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Dark Crown
Melle Amade
DARK CROWN
Copyright © 2017 by Melle Amade.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Dark Crown
She had no idea what family meant until hers was massacred.
Davin has lived on the fringes of the shifter world, a warrior on the front lines defending the Ravensgaard against the Alliance of Righteous Humanity who will destroy them. When her cabal is disseminated, she is forced to retreat to the Ravensgaard court at Castle Brannach, where she is caught up in a web of politics and history. As she sinks deeper into the untold truths of her past, she finds herself torn farther away from her only desire, to destroy the Hunters who killed her family.
1
“You can’t do that,” I say, reaching out my gloved hands and pushing against Siobhan’s blade, trying to get it out of sight before any humans see it.
“He’s here, Davin.” Siobhan sniffs the misty Dublin air. “Can’t you smell it?”
“So are a ton of men, women and children.” I motion to all the human families milling around on the riverbanks below us.
The wind whips sharply across the rooftops, stinging my eyes and pushing my short crimson hair at even wilder vertical angles. Siobhan hates I have my hair dyed bright red, but I think it’s perfect and helps me blend in with the Dublin punk scene. It is the 70’s after all. It’s not like we’re Eagles, all holed up in our castle. We’ve never even been to our castle. The three-story attached brick house where we live in the slums of Dublin is only one step up from a human council flat, a government-issued piece of shit dwelling where crimes happen.
You’d think Master Murtagh would provide his front line with better accommodation, but I guess he’s got other things on his mind.
A sigh escapes me. I don’t really mind us all crammed in there. It’s a wee bit cozy even. We have to do what we have to do. At least until find the stronghold of the Alliance of Righteous Humanity and get rid of them.
“Let’s go,” Siobhan says. Her rosy full cheeks bely and innocent expression, bely the killer instincts she has for tracking. She’s not a bad cohort to have. Even if she sometimes does dumb things like fooling with her blade out in front of a bunch of humans. We might be on the outskirts of the crowd but you never know when one of them might casually look over and freak out because of the scian. It was a beautiful short sword with intricate crosses and knots engraved all over it, a gift from Siobhan’s parents that had been handed down through the ages. I know she’s not comfortable without it, but it’d be better if she was a tad less reckless. At twenty-six she’s a wee bit older than me and should know better.
“It’s not like anyone here’s going to notice anyhow,” she says. And she might have a good point. My eyes scan the crowd rubbing up against each other as they gyrate wildly to the music streaming from the stage.
Itchi gitchi ya ya da da
Itchi gitchi ya ya here
Mocha-choca-lata ya ya
Even without the psychedelic drugs many of the humans were taking, the music is compelling, makes my hips sway. But it’s not why we’re here.
We need to find the members of the Alliance. The Alliance of Righteous Humanity was always taking the moral high ground, so this was the perfect place for them; a gathering of humans soaking in immorality in Iveagh Gardens.
Casey told us to come here and check out the booth that would be manned by a couple of alliance members, some of the younger ones. Their headquarters would man these events to try to save a few souls. Try to convince the young, crazy humans there was a virtuous way of life. Of course, they wouldn’t explain killing shifters was their primary purpose. They’d save that piece of information for after the marketing spiel. They’d wait until the human was a fully-fledged recruit and anxious to establish themselves.
Our job today, though wasn’t to stop them from recruiting. Casey wanted us to befriend them by acting like we might be new recruits. He thought if we could infiltrate the Alliance, we’d stand a chance of wiping out their headquarters, taking all of them down. I was a little more than just proud he’d selected Siobhan and I to do the task. It was an important assignment that could stop the slow dissemination of our Dublin pack. They’ve been picking us off, one by one, ever since I can remember.
When I was first abandoned in Dublin when I was five, the Ravensgaard had a manor house. We got a stipend from Master Murtagh and it was subsidized by the Ravensgaard in our cabal. There were enough of us that some could work and some could fight and we lived well. But that was twenty-five years ago, where we once were one hundred strong, now we’re down to fourteen. They have killed so many of us. The Alliance is winning and if we don’t stop the bleeding, soon there will be none of us left.
Damn Murtagh. I know we’re not supposed to say anything about our Chieftain, but seriously…who the hell just leaves his soldiers on the front lines dying?
Today things will change. We’ll make friends with some Alliance members and start to worm our way into their group. But not when Siobhan’s waving her scian around?
“Put it back in your bag and let’s get this underway,” I say. Siobhan tosses her brown hair over her shoulder, sheathes the blade and drops it in her black canvas backpack.
“I just wanted to make sure it was there?” she grins. “How’re you going to defend yourself?”
“That’s why the good Lord gave you fists and feet.” I clench my fist and chuff it gently towards her chin.
“You know I’m better with the scian,” she says.
“The goal today is to not need either of them.” I scan the booths that are lined up on the fringes of the crowd. “What we want to do is simply make friends and show some interest. That was what your dad told us to do.”
