by Laura Taylor
Genna considered saying no. She wasn’t in the mood for company, and the idea that Dee’s wolf could kill her with a mere thought was still terrifying. But at the same time, the idea of a wild and ancient wolf wanting to talk to her was intriguing. After a moment’s thought, she shifted back. “It’s okay,” she said, trying to sound like she meant it. “What does she want?”
“She wants to talk to you about your abilities. It looked like you were having a hard time this afternoon, with the Grey Watch making you jump through hoops.”
That was a surprise. The audience for the discussions in the courtyard had been strictly limited, and Genna didn’t think anyone present would have been idly gossiping about what was said. “How do you know what happened this afternoon?”
“We were watching from the window,” Dee told her unapologetically. “We couldn’t hear what was being said, but seeing it was enough. Whatever happens is going to affect all our lives – some people think we’ll have to leave our estate – and on an official basis, no one banned us from watching. Just from attending.”
It sounded like something Genna herself would have done. She’d eavesdropped on enough ‘private’ conversations around camp that she could understand the need to seek out further information when one was being excluded, so she didn’t begrudge Dee and the other wolves the attempt to learn more about their fate.
“It was not fun,” Genna admitted, pacing away from her, then back again. Though the demonstration had started with her being eager to show off what she could do, it had quickly progressed beyond that. “Everyone keeps pushing me to do more, to practise more, to get stronger, without ever asking me what I think of it. I feel like I’m just a tool for other people to use, rather than a real person.”
“I get that,” Dee said, which made Genna look at her suspiciously. “After we discovered who Faeydir really was, a lot of people were judging me on what I could do, rather than who I am.”
“Really?”
Dee nodded. “At first, I was terrified,” she confided softly. “Being a wolf was still so new, and I didn’t understand what Faeydir wanted most of the time. Everyone was so suspicious of me. The prophecy said that I was supposed to destroy our species, and I thought at first that the best way to avoid that would be to never use the abilities I’d been given. But as time went on, I got to know Faeydir better and gradually came around to her idea that our abilities are actually a precious gift.”
Genna must have looked disturbed by that, because Dee apologised softly, then took a seat on a low stone wall, patting the space beside her for Genna to join her. She did, though she wasn’t really sure where this conversation was going. They both stared off into the darkness for a moment, before Dee continued.
“Separating a wolf from a human is a serious responsibility. But there are those among our people who don’t manage to merge with their wolf side. I’ve used my gift a couple of times since I first met you, and each time it was to remove either the human or the wolf side from a shifter who was at risk of going rogue. The death of one side of the shifter is always sad, but it means that the other half is set free, able to live a full and happy life. It’s not something I enjoy doing, but even I can see that, in certain circumstances, it has its benefits.”
Genna turned that idea over in her mind. In truth, she hadn’t expected anything like the compassionate explanation Dee had just given her. She’d never seen a wolf go rogue, but she’d heard enough stories that it seemed like a horrific thing to go through.
“So we wanted to talk to you about your gifts. And we’re not just here to offer philosophical advice,” she explained cautiously. “Faeydir has asked me to explain to you more about how the magic works and give you some avenues to explore to develop your abilities more fully. It’s not an attempt to force you to perform tricks for anyone,” she added hastily, no doubt picking up on Genna’s reluctance to be pushed any further. “You can choose to develop your skills, or not, as you see fit. We’re just trying to let you see the available options.”
It wasn’t a bad offer. She should at least hear what Dee had to say, shouldn’t she? But… “How do you… I mean, how does Faeydir know anything about my gift?” she asked cautiously. “You’re of a different bloodline. The Grey Watch and Il Trosa have lived apart for hundreds of years.”
“That’s true. But a little while ago, I took a trip to Italy, and the Council helped me explore Faeydir’s past more,” Dee told her. “It turns out that Faeydir – or Fenrae, as she’s rightly called – lived in the same era as Faeydir-Ul, the mother of our species. She was there at the birth of the shifters, and she’s seen some truly remarkable feats of magic. That was before the Four Mothers gave us the bloodlines, so the split that happened six hundred years ago is a minor hiccup, in terms of the total length of time the shifters have existed. Based on Faeydir’s descriptions, some of our scholars believe we could have been around for as long as thirty thousand years.”
Genna’s eyes opened wide at that. “Wow,” she breathed. “That’s a long time.”
Dee nodded. “Fenrae witnessed a lot of different manifestations of the magic. Humans had a much more intricate spiritual life back then, a much easier time believing in magic as their minds weren’t biased by science and reason and all the scepticism that comes with modern day religions. I’m not saying science is a bad thing, by the way. But sometimes we try to see everything in scientific terms and reject anything we can’t readily explain. I think we need to leave room for a bit of mysticism.”
Genna nodded. “I agree. So what does she know about my gift in particular?”
