Sanctuary: A dark urban fantasy (Shifter Chronicles Book 1)

by Amade, Melle

  “No one is threatening the lives of innocent shifters,” says Aiden.

  “I know she’s a Passief.” Murtagh leans into Aiden smiling triumphantly.

  “You have no proof,” Aiden says.

  “And, we all know from our history books,” Murtagh continues as if Aiden hasn’t spoken, “that Passiefs have been responsible for the deaths of many, many shifters. That is why Passiefs were made extinct.”

  We’re not extinct. I don’t dare say the words in my head.

  “Except for you.” Murtagh smiles at me.

  I keep my face carefully neutral.

  “All the better for me,” Murtagh continues. “You see; I’ve caught a Passief! That will make it easy to show the shifters in this region and the Order what repugnance Lord Van Arend has allowed to fester here. It will make it easy to remove the worthless Van Arend family from the Kortsrijk and I will be Edelman.”

  “Can he do that?” I ask Aiden.

  Aiden gives a curt nod. “If word gets back to the Order.”

  “I have already sent a messenger,” Murtagh says. “But, don’t worry.” He turns on me. “You will be dead before the Order arrives. I won’t let those posturing fools take credit for your capture. The world will know I stopped the rot from growing.”

  “You’re mad,” I whisper.

  Aiden jerks his head at me, eyes full of warning. Murtagh’s face flashes black.

  “Watch your words, girl. You may care nothing for your life or how you die, but,” his black eyes land on Henry, “your little brother may have other thoughts.”

  I pull Henry tight against me. He’s stiff.

  “It’s okay,” I whisper in his ear. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “He - he just said he’s go - going to kill you,” Henry stammers.

  “He’s not going to do anything.” I breathe slowly to steady my words and make it sound like I believe them.

  “You can’t prove anything,” Aiden insists.

  “We all know what they are. And, what they are makes them a trophy. A trophy to be hung on the wall.” Murtagh tilts his head towards the ravens that still hover like a menacing black cloud above us. “I’m sure it will not require too much persuasion for the girl to show everyone what she is made of.”

  “I know what you are.” My voice rises above the cawing. “You’re a group of racist, militant jerks who are going to prey on two kids to try and save your family name.”

  Murtagh makes a swift downward motion with his ebony cane and three of the ravens shift into human form as they drop out of the sky.

  Henry’s body tenses, he twists around to look at me. “Shae?” I give an almost imperceptible shake of my head. This is not the time to explain shifters to my eight-year-old brother. He bites his lips as he scans the Ravensgaard still flying above us.

  “Put them in collars,” Murtagh says as the largest Ravensgaard grabs Aiden.

  “No!” He pulls against the Ravensgaard. I have no idea what the collar is, but it frightens Aiden.

  “Don’t, Aiden!” If he shifts, he won’t stand a chance alone against all the Ravensgaard above us waiting to attack. “They’ll kill you.”

  His eyes narrow and he bows his head. His Ravensgaard captors hold him while Callum locks a dull metal collar around his neck.

  “Don’t try to shift with it on,” Callum says. “You’ll die. Eventually.”

  The lanky Ravensgaard grabs Henry and moves a collar around his neck.

  “You can’t put that on him!” I exclaim.

  “Collar him,” says Murtagh.

  “He’s only 8!” I say. “He can’t shift yet!”

  “No one knows what Passiefs can and can’t do,” says Murtagh.

  “I can turn into a bird?” he asks me.

  “Shhhh.” I press my lips shut. Our chances of survival are already slim. I have to do my best, one step at a time, to get us through this mess. I have to try to keep Henry alive.

  “Can you?” Henry cranes his neck at me.

  “Shhhh.” Aiden digs his fingers into Henry’s shoulder.

  The lanky Ravensgaard moves to me and he’s about to snap the collar around my neck, but Murtagh pokes the end of his cane into the metal clasp, stopping it from closing. He steps up to my face, his pointed nose too close to my skin. “I can smell the Bloedhart. You’ve been through our shifter ceremony. And, lived. So, Miss Bradfield, what sort of shifter are you?”

  The muscles in Aiden’s neck tense, but he doesn’t answer for me. I swallow my fear.

  “I’m normal,” I say, though I have no idea what that means.

