Adopted by The Owl: The Owl Shifter Chronicles Book One

by Qatarina Wanders

  “Nothing they did could have worked. Your mother was left with two choices. The Adoption or kill herself. She knew if she went through with the Adoption, she would die. She just didn’t have enough integration. So she killed herself.”

  “To save you?” Emily glowered at her aunt.

  The woman nodded. “I would have gladly laid down my life for my sister. I didn’t know she would do that until I was released by the warlock and found out she was dead. That’s why I outlawed myself here.”

  “This was your doing?” asked Rina. “And not the vigilantes?”

  The woman gave a bitter laugh. “The vigilantes are nothing compared to warlocks. Their minds are easy to ensnare. That’s why the rove we’re up against is so powerful. He has them—even their leader—in his pocket.”

  Integration means how well you and your Owl are bonded, Selena informed Emily. You and I have great integration. That’s why we can have conversations. Not all other shifters can have conversations with their counterparts.

  You’re saying I’m a good fit for the Adoption? Emily had fully mastered the ability to speak to Selena internally now.

  I’m saying the Adoption is our only choice.

  But I might lose you, Emily argued. I might die. We might die!

  At least we’ll have a chance to stop this rove once and for all, Selena said. At least as the Adopted, you’ll have a fighting chance. And even if you died, the rove would have no use for Michael, and he’d have to wait for the next two siblings. That buys the world more time.

  “Granddad was Adopted by an Owl, and yet he couldn’t stop the evil rove,” Emily countered. “There’s no assurance that if I agree to the process and survive, that I can defeat the evil rove. Why should I still go ahead with it?”

  “My father was an old man when the evil rove first showed up,” Aunt Anastacia pointed out. “There’s only so much an old Owl can do. But you’re not old. You’re young, and you’ll be a lot more powerful as an Adopted than Dad ever was.”

  “If he’s just a rove, why can’t you fight him?” asked Joanna. “Why does it have to be Emily’s life on the line?”

  “This rove is very ancient. He knows more about the ancient powers than I do.” Aunt Anastacia’s voice shook slightly. “Even though I’ve prepared and studied and practiced hard since I last faced him, I’m still severely outclassed by him. So I can’t face him and hope to win.”

  “But you’d rather send your niece to face a monster, right?” Joanna tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow in her typical sassy manner. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Because of you, your sister is dead. D-E-A-D dead! Do you want your niece to die because of you?”

  Aunt Anastacia paused and considered what Joanna said. “There might be another way. A way for me to defeat him. But I need to know his name. His name is the key to his identity, and his identity is the key to his downfall. That’s why, when he appears to people, he’s cloaked in darkness.”

  “If all you need is his name, then you’re in luck,” said a strained male voice. “Because I know what it is.”

  Everyone turned to see Emily’s dad sit upright, looking perfectly sane.

  37

  “Alfred. His name is Gregory Alfred.”

  Emily surged to her feet. “Dad?”

  Dad looked her straight in the eyes, a smile tugging his lips to the sides. “Em.” He stood himself up. There were no bright orange lights in his eyes. No longer thrashing. He didn’t appear to be declining anymore.

  Emily ran to him. He was ready, standing sturdy as she slammed into him, and he wrapped his arms around her in a fatherly embrace.

  Already sobbing, Emily was overwhelmed with joy. “They said you might never walk or talk to me again!”

  “I was there, Em. I heard everything.” Dad sounded choked up. “I heard and saw everything. Gregory Alfred trapped me in my own mind. But I kept fighting. I just didn’t have the right tools to undo it.”

  Emily broke the embrace, instantly snapping from relieved to angry. She turned to Anastacia. “Whatever plan you’re cooking up better be good. We take down Gregory tonight.”

  “It’s going to take me some time to get the spell right.” Aunt Anastacia held her hands up as she spoke. “Maybe a day. Maybe two.”

  “We’ll need a way to enter the Alfreds’ mansion,” Joanna interjected, then to Emily’s dad, she smiled and added, “Hi, Mr. Davies.”

