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

by Amade, Melle

  “Henry!” I scream through the hot air towards the cinderblock cells. Callum jerks slightly at my scream. “Callum, stop this!” I swallow my pride and beg. He’s the only one who can help us right now. But, he just turns his back, pushes off the ground and shifts into a raven. He rises in the darkening sky, a cloud of Ravensgaard flying with him.

  Liam and Tom shift and settle onto the tops of the cinder block cells with their raven eyes trained on my slightest move.

  The hillside is silent.

  The sunset creates brilliant streaks across the smoky sky. The air is hot to breathe and rests heavy on my lungs. I twist and turn, but there’s no comfort in this cage. I want to shift.

  The Bloedhart words are on my tongue, but I don’t reach for them. I can’t. I don’t know what will happen if I say them while I’m wearing this collar. I would risk it, but if I die now, who will protect Henry?

  I drift into an awkward twilight sleep.

  What feels like moments later, my head lurches forward and I’m startled awake. My ears tune into every sound around me. Something is going on but I can’t figure out what it is.

  The Ravensgaard still watch me, but they seem to have been lulled into a state of repose, as if they are sleeping with their eyes open.

  I listen for Henry, but the cinder block cells are silent.

  The moon is full and hazy in burning light that reflects the orange glow of the raging fire. There’s a taint in the air of iodine on a wet wooly jumper.

  The idea of sleep is gone. Something’s going on.

  My shifter energy is rising, but it has nowhere to go. It just circulates in my cells, hurting, freezing me from the inside.

  A light flashes in the overgrowth near the path. The Ravensgaard look over, heads cocked to one side. The light flashes again. The largest raven, Liam, flies off the cinder block cell and over to where the light is flashing in the darkness.

  I hear him shift as he lands.

  THWACK!

  “Ahhhhhhhh!” His squawking cry is overpowered by a deep growl.

  “Get off me -” he yells. A flurry of scrambling, he’s trying to shift.

  Has Vasquez gone rogue? Is he coming for me?

  I shake the cage door. “Go and help him!” I yell to Tom, but even as a raven, he looks as scared as I feel. Tom flies to the cage, pecking my fingers off of the bars.

  THUNK.

  Something dull has stopped Liam’s battle in the undergrowth.

  Not even crickets break the silence. Tom and I exchange a nervous look.

  “Caaaaaaaawwwwwwww…” Tom lets out a piercing caw and hops around the clearing, his wing fanning at his claw.

  My eyes scan the darkness. My forehead presses into the bars of the cage.

  Tom shifts into his human form, falling to the ground on the outskirts of the cul-de-sac. “It’s burning!” He screams, hobbling to the sad remains of the water feature and thrusting his foot in the tepid water.

  “Argggghhh!” He avidly rubs water on his foot, but just screams louder.

  “Water just makes it worse.”

  I spin around.

  SMACK!

  Too fast. My head slams into a metal bar in the cage. I rub the rising welt on my forehead and squat down. Roman is huddled outside my cage; his glasses, tucked in his hair, reflect the moonlight.

  “Roman!” I cry. The growling wasn’t Vasquez; it was Zan!

  “The poison works its way under the skin,” Roman says, holding his hand over the lock and drips poison out of his fingertips. “The water will thin it a bit, but it’ll just get to more places in his body. Most corrosive substance in nature.”

  I pull back. This is why Zaragoza backed off from Roman.

  Roman smiles as the lock snaps.

  A small sob escapes me as the cage door swings open. I want to hug him, but he shakes his head, holding up his hands. “Come on,” he says and we run, crouched over into the shadows. We slide down the alley. Zan and Aiden are hunched by the cinderblock cells waiting for us.

  "Where’s Henry?" My voice catches in my throat.

  “We had to get you first,” Zan explains. “He won’t go anywhere without you.”

  “Let’s move.” Roman urges us on.

  We stop in front of a low lying door, made for a very small animal.

  “Henry!” I cringe; my brother in there, in the dark, cold and terrified.

  “Shh.” Zan smacks a hand over my mouth, but I need to see my brother and know he’s okay.

