by Shawn Reilly
She sucked in a deep breathe. “Asher you scared the crap out of me!” she said. “Why are you on the office floor?”
As he stood up, pain shot to the front of his skull. He remembered doing a lot of tossing. He even wondered why he was so cold, but not once had he awaken to realize that he wasn’t in his bed, and then things became clear.
“Someone hit me.”
“Someone hit you! Who?” Kennedy exclaimed, and with each loud syllable an invisible knife jabbed into Asher’s head. And to worsen matters without invitation or tact she put her hand on the back of his head. The second it made contact with the knot left by his office invading attacker, Asher was even more aware of just how much it hurt. Growling, he roughly pushed her away. Even then she persisted to annoy him.
“Are you sure you just didn’t trip over something and fall? You know how you can be during the weaker moon cycles.” Kennedy didn’t seem to want to believe the idea possible or, better yet, she just didn’t want to believe him.
“Not unless I tripped over the pair of black boots I saw running toward the door!” he snapped.
Her face twisted in confusion, “Asher, the alarms have been on all night and the manor is protected by your magic.”
“Which you just clearly pointed out is in weaker state than normal!” When he saw her start to approach him he put up his finger to stop her. “I know it’s against your nature but please be still and silent.” More gently he rubbed at the lump on his head. “Was the door unlocked?” he asked. When she didn’t answer he opened one eye to look at her.
“Well, you told me to be silent,” she exhaled. “No, I used the new code you gave me yesterday. Do you want me to get you some ice?”
Asher shook his head and the very movement made him dizzy. “Linn must have left the door unlocked when she left.”
Kennedy’s face distorted in thought. “Wait, Linn was in here alone, with you?”
He summed things up the best he could. He knew that Kennedy would continue to question him until he was exhausted and his brain felt as though it would explode, otherwise.
“I saw that hole,” she said. “I just thought Nixon punched the wall again.”
“Is he home yet?”
“No not yet,” she answered.
“Then it couldn’t have been him that punched the wall.” Asher staggered to his chair and sat down. He didn’t need to ask. Kennedy always wanted something bad enough that starting a fire, and seeing that it was stoked throughout the day, had been her daily routine for the last year.
But he need not worry about her too much longer. She was a senior in high school and upon graduation she would take her place on the Pillar Council, and then would further her training in India with Linn. He had to keep reminding himself of that, that soon she would be gone. “Are the phones working yet?”
“Not yet, and I lost my cell,” she selected the biggest log from the pile on the hearth, and placed it in the fireplace.
“You too?” Asher was amazed. Kennedy casually nodded and sat down on the hearth, her expression distant as she reached for a handful of kindling from the bucket next to the logs. He knew where her thoughts lied. “You have no reason to be worried girl,” he told her.
“Do you want me to call the police?” she asked.
Asher allowed his look of surprise to fall on her. “And even if we could, since we’re both without phones, when have I been known to allow an outsider inside the manor?”
“Asher it’s not everyday someone gets past your magic and invades your room. Besides, there’s a foot of snow outside and Ari’s not home yet either. So regardless of what you say, I have reason to worry.”
Asher closed his eyes. “Just as soon as the phones are working I’ll report the incident to Culver’s security, and if Ari and Nixon are still not home after lunch, I’ll send someone to look for them.” He softened his tone and looked at her. “Does that make you feel better?”
Even though Kennedy seemed surprised by his consideration, she simply nodded. “I’ll feel better once I go check out every closet and look under every bed.”
Asher waited for her to leave and then began searching his office, eventually finding what he was looking for, the wood bookend shaped like a globe that usually sat on the bookshelf. Whoever had hit him over the head with it, and then hastily discarded it in the trash, must have had a purpose for invading his office.
Running his hand along a row of books he found the right one and removed it from the shelf. Reaching into the opening he pushed the button that was built into the paneling. Standing back he waited for the bookcase to slide open to expose the room where the ancient archives were kept.
“How cliché,” he said aloud to himself, “a secret vault concealed by all things a sliding bookcase, but only a few know about this room which leaves me wondering.” He entered, walked across the room, and sat the book down on a glass case that protected the Keepers creed. Reaching up, he removed another book from a shelf, blew off the layer of dust from the cover, and took it back to his desk, and sat down.
He felt it again, the strange creeping sensation that moved up his fingers and arms whenever he opened the spell book. The ink was barely visibly and the yellowed pages were brittle with age. He turned to the last spell in the back of the book. Despite the throbbing in his head he read, until he reached the sudden end. As it typically did, frustration set in. Closing the book, Asher refused to believe that in all Grant’s preparing, he had failed to notice the last few pages had been torn away.
“The spell is useless without the solution. You should have known that Grant.”
Assured the spell book had gone untouched; Asher returned the book to its hiding place. After securing the room so that no one else could discover its whereabouts, and putting the book back in place to conceal the button, Asher ventured downstairs.
The sun was just rising over the land that some ancestral Keeper had titled Brokenridge, when Asher took his seat at the breakfast table. He poured cream into the cup of coffee that awaited him. He invited no conversation, nor did he look at anyone. Down the length of the table a throat cleared, but only after a second time, did he relent and give Linn the attention she desired.
