddered, then disappeared. An icy crawl, like the pinprick of a thousand insect feet, traced up the back of Eloise’s neck. ‘Maybe he’s gone.’

  ‘No. He’s still here.’

  Laughter again. Behind her. She spun around, gasped. The shadow was on the path at the edge of the clearing that led back to the cliff stairs.

  Iain moved, herding her behind him, ready to push her out of harm’s way. The shadow flickered and disappeared.

  ‘Where is he now?’

  She shook her head. ‘I can’t see him.’

  ‘Fuck.’

  That same sensation crawled up her spine and gripped her neck. Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned.

  Cain stood an arm’s reach away, his features clear to her now even though he was almost translucent. He was smiling, enjoying her fear, enjoying the fact that she couldn’t touch him, enjoying the moment she realised what he was. A Shade! He was a Shade. ‘Oh Goddess, Cain. What have you done?’ But she knew what he’d done. Morrigan had made him do what she’d made no-one do since her grandfather. She’d torn his soul from his body.

  ‘What? What is it?’ Iain asked, gaze frantic as he looked around, trying to see what she saw.

  ‘Cain. He’s a Shade.’

  ‘I thought you said he wouldn’t do that.’

  ‘I was wrong.’ She sucked in a pained breath. ‘Goddess, Cain. Do you know what this means?’

  He leaned close to her, eyes like blue coals. ‘Of course I do, little sister. I have damned myself, because of you.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘It was the only way to reach you.’

  ‘There were other ways. There are always other ways.’

  ‘Not with the animals in the way!’ Cain’s eyes blazed, the blue subsumed by glowing red. ‘You are mine! Not theirs. Mine!’ He reached for her.

  She jerked back, stumbling, his grasping hands just missing her.

  Iain’s strong arms bounded around her, holding her steady. ‘What is it, Eloise? What’s he saying?’

  Cain’s gaze snapped to him, something colder than rage and hatred burning in their depths. She stepped forward, hands raised, drawing her brother’s attention back to her. ‘You have my attention now. You don’t have to hurt anyone. Just tell me what you want.’

  ‘Oh, but hurting someone and what I want are the same thing.’ He grabbed her wrist, jerked her forward. She screamed, his touch an ice-burn slice.

  Iain swiped out with his clawed hand, hissed as he made contact. Cain’s shadowed form wavered for a moment and then became more vivid. ‘Mmm. That felt good. Do it again.’

  ‘Don’t touch him,’ Eloise said to Iain as he went to swipe out again. ‘Every time you touch him he can pull on your life energy.’

  Iain instantly backed up, but he stood in front of her, protective. ‘What about you? What happens when he touches you? Is he taking your life energy too?’

  ‘Oh, I’m taking more than that. See.’ Cain darted forward and touched her on the shoulder. Eloise screamed. The touch arced through her, skin, muscles, nerves, the ache in her deformed foot a sudden tearing pain. Her joints locked—the only thing stopping her from collapsing on the leaf–strewn ground.

  ‘Where the hell is he?’ Iain pinned her to his side, turned in a circle, every muscle tensed.

  Cain smiled. ‘This is fun.’ His arm snaked out again, slicing an arc of fire through her leg. She tried not to scream, gritted her teeth against the pain, but a whimper of sound made it out of her lips as she clutched at the agony in her leg. It felt like something was ripping and tearing its way through her nerves, growing, surging.

  ‘I’m sick of this. I can’t fight what I can’t see. I have to get you out of here.’ Iain picked her up, backed away from where she’d last indicated Cain was standing.

  Cain materialised in front of them. ‘Let him take you away from here and I’ll kill the others.’

  ‘Iain no! He’s going to kill them if I don’t listen.’

  Iain hesitated. ‘Can he do that?’

  ‘I told you before. Shades can kill. It’s why Morrigan uses them. He can do whatever he likes while still on this plane.’

  ‘But why is he hurting you? Aren’t you the only one who can save him?’

  ‘Yes. But Shades also take power from those they’re blood bound to. It keeps them more strongly on this plane.’

  ‘And I’m blood bound to Morrigan too. Which makes me even more powerful.’

  ‘Oh Goddess!’

  ‘What? What did he say?’

  She told him. ‘Even as a Shade, with both me and Morrigan to pull from and his own power, he could last for months.’

  ‘Uh-uh-
uh. No telling our secrets to the beasts.’ Cain made another pass, his fingers glancing across her throat.

  Cold seared into her chest, threatening to stop her lungs. She gasped for air that was suddenly too thick and cold to breathe. She bit her lip against the scream, the tang of copper live in her mouth.

  ‘Eloise!’ Iain swung around, wolf in his eyes. ‘He’s killing you.’ He leapt forward.

