by Cara Wylde
“That doesn’t make any sense!”
“Yeah, I’m with her,” said Blake. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact that Amelia’s mother might have been the only female shape-shifter in the world who could have children. We haven’t heard of female shape-shifters who could procreate in centuries! If Milla was a vixen and Amelia is her daughter, which I know she is, then Amelia might be the only born hybrid in the world.”
“I don’t… How does that even work? Why would I be a hybrid? Shape-shifters have children with humans all the time, and the children are always shifters.”
“No, it’s different in this case,” intervened Blake. “Seth is right. I came across this in many books. If a male shifter has a baby with a human female, then the baby will always be a shifter because the male’s shifter gene is stronger. However, if a female shifter has a baby with a human male, then her shifter gene is still stronger, but not strong enough to make the baby entirely a shifter. So, the baby ends up being a hybrid. The traits he or she inherits from the mother can’t really be predicted. All we know is that hybrids don’t have the ability to turn. They may, however, have better senses, be more resistant, heal faster, and even live longer. But, given that the world hasn’t seen a hybrid in ages, no one knows for sure.”
Amelia wondered if her body had ever given her any clues that she might possess the things Blake mentioned. Well, she couldn’t remember the last time she had caught a cold… Still, a good immune system hardly made one supernatural.
“Why were my parents on the run?”
“It’s hard to say,” said Seth. “All I was able to find out is that Milla had stolen something from the clan she belonged to. She had destroyed it too, because the two assassins who were sent after her walked out of your house empty handed.”
“Assassins, you say… Paid assassins.”
“Not only paid, but trained. Few people know this, but the fox-shifter faction is the proud owner of its own assassins’ guild. The Council of the Six Factions decided to keep it a secret and try to eliminate it without causing panic among the human population. The guild calls itself the Tricksters. It’s small and very well hidden. The assassins make an appearance only when a powerful or wealthy member of the faction has the money to pay them to get rid of someone, or when they believe their actions contribute to their cause.”
“Which is?”
“To make the fox-shifters the most numerous and powerful faction in the world so that they can throw the peace treaty out the window, start a new war, and take back what they presume it’s theirs by right.”
“What right? This is insane!” Amelia pulled her hands free, jumped to her feet and started pacing the room. This was ridiculous! She had always known the fox-shifters were quite delusional and fucked up, but what Seth was saying went way over any acceptable limits.
“The right given by the fact that they’re superior to humans.”
Amelia noticed how Seth used “they” not “we”, thus distancing himself and Blake from the whole nonsense, but it wasn’t enough to calm down the rage which was slowly growing inside her chest. Her parents were murdered by two assassins. Why? Because her mother stole and destroyed something the foxes wanted? Amelia couldn’t care less about that. They were murdered because some crazy-ass fox-shifters out there believed they were better than everyone else and could do whatever they wanted.
“These fox-shifters Seth is talking about aren’t the majority, but they are there, waiting for an opportunity to strike,” said Blake. Her voice was low and well-measured. “This is what my father fought for all his life. We can never know for sure who they are, because they are clever enough to keep to themselves and not make their opinions public, but we know that their numbers are growing. My father did his best to keep the situation under control, and I can only follow in his steps. But we have been trying to catch the Tricksters for years with no success.” She threw a glance towards her Yako, but his eyes were fixed on Amelia. He hadn’t mentioned anything about his own father being a Trickster, and she made a mental note to avoid the topic. Maybe he wanted to tell Amelia that part of the story when they would be alone.
“Okay, okay…” Amelia waved her off. “Right now, I don’t care what these psychos think or want. Why did they kill my parents? That’s all I want to know.”
“They wanted whatever Milla had stolen,” answered Seth. “Apparently, it was some kind of old book.”
Blake furrowed her brows in concentration. It was the first time she heard that theory.
“An old book… Interesting.”
