“Why did you help me?” She asked, more confused by this than anything else. She slid down the wall, tucking her legs beneath herself and doing her best to cover her scarred flesh with the hospital gown.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Aiyana asked, looking into Skye’s eyes with just as much confusion.
The question took Skye aback, leaving her stammering over what was, in her mind, such an obvious explanation. “Well... you didn’t stand to gain anything from it, for starters. And you don’t know me or anything about me.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Aiyana said sweetly.
Now Skye was truly perplexed.
“Of course it matters,” she insisted, shocked that this was a point that needed to be argued. “Your resources, your time – why waste them on someone who means nothing to you?”
Miko smiled. “It’s what we do. We try to help people when we can. If we see someone who needs it, we –”
Skye’s eyes flashed with anger before he could even finish that sentence.
“Needs it?” She repeated in barely stifled rage. “You think I needed your help? You could have let me die. No, scratch that – you should have let me die. I didn’t ask you to jump in, nor did I want you to.”
By the time she finished, her eyes were wild again.
Aiyana shot Miko a look of frustration. As always, they had been doing well until he opened his mouth.
Skye stood, glaring at him and avoiding Aiyana’s pleading eyes.
“You know what, fuck this. Give me my clothes so I can get out of here.”
Aiyana climbed to her feet, motioning to Miko as he followed suit.
“You’ll have to forgive Miko here. He’s been touched by God in a very special way,” she offered and Skye snorted her agreement. It took Aiyana a moment to ask the important question. “Skye, do you remember what... happened to you?”
Skye gritted her teeth as a flash of the bite came to mind. She reached up to her shoulder slowly.
“Yeah... it was a werewolf, right?”
“Yes,” Aiyana answered weakly. “Werewolf, lycanthrope, faol – whatever you want to call him – he got away that night, but not before putting a half dozen of our men in intensive care.” She said bitterly.
“A faol... ?” Skye repeated. “What the hell is that?”
“Well, the other terms are relatively new,” Miko offered. “They only came into use a few centuries ago but the breed has existed for more than 4,000 years. I have it on good authority that they find labels such as ‘werewolf’ to be offensive,” he explained, smiling because he was the resident expert on the subject.
No other living Asher had ever been in direct contact with a faol, let alone established an ongoing dialogue with one as he had. His knowledge was limited to trivia such as their preferred titles, but he enjoyed the chance to sound like he was well informed. A self-satisfied smile remained on his lips as he continued.
“They call themselves the ‘Tàcharain Fhaol’, which means something like ‘wolf changelings’ or just the ‘faoil’ for short.”
“The strange thing is, we never have problems with them. They aren’t egotistical creatures like the vamps,” Aiyana said.
“Or rather, ‘like the fògaraich’,” Miko corrected.
Aiyana clenched her teeth in irritation. The chastising look that she gave in response failed to deter him from continuing.
“That’s what the furry fang-gang you just joined calls vamps, Skye,” Miko informed her. “My guess is you should get used to using their lingo. Fògaraich means the ‘banished ones’. Now, if they’re really pissed they’ll call them the ‘brathadairean’ instead, which means the ‘betrayers.’ But that’s like a four letter word in their book – kinda reserved for special occasions.”
Skye frowned. “Banished ones? Betrayers? Sounds to me like the... faoil have a serious hate-on for bloodsuckers. What’s the history with the breeds? How are they linked?”
Miko’s confidence deflated. It had been nice while it lasted.
“Well... we don’t really know,” he confessed grudgingly.
Skye gave him an incredulous look as he averted his eyes.
“Like I was saying,” Aiyana continued. “We don’t have problems with them – but it’s mainly because the faoil just want to be left alone. They don’t hate or feed on humans and there are no politics amongst their ranks. They’re content to live their lives with their pack or, in rare cases, in solitude. Ordinarily, they only fight if threatened or provoked,” she explained as she studied Skye’s eyes. The blue was far more prevalent now than it had been the last time they saw one another. The yellow storms were seemingly calmed to nothing more than faint rings.
Miko scratched his chin and spoke with his brow furrowed thoughtfully.
“On rare occasions, and we’re talking extremely rare, like once in a lifetime or less, a pup gets loose and runs rogue during their first change. But even then, we don’t have to handle it. The faol pack responsible for the pup steps in and corrects the problem. Hell, they’re the ones who warn us about it. They let us know not to get involved so we won’t lose any men.” For the first time since Skye had met him, Miko’s expression turned grave. “But the one who bit you? That was no pup, Skye,” he offered in a sobering tone. “His name is Drostan and he’s one of their ancients. We have no idea why he was even there that night, let alone why he took such an interest in you.”
Skye could not decide exactly how she was supposed to feel about that bit of information. Flattered? Frightened? Pissed off? She let out an annoyed ‘humph’ and crossed her arms over her chest.
“All right, let me see if I’ve got this straight,” she began skeptically. “Werewolves are really just big, peaceful, misunderstood puppy dogs that mind their own business. But there just so happens to be an ancient one out there who – for some unknown reason – has a hard-on for me? And, oh yeah – because I’m just that fucking lucky – said werewolf decides to make his canine crush known by biting a great big chunk out of my torso?” She demanded and eyed them impatiently, waiting for confirmation.