  “Hello, Joanna.”

  “There’s supposed to be a party Sunday evening,” Rina said. “Marion Alfred is organizing an all-night party.”

  “I got invited,” Emily replied with the hint of a smile. “That’ll be our ticket in. We find Gregory, take him out, save Michael, and end this threat once and for all.”

  Dad and Aunt Anastacia exchanged worried looks.

  “You all have to stay here while I work on the spell,” Aunt Anastacia said. “This is the only safe place for you now.”

  They all agreed to Aunt Anastacia’s proposition. She showed them to their individual rooms, which surprised Emily, as she didn’t know Aunt Anastacia’s cottage had so many rooms.

  Emily spent the whole night talking with her father and letting him know all she’d been up to. Even the next day, they talked a lot more. When he brought up the issue of the Adoption, she brushed it aside, telling him it was too dangerous a prospect to explore.

  “Perhaps it’s what Gregory wants,” Emily said. It was finally good to be able to call their enemy by name. “He needs an Adopted.”

  Dad didn’t look too excited. In fact, he wore the same expression he’d exchanged with Aunt Anastacia the day before.

  “Is something wrong?” asked Emily.

  Dad shook his head, and their discussion turned to other topics. It turned out that Dad knew of Mom’s infidelity. He also knew about Michael being her brother. It was a very sensitive subject, so Emily didn’t push it much.

  The girls spent the rest of Saturday and much of Sunday planning their rescue mission. Their major problem was that they didn’t know how the house was structured inside, and they didn’t know where Michael was being kept, if he was even being kept inside the mansion at all.

  They were basically going in blind and would have to improvise more than she was comfortable with. Emily didn’t like the plan much, even though it was so simple.

  The plan was for Rina and Joanna to search the whole mansion for Michael’s location while Emily was supposed to hang around the party and keep Marion occupied. Their underlying assumption was Marion’s family would be out of the house—except their evil rove of a father, who would probably be in their dungeon. (They were also loosely assuming the house had an underground dungeon.)

  When Rina or Joanna—because they were going to split up—located Michael, Emily was going to shift into Owl form and come in for the rescue. She had been training for this and was decently confident in her execution. She would also be armed with whatever Aunt Anastacia was cooking up, so she wasn’t going to be powerless against the rove.

  In theory, Emily would then rescue Michael and take him straight to the cottage while Rina and Joanna quietly made their way out of the mansion with the car.

  Mission accomplished.

  “Except one thing,” said Aunt Anastacia, who appeared in the doorway of the library without announcement, as if she had heard Emily’s thoughts. “Your plan will fail.”

  She held a bag of clothes in one hand and a basket with three jewel-encrusted knives. “Clothes for your party,” she said. “Knives. You don’t have to kill him. Just draw blood, and he’ll be paralyzed for three hours. You’ll have to carry him here where I can permanently bind his magic.” She looked from Rina to Joanna to Emily, shook her head, and walked away.

  “What’s her problem?” Rina asked.

  “She wants me to go through the Adoption process,” Emily said. “She thinks it’s the only way for us to win this.”

  “She’s wrong, right?” asked Rina.

  Emily shrugge
d. She didn’t know. Even her father seemed to think so. And they were the only ones who knew enough about this rove. Now they were each getting a knife, and they had to make the final tweaks to their plan.

  “Let’s meet here by seven,” said Emily in closing.

  Emily took her knife, chose a dress, and went up to her room.

  She tried to sleep but only succeeded in tousling the bed. Something about Aunt and Dad’s distrust of their chosen course of action bothered her.

  And why weren’t they being vocal about it?

  Because they know you’ve made up your mind, Selena offered. Plus, your aunt feels guilty for not saving your mother and even suggesting such a dangerous process to you. Your father had to be bathed, cared for, and protected by his own daughter. He’s damaged, and he’s not showing it.

  None of them feel like they can talk to you. None of them feel worthy of talking you into the Adoption, Selena continued. Not me, though. I will tell you the truth.

