[The Shifters Committee 01.0] Time Shifters

by Rebecca Foxx

  Same thing went for the rest of his physical features – his shoulders were broad and muscular in opposition of a slender waist. He towered over Faine by at least a head and his straight spine held his monster size body like a pole of iron. His powerful eyes were inspecting Faine a lot like Jayden’s had been moments earlier in the lobby.

  Faine gulped. Might have been a huge mistake to come here.

  Finally, Larc eased up and offered his hand in return of Faine’s. The shake was swift and formal but Faine could not deny that at the second their bare skin touched, she was forced to prepare a mental image of Mr. Anthony – one that was almost exactly like the flesh and blood Larc standing in front of her except that the image in Faine’s head had none of those expensive, tasteful clothes on.

  “Well,” Larc said after the introductions, “you were hotly recommended by Mr. Graves, a trusted partner of us. He said the best things about you, except the most important.”

  Faine eased up, too. Professional small-talk was one of her finest weapons.

  “And what just that one thing was that Mr. Graves forgot to mention?” she asked nonchalantly. She rested her sight on Larc’s handsome face, trying to ignore that stubborn image of his naked body stuck inside her head.

  “That you were ravishing, sweetheart,” Larc replied instantly.

  Faine’s eyelids fluttered and she had to turn her head away.

  “What an unexpected change of attitude,” Faine answered. She saw Larc did not get what she meant. “I mean your assistant,” Faine explained, “her welcome was rather hostile, for a second I felt I made a terrible mistake and attended the wrong office.”

  Larc nodded.

  “Jayden,” he said apologetically, “do not mind her, please. She just dislikes bloodsuckers, that is all.”

  Every single drop of blood in Faine’s circulation froze in the wake of Larc’s dubious statement. The panic crept up on her spine once again like some kind of a furry, lightning fast animal with a heavy, rotting breath.

  She heard some distant howling, although she could not be sure if it was only her imagination pulling tricks on her already horrified mind.

  Larc’s piercing sight fixed straight onto her eyes did not help to overcome that rush of fear clenching its icy fingers around Faine’s heart.

  “Excuse my language,” Larc apologized, “I might be spending too much time together with my assistant. She refers to real estate agents as bloodsuckers. Only she knows why.”

  “Well, I hope you do not share her rather degrading opinion,” Faine answered. The panic was over, she was still in the game and wanted to get the conversation back on a more professional ground. “So, Mr. Graves did not disclose any details of the property or properties you were after in Wales, Ireland, and England.”

  Larc nodded. He walked up to the table in the middle of the room. He pointed downwards onto the map.

  “Mr. Graves did not tell you anything, because he did not know anything. Many would be dying just to know what is set up on this table.”

  From where Faine stood, she could not see the exact position of those figures.

  She smiled before continuing the conversation.

  “You say die?” she asked, “of course not literally…” And she attempted to move forward.

  “Oh,” Larc said, “property business in the major league is a dirty one. It is not surprising at all when it happens in the literal sense every now and then with the disloyal.”

  Faine froze again.

  “Maybe I should not take a look at that map then,” she concluded.

  Larc flashed a ferocious smile at her.

  “And then how are you going to advise me on the purchases?” he asked.

  Faine could not help herself any longer. Larc might have got into her head very swiftly and played a dirty game on her account. Nevertheless he did it with a certain irresistible charm. And he seemed to enjoy the battle as much as Faine definitely did.

  Faine stepped ahead and placed her palm onto Larc’s shoulder. She caressed those tight muscles and kept a straight, inviting eye contact.

  “Well,” Faine said, “we might have to figure out something special in order to provide the right environment for our working together in the upcoming months.”

  Larc’s eyes flashed up with passion.

  He liked Faine’s gentle touch on his shoulder, liked her scarlet mouth and glistering eyes.

  He really should have just executed his first plan regarding Faine right there on the spot, but just now he started to have second thoughts.

  Chapter 2

  The evening was dark and the weather, as it often happened on the British Isles, bloody. Larc was patiently waiting on the back seat of his limousine and ignored the constant nagging of Jayden that filled up with an accusing voice the otherwise quiet interval.

  “Why do we need her at the first place?” Jayden asked. “Besides that she is so suspicious. Call me insane but she reeks of that familiar scent of the bloodsuckers.”

  Larc did not answer her immediately. He started through the back seat window into the darkness outside. At a couple of dozen feet away of them, where the road ended, he could see the silhouette of the building they came here for.

