The Shifting Storm (Book 4)

by Jeff Hale

  “Well, now maybe you need to find someone to persuade Aerick to let the matter go. He thinks Kat knew about it!” I made a noise of frustration into the phone. “I saw how he looked at her, Lochlan, he hates her now, enough to hurt her himself maybe. So all you’ve really done is endanger your daughter even more.”

  There was silence on the other end of the phone for almost a full minute. “I’m bound to nae do anythin’ more against Aerick, Darien. Ye’ll just have tae do yer best tae keep her safe.”

  “Do my best? She fucking broke up with me! She thinks I knew about it and kept it from her! After hiding the whole thing with Roslyn from her, she doesn’t trust me anymore! How in hell am I supposed to keep her safe?!” I was yelling into the phone but I didn’t care.

  “Mebbe I can talk tae the lass,” he offered up.

  “Not going to work. I have a message for you from her. She’s not talking to you anymore. Sounds childish, I know, but that’s what she said. You fucked up, Lochlan, big time.”

  I heard him sigh. “Do yer best, lad, and keep me updated. I’ll see if there’s ennathing I can do on this end.”

  “You do that.”

  Now here I was, a couple nights later, parked in the apartment complex in a space far enough away to still see the apartment door, but not be immediately in sight myself, still unable to make any move towards getting out of the car.

  I had followed her home from the club Alex had taken her to, finally realizing that they were celebrating her birthday, and now I was watching that jock, who had been pawing her at that semester end frat party, follow her into the apartment.

  I knew exactly what was going to happen. A tiny flare of jealousy popped up, but I knew Kat didn’t love the guy. At least if she was going to sleep with someone else, it was while we technically weren’t together. Didn’t mean I liked it, but I wasn’t going to go tearing into the apartment and rip the man into bloody strips.

  If I could. I wasn’t stupid. I knew that damned familiar of Kat’s had put some sort of compulsion on me to keep me away from her, I just wasn’t sure how.

  I decided that sitting there watching the apartment while I knew Kat was letting some other man touch her was not something I needed to do, so I headed over to Matt’s. Maybe he could help me figure this whole thing out. Hell, maybe, if Kris didn’t hate me too, she could shed some light on it.

  Matt answered the door, looking somewhat surprised to see me. Their apartment was slightly smaller than the one Kat had, but still plenty spacious. He shut the door behind me, and I stopped short when I rounded the entryway corner into the living room and saw Nina sitting on the couch with Kris, looking like she had been crying.

  “What’s she doing here?” I asked coldly.

  Matt patted me on the shoulder, a smile playing at the edge of his mouth. “Same thing you are. Needed someone to talk to. Have a seat.”

  “Hey, Darien,” Nina said softly as I sat down in the chair furthest from her.

  Kris gave me a look that said I had better behave. She was one of the few humans who could get me to do just that.

  I ignored Nina, feeling some vindication at the hurt look that crossed her face. Matt came back from where he had disappeared into the kitchen and pressed a glass of dark amber liquid into my hand. The pungent tang of whiskey hit my nose.

  “I know it won’t dull the pain, but you always did like the taste,” Matt said, gripping my shoulder briefly. “Am I off the mark in assuming you want to talk about Kat?”

  “Were you aware that Lochlan had sent an assassin after Aerick?” I asked him bluntly. He was Lochlan’s right hand after all.

  Matt sat down in the other armchair, almost fading into the black material with his own black silk shirt and leather pants. The look he gave me was candid.

  “Did I know that Lochlan wanted Aerick dead? Yes. Did I know that he had sent someone else, no.” He glanced sideways at Kris. From the expression on her face, this was news to her as well. “I’m sorry, Kris, but I didn’t think the matter was worth mentioning since I didn’t realize Loch had made alternate plans.”

  “What do you mean, alternate plans?” I downed most of the whiskey, felt the burn as it went down my throat.

  Matt shrugged. “He asked me to do it.”

  “What?!” Kris exclaimed, outrage evident on her face. Nina just stayed silent, but Kris glanced at me cautiously. “You and I are going to talk, Matt,” she said evenly.