  “Let me guess, you want me to become Adopted?” Emily asked out loud.

  It’s the only way.

  “Yeah, well, the only way seems to favor Gregory Alfred,” said Emily. “He needs an Adopted . . . me. So why not use a spell to get my aunt and dad to suggest it to me?”

  You think Gregory is manipulating your dad and aunt?

  “Yes, I do.”

  Then why do I keep suggesting it to you also?

  Emily shrugged. She didn’t have a response for that one. “I’m doing this. Get in line.”

  I know what you’re afraid of, and it’s not of dying during the process, Selena said in a mild voice. You’re afraid you’ll lose me.

  Selena was right. But Emily was not going to admit it.

  You don’t need to admit it; I can see your thoughts, and I think it’s cute, Selena crooned. But you have to think about the greater good. You have to think about . . . Nadarog Maragog.

  Emily stiffened in preparation for Selena’s panic attack. None came.

  “Wait . . .”

  It doesn’t affect me if I say it myself. It only affects me when I hear others say it.

  Ooookay then.

  “I can’t lose you.”

  Selena chuckled. Before, you couldn’t stand me. Now, you can’t lose me? Teenagers are such a mess.

  Emily laughed, tears streaming down from her eyes. “This will work.”

  Promise me this one thing: Promise me that if this doesn’t work, you won’t hesitate. You won’t try to figure it out. You won’t look for an alternative. You’ll be Adopted. Promise me.

  Emily didn’t know if she could promise Selena that she would do that. It was like promising Joanna that she would shoot her in the head if she failed to save her. How could she do such a thing to someone who’d become such an important part of her life?

  The ends justify the means, Selena pointed out.

  Do they? Emily asked. Do they really?

  In this case, they do. Now, promise me.

  Emily heaved a sigh. “If we are unable to save Michael and stop the evil rove, and I’m alive, I promise I won’t waste any more time. I’ll ask Aunt Anastacia to perform the Adoption ritual.”

  Good.

  “If we’re unable to stop the evil rove,” Emily reiterated, “which we will.” We have to!

  38

  Dad was there to wave them goodbye. Aunt Anastacia wasn’t. It didn’t matter. They were doing this Emily’s way, and they were going to win.

  They all decided they didn’t need to speak much on their ride into the town. It was better that way. The silence helped Emily collect her courage as well as convince herself she was doing the right thing.

  The journey to the Alfreds’ spooky mansion took about thirty minutes. It was weird, however, that they didn’t drive past anyone on their way. It was as if they’d driven into a ghost town. Not a single person on the sidewalks. Not a single person in stores.

  Every house, building, and structure was dark.

  “Something’s wrong,” Emily said.

  “Definitely,” Rina agreed.

  Joanna kept driving.

  The closer they got to the Alfreds’, the more worried Emily became. “He knows we’re coming,” Emily finally said.

  “We don’t know that,” Joanna replied.

  “Why isn’t there anyone on the streets?” asked Emily with a raised eyebrow.

  Joanna looked like she was about to reply, but closed her lips in a line as they turned onto the Alfreds’ street and found some of their classmates strolling casually to the mansion.

  “Hey, Joanna!” screamed someone who recognized Joanna’s Saab.

  Emily looked with relief as she noticed a few houses on the street were lit up. She even saw a woman coming out of one of the houses to the left to dump the trash.

  Ahead, the Alfreds’ house didn’t look spooky. There was modern music coming from the house and lights strobing the skies. The screams of crazy teenagers could be heard even from inside Joanna’s car.

  “Well?” Joanna said to Emily.

  Emily shrugged. “I guess I’m on edge.”

  There were a few cars ahead of theirs, trying to drive into the Alfreds’ estate. It took them a good twenty minutes to be flagged through by security.

  The party was staged in the sprawling lawn by the side of the castle-like mansion. There was even an actual stage with a rock band going all out. A small crowd was gathered there already. Large screens were mounted on the stage showing crazy symbols and flashing lights.