“I had a horrible night last night Linn, make it fast.”
Linn made a grunting sound of disgust and shook her head slowly from side to side. “We seem to have plenty of vacant seats this morning.”
Asher quickly looked around. She was right. All were missing except for the little girl. Her name would come to him, eventually. All he needed to know was the fact she was a rat and part of a twin duo that liked to torment him on a daily basis.
“Asher, Kennedy told me that neither Ari nor Nixon is home yet. I’m not sure about the boy but I called the Plaza and the desk clerk said Ari never checked in. That worried me enough, but then I called the office and learned that Ari wasn’t there either and his secretary said she hasn’t heard from him all morning. I talked to him just as he was getting into his car yesterday, and he said he was on his way home to attend the Pillar Council meeting. That was before you cancelled it of course.”
“You failed to mention that you talked to Ari last night Linn. It might have been helpful in deciding just how much I should worry about him.”
Asher didn’t feel much like eating. Standing, he crossed to the fireplace, picked up the poker and stirred the already raging flames. The only thing he liked about the house was the fact there was a fireplace practically in every room. He lowered his head contemplatively, black hair falling forward to hide his eyes from the watching Linn. He wouldn’t let her see his concern. Instead he did what he always did, he evaded the topic.
“Child, where is your brother? I checked in his room but he was nowhere to be found.”
The little girl considered the hot poker in his hands and swiftly shook her head. “I didn’t look for him. The dead moon is in cycle,” she offered in way of explanation and Asher nodded.
Unlike him, the wolf who kept
his powers when there was no moon, all other shifters were powerless. He had heard over the years how some that tended to lean toward their animal side like the boy, preferred their inborn shape during such a phase.
The thought disgusted him.
“Aah yes, in which case means he is more than likely hiding somewhere in his rat form. I wonder, just where he’s hiding.” This time he considered the hot poker, even when Asher knew he would never use it on any child, let alone the quiet little girl. The prop was for visual effect only, to motivate her into answering.
Hair swaying back and forth, she shook her head forcibly in answer. “Sorry Keeper, I don’t know.”
“Casin child, eat your breakfast, it’s getting cold. I blame you for this Asher,” Linn said, “for not teaching the boy that it’s not good for him to stay in his ani-form so much. Doesn’t he understand the consequences?”
“Casin, yes that’s the name. It always seems to escape me, and the boys would be?” Asher smugly asked.
“Cade,” Linn’s frown deepened. “The twins have been with you since they were toddlers and you don’t even know their names?”
“Since it suits them both, rat suffices quite nicely,” Asher retorted.
“You said you weren’t a bully and yet that is exactly what you’re doing to the poor child. She said she doesn’t know where her brother is, so why don’t you just believe her and let her eat her breakfast.”
Asher rubbed at the throbbing knot on the back of his head and resumed his seat. Picking up the knife, he proceeded to butter his toast when he detected footsteps approaching from the front of the house. To his great dissatisfaction, he recognized the two men from the night before along with another, which more than likely was the third Watch that Linn had mentioned. Leading them was the Rat Pillar, Gus Sturgis and the old healer to the Union community. Asher was sure he had a name and at one point he probably knew it, but in this case he didn’t rightfully care that he forgot. He looked fiercely at his unexpected company and then at Linn.
“It’s not like me to forget that I invited someone to dine with me?”
“My apologies Keeper,” Linn spoke, “but since you expressed to me that you would like to solve matters quickly, I took the liberty of inviting them myself.”
“I know what you did Linn. You made sure I had no other choice.” Asher redirected his attention to Gus. “And what part do you partake in this?”
“None Keeper,” he said with a shake of his head, “other than the fact that Madam Linn asked me to house them, that is.”
“Keeper,” the biggest of the strangers extended his hand toward Asher which he refused to accept. Seldom did Asher allow strangers anywhere near him, let alone make physical contact. He gestured to a seat. The man withdrew his hand, slowly moved away, and took a seat next to Linn. “My name is Vince Donavan,” he said, “and I’m a Watch from Tennessee, a bear in my shifter form. I’ve come because there are some matters within the Union under my care that concern you.”
Yawning, Asher poured more cream into his coffee and emptied the remainder of the pot into his mug, not thinking of even offering his guest any. The two Watches that he had overheard talking to Linn introduced themselves, making similar comments—their three way conversation exploding into an all-out attempt to outdo each other, until eventually Asher yawned louder. When silence ensued, he waited until all eyes were on him before he spoke.
“As I told Madam Linn, until my brother is home, there really is no need to discuss Union affairs.”
“There’s outcast in the hollows!” the old man exclaimed. Everyone, including Asher looked. Yet, within his vacant stare and the humming softly to himself, slowly those who did look the old man’s way turned away with a better awareness of his current mental health.
“Whether the old man is right or not, you must appreciate the gravity of the situation Keeper,” said Clive Rivers, a feline that possessed an instinctual fear of wolves, and the thickness of that fright on the air sickened Asher. The other Watch was some sort of amphibian whose scent reminded him of rotting vegetation.