  “I told him I wouldn’t do it,” Matt said, shaking his head. “I figured that would be the end of it. I guess he kept some things from me, too, maybe he thought I would warn Aerick.”

  I stared at him, surprised. “I thought you did whatever Lochlan wanted. Why the refusal?”

  “Honestly?” Matt asked, leaning back in the chair. “No offense, Darien, because I love you like the blood-brother you are to me, but I like Aerick. He and I have worked together in the past, before you or Kat ever met him. Hell, the man offered me a job at his agency. I consider him a friend. I don’t assassinate my friends; I have a few morals left.”

  “You told Lochlan as much?”

  “Yes, which is probably why he let me believe he had given the matter up.”

  “You really didn’t know, Darien?” Kris was chewing her lip, a habit so like Kat’s that I felt a pang go through me. I missed her.

  “No, I didn’t. Not that Kat will believe me.”

  “I’ll talk to her. No guarantees though.” She glanced at Nina. “Looks like I’ll be talking to Kat on a couple of people’s behalves.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

  Tears began to spill from Nina’s eyes again. “She said she didn’t want anything to do with me anymore,” she whispered. Damned if I didn’t hear actual pain in her voice. “I fucked up, Darien, I messed up my friendship with Kat.” She started to sob, burying her head against Kris’s shoulder while the other girl just looked at me over her head.

  I had a hard time feeling any sympathy for her. “Well, what did you expect, Nina? Huh? You take advantage of a situation to have sex with me, then you go out of your way to have sex with Aerick, knowing full well how Kat feels about both of us. You don’t try to control yourself even in the slightest, you treat that poor guy who’s in love with you like a dirty doormat, and you know, I usually don’t feel too sorry for human guys, but I do for him, poor bastard. Now you’re all upset because Kat doesn’t want to deal with it anymore?”

  Nina gave me a stricken look and her sobs turned into wails, her whole body shaking as Kris tried to comfort her.

  I still wasn’t buying it. “Oh, knock it off, Nina! Sell it somewhere else.”

  She pulled away from Kris and gave me a look so full of self-hatred that I recoiled a little. It was a feeling I was all too familiar with.

  “I tried, Darien, I did!” she cried, slamming closed fists into the top of her thighs where her skirt ended. “I try to control myself, I try to do the right thing, and I can’t! I don’t know what’s wrong! There’s all these feelings in here,” she pressed her hands to her head, “and I don’t know how to make them go away! I don’t want to feel like this! I don’t! I love Dave, I always have, and it cuts me up inside every time I hurt him!” She was biting her lip so hard it was drawing blood. “But I can’t stop myself! I see a person, I want a person, so I have to have the person!” Her fingers knotted themselves in her pink and purple hair so tightly that I thought she was going to pull it out by the roots. “It’s like I’m trapped up here, watching myself do these… things… to hurt those around me, and I’m screaming at myself to stop, but I can’t! It’s like some other entity has control of me! I just want it to stop!” She collapsed in on herself, her face pressed against her knees as wracking sobs went through her.

  I just continued to stare at her, almost in disbelief. I recognized what she was describing, I just had no way to explain why it was happening to her. What she was describing was thrall, when a shifter is so lost to their Aspect spirit that the animal
is in complete control of their actions, completely subsuming the human reason.

  It was something that, over time, a shifter could gain control over, learn how to fight. I knew that Kat had some problems with it when it came to any violence being committed around her, but she seemed to have gotten a handle on it.

  It was also something that usually only happened, and not even close to the extent Nina was describing, right before a new shifter shifted for the first time and after, and Nina hadn’t shifted yet.

  Now I understood, even if I still didn’t like that she had manipulated me into sex. When she was in the thrall, there was no Nina, only the cat, with its base, primal instincts.

  “But you seem to be in control right now,” I pointed out.

  She lifted her head, nodded. “When Kat said what she did, it was a like someone had driven a knife through me, and then this fog seemed to lift from my brain. I remember everything I’ve done, but I feel like me again. I don’t know, it was easier when I was around Dave more, but since he’s been gone, it’s just harder not to lose myself.” A rattling sigh went through her.