“It’s kind of hard to explain. The modern human mind is largely limited by our own sense of logic. We want to see a cause and effect relationship in everything we do. It’s a common problem for newly converted wolves – they can’t quite believe it’s possible for them to become a wolf, which is why their first shift can be so difficult. When we shift, our human side vanishes, taking our clothes and weapons with it, but we’re inadvertently taught to believe that the two are linked – if our body stays, the clothes must stay as well. Faeydir says that’s not necessarily true. Your gift is a perfect example. We can manipulate the physical world in far more ways than we know, but we’re limited by our beliefs about what is possible, or impossible.”
Genna was listening intently, trying to make sense of what Dee was saying. “You’re saying that any shifter, no matter their bloodline or inherited gifts, could make objects disappear without actually shifting?”
Dee fell silent, her head tilted, and she seemed to be listening to something that Genna couldn’t hear. “Faeydir says yes,” she said finally. “I don’t pretend to understand it myself. In this case, I’m really just the messenger.” She shrugged apologetically. “I don’t have any personal experience with this stuff, and I, myself, haven’t mastered any of what Faeydir says is possible.”
“So what does she expect me to do?”
Dee’s attention turned inwards again, and Genna wondered what sort of odd conversation she was having with her wolf. She’d heard the stories that Dee’s wolf was a separate personality from her human side, but she couldn’t quite imagine what it must be like to have another creature in your head telling you what to do. “She wants me to tell you that your gift is far more powerful than you imagine. From what I saw this afternoon, it looks like you’re currently limited on the size of objects you can make disappear, or how far away they are. Would that be true?”
Genna nodded.
“Faeydir says those limitations are only in your mind. If you wanted to manipulate an object on the other side of the room, there’s no reason why you couldn’t do it. If you wanted to make a whole car disappear, it’s theoretically possible.”
Genna snorted. “That completely defies the basis of the shifter magic,” she objected, not meaning to be rude, but what Dee was telling her contradicted everything she’d been taught. “Even our bodies are limited by the magic. A wolf and a human are roughly the same
size. Sempre says we can theoretically turn into an animal anywhere from half the size of a human, to double the size, but the magic won’t stretch any further. That’s why there are wolf shifters, or cat shifters, but no horse shifters. The average horse weighs up to ten times as much as the average human.”
“What about the shifters in North America?” Dee asked.
“They don’t exist,” Genna said stubbornly. “Sempre and Lita always said they were only a myth.”
Dee cocked her head to the side. “Faeydir says they do exist. Or they did, at least. We really don’t know if they’re still around. But the fact that they did exist once says that the magic has to have some kind of loophole to accommodate them.”
Genna turned that over in her mind, and then another idea occurred to her. “Your magic is attuned to separating the two halves of a shifter,” she said cautiously. “How far away can that shifter be for the magic to work?”
“So far, I’ve only done it while I’m within a few metres of the person,” Dee replied.
“But theoretically, according to Faeydir, how far away could you be? Could you target a person sitting upstairs in their bedroom?” she asked, pointing up to the manor behind her.
Dee paused, having a silent conversation with her wolf. Then she said, “I could,” in a quiet, reverent tone, as if the news was something of a revelation even to her.
“What’s the maximum distance your magic could work over?”
Dee frowned. “I don’t know. I think it would be a trial and error thing. Maybe a couple of hundred metres, at least.”
“And could you target more than one person at the same time?”
Dee nodded. “Faeydir’s never done it, but she says it would be possible.”
The answers sounded promising. Though Genna had so far struggled to make her magic work to the extent she would have liked, it was exciting to hear that the limits could be extended much further, if only she could figure out the necessary methods to make it happen.
“The point I’m trying to make here,” Dee said, bringing them back to the original topic, “is that you’re far more powerful than you’re giving yourself credit for. Faeydir thinks it’s important that you realise the potential of your abilities. They could be of enormous benefit to the entire shifter nation.”
“How long did it take for people to stop seeing you as Fenrae-Ul and start seeing you as a person?” Genna asked, aware of the irony in her question. She, herself, was still struggling with the idea that Dee was a warm, compassionate person and not just the embodiment of a nightmare come to life.
“For some people, it’s still a battle. Particularly if they don’t know me. But Baron and Caroline have been very supportive, and they go out of their way to stand up for me when anyone’s giving me a hard time. But even for some members of my own Den, it took a while. They needed to get to know me, to see what my intentions really were, before they were able to move past their own fears.”
“Makes a hell of a difference when your alphas are willing to stand by you,” Genna said morosely.
“True enough,” Dee said. “I’ve been very lucky. But don’t give up. For every person who wants to take advantage of you, there’s someone else willing to stand up for you.”