“Pretty much,” Miko agreed, grinning at how neatly she had summed up the problem.
“Freaking typical, I can’t even get a normal stalker,” Skye stated dryly.
She chewed her cheek and thought things through for a moment, sitting on the edge of the bed and feeling the weight of what was happening take its place on her shoulders.
She rubbed her face and growled in frustration.
Just when one battle was over...
“Okay, you guys are all about helping me, right? Well, I’m going to need a crash-course in werewolves or faoil or whatever. How long do I have to learn before it happens?”
Their expressions told her before their words that they were down to the wire.
“We’ve only got a couple of days. More importantly, we don’t have the facilities or resources to teach you what you’re up against and keep us safe after you change,” Aiyana answered truthfully. The last thing this girl needed was smoke and mirrors. “We’ll have to... take you to see a contact of ours.”
“A ‘contact’? You mean another werewolf,” Skye growled.
“Another ‘faol’, Skye. Faol, you gotta remember that or else you’re gonna offend the big, scary, could-eat-you-in-one-bite type that we’re going to see,” Miko warned with a smirk.
Skye cursed under her breath and shook her head before stopping suddenly as something occurred to her.
“Where?” She asked suspiciously and narrowed her eyes on them. She got the distinct impression from Aiyana’s inflection on the words ‘take you’ and Miko’s similar emphasis on ‘going to see’ that she would not like the answer.
“Scotland,” Miko announced cheerfully. He struggled not to laugh when she rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in exasperation.
The annoyance that she was feeling was short-lived, though. It dissolved the instant she recalled the man’s voice from her dreams. Her breath caught in her throat as
realization hit.
His accent...
The man speaking so sweetly to her had been Scottish. Like really Scottish. Like haggis, highlands, bagpipes, and kilts type Scottish.
Her own words from her dream echoed through her mind: ‘It is where you belong.’
She scowled at that. Why did she get the sneaking feeling that she was playing right into some bigger picture here?
Aiyana leaned back against the wall and waited to see if Skye would immediately refuse. To her surprise, she did not.
“Like I said before, Skye, the faoil stick to themselves. They have no interest in our problems, or in us, so communication is rare. The one we will take you to see only tolerates us because he despises the fògaraich so much,” Aiyana confessed. “We’ve been working to make arrangements since you got here, but even after calling in favors, pulling strings, and twisting arms, we couldn’t get a flight until the day after tomorrow. It will take a day to get there with driving and connecting flights, which means you won’t arrive until the evening of your first change. This guy really didn’t give us much time to work with.”
Skye looked out the window and sat in silence mulling over her options, or rather, complete lack thereof. What could she do? If she refused to go, they would have no choice but to put her down. Common sense dictated it. Their purpose was to protect innocent lives. If she would not cooperate, she would be just another one of those rogue pups that Miko had mentioned. Sure, she would put up a fight, probably kill a good amount of them, too – but what would be the point of that? She would still be dead and to be perfectly honest, she did not want them to die at her hands... or paws... or whatever the hell they would be. These people were out there killing vamps. That gave them the right to keep breathing in her book. Besides, she could not simply leave even if they were to let her. She had no idea how strong she would be once she changed, let alone what she could use to restrain herself effectively. She definitely was not okay with the risk of killing innocents. The entire reason that she had killed her brothers was a sense of indirect responsibility for the deaths they caused. It would be pretty asinine to let all of that work go to waste by killing people directly now. The whole thing was out of her control and she was very uncomfortable with the feeling. Letting all of the air out of her lungs slowly, she came to terms with the fact that she should be dead already. If she kept that in mind, it did not seem like such an inconvenience to give this a shot. Well, at least until she had learned what she needed. After that, she could be on her way, back to...
To where, the fragmented voice in her mind asked?
The question inflicted all the jarring impact of running headfirst into a brick wall.
It occurred to her suddenly that she had never considered it; had never contemplated surviving through it all – what would come next. She had no home, no family, and no friends. All that had kept her company for the past three years since her escape had been a quest for vengeance – a desire to kill her brothers and all who were close to them. She had succeeded. So, what was she supposed to do now?
No answer would come. The silence left her feeling infinitely alone in the world. Everyone that knew the violence of what had happened to her and her family was dead; by her own hands or by the hands of those she had later hunted down and killed. Now it was over and none of it had made a difference. It had not brought them back to her, had not made her feel any better.
A silent tear streamed down her cheek and she wiped it away quickly, thankful that her back was at least to Miko. She was not sure whether Aiyana had noticed it, though. For the first time, she felt the void inside of herself; the hollow place where the love and memories of years spent with her family would have been, were they not stolen from her. She took a sharp breath as the pain settled into her heart. Never once had she allowed herself to grieve for them, it had always seemed so pointless. Part of her wanted to curl up at that moment and let it all go, just wail and cry at the cruel hand that she had been dealt and call out for her long-dead mother.