She throws her backpack over her shoulder. I don’t have any big weapons on me, just a couple of throwing stars. I’m wearing some striped knee-high socks. They match the miniskirt, the black turtleneck, the small leather jacket that fits over my bright red top. My colors are way too bright for a typical Ravensgaard. That’s the point, really. We need the Alliance to think we’re some young, dumb punks who believe in demons.
We make our way down the hill and through the throng. People dance wildly in groups or by themselves. Everyone’s moving to their own beat, regardless of what the music is doing. Some even hold hands and prance in circles. Siobhan stays close by my side.
I adjust my leather strap wristbands as we maneuver through the crowd. They have blades hidden in them that I can whip out to slit a Hunter’s throat with ease. The rings on my fingers double as brass knuckles. I feel pretty comfortable even without my scian.
I spy our targets. They’re sitting at a folding table near the edge of the masses. The sign over the top of the booth clearly states their name. The Alliance of Righteous Humanity. Hunters have no problem hanging out with humans and proclaiming exactly who and what they are. They don’t have to live in the shadows like we do.
Well, we actually hang out in the shadows of the shadows. We aren’t like the other Ravensgaard. There are those who live with and under the protection of the Eagles, there are those who live at Castle Brannach under the protection of Master Murtagh, and then there is our cabal. The assassins. The unspoken group of Ravensgaard actively hunting the Alliance of Righteous Humanity before the
y can hunt us. Even though they’ve been taking out our people, we have been getting them worse. We hit them five to one on what they take from us. It’s just, they can recruit. We have to be born.
The booth is manned by a boy and a girl, both wear outfits like us. The girl’s sex pistols shirt has a diagonal rip across the front, held together by safety pins so you can see her red lace bra and ample cleavage. She’s got very tight black leather pants, and her flat, round face makes it look like she might be mixed blood, perhaps some kind of Asian. Her black hair is cut square and her full lips have a downward turn that makes it look like she has never smiled a day in her life.
The boy has a bleach white mohawk. It’s strange to see the way they look, very different from the prim and proper clothing they are typically attired in. But I guess they’re in costume trying to attract the punters.
“Lean on me,” I murmur, before they see us.
Siobhan collapses on me so hard I almost fall over. Her head sags and feet drag.
“Steady,” I hiss.
“Ohhhhhhhh, I don’t feel so good,” she says, a loud moan erupting from her mouth.
I stumble a bit under her weight, aiming towards the Alliance’s booth. “Can I get some help?” I call out to them.
The boy smiles and vaults over the counter. “I’ll give you a hand,” he says, slipping his shoulder under Siobhan’s arm and lifting her weight off me. “Come right back in here and we’ll help you rest up.”
We’re probably the first people to speak to him all day.
“Is she going to puke?” the Asian girl asks with disdain.
“Calm down, Shannon,” the boy says. “These people are in need.”
She stands back, hands on hips as the boy slides Siobhan into a chair.
“It’s just…it’s just too much,” Siobhan moans. “What are we doing?”
Damn she’s good at this. I kind of suck, but I give it a shot. “It’s so loud out there and crazy. It’s like everyone’s possessed.”
“Is she on drugs?” Shannon asks, still not moving a hand to help the boy who is now mopping Siobhan’s brow with some wet cloth he happens to have for just such an emergency.
“No, no,” I say. “Just a wee nip of the bottle. But she saw something in the crowd, I think.”
“A devil!” Siobhan moans.
Shannon’s eyes squint as she peruses the crowd. “Really?” she asks.
“There was something out there.” I breathe a little heavier hoping I’m believable. “Like a beast-man or something.”
The girl’s mouth doesn’t turn up, but she does look us up and down. It makes me a little nervous, like maybe she could see through us and knows we’re shifters.
“I’ll go check it out.” She raises her chin at the boy before leaping over the counter and disappearing into the crowd.
I want to follow her and drive my scian into her neck. She’s a killer. It’s obvious. I wonder how many of us she’s taken out.
“You’re going to be all right,” the boy says to Siobhan. “My name’s Delaney and we can help you.”
Check. Connection made.
Now we need to make sure he takes our number. But I have little doubt that is going to happen. Siobhan’s aces at that.
Mrs. O’Leary plonks the big bowl of steaming potatoes in front of me before retreating to the kitchen.
“Pass the potatoes, Davin,” Casey, Siobhan’s dad, says from the far end of the table. I reach into the bowl with two hands, throwing one on my plate and picking up the largest and chucking it down the long table straight at Casey’s head. Keith who’s halfway down the table snatches it out of the air before it reaches Casey.
“Manners, Keith,” Casey says to Siobhan’s younger brother.
“All manners will get you around here is hungry.” Keith grins, chomping down on half the potato in a single bite. The table bursts out laughing.
“Come on, show off” Siobhan chuckles. “Service the lot of us.”
“No probs.” I rapid-fire the potatoes around the table, one at each head.
Only Laura misses her catch. To be fair, I was aiming short, afraid to hit Siobhan’s mum. “Alright, you little shit.” She swipes her potato off the floor and swaps it with Casey’s. He doesn’t mind, he’d lay on a bed of nails for her, so eating a potato off the floor is nothing.