  The Funworth Castle was one of those forgotten mediaeval strongholds in the countryside not even tourists were interested about. Larc did not know anything about it except that it had to be his and had to be his soon.

  “I do not know, Larc,” Jayden added, “I have a bad feeling about this whole thing. You should reconsider killing…”

  That was the point Larc could not sit back quietly any longer. A subordinate of his dared questioning his decisions. If it had been done by someone less important in the ranks than Jayden was, he would have been already begging for mercy while bleeding quietly to death after Larc ripped his throat open with a lightning fast swing of a dangerous paw.

  Jayden realized that she had crossed the line once Larc flashed his dangerously glittering eyes onto her for a second.

  “Are you questioning my decisions?” he snarled at the blond girl.

  “I would never dare,” Jayden whined.

  “Then here is where this ends,” Larc said.

  Jayden did not risk another word.

  Larc spotted a pair of car lights approaching their position from the far end of the road. Finally, he thought.

  Faine parked her car next to Larc’s limo. Larc and Jayden got out from the back seats. A couple of though looking bodyguards sprang alive from an SUV parking in front of the limo. They gathered around their bosses, ready to protect them against any danger.

  Momentarily the only risk consisted of getting wet under the drizzle. But they were prepared. One of them held an umbrella from behind Larc’s back over his head.

  “Are we ready?” Larc asked Faine.

  “I’m so sorry for being late,” Faine apologized, “had to make a couple of calls on my way here to make sure we will be let inside the castle even at this late hour.”

  Larc was not impressed at all. He could not care less about excuses. Faine realized that and after getting her bag out of her car, she joined swiftly the others.

  “Let’s go!” she commanded and started ahead.

  She fished her phone out of her bag and called a number. Meanwhile they arrived to the main entrance of the castle. One of the bodyguards gave it a try but it was closed.

  “Yes,” Faine said into the phone, “we are here.”

  Then she cut the call.

  “So what should we know about this property in advance Ms. Valentine?” Larc popped the question. For a second Faine doubted that he expected a serious answer. It rather seemed a desperate attempt of trying to find a topic and talk the time away until the gates were opened.

  But Larc’s expression said it otherwise. He wanted Faine to demonstrate her professionalism.

  “Well, the Funworth Castle is one of the best preserved Norman castles today,” Faine started. “It has a trademark motte as you would see
at daylight, one of the hugest in England. The bloodline owning the castle can be traced back to the times of King Henry III.

  It has never been sold to any third party companies or developed into a touristic attraction, the descendants of the Figglestone family are quite proud of having their own mediaeval castle at their disposal…”

  Larc nodded.

  “Then one question remains,” he said. “How are we going to convince them that they ought to sell us their property?”

  Just then a flash lighted up the dark sky over the heads of the little gathering in front of the castle. The rumbling clouds caught up swiftly with the lightning and the drizzle turned into a thundering storm in a matter of seconds.

  Faine could take a good look at her companion’s faces when the flash hit. Excluding Larc they all shared some resemblances with wild, ferocious beasts when glancing back at her.

  “At though economical times like the one nowadays, cash payments have a surprisingly powerful convincing potential.”

  Larc laughed. His voice was lost in a series of thunders but Faine caught that first note and saw the smile on his face when the next lightning provided a moment of brightness again for the little group.

  Then the gate opened.

  The rest of the negotiation went swiftly and in Larc’s favor. Faine could not be more right when it came to the offering of the cash payment. The proud descendants of the Figglestone family exchanged greedy, excited glances among each other.

  Finally they accepted the first offer, although Faine felt like Larc was ready to double the amount at the first sign of some honest hesitation.

  For Faine’s great surprise, she found one of the bodyguards behind the wheel of her own car once they made it back outside from the castle.

  She immediately turned towards Larc.

  “What is this about?” she demanded.

  Larc smiled at her in an intimidating way.

  “I thought someone was ought to drive your car back home. It would be foolish to leave it just like that on the side of the road.”

  “I can drive my car back home,” Faine answered without too much self-confidence. She suspected that Larc had his own plans with her and a denial would not be accepted.

  “I do not think you can drive it from the back seat of the limo,” Larc answered simply and get in his car. Faine followed him without asking any more superfluous questions.

  For her great relief Jayden joined the bodyguards in the SUV. She was left alone with Larc who held a bottle of champagne in one of his hands, and offered a glass to her with the other.

  “Let’s celebrate,” he waved the bottle.

  The limo started to roll ahead.

  “So, where are we going?” Faine asked between two sips of champagne.

  “Oh,” Larc answered, “I’m driving you home except of course if you have any other intentions.”