He snarled at Clive, “Do you question my sincerity?”
Just as he had questioned the old man’s mental instability, the eyes that looked upon him now questioned his. Only Vince Donavan had the audacity to laugh.
“Do we question your sincerity? He asked. “That is an odd question to ask Keeper when we sit here explaining our concern for the welfare of our people, and yet you can’t even spare us a speck of interest. There is a plague spreading throughout the Union and whether or not you acknowledge this disease, it does concern you.”
Casin was growing fidgety and Asher had little fortitude for children. Simply he had no idea what to do with them, especially little girls. Possibly if he continued to ignore her then maybe she would eventually give up hope of gaining his attention, and sit like all children should, quiet and unnoticed.
“There are members of the Union that are assembling together and experimenting with magic,” Asher said. “I hardly see that as a plague and nothing you have told me proves that its death magic, when learning such magic is impossible.”
“Learning death magic may not be as impossible as you believe Keeper,” Vince argued. “Either way, magic in all forms is forbidden to the Union, except for the Keeper.”
Asher considered Vince’s bulkiness. In the end he decided that his size didn’t matter a whole lot to him. “The matter doesn’t concern me—”
“What kind of Keeper are you!” Vince exclaimed coming to an abrupt stand, knocking over Asher’s empty coffee cup in the process. The china bounced on the antique Persian rug and shattered on a chair leg, while the remaining two Watches started to grumble between themselves.
Linn slapped her hands on the tabletop in complete frustration, while the old man began to laugh crazily for no apparent reason. And through it all, other than a slight twitch of acknowledgement the girl continued her annoying squirming, oblivious to them all.
“Asher this meeting must go on!” Linn demanded. “We have far too much to discuss, and regardless of your brothers appointed office, you are the Keeper!”
“Yes, I am the Keeper but the information you seek is with Ari and I—”
Cutting him off again, Linn added, “Are what? Disinclined to discuss matters you know nothing about?” Gus and the old man looked at him for direction and Asher’s irritation grew. He just wanted to be rid of the entire lot of them.
Slowly, he turned to the little girl. She was small for her age with dark brown mousy colored hair, cut in an unattractive bob. She often appeared dirty whenever she showed up to the dinner table, and more often than not, late. As Keeper it had been his duty to provide for her along with her twin brother but other than hiring an occasional nanny to watch over them, Linn was right. He knew very little about them.
“Can't you sit still?” he said heatedly. “Is it too much to ask? I know as a child you have a short attention span and certain matters such as business bore you, but if you are to ever take over in your uncle's place, then you could at least give me the satisfaction of pretending to listen!"
“Asher,” Linn gasped. “Don’t take your frustration out on her. She's just a child.”
“I'll take no rebukes from you!” Asher's eyes darted toward her. “Why shouldn't she listen? Why shouldn't she obey? I had to. You want me to instruct them then I will. What does it matter that she's a child!”
Asher was throwing what his brother often labeled as an Assher-fit. He hated losing control and yet he couldn’t stop the process once it started. “That didn't matter to the Council when I was a child! When I was a child I was forced to think like a man! Do you think it mattered to them that I wasn’t?”
“But it mattered to Grant,” Linn boldly said, with a slight point of her determined chin. Asher stared deeply into her eyes, his breaths coming in long heated puffs, before he inclined his head and allowed his hair to fall forward to conceal his face.
Linn didn’t dese
rve to notice his reaction. She didn't deserve to know just how furious he was at Grant. She had no business even speaking his name.
She didn’t know him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Asher noticed little Casin's face, that wide-eyed expression when one was completely terrified. She was afraid of him, deathly afraid. He had noticed it before whenever she accompanied Ari. He had been a frightened young protégé once and that revelation was enough to convict him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and then directed his eyes on the child. Linn was right, she didn’t deserve his frustration.
“I apologize you may go, all of you go,” he murmured. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed them. Casin was the first to move, racing toward the door in a scared fury. When she passed, Asher caught the distinct smell of urine. Snarling, he looked at her chair and found a puddle on the leather seat that was slowly dripping down to the antique rug. At least now he knew the reason behind her squirming.
“I guess you scared the piss right out of her,” the old man chuckled, bones cracking as he passed. Asher hated him and he didn’t even know why. The feeling went deep though like a long lost memory he just couldn’t place. Linn remained put, firmly holding her ground, and only once everyone had gone did she clear her throat drawing Asher’s thoughts back to her.
“You cannot dismiss or ignore this as easily as you did that child,” she said eyes holding his. “Eventually you will have no choice but to acknowledge these matters as well as your responsibilities to the Union, or risk something far greater than urine on the floor.”
“I didn’t wish for this…for people to hate me. I never wanted to be Keeper,” Asher quietly said. In Linn’s silence he suspected her surprise. Getting up she moved closer and took the seat next to him.
“But you are Asher.” Reaching out she touched his hand. The warmth of her fingers was foreign to him, unwanted. Recoiling, he moved his hands under the table where she would have little chance to touch him again. She lowered her eyes from his.