Genna managed to smile, expecting it to be a long, hard road ahead of her before she got to anywhere like the level of comfort with her abilities that Dee had. “Thanks for the pep talk,” she said, genuinely grateful for the effort Dee had made to talk to her. “It’s nice to know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Dee smiled, then stood up. “I’ll leave you in peace. You’ve had a long day. But remember, you’re not alone. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
After leaving Genna by the back lawn, Dee headed off into the formal gardens instead of going back to the gathering at the front of the manor. Faeydir was waiting quietly in the back of her mind, anticipating more questions to come, but for the moment, Dee’s mind was busy trying to wrap itself around the revelations that Faeydir had already given her. The wolf’s answers to many of Genna’s questions had been unexpected, and the more Genna had asked, the more disturbed Dee had become. Though she’d fumbled her answers, not wanting to give away too much information, Faeydir’s answers had been perfectly clear. According to the wolf, she would be able to target and separate a shifter anywhere on the planet. And the more troubling issue of how many shifters she could target at once had been far more disturbing. Ten? she’d asked Faeydir. Twenty? A hundred?
All of them, the wolf had told her firmly. Dee dreaded to think what that could mean for the future of their species.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Sipping a glass of water and idly pulling debris off her cloak, Luna sat calmly at the edge of the driveway, watching as the shifters mingled. Calm, that was, on the outside. Inside, she was a quivering mess, her mind running a mile a minute as she weighed up contingency plans and plotted strategies, her heart racing and her face flushed, though it would have been hard to tell in the dim light, and her concentration was split between keeping track of where Sempre was and praying that someone of importance would suddenly feel a need for solitude and privacy.
After her conversation with Genna, she’d come back outside, disappointed that Genna clearly didn’t trust her and angry with herself for not managing to do a better job of helping her pack mates. But she could see Genna’s point of view. Yes, she’d done small favours for her friends, broken minor rules behind Sempre’s back, but her larger plan hadn’t allowed her to openly stand up to Sempre or to make any changes that had had a real impact on the pack. It was a plan she’d been working on for going on three years, and she’d counted on a couple more to go before push had come to shove. But now, it seemed she was going to be forced to take action a lot sooner than she had imagined.
Though she herself wasn’t a part of the trial, there was something she could do that would have a huge impact on its success or failure, if she could only find the opportunity to do it. Avoiding suspicion was of paramount importance, of course. If Sempre caught on to what game she was playing, all her hard work could be very quickly undone, so she was loitering here, pretending to have only a passing interest in the rest of the shifters, while waiting for the opening that would change everything.
But currently, the Council were all deep in conversation with various members of the Panel and looked like they would be for some time to come. Some of the Panel seemed more available, chatting in small groups, some of them wandering off towards the edges of the lawn, but it would be hard enough to get an audience with one who spoke English, never mind the guesswork of trying to figure out who might be sympathetic to her cause.
As she sat there trying to work out a solution, she noticed Baron heading off the edge of the driveway and around the side of the manor. He was loosely heading towards the cottage where some of the Panel had set up camp, and another quick glance in the opposite direction confirmed that Sempre was exactly where she’d been last time Luna checked – chewing Meili’s ear off and gesturing angrily towards their camp. Both of them were currently facing the other way.
Trying to look casual about it, Luna hopped up and ducked into the shadows, shifting and then dashing over to where Baron had just disappeared. It was a gamble choosing him to talk to. She’d met him only a handful of times, and she’d got the firm impression that he was stern, unyielding and impatient. But he was also alpha of the Den, and on that basis, he should have enough power to do something about the problem that Luna had spotted in the trial.
And he seemed to dislike Sempre enough that even if he didn’t agree with her request, there was only a very small risk of him ratting her out.
There was a narrow path between the hedgerows leading to the cottages, hidden from the lights of both them and the main building, and by the time Luna reached it, Baron was nearly at the end. She dashed forward, her paws scrabbling on the loose gravel, and Baron looked over his shoulder-
An instant l
ater, he was no longer a human, but a huge, black wolf, all but disappearing into the night, so dark was he, and Luna was skidding to a halt as he loomed above her, tail high, hackles raised, a low growl rumbling from his throat.
She hadn’t meant to rush at him like that, and she certainly meant no threat to him, but there was no way Baron would know that. So to try and appease him, she meekly tucked her tail and put her head low, licking her lips as a sign of submission. When the growling stopped, she dared to shift, standing with her head bowed as she waited for a formal response from the powerful man.
“What do you want?” Baron asked, after he’d shifted and taken a long look at her.
“To ask you for a favour,” Luna said boldly, looking him in the eye. Her need for guile might make her look cowardly at times, but she’d learned from long experience that she was well able to find her courage when she needed it. “There’s a problem with the trial.”
“The trial hasn’t even started yet, and you’re already managing to complain about it? You have a nerve, you know that?”
Well, it was clear as the nose on her face that Baron didn’t think much of her pack. But she pressed on, Baron’s opinion of her a minor detail that was little more than a bump in the road. “If you interview the members of my pack in front of Sempre, you’ll never get the truth out of them,” she blurted out. She had neither the time nor the patience for decorating her words nicely. It could be a matter of mere seconds before someone came along the dim path and found her talking to Baron. “They’re all terrified of her. Anyone who speaks out against her during the trial will be demoted, beaten and outcast. The only way to hear the truth out of anyone in our pack is to offer them a private audience with the Council and the Panel, without Sempre.”