  “If you are a ‘normal’ shifter,” Murtagh taunts, “a Plunderaar, then shift.”

  “She doesn’t have to answer to you,” Aiden interrupts.

  “We are in martial law, wee eagle,” smiles Murtagh. “Everyone must answer to me.”

  “You have no proof of any of these accusations.” Aiden’s voice is controlled.

  Ice starts to descend from my crown, crackling down the side of my face and shutting out the heat of the air. It’s through my shoulders and moving down to my fingers. I want to sink my talons into Murtagh’s face. Aiden’s hand presses on my shoulder.

  “Breathe,” he mutters.

  Breathe in the—I can’t. It’s the words Dad gave Mom the night she tried to kill me.

  My fingers twitch as the ice shoots into them. Murtagh looks down his nose at the tips of my fingers as they start to turn into talons.

  Crack! Aiden’s elbow snaps Murtagh’s cane to the side and the collar slams shut against my neck. It drives the ice apart and icicles of pain fracture through my body.

  “Ahhhhhhhh!” I scream as my knees buckle.

  “Shae!” Henry grabs me as the Ravensgaard above us caw into the billowing smoke. Aiden’s hand is under my elbow as shards of ice fall inside me. I breathe in the smoky hot air.

  “Good effort, lad,” Murtagh smiles. “But, she will reveal the truth. If she does not shift for me, then she will have a hearing with the Muiderkring assembled. Either way, the truth will out and then she will be executed and I will be Edelman.”

  My gaze falls on Callum, but his face is an impenetrable mask.

  “Liam, Tom.” He nods at the two Ravensgaard who shifted into human form. “You’re with me.” He’s using the tone Aiden has; the alpha tone. Liam, the burly Ravensgaard, grabs Aiden’s arm, while the lanky one, Tom, reaches for Henry, but I pull Henry out of his grasp.

  “We’ll come with you,” I say. There’s really no choice. Callum nods, but stays an inch from my side. Tom moves in on the other.

  They file us into the SUV where Liam guards Aiden in the far back. Henry and I are squished in between Callum and Tom. The doors slam shut and the engine revs. I twist sideways so my back is to Callum. I want less of me touching less of him. He’s the enemy.

  “Wh-where are we -?” asks Henry.

  “Don’t worry,” I hold him close. “Nothing will happen to you.”

  Aiden’s expression isn’t reassuring. His brow is furrowed, his jaw set.

  “I’m sure Aiden’s dad will help us.” I hope Aiden will pick up on the story and agree with me. But he stays silent.

  The windows of the SUV are blackened so we can’t see where we’re going, but I know the roads well enough, we’re headed back to Topanga. The air is filled with the stench of fire and the blare of sirens.

  “The roads will be blocked,” Tom mutters.

  “Take the fire roads,” says Callum. When Murtagh usurps Lord Van Arend as Edelman, then Callum will be the Heir. They already listen to him as if he is.

  The vehicle slows and veers left. We bounce as the tires jolt onto a dirt road. My shoulder slams into Callum. He brings a hand down to steady me, but I yank away as much as possible, gripping Henry with one hand and the back of the seat with the other. Every bone in my body is rattled.

  “How can you do this?” I glare at Callum. He doesn’t make eye contact. “It’s one thing to be loyal to your famil
y. But, this?”

  “You know nothing of our ways,” says Callum, his eyes not diverting from the front.

  “Where are you taking us?” I ask him. We’re outside human laws and in a world I don’t understand, even though I’m now an integral part of it.

  “Where all Passiefs belong,” Liam says.

  Aiden has to have some insight. I look over my shoulder at him.

  “Probably the manor,” he says. But, there’s a blanket of doubt in his voice. It sends a chill to my fingers. Aiden, the one who is so self-assured, follows the rules, and knows what is going on; is being taken somewhere unknown and against his will.

  “Not,” chuckles Tom.

  “We’re removing your father from his roost,” Callum says. “Why would we bring you to his manor and make it look like he is capable of catching a Passief.”

  “Aiden’s dad will fight you!” I say. Liam and Tom both laugh. Aiden flushes, his jaw clenching.

  “You don’t know Lord Van Arend very well,” Callum says. He grips the side of the SUV as we take a corner. I think of the forlorn man reeking of whiskey and tobacco as he stood in the shadows of the great gallery and mourned the history of his people.