  "Can you get the lock open?" I ask Roman, who inspects it.

  “I can.” Zan moves Roman out of the way. "I got the keys off Liam." She winks at me and undoes the lock.

  I’m through the door in seconds. I expect to see Henry huddled in a corner crying, but he’s not. He stands in a small square of pale moonlight looking at the bars on the window. Somehow in the night, his sties have popped and the puss is gone from his eyes. They are wide open and shining bright. He smiles when he sees me as if I’ve come to pick him up from school.

  “Henry!” I grab him and pull him close.

  “Can you fly?” he asks me.

  My sob turns to a laugh as I nod. “Yeah.” I kiss the top of his head.

  “Do you think I can?” he asks.

  “I don’t know.” I lie. Being a Passief is one hundred percent deadly. I don’t know how I can ever tell him.

  “Come on,” Aiden urges. “We have to get out of here.”

  We duck through the tiny door and out into the back alley. Zan leads us up a deer trail, while Roman guards our back.

  “We’ll have to go cross country,” she whispers back at us.

  “The fire.” I glance up at the orange glow that fills the skyline. We’re headed right into it.

  “You two should fly and keep a look out.” She nods at me and Aiden.

  “I’m not leaving Henry,” I say. Zan looks to Aiden, who shrugs and motions her forward. We bend low and move into dark forest. The air is thick with smoke. Black branches twist in all directions while vines strangle the trees. The smell of rot and embers is everywhere.

  “We’ll take care of him.” Roman assures me.

  “No.” But, my words are drowned out.

  WHOOSH!

  A wicked wind whips down the track as black shadows drop out of the trees and a swarm of Ravensgaard descend on us. They’re everywhere. There’s no escape. The Ravensgaard land and transform as they touch the ground.

  “Callum!” I cry. He’s flanked by at least twenty Ravensgaard. They grab us and snap collars on Roman’s and Zan’s necks.

  “We hoped you would try and help them escape.” Callum smiles at Zan. “It’s good to cull the herd.”

  Zan’s growl is low and dangerous, but she doesn’t move. “At least we know how to be loyal.”

  “Just like a dog,” Callum sneers at her.

  Roman leaps forward and almost gets to Callum’s throat before he’s pulled back by a Ravensgaard

  “Don’t waste your energy on him, Roman,” Aiden says. “He’s not worth it.”

  “On the contrary…” Murtagh’s voice cuts through the dark forest as he alights in front of us, bringing the scent of stale feathers with him. “Callum has made me very proud this evening. Well done, son.”

  Murtagh’s hand with the Ridder’s ring rests on Callum’s shoulder, but Callum cringes as the word ‘son’ drops from Murtagh’s mouth.

  “He’s not your son,” Aiden says. “In two years he’ll lead your clan.”

  “What happens in two years will be none of your concern,” Murtagh sneers. “You’ll most likely be dead.”

  I want Aiden to rebuff Murtagh. I want him to say something like, “You’ve made a big mistake.” or “My father will get us out of this.” But, he doesn’t say a word.

  Murtagh smiles and savors the moment.

  “Take them to the bear cage,” he says to Callum. “When the Muiderkring convenes at daybreak they’ll be tried and executed.”

  “Doesn’t he mean, �
��if’ we’re proven guilty we’ll be executed?” I whisper to Zan.

  She gives a single shake of her head and turns away. I’m glad. I don’t want to see the look on her face any more than I want Henry to see the look on mine.

  28

  Surrounded by Ravensgaard in tight formation we go over a rise and down into another cul de sac. One huge cage encloses a rocky, overgrown outcrop with a manmade, cement cave at the back. This was the bear exhibit. An empty moat lies between the exhibition and the railing where people used to stand to gawk at the bears. The Ravensgaard take us into the cage, but they have no intention to let us roam free in the enclosure. Instead, they lead us to the cave where shiny, silver chains are bolted to the wall. I pull back, but I’m weak. I think it’s the collar. The others struggle, but none of us, not even Aiden can break free from the Ravensgaard.

  I look hopefully at Roman, but he shakes his head.

  “It doesn’t work,” he says.