  ‘Try to leave, and I’ll kill him.’

  ‘No! Do that and I won’t help you. I won’t bring you back. That’s what you want, isn’t it?’

  There was a pause and then, ‘Yes. That’s exactly what I want. You will come to me. You will do the ceremony, bring me back to my body, and then you will do exactly what I say until your debt has been repaid.’

  ‘So you are my brother? My true brother.’

  ‘Of course I am, you little fool. We are bound, you and I, blood and bone and sinew. What made you think otherwise?’

  Laughter rose in her, bitter as bile that she swallowed back. ‘Just a wish I had.’

  ‘No matter how much you wish it, you’ll never be free of me, Little Bit.’

  She jerked, the use of his pet name a punch in her chest. She lifted her chin. ‘I’ll bring you back to your body then, but I won’t let you do anything else.’

  His laughter was a wild shriek in her head. ‘And how are you going to stop me?’

  ‘The Were will stop you. I’ll help them.’

  ‘You’ll help the Were?’ He cackled wildly, head lifted to the sky.

  ‘They’re powerful. So am I.’

  ‘Yes.’ His gaze returned to hers, the black of them slick and shiny. She shuddered. ‘You are. But your power is not for them to use. It’s for me. And Morrigan.’

  ‘Iain. Eloise!’ Gabbie ran into the little clearing, claws out, eyes wolf bright, glancing around to figure out the threat.

  Cain’s lips widened. ‘Ooh, a present. Thanks sis. I was getting a little hungry.’

  ‘Gabbie. Run!’ Eloise screamed. But it was too late. Cain was already at Gabbie’s side, his hands curling around her throat. She cried out, a choked sound, tried to slash with her hands. But it was no use. The more she touched him, the quicker he drained the life from her. With every second she grew weaker, while he grew more vibrant, less a shadow and more a shimmering imprint of colour against the greens and browns of the surrounding woods.

  Horror clawing at her throat, she could do nothing but stare.

  ‘Gabbie!’ Iain went to leap forward, but Eloise grabbed him.

  ‘No. He’ll kill you too.’

  ‘I have to help her.’ He swung Eloise to her feet and leapt at the shimmering thing wrapped around Gabbie, tried to strike at it, tear it off, but every time he touched it, he gave it more energy. Cain laughed. Iain kept fighting despite the fact that he was weakening. Eloise grabbed at his arm, was able to pull him away despite his greater power and strength.

  ‘No! I have to save her.’

  ‘You can’t. You can’t.’ She pulled him back further, towards the path.

  Cain turned his head. ‘Uh-uh-uh, little sis. Not so fast. I want his power too.’ Tendrils of shimmering shadow curled out, wrapped around Iain. The big Were she’d come to care for so deeply trembled, swung drunkenly at the tendrils wrapping more tightly around him with every second. She tried to pull him away, clenching her teeth against the pain as the tendrils touched her, biting into her skin with a pain so cold it was a burn. But Cain had him, just as he had Gabbie. He was killing them. All to prove a point he didn’t need to prove. ‘Cain. Stop. Please stop.’ Cain just laughed, gripped tighter.

  Iain groaned and crashed to his knees, taking her with him. ‘Run,’ he said, his eyes wide with pain. ‘Leave me. Get to safety.’

  ‘No. No. I’m not leaving you.’

  ‘How touching. How pathetic.’ Cain’s mouth pulled into a hateful sneer.

  ‘Cain, stop.’ They were barely words, mostly a hacking, sobbing sound. ‘Please stop. You’ve proved your point. Please. Don’t kill him. Don’t kill them.’

  Cain tipped his head, looking at her for a moment as if she were a curiosity. ‘Okay.’

  Iain slumped into her arms with a groan, the heavy weight of him almost too much for her. She lowered him to the ground, cradling his head in her lap. He was so weak. Too weak? She didn’t know. Didn’t know how much Cain had taken from him. Looking up, she saw Gabbie was still upright, neck clenched in Cain’s hands.

  ‘Her too.’

  Cain looked at Gabbie as if he’d forgotten he was holding her. ‘Oops. Too late.’ He let go. Gabbie crashed to the ground.

  Eloise stared, unable at first to comprehend the blank glaze of Gabbie’s eyes. ‘You killed her!’

  ‘No. You killed her. You did this, all this, you traitorous bitch, when you allowed them and their Goddess to touch you.’

  ‘But why do this to them? It’s me you hate. Me you want to punish. Leave them alone. Take me.’

  ‘But this is your punishment for your betrayal and intransigence.’

  ‘They don’t deserve this.’ Tears burned in her eyes. ‘They never did anything to you.’