“A book? Are you kiddin’ me?” Amelia’s small hands turned into fists at her sides. “They killed them for a book?”
“It must’ve been important,” said Blake. “What clan did Milla belong to?”
“Clan Kushva, in the Ural Mountains.”
“I see…” Her mind worked fast. She knew everything there was to know about the biggest and most important fox-shifter clans in the world, and Kushva certainly was one of them. “A numerous clan,” she said. “Strong, influential, their Inaris never had less than three tails, and they support education and the study of old texts. If my memory serves me right, they have one of the largest private collections of rare books. Yes, it all makes sense now. An awful lot of sense.”
“So, you don’t think this is stupid.” It was clear Amelia was barely holding back her anger.
“No, Amelia, I don’t think it’s stupid.” Blake fixed her with her purple eyes. “I think it’s horrible. Unacceptable. I think whoever did this to your parents should pay. It has nothing to do with the reason why they did it. It was about a book, but it could have been about anything. I’m just trying to put two and two together and figure out the connection between your mother and the power these fox-shifters who think they should rule the world seek. It’s possible that the book she stole contained valuable information. It’s also possible that your mother destroyed it because she didn’t want it to fall in the wrong hands. But, with so little information, all we can do is hypothesize.”
Amelia closed her eyes and breathed in and out a couple of times. She tried to relax, resting her palms on her baby bump. The small shifter she carried in her womb always had a calming effect on her nerves. Every time the child kicked, she felt like she could do anything, defeat anyone, deal with any situation, no matter how weird or dangerous.
“I need some fresh air,” she said.
Seth was on his feet before she finished saying the last word. He grabbed her coat and helped her put it on.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered in her ear.
Amelia sighed. She loved him, but right now she wanted to be alone with her own thoughts.
“Don’t be.” She looked up into his eyes and the sadness and regret she saw there made butterflies flutter in her stomach. Yes, she loved him, and he loved her. He loved her so much that he had spent the last few months looking for the truth. For her. Because he knew she deserved to know. “Thank you.” She rose on her toes to peck his lips, then took his hand and led him towards the front door. A minute ago, she had wanted to be alone, but now she knew she had been angry at the wrong people. Blake and Seth cared about her, and the fact that they had worked so hard to help her learn something about her past, something she had never considered was worth the effort, spoke volumes about how much she meant to them. No, nothing would bring her parents back. Reality wouldn’t change even if they did manage to catch the assassins one day. And it didn’t matter, really. All that mattered was that she was where she was supposed to be. If the fact that she was a hybrid meant anything for the fox-shifter faction, then she was willing to help in any way she could. To her, at least, it didn’t make any difference.
After Seth and Amelia went out for a walk, Blake stared at the closed door for long minutes, then poured herself another glass of wine and grabbed the generous stack of files. Seth had done a great job at painting the big picture for them, but she needed
to know the details.
***
Seth had never thought it would be so hard to open up to the woman he loved. It took him forever to break the silence which had settled between them the moment they left the cabin and headed towards the shore. He told himself he didn’t want to bother Amelia. She seemed lost in her own thoughts. Even though their fingers were intertwined, he had the impression that she was far away, someplace where he couldn’t follow her. In truth, it was his own fear. He had tried to hide it even from himself, but there was no use. He was afraid that Amelia would run the second she learned Seth’s father and his pure blood vixen could have well been the ones who had been ordered to kill her parents. No matter how hard he had tried, how many leads he had followed, it had been impossible for him to identify the two fox-shifters. Dead ends. That was all he had found after months of feverish research.
They reached the shore and stopped to admire the infinite ice covering the river. Amelia breathed in the freezing air and winced at the way it burned her nostrils. She hid her nose back in her fluffy scarf and snuggled against Seth’s chest. How could she be a hybrid when she was so cold? Seth was warm even if his coat was way lighter than hers. She sighed when he enveloped her into his arms and held her tightly.
“There is another thing I need to tell you.”