  “Shit!” Rina said. “Don’t look at the screens!”

  Emily diverted her eyes while Joanna turned away from the stage and took the turnoff-driveway that led to the other side of the building while the other cars headed in the direction of the stage.

  “What’s going on?” whispered Joanna.

  “Mass hypnotism,” said Rina. “I studied it. They use a collection of flashing lights and symbols to mass-hypnotize a crowd.”

  “Wait, so you’re saying the entire crowd is hypnotized?” Emily looked over her shoulder to see how more of her schoolmates poured into the crowd.

  “Yes,” Rina hissed.

  Joanna slowed as they approached a multilevel garage and an open side door into the mansion. “That’s our way in.”

  She parked near the garage entrance and turned off her engine and lights. They watched as a few uniformed men loaded several crates of drinks onto a platform and rode it out of there, leaving the door open and the coast clear.

  “No need to go to the party,” Emily said. “I say we go in, find Michael, and get out.”

  “I concur.” Joanna bobbed her head.

  “It’s never a good sign to ditch a carefully crafted plan in the first minute of engagement.” Rina sounded exasperated.

  Joanna smiled. “Haven’t you heard? A ‘carefully crafted plan’ never survives the first five minutes of contact with the enemy. It’s like a must-happen with these kinds of plans.”

  “It’s either this or I’m going to be hypnotized,” Emily reasoned.

  “I thought magic didn’t work on Owl shifters.” Joanna cocked her head to the side.

  Rina cracked her knuckles. “Hypnotism isn’t magic; it’s science.”

  “Come on, let’s go inside before those guys come back for more booze.” Emily swung open her door to hop out of the car.

  Be careful, Selena muttered. I can feel this is a trap.

  Emily thought of a few snarky replies but gave none of them. The others climbed out of Joanna’s car, and all three girls made a beeline for the open door in the side of the building. They didn’t need to be quiet because of the blaring music, which made the ground rumble.

  The door opened into a massive warehouse bay with large fluorescent lights beaming from the top. There were stacks of crates of drinks in the bay. There was a drive-in door to the left and a series of closed green doors clustered on the opposite wall.

  As they approached the doors, Rina asked, “Which one?”

 
; “We split up.” Emily tried to sound confident as she spoke.

  “No, it’s never a good thing to split up,” argued Joanna. “Haven’t you watched enough horror movies? It’s when they split up that bad things happen.”

  “I agree,” Rina said.

  “Besides,” Joanna wasn’t done, “in like pretty much every horror movie ever, the black person is always the first to die. And I’m not putting myself in that situation!”

  Emily blinked at her. “Um, what?”

  Rina just nodded like that was supposed to be obvious. “She’s right. It’s a thing.”

  Joanna folded her arms and gave Emily a look that said, See?

  “Okay then.” Emily just shook her head. “Let’s just go.”

  They opened each door to see where it led. The rightmost door was the one that looked promising. It had a set of old, dusty-looking steps that wound down into some kind of doom and gloom. Ever so faintly, Emily could hear someone whimpering; her mind shot into overdrive.

  “Do you hear that?” asked Rina.

  Emily nodded. She drew her knife from its sheath. “I’m going. Stay here and stand guard.”

  “You can’t go in alone!” Joanna sounded appalled. “You don’t know what’s down there.”

  Emily pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight. “I’m a shifter. Whatever is down there doesn’t know what’s coming.”

  With that, Emily left the duo and started down the winding steps. Her light led the way, piercing through the thick darkness ahead. The air was musty. And, even though the steps were caked in a thick layer of dust, there were visible footsteps on them. Someone had been down them earlier.

  To set a trap, I’ll wager, Selena grumbled.

  Or to imprison Michael, Emily replied indignantly.

  The steps kept winding down for several floors until they exited in a narrow corridor. The sound of whimpering increased as she threaded through the passageway. Ahead, she saw a prison-cell-like room with iron bars. Through the cell, she distinguished the hunched form of a person. The source of the whimpering.