  Faine looked right into Larc’s eyes. She had a couple of ideas how the two of them could use away the night at their disposal. But unfortunately she had something else on her schedule.

  “Do you not need to know my address?” she turned Larc’s invitation down in a nonchalant manner.

  Larc did not seem upset by her denial.

  “We know your address,” he said. “Do you think we employ anyone without a detailed security check?”

  That gave Faine the willies. She must have been the luckiest spy of all times or Larc had already known the truth. But if he knew about her secret identity, what kept him from revealing the truth in front of the others?

  The silent question overtly shimmered in the depth of Faine’s tired eyes. But Larc did not answer. He turned his head away and stared through the window of the back seat as if nothing was more interesting in the whole Universe but the pitch-black landscape of the British countryside passing by while their car was steadily advancing forward.

  Larc dropped Faine off at her apartment in Hackney. She would have been glad to marvel away the rest of the night with thoughts exclusively revolving around Larc’s strange behavior. But she had some people waiting inside the apartment for her arrival.

  As soon as she crossed the front door, she felt their presence in the kitchen. Faine closed the door behind herself and tiptoed into the kitchen. There she fell on her knees immediately.

  “Master,” she whispered.

  Around the kitchen table four elders were sitting. Their faces remained hidden under their cloaks. One of them reached its hand and placed it onto Faine’s slightly trembling head.

  “Tell us,” a croaked voice commanded, “tell us everything that happened.”

  And Faine told them everything about Larc’s grand plan of buying a dozen useless British castles. She told them that Larc had no apparent ideas regarding the future use of those castles. He did not even know anything about either of their history.

  Faine sadly concluded that she knew all the details of the werewolves’ plan but failed at finding out any of their possible reasons.

  “Raise, my child!” one of the cloaked elders commanded Faine. She obeyed. The elder offered a wrist to Faine.

  “Drink, my child, you served us well but the mission is far from being over.”

  Faine bit into the wrinkled wrist. A surprisingly rich stream of scarlet blood gushed down her throat. She had never before tasted the blood of an elder. Could not be compared to anything else – she felt her head getting dizzy and her body heavy. Every last sip of the thick, salty liquid only intensified her urge of drinking more.

  The elder pulled the wrist away.

  “That is enough for now,” it said. “You must rest my child. That werewolf may pose a greater threat to our secret society than we expected. Tomorrow you have to go back and keep on spying for us.”

  Faine nodded.

  “But they might suspect it already,” she tried to refuse what was ordered.

  One of the other elders raised up from the chair. His voice was sharp like the edge of a brand new ceramic knife.

  “How dare you opposing us?” it hissed.

  Faine knew she made a mistake. She felt some alien force attacking her mind. She lost her conscious gradually and only hoped that there would be a tomorrow with Larc still being a part of it.

  Chapter 3

  Larc stood alone in the middle of the great hall of the second castle he had just bought. He felt the strong magic of the building recognizing him as its new master. He smelt a dire, unnatural scent; he felt it caressing his own bare skin as if the air hereabouts was electrically charged.

  The power spiraling out of the age old stones this establishment had been raised upon had an intoxicating effect on his mind. The source of that savage witchcraft must have been one of those artifacts he had been looking for such a long time.

  Faine walked in through a side entrance. She spotted Larc standing alone in the middle of the space with his eyes shut and his mouth murmuring something more powerful than anything she had ever heard being murmured by the elders.

  Larc’s eyes popped suddenly wide open. Faine’s instincts suggested that she should make a run for it. But there was something else, too. The power accumulating around Larc attracted her like bugs were attracted by a shining bulb.

  Instead of fleeing she took a hesitant step forward.

  “I hope you are satisfied,” Faine said.

  Larc nodded. The expression on his face changed.

  “You did a good job,” he smiled.

  “That was what you had hired me for,” Faine bent her back and shook her head. “I’m your servant.”

  Larc walked up to Faine and bolstered her chin up with a finger. He gently raised Faine’s pretty head upwards until their eyes met.

  “Is that so?” Larc asked slowly. His tone was rather sad than intimidating. Faine had no idea how to react. The silence grew longer and longer. Finally Larc pulled his hand back and turned around. He started to walk in ever widening circles around Faine who was now stuck in the middle of the hall.

  “Where are the o
thers?” Larc asked.

  “Everybody has left,” Faine answered immediately. “Just you and me and the driver of the limo waiting for us in the car. It is getting late…”

  Larc stopped. He turned his head back and fixed his eyes onto Faine.

  “Rather early,” he said.