  “Shae?” a voice startles me from the dark.

  “Mom!” I cry.

  “Oh no,” murmurs Zan.

  “Thank God you’re alive,” Mom says.

  Her words burn at my skin. She tried to kill me. I want to reach out and find comfort with her, but I don’t know how to trust her.

  “Mom?” Henry’s voice tremors. He needs her.

  “Let her go,” I say to Callum, but he doesn’t even have the good graces to respond. I glare at the back of his head.

  “Is it Mom?” Henry asks.

  It doesn’t matter what Mom did to me. Henry needs her. “Let her go!” I yell at Callum.

  “Restrain them,” Callum commands his Ravensgaard.

  We’re chained in a row. I’m at the far end with Roman next to me. I can barely see Zan, Aiden, and Henry in the shadows beyond.

  “She’s a Wyte. She can’t shift,” I insist to Callum. “None of this has anything to do with her.”

  “Your mom may prove useful,” Callum says. “We need every resource we have to prove what you are.”

  “I hate you,” I say. Callum shrugs off my disgust as if I’m talking about the weather.

  Aiden yanks his shackles, but there’s no way we’ll break these chains.

  “The Muiderkring will be here at sunrise.” Callum addresses the Ravensgaard. “Keep your posts.”

  A few look up towards the burning hillside. “The fires will be here before sunrise,” says Tom.

  “Keep your posts,” Callum insists. “You guard an enemy of the state. She must not escape.”

  The Ravensgaard shift into birds and Callum is answered by a series of caws as he leaves the cave. The ravens position themselves outside the cave but inside the cage. My friends rattle their chains; each tests their strength against the bolts.

  “Where’s Dad?” I ask Mom.

  “I thought he was with you and Henry, but- but he’s not, is he?” Mom asks.

  “We left him on the hillside with the fire and the mountain lion,” I say.

  Mom gasps. We breathe in the pained silence.

  “Are you okay?” Mom’s voice cracks. “Are you both okay?”

  “They think Shae can turn into a bird!” Henry cries out from the dark, his voice excited as if we aren’t chained to the wall and facing imminent death. He doesn’t realize this isn’t some fairytale book with a happy ending.

  Mom’s face doesn’t flinch. She just looks at me.

  “You knew,” I say, though it’s no surprise to either of us.

  “We inherited the house from my great aunt, Elisabeth Gallagher,” Mom says.

  “Gallagher. Gallagher,” Zan’s brain churns. “That bloodline died out.”

  “Obviously, it didn’t,” Mom sighs. “I don’t remember all the details, but we are some long lost branch of the family.”

  “She told you never to tell anyone?” Zan asks.

  “More than that,” Mom sighs. “She told us to sell it and get out if the animals started getting wild. I thought she was crazy and I loved it here, but, but then those kids died and it all became real…” She gazes forlornly at Henry and I chained tight. “I only ever wanted a safe home for you, and now…”

  “How can we get out of here?!” Frustration tightens my voice as I strain against my chains.

  “There’s nowhere to go,” Aiden says. “We’re shifters, Shae.”

  “Murtagh is insane.” I lean towards him.

  “Even if we can get away from him,” Zan says, “even if we go into hiding, there are too many of us. You might have been able to hide, even with Henry, but, Lord Van Arend’s son… if he disappears, they will hunt him. Sooner or later we will all have to face the Order.”

  “And, we’ll be executed,” Roman says. His words hang in the air for a moment before they descend to our guts.

  The cave rests in dark silence. The discomfort of our shackles drags my muscles down. They ache with weariness and our heads sag forward. But, despite the steady breaths that echo through the cave, I doubt anyone is sleeping. We watch the fire descend from the hillside and down onto Topanga. The shrieking sirens have died out. All the trucks that can support the efforts are already here. Based on the weight of smoke in the air around us, it’s clear the fires are also closing in on the zoo. Maybe they will kill us before Murtagh can.

  Nerves shoot down my arms and click my fingernails together.

  My world has become unrecognizable.