“Been getting some extra practice in?” Keith asks.
“Gotta be prepared,” I grin, proud that the cabal is recognizing my capabilities. I know I’m the outsider here, the one left on the doorstep. But they took me in and made me part of the family. I want to do them proud.
“Don’t be throwing my food around!” Mrs. O’Leary calls from the kitchen.
We all snicker like reprimanded school children.
“Finish up,” Casey tries to put on a stern face for the table, but I can see the mirth in his eyes. “We’ll do some extra training before sleep tonight. The girls did good today, we want to maximize the opportunity and be ready to strike when the Alliance calls.”
“Davin!” Siobhan’s whisper is shrill in my ear. “Wake up!” Her fingers poke into my side. I open my eyes, staring wide into the darkness of our bedroom. There’s something wrong. I can feel it under my skin. Something is not how it should be.
The house is quiet, but something feels off. I crawl out of bed. In seconds I’ve slipped on a pair of leather pants, and strapped on my weapons. The blade I keep on my thigh, my num-chuks, throwing stars, everything.
We’re out the door and down the stairs single file against the wall, creeping silently in our own house until we get to the bottom couple of stairs overlooking our living room. It’s too dark to see much of anything, but a shiver runs through both of us at the same time. We can both smell it.
Blood.
Siobhan’s breathing is heavy and loud in the gloom. There are black shapes in the space in front of us, but I can’t tell if it’s furniture or something else. I raise my hand against her lips. “Hit the light switch,” I murmur. Her head shakes under my hand. She can’t move much more. I reach around her, tremors running through my arm as our bodies press together in the shadows. Her terror transfers to me and the last thing in the world I want to do is turn on the light and see what is in our living room.
But I hit the switch regardless.
Siobhan’s piercing scream fills the air, but I’m unable to even open my mouth. I slide slowly down the wall, frozen by the horror in front of me.
2
At some point, we must land. My wings ache from exertion, but the exhaustion battles against my fear of being on the ground. It’s against all rationale. There’s no way the Hunters could have followed us. They couldn’t even see us as we left, and we have flown miles and miles and miles. Ten. Twenty. Thirty. It will take us days to get where we need to be, to the safety of Castle Brannach.
Siobhan is flagging, too. She dips down and then surges back up again as she beats her wings. We can’t keep going tonight. Out here in the deep gloom of the countryside, where all the bright emerald green of the forests and paddocks are slumbering under a murky quilt, I think we might be safe.
I float down onto a massive oak tree and Siobhan lands next to me. Both of us glance furtively around. There is nothing. No Hunter can follow us when we fly in the dark this far. They simply don’t have the capability. I jump from the tree, shifting as I land. Siobhan shifts and lands next to me, falling forward on her knees. Her hair hangs in long strands over her face as her breath comes in heavy sobs.
“Siobhan,” I murmur, kneeling next to her and catching her shoulders in my arms. There’s nothing I can say, though. Her parents are dead. Casey. Laura. Her brother is dead. Keith. The people who raised me. The only family I’ve ever had is gone. Even Mrs. O’Leary was there, sliced and bleeding in the pile of bodies on our living room floor.
Our cabal has been wiped out.
Tears stream hot down my face, falling onto the cool grass. I steady my breathing, inhaling the cool air as deep as pos
sible, letting it still my insides. It will do neither of us any good if we both fall apart. She crumples to the grass, sobbing until her steady rasping breath lets me know she’s asleep. I slip from my kneeling position, lying on my side in the dark field.
Nothing can bring them back or make this right.
It must stop.
The senseless killing of my people must end. We call them Hunters for a reason. They hunt us incessantly. Through the ages it has never stopped. They built their beliefs on a two-thousand-year-old idea that we are demon spawn, even though there is no evidence we do the things they claim. We don’t eat children, attack humans…we don’t even breed with humans. Yet still we are classified a “children of the devil” and they despise us enough to kill us. We have tried to reason, negotiate, and finally protect our perimeters.
And still they come.
I rake my hand through my short red hair. The night is gone and the sun is lightening the sky, making the horizon bleed red. Ravensgaard still live, but my cabal is gone. We didn’t go through the bodies, we couldn’t. We could barely shift and fly to safety. Maybe some of our cabal have escaped and scattered, perhaps they will arrive at Castle Brannach.
Maybe.
It doesn’t change the reality that seers my brain as the sunrise slices the sky.
Hunters must die.
We must eliminate them. It is the only answer.
“They followed us,” Siobhan murmurs into the morning pall. “It’s our fault.”
I bite my tongue between my teeth so hard it hurts. Hard enough to make sure I don’t say what I’m thinking. Shut the hell up and you’re right. We totally fucked up, and it cost our family their lives. It might as well have been us who killed them.
The Hunters will pay.
It won’t make it right, but it is a decision I can understand. Something I can grip on to and throttle as my world falls apart.
Heroines and Hellions: a Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection Page 86