She ached to do so; to succumb to her complete exhaustion and refuse to face this latest battle. She just wanted – no, needed – to rest, to mourn, to be still, to heal. It had been more than twelve years since she had known peace. After everything that she had faced, was it too much to ask for a weekend off?
Another tear fell and, once again, she cursed it in her mind as she wiped it away. Grieving would still be useless, she resolved after a long moment. It would not change the harsh reality that there was nothing left for her now. Forcing the pain back into the darkest recesses of her mind, she came to a decision. Since she had no direction in life, she would have to go along for the ride until she figured out what came next. As it turned out, she was not so sure she was ready to die just yet.
“All right, I’m in,” she finally managed as she stared out the window. Her voice strained to escape past the rising lump in her throat. It seemed appropriate somehow, that here she sat in this cold room, looking out at the warm rays of sun that could not reach her. When she turned back, she found Aiyana watching her sympathetically.
Aiyana could tell that Skye had been through something in her life that had caused a mental break. There was madness behind those pain-stricken eyes, lurking just beneath the surface and ready to erupt at a moment’s notice. She would simply stop talking in the middle of conversation and withdrawal into herself. Aiyana gave Skye a reassuring smile and squeezed her rigid hand, knowing this must be extremely difficult for her. At the far end of the compound, a team was researching her history. It was an effort that Aiyana had set forth to get answers while Skye had still been unconscious. She knew that whatever they came back with would only be part of the story.
Miko stood in the awkward silence that had settled over the room, taking in the way Aiyana and Skye stared at one another. He would have been more than happy to tell himself that they had the hots for each other. Alas, he had a feeling that the cause of their shared silence was something disappointing, like common history or a sense of sisterhood. He rolled his eyes at that.
“So, it’s settled,” he announced and clapped his hands together loudly to interrupt the estrogen-enriched hallmark moment. “We leave in two days, which means you’ll be able to let that shoulder heal the rest of the way before you travel. With your change already taking place on a cellular level, your body is repairing itself at an accelerated rate. It’s still nowhere near what it will be after your first transformation, but I’d say six days to mend up all of the damage from that bite is still impressive.” He quirked an eyebrow and stepped closer, growing tired of walking on eggshells with this girl. He was who he was, she had to get used to him sooner or later. “Now, I’m not being chauvinistic or implying that you ‘need’ it, so don’t get all hyped-up on me when I say this – you should really take this as an opportunity to rest. None of us have any idea how draining it’ll be on your body when you change, but I think we can all agree there will be a draw on your strength.” Seeing the way Skye’s eyes locked on his in response, he threw his hands up in frustration. “Or did I just overstep some boundary that’s gonna earn me a thorough ass-kicking?” He huffed and, for a moment, was sure he would be waking up in a hospital bed of his own.
Skye stared at him in puzzlement, as if wondering whether he truly was brain damaged, before finally shaking her head. “No, Miko. I’ll let you slide this time, but only because you have a point. I have to guess that changing won’t be easy and I know my body is working overtime to close up this wound. In the meantime, I’ll research whatever you know about the... faoil.”
Aiyana shot Miko an impatient look. She never understood why he could not keep his mouth shut when situations were delicate. Most of the time he really pissed people off, which made her job more difficult. Occasionally, he got lucky and they realized that he was not trying to offend them. He was just the type to cut the bullshit, no matter what was going on.
Forcing a smile, despite her annoyance with Miko, she turned back to Skye. “I�
��ll bring the files, but with the faoil being so secretive, it’s not much. I’m sure the doctors are going to want to do some tests on you so we can expand that knowledge. Are you all right with that?” She let out a sigh of relief when Skye reluctantly nodded. “Good, then I won’t have to listen to them whining about how they missed this ‘rare opportunity to document the change’. Needless to say, the rest of the faoil clan hasn’t exactly waltzed through our doors, volunteering to be studied.”
“Can’t say I blame them,” Skye grumbled. “But, seeing as how you did prevent me from becoming dog chow, I suppose I can reciprocate by playing guinea pig for a few days.”
“And the next time we cross paths with someone like you who needs a lesson in faoil, we’ll be able to share what we learn with them,” Aiyana said with a smile.
“Aw, it’s like the circle of life!” Miko said with feigned enthusiasm.
Skye arched a brow, her head slowly swiveling toward him. She exhaled through her nose and counted to ten as her eyes settled on him. He knew how to try her patience, she would give him that much.
“I’ll be right back,” Aiyana said and pointed to the door. “Miko, you want to come get the others up to speed?”
He winced in response. As casual as that line had sounded, it was anything but. She had just flipped the switch from being his friend to being his Lieutenant. It was not a question. It was an order. She wanted to talk and he knew he was going to catch a raft of shit for skipping the niceties. Well, if he was about to receive a verbal lashing, he figured he might as well get in one more shot.
“Sure... oh, but Skye, the doctors will want to come back in and get you hooked up to the IV again. Try not to eat any of them, k?” He asked with a grin as he winked at her.
“Miko!” Aiyana cried in disbelief.
Darkness Descends: A Skye Faden Novel Page 7