  ‘Yes they did!’ His eyes flashed red as he screamed. ‘They betrayed that which kept them succoured for so long. I can feel the pain of that in him living in me.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘You’ll understand when you come back to us. When you embrace the darkness within. When you become like us.’

  ‘I will never become like you.’

  ‘Yes you will. You will. You’re mine!’

  ‘You’re mad.’

  His eyes glowed coal red and black as he looked down at her. ‘Not mad. Enlightened. As you will be enlightened when you come back into the fold.’ He smiled, his expression benevolent, almost kind, just like he used to look when he was trying to protect her. ‘You belong with me, sister dear. You know you do. Not with these savages.’

  Her arms tightened around Iain, tears a hot flood on her face. ‘He’s not a savage. You don’t know them. They’re good, Cain. They want to help us, not hurt us.’

  ‘They’re abominations, every last one.’

  ‘No, Morrigan was wrong about that. River and Skye are her family. They’re blood. If you’d only listen to me, get to know them…’

  ‘Lies! All lies. You are filled with their lies. You need to come back to us. You need to rid yourself of the poison they have filled you with.’

  ‘I’m not filled with their poison. Morrigan is the poisonous one. She’s turned you into a killer.’ Her eyes blurred as her gaze skated over Gabbie, a still, crumpled heap on the ground.

  ‘You’ve been tainted by them. Come back with me and I will see you cleansed.’

  ‘I never want to be cleansed if it means becoming like you! I won’t be responsible for killing my friends.’

  He pointed down at Gabbie. ‘They might as well be dead already, like this one. Your presence here among them will only bring death faster. The question is, do you want to save the lives of those in the caves? If you come to me and do as I say, I will save them. I will save you.’

  Her eyes hazed over with tears. This Shade wore her brother’s face, but it wasn’t Cain. Not the boy she’d grown up with. Not the teenager who’d always protected her, who’d held her when she cried, who had always been there for her. ‘Why are you doing this?’

  His lips curved, but lacked the warmth of a true smile. ‘You could say I saw the light.’

  She wanted to hit him, but her fists hung at her sides. She had to try to reason with him. To make him see. She knew it was pointless to talk to him about the Were, but maybe… ‘What light would lead you to harm our coven mates? Morrigan still has their allegiance.’

  ‘They are tainted by their proximity to the Were and by the fact that they gave themselves up. They are of no use to us now. Their lives are meaningless. However, I will allow them to live only if you do as I say.’

  Iain groaned. Cain’s gaze sna
pped to him, a sneer ruining his handsome face. ‘And I will let you have him for a little longer. But if you dally, my dearest twin, he will be the first to go.’

  Her arms tightened around Iain. ‘I will come.’

  ‘As I knew you would.’ Cain smiled and faded away into the darkening woods.

  ‘Eloise?’ Iain eyes flickered open.

  ‘Iain?’ She ran a trembling hand down his cheek. ‘Are you okay?’

  He reached up, fingers trembling, touched her cheek. ‘You’re crying.’

  She tried to speak past the horrible lump clogging her throat, swallowed, tried again. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. If I’d—’

  His fingers over her lips stopped the words. ‘It’s not your fault.’

  ‘But he hurt you, to get to me. To make me agree. He ki…’ She choked on the word. It was too hard to say. Instead, her gaze skittered over to Gabbie’s lifeless body a few metres away. Iain’s gaze followed.

  ‘Gabbie?’ There was a moment’s horrible pause as his gaze fixed on his dead friend, then he was on his feet, stumbling over the rough ground towards her. Eloise could say nothing around the terrible tightness that filled her chest, constricted her throat as Iain grabbed Gabbie up in his arms and keened to the night sky, the sound an aching torrent of grief. Howls sounded in the distance—other members of the pack hearing him, or maybe already feeling Gabbie’s loss through the pack bond. She could only imagine what their loss must feel like. The only person she’d had that kind of close bond with was Cain, and he’d torn that to shreds when he’d turned on her and tried to kill her; whatever had been left of that was now obliterated by what he’d just done.

  The thought made the pain inside her throb. She wrapped her arms around her knees, trying to stay still, trying not to call attention to herself, trying to be the nothing she’d always been.

  The keening sound stopped and Iain, eyes pain-ravaged pools in his pale face, caught her. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I’m sorry. I don’t mean to distract you. I was trying to be quiet.’ She skittered to her feet. ‘I’ll just go … get out of your way. You don’t need me here.’

  ‘No!’

  The force of that word held her still for long enough for him to gently lay Gabbie back on the ground and pace over to her. Just before he got to her, she came to her senses and turned, about to flee. He must want her out of his sight. He must hate her …