  I explained to her, to them, about thrall, and that I thought it was what was happening to her, even if it shouldn’t be.

  “So I can fix this?” Nina asked me tearfully. “Make myself not act like this?”

  “I don’t know, it shouldn’t be a problem for you now as is. But now, maybe, since you know, you can fight it off a bit better.”

  “Thank you.” She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, looked at her watch. “Crap. I need to get home.” She gave Kris a hug. “Thank you for not slamming the door in my face,” she whispered then stood. She came toward me as though to give me a hug as well, then stopped, obviously thinking better of it, nodding at me instead, before letting herself out the front door.

  “I feel sorry for her,” Kris said softly.

  I snorted. “Why? I thought you’d hate her for what she did to Kat.”

  “You can feel sorry for someone and not approve of their actions,” she said. “But I’ll talk to Kat, for both of you. You she might listen to me on. Nina…? I don’t know so much on that. Maybe I can be more objective because she didn’t sleep with my boyfriend.” She laughed. “Anyway,” she continued, “do you need a place to crash for the night?”

  “No, I have a hotel room waiting, although I appreciate the offer.” I finished off the whiskey. “And I think I’m going to head there myself. I know you two will still be up for most of the night, but I’m a bit on the tired side, I haven’t slept well since…”

  Matt just nodded at me, following me as I made my way to the door. “Everything will work out, you’ll see.”

  I stopped in the open door, looked him in the eye. “I’m not sure Aerick won’t hurt her, Matt. I know you consider him a friend, but do me a favor? Keep an eye on her if you can? I know Alex will do his best, and she’s not exactly helpless, but you know better than anything what Aerick is capable of.”

  “I will.”

  I gave him a quick nod and walked out into the night.

  TWENTY-ONE

  KATELYN

  The next few days had me on edge. I’d gone shopping at the Mall with Kris, only to cut it short after seeing Raven, the fae that Aerick had worked with for awhile while he was with MAGE. I’d only met her a couple times, but those few times were enough. She had some guy with her, someone who looked almost familiar to me and I was pretty sure was human. He followed her like a puppy, giving her worshipful looks and I could have sworn I heard him call her ‘Mistress’ as we passed by her. She gave me a wiggle fingered wave, smirking at me, but the encounter was enough to sour my mood.

  Aerick continued to darken my Cryptozoology class. I still wasn’t sure exactly why he was there, and I avoided him as much as I could, until the following Monday he managed to be there waiting at the door, blocking me and Kris from our hasty getaway.

  “We need to talk,” he said to me, his voice low.

  So he could do what? Yell at me again? Maybe he would be more circumspect around the other students. “Fine, then we can talk right here,” I replied.

  “Fine,” he said. He stepped to one side as other students came to the door wanting out, letting them pass. Celeste gave us a little bit of a worried look, then smiled at Aerick briefly as she moved by him. For a moment, just the tiniest second, something niggled at my brain as she went past him, and then it was gone. But I didn’t miss the way his eyes followed her.

  “What was that about?” I asked him angrily. “She has a boyfriend.” I wasn’t sure the anger was on Celeste’s behalf, or my own.

  “What was tha…? Are you fucking kidding…?” he began to whisper harshly at me before letting the words die off. I saw his gaze move to one side and I slewed my eyes the same way. Some of the guys from the football team who were also part of our brother fraternity were staring at him, probably trying to assure themselves that he wasn’t harassing me and Kris. “Another time, Kat. I’m talking to you right now for a specific reason,” Aerick finally said, his jaw clenched to hold back anger. He was always angry at me anymore.

  “Like what?” I demanded. I crossed my arms over my chest and just glared at him. Two could play at this.

  “Kent Dyson. Did either of you know him?” Aerick asked.

  My glare faded. He was asking about Kent? Maybe I had been right as to why Aerick was in the class. My eyes went wide. “That’s why you’re here. You’re investigating Kent’s disappearance!”