  Callum may be right.

  “He won’t go against martial law,” Aiden says. “Our family would be stripped of its titles.”

  “The only body with the authority to end martial law is the Muiderkring when they are assembled,” says Callum. “Until they show up, the Ridder, my uncle, stays in charge.”

  “But, what if -?” I stop the words that are on the tip of my tongue. Murtagh isn’t wrong. I am a Passief and they are outlawed. Van Arend, the Edelman, who possibly knew I was a shifter, didn’t seek me out or turn me in. When they see for sure what I am, the Van Arend’s will definitely lose their title.

  “You see,” Callum’s watching as I work it out, “it’s a win-win situation… for the Ravensgaard.”

  “You’re a jerk–”

  Aiden’s hand slides to my shoulder stopping my words. “Shhh.”

  I frown. It may seem hopeless, but how can we give up without a fight? I press my face into Henry’s hair. I know I can’t.

  The SUV jolts to a stop. Wherever we’re going, this is it. Henry’s eyes are wide and bright. He’s holding back tears. I squeeze him closer, but his small shoulders stiffen and he blinks rapidly. Like Mom and me, he’s hiding his feelings. Though I know how damaging that can be, a prick of pride stabs my heart. Tom pushes open the door and pulls at Henry.

  “He’s an eight-year-old boy.” I throw the words at him as I jump to the ground and pull my brother away from him.

  We’re stand in a small clearing where the dirt road ends. Unkempt trees eaten by overgrowth surround us. The smell of smoke and shriek of sirens fill the air. They’ll need more than the local fire truck to put out the forest fire we started.

  What did we do?

  I look to the skyline to get my bearings. We’re in a narrow canyon that ends in a sheer cliff. Van Arend Manor looms above, its spires and turrets grey and dismal in the backlight. Something in the undergrowth catches my gaze. It’s hard to discern hidden in the vines and bushes, but I can still make out the faded letters on the rotting wood: Topanga Zoo.

  A black cloud fills the sky as the Ravensgaard block the sun.

  “You must be scared,” I say to Tom, who’s standing next to me. Disdain sweeps across his face as he peers down at me. “So many elite Ravensgaard warriors for the three of us.” I nod at the hovering birds, whose sniper eyes are trained on us.

  Liam laughs. “We’re not here for you,” he says. I have to focus to understand his thick Irish brogue. “We’re here for the new Republyk. You’re just the impetus.”

  “Shut up, Liam,” Tom elbows Liam in the side.

  “Doesn’t matter now,” shrugs Liam. “It’s all but done. Once we execute her and the Muiderkring gathers.”

  “The Muiderkring will never accept Murtagh,” says Aiden.

  “Well, we’ll see about that,” says Liam.

  “They’re on their way,” says Callum.

  Aiden pales. “Where’s -” he begins, but closes his mouth almost as quickly as the question is started.

  My stomach roils. I have never seen Aiden scared. It’s hard to believe it’s the same day I flew over Topanga so full of joy and freedom. I’m grounded now and sinking in quicksand.

  A cloud of dust heralds Murtagh’s arrival. Henry sees it, too. A small whimper escapes him and I clutch his hand tighter. If I’d never done the Bloedhart, we’d never be in this situation.

  The Ravensgaard alight like a black storm into the trees around us. Henry’s fear taints the air like a rotting orange. Callum smells it, too; a look of concern fleets over his face.

  “Callum?” I’m quiet, tentative.

  A steel mask wipes all emotion from his expression. His eyes narrow on me. He’s like all the other Ravensgaard; the enemy.

  Aiden’s face is a tight scowl.

  “You’ll stay here until the Muiderkring is gathered.” Callum is perfunctory as Murtagh walks up.

  “The zoo’s the place for law-breaking animals,” Liam laughs.

  “And Passiefs.” Tom’s voice falls into a low cackle.

  “Murtagh is intent on destroying all laws.” Aiden spits the word out like a vile poison.

  Liam’s arm moves so fast I barely see it. His fist connects to Aiden’s chin with a resounding crack and drops Aiden to the dirt. I’m on my knees to help him up but he leaps up, arms outstretched, ready to fly at the Ravensgaard. Tom and Callum grab Aiden’s arms.