  A few days ago I was desperate to know if my friends were abandoning me. Now I know they never would, even if it means putting their lives on the line. Even Aiden has stood by me, trying to get Henry and I out of town… safe. My friends are so loyal it’s going to cost them their lives.

  How could I have been so wrong about them? How did I make such a mess of this? The crown of my head cools against the heat of the night. Frigid ice descends on me. This time, my anger is with myself.

  I can’t just sit by and watch my friends and family killed.

  Frost forms around my head. The heat in my guts can’t dowse it. The collar short circuits any connection. Pain shoots through my torso and burns out my fingertips as my molecules strain to shift.

  “Are you okay?” asks Roman.

  “That depends on what you mean by okay,” I say. In the orange glow of the forest fire, a slight smile twitches the corner of his mouth.

  “If Murtagh doesn’t do something soon, he’s going to lose us to the fire,” Roman says.

  By capturing me, he can get what he wants: the Kortsrijk, the High Seat of the Western Region. Our deaths will be a side note to the prize Murtagh is after.

  He’s using the law to achieve his ends. The laws they created to protect their world.

  It’s right there.

  The solution. The key.

  Murtagh needs me, the Passief.

  He needs to show he captured me.

  The fires have reached the zoo and are spreading towards us.

  Plop.

  I frown, straining my eyes.

  Plop. Plop. Plop.

  “Rain drops…” I murmur.

  A bolt of lightning crashes through the air, lighting up the startled expressions of everyone in the cave. Thunder bears down right on top of us as the sky opens and a deluge pours down onto the forest fire.

  “The Thunderbird,” I say. “Aiden! Your dad!”

  Through the flashes of lightening I can see Aiden staring up at the rainstorm that douses the fire. His eyes are wide, his mouth slightly open.

  Roman lets out a low whistle. “Your dad sure knows how to make an entrance,” he says.

  A loud caw fills the air as a Ravensgaard lands, shifting into human form.

  “Everyone’s needed,” he says. “The Eagles are attacking.”

  The ravens look at us. “Leave them,” says the messenger. “They’re not getting out of those collars and chains.”

  “Dad’s going against martial law,” Aiden says, his brow furrowed. “It will ruin his position with the Order.” He wrenches his chains in a futile attem
pt at freedom.

  “It’s okay,” I say. “He’ll rescue us.”

  “He has to stop!” Aiden yells. “The Order doesn’t stand for rebellion of any kind. No Civil War. It’s vigilante behavior. All judgments must be determined in a court of law.”

  “It’s an absolute death sentence,” says Zan.

  “Why would he do this?!” Aiden is beside himself.

  “He’s doing it to save his son.” My mother’s voice comes from the darkness. “Any parent would.”

  “But, he’ll lose his title!” Aiden cries. “My family will lose the Kortsrijk. Not just to Murtagh. Forever.”

  “Your life is worth more than a title or family honor,” Mom says.

  I bite my lips.

  Ice fills my head and crackles down my face. I let it go, straight to the collar. It seizes a choke hold on my neck. I gasp as searing pain reverberates through my head. My body twitches, but I don’t breathe to stop the rage that fills me.

  I need the power to rise from within me. I need it to get past the collar.

  Dare I do it? Callum said trying to shift would kill me.

  The pain is excruciating as the molecules of my body fight against the power of the collar. My nails strain to shift into talons.

  I have to try.

  “Hud feroaring ontstaan,” I murmur.

  Lightning rips like a bullet from my guts and shoots towards the collar. It smashes against it and singes back down through my body.

  I bite my lips to stop the scream that gushes inside me.

  I can’t breathe.

  I can’t breathe.

  The world starts to spin and go dark. But, something gives. There’s a tiny hole in the collar’s power. A tiny vein of ice slides onto my shoulder and shoots down my arm.

  I gasp.

  My nail shifts into a talon.

  This is all I needed!

  I strain my arm as far as the chain will let me. My hand just reaches my collar. I jam my talon in the lock and twist it around.

  I can’t find the release.

  The vein of ice wanes.

  The lock enrages me, but the frigid power can’t make it past the collar. I feel the talon soften and shrink. I thrust it harder into the lock in one last ditch attempt.