  “Yes, and I’d prefer if you didn’t blow my cover to anyone who doesn’t know about me,” he said.

  I nodded at him. “Don’t worry. I won’t. If you want my opinion, I think Travis did something to him. He went into a jealous rage the last time he saw Celeste and Kent hanging out together. I mean, he didn’t beat him up or anything, but you could tell he wanted to. I could see him killing Kent,” I told him. If Travis was capable of hurting Celeste, who knew what else he might do in regards to her. Kris bobbed her head, agreeing with me, then her eyes narrowed as though something had occurred to her.

  “Travis… Celeste’s boyfriend?” Aerick wanted to know. I nodded at him again. “Celeste said that Travis wouldn’t be the type to do something like that. Jealousy or no,” he continued.

  Celeste really needed to quit protecting Travis. Yeah, I knew she claimed she loved him, and that I just didn’t know him, but I knew, deep down, that he wasn’t a nice guy. I had no problem with trying to sic Aerick on him. “Oh. He is,” I assured him.

  “Wait. I saw Kent talking to some strange old woman that has been around campus lately. She wears an old ragged shawl and has odd looking finger nails,” Kris said, shrugging and holding up her fingers.

  This was new. “What strange old woman? I haven’t seen any…” I began to ask, but Kris just shook her head.

  “From what I’ve heard, none of the Aetherics can.” She gave me a quick, half guilty glance. “Rumors are going around among us normal types that only we can see her.”

  “Odd looking nails? What do you mean?” Aerick asked

  “They were like… I dunno, like some kind of metal, dull though,” Kris told him.

  “Dull metal? Like iron?” A look of concern was growing on Aerick’s face.

  “Yeah. Maybe like iron,” she confirmed.

  “That can’t be good,” Aerick said, almost as though to himself. “Anyway. Thanks guys. I think the school’s a dead end. No one seems to know anything, and no one’s lying about it.” He nodded at us and turned away, walking down the hall.

  I just stared after him, relieved that he had kept the conversation civil, and then I looked at Kris. “How come you didn’t say anything about the old woman?”

  She shrugged. “Didn’t seem like it was anything to mention. Not like you could see her anyway. And it’s not like she’s hurting anything. She just kinda wanders around like she’s looking for something she lost. She’s a bit creepy, I’ll admit that, but most everyone is pretty sure she’s a ghos
t, even if Kent did talk to her.”

  “Who’s ‘most everyone’?” I wanted to know.

  Kris was silent a moment, then she shrugged again. “The Paranormal Club. They’ve kinda been keeping tabs on her, and they put the word out to not say anything to anyone.”

  The Paranormal Club was a ghost and ‘things that go bump in the night’ hunting club. Its members were all normal humans, and in fact that was one of the pre-requisites to joining. They thought that having an Aetheric in the group would be an unfair advantage.

  “Oh, okay. I guess,” I said, a little sadly.

  “I’ll see you later, Kat.” She smiled at me and headed down the hall towards the exit.

  I was beginning to wonder if Kris’s little brush with death at the hand of the Purity Movement hadn’t scarred her a bit more than she let on.

  ________________________________

  Kris had opted out of going to the Summer Frat Party. I had called to see when she wanted me to pick her up, but I could tell she was in a foul mood just by the sound of her voice. When I’d asked her if she wanted me to come over and hang out instead she had refused, telling me I needed to go out and have fun, and that besides, one of us needed to be there to make sure Travis didn’t get out of hand with Celeste again.

  So I told her that I would come by after, made her promise me that she would tell me exactly what was going on, and she agreed. She said she needed to talk to me about a few things as well, things that didn’t have to do with her.

  I had asked Alex if he wanted to tag along but he told me that having him and Travis in the same vicinity for any length of time would probably be a bad idea. I was also under strict orders from him that if I saw Travis hurt Celeste, or saw more evidence that Travis had hurt her, I was to call Alex. He had made the promise to me that no matter what Celeste wanted in regards to Travis, if the man laid a hand on her again, Alex was going to personally see to it that he ended up in the ICU.