  “Not all laws.” Murtagh’s cane makes a dull thud against the dirt. “Just the ones we don’t like.”

  “The ones that put your family in charge,” says Tom.

  “And keep us bound to the Order,” agrees Liam.

  “You’d rather be bound to a mad man?” Aiden asks.

  Murtagh’s cane cuts through the air and slams against Aiden’s shins. “You have no Ravensgaard to protect you anymore, eaglet.”

  “Won’t your father send someone?” I ask Aiden. He shakes his head.

  “He’s too busy drinking whiskey,” Liam chuckles. Shame burns on Aiden’s face.

  “Aiden’s father is a disgrace to the Kortsrijk,” Murtagh says. “When the Muiderkring see what goes on here, right under his nose, they will stand with me. They will put me on the Kortsrijk themselves.”

  The Ravensgaard fill the air with a hacking caw.

  “The level to which my father does or does not rule this region, does not justify you usurping the Kortsrijk,” Aiden says. “The seat is mine.”

  “Not if your father can’t hold it,” says Murtagh.

  “You are a Ridder by default,” Aiden says. “Your job is to serve the Edelman of the Kortsrijk until Callum becomes Ridder next year.” Aiden’s voice is steel and there’s a glimpse of the leader he wants to become.

  “It is mine,” says Murtagh. “It was taken from my family and we will have it back.”

  “By killing innocent people?” I ask.

  “Passiefs are hardly innocent.” Murtagh smiles at me. “The laws are very clear about that.”

  “That’s one of the laws you want to keep?” I ask.

  “I chose the laws that suit the people,” Murtagh says.

  “That suit your people and yourself,” I say.

  “You are a mouthy Passief.” Murtagh leans towards me. I don’t budge an inch. “I wonder, are you one of those stupid werewolves? Maybe a human loving vampire bat?”

  I just glare at him. I won’t sway to his taunts.

  “It will be very interesting to see you shift,” Murtagh continues. “The Muiderkring will scream for your death.” A drop of spit falls from his mouth. Henry shudders.

  We are moved through the broken down archway and into what remains of the derelict zoo. It looks like no one has entered the premises since they closed the place ten years ago. Ocean air has rusted every piece of metal and graffiti i
s scrawled on every cement wall. It looks like it’s been abandoned for fifty years.

  The dirt walkways between the exhibits are now narrow paths, weeds, and bushes creeping in from both sides. Everywhere is dark, shadowy and smells of musty moss. Ravensgaard move above us through the trees, flitting from branch to branch as we wind our way deeper into the derelict zoo.

  I squeeze Henry’s hand. “It’ll be okay,” I whisper.

  “You can shift?” he asks.

  “Not now,” I say.

  We can’t talk about it. Henry just needs to believe we’ll get out of this alive.

  It might help if I believed it myself.

  The trail narrows until we’re almost single file. It leads through a break in a vine-covered stone wall. A weathered sign bolted to the stone proclaims: Safari Village. We duck through the double doors and enter a cul-de-sac of cages. Liam steers Aiden away as Tom yanks Henry from me.

  “No!” I clutch Henry.

  “Let him go,” Callum commands me. My hands involuntarily twitch and release Henry. I frown. Why am I following Callum’s orders?

  “He’ll be okay,” Aiden says, looking me in the eye. I hope he’s not lying.

  “Where are they taking you?” Henry grasps for me.

  “Go with Aiden,” I say. “It’ll be fine.” I push my voice to make it sound believable.

  “Get going, eaglet.” Liam pushes Aiden away. They slip down the side of the cages, around the back building, and out of sight.

  27

  “You’re in here.” Callum pushes me to a standing cage at the center of the cul-de-sac. He opens the gate and motions me in. There’s no room to move. Metal bars lie in diagonal angles across the inside. The bars are meant to give parrots something to crawl around on, but they force me to stand at an awkward angle trying to breathe.

  “I want to be with my brother,” I say.

  “We only need one of you for bait,” Callum says.

  “Bait?” I choke on the stale hot air. Bait for what? My parents? Zan and Roman? I bite my tongue. I don’t want to give Callum any ideas they haven’t already thought of.

  “Don’t let her out of your sight,” he says as Liam and Tom come back around the corner.