It took Amelia a while to say something. “I’m listening.” In fact, she was tired. She wanted to ask him if they couldn’t leave it for later, but changed her mind at the last moment. The sooner he told her all the details, the faster she could decide what to do with them and how to move on. Anything else was out of the question. She had to move on. She was going to become a mother soon. She had a family now, a wonderful man who loved her, a friend who was like a sister to her, a clan she had to take care of.
“Remember when I told you my father left when I was a teenager?”
Amelia would never forget that day. Seth had taken her out in his boat, then they had ended up at his cabin. The first time they had made love…
“Yes. And Roman’s Yako adopted you.”
Seth nodded. “He didn’t only adopt me, but he also took my mother as his bride. My father took off with his fox-shifter bride. He didn’t even say goodbye. To him, my mother and I meant nothing. I was too young to understand then. For a long time, my mother thought it was her fault, even though she had done everything in her power to be a good bride to him. She couldn’t believe that after she had done her duty and given him a son, he just left us behind like that. Then, Roman Sylfur took us under his protection, his Yako fell in love with my mother, and they eventually told me the truth.”
He paused for a long moment, and Amelia didn’t dare say anything. Her lover rarely talked about his parents and his life before becoming Roman’s young Yako after his stepfather died. She was all ears.
“I… I should have told you sooner, but I didn’t have the courage. I was afraid that if you knew who my father really was, you wouldn’t want to be with me anymore. I was selfish. I’m sorry.”
“What are you talking about? There’s nothing in this world that can make me not want you anymore. Don’t be silly.”
He smiled. “Wanna bet?”
She punched him playfully. “Stop that! It’s not funny.”
He laughed, but it was bitter. “My father and his vixen bride were Tricksters, Amelia. They had spent years infiltrating Clan Sylfur and gaining the members’ trust. Taking a human bride and having a child helped. When they realized Roman was beginning to suspect something, they left everything behind and ran away, thus confirming his suspicions. They were never caught.”
Amelia was speechless for a few minutes. She tried to imagine what it must have been like for Seth to find out his father had been nothing but an impostor. For the first time, she had to accept defeat. Her imagination failed her.
“Why would they want to infiltrate the clan?”
“That’s easy… Clan Sylfur has been the most powerful fox-shifter clan in the world since way before the war. Convincing Roman to side with the Tricksters and all those who believed the fox faction should have never signed the peace treaty would have been a great victory for them. If they didn’t manage to do that, then there was always Plan B: getting rid of him and giving the power to one of his brothers, Damon most likely. They were clever, my father and his wife… But not clever enough.”
“I’m sorry. But I’m also glad you finally told me.”
Seth squeezed her closer to his body.
“That’s not it. I have so little respect for my father, that I would have never mentioned him to you. His very existence is not worthy of being acknowledged, especially by you.” He kissed the top of her head. “However, he was a Trickster, and that makes me the son of an assassin. When I found out your parents were murdered by the Tricksters, I tried to find a way to tell you…” He paused and took a deep breath. “Who am I lying to? Not a way to tell you… I tried to find the courage to tell you.”
Amelia pushed against his chest and took half a step back, just enough to look up at his face.
“Seth, I don’t care who your real father was. Who he was doesn’t define you and has nothing to do with what happened to my parents.”
“Actually, it might.” He bit the inside of his cheek. “You see… the Tricksters are a small guild. They rarely train new members, and because fox-shifters live around 200 years, they don’t really have to. Usually, they choose from among their own children. There is a fairly good chance that the shifters who killed your parents were… my parents. I still don’t have anything to prove this theory. It’s not even a theory, it’s more of a fear of mine, a possibility that my brain can’t ignore. But, there you have it… the last thing I had to tell you.”
Amelia disentangled herself from his arms and turned towards the river. She couldn’t see much in the darkness, but she didn’t have to. She wasn’t looking at anything in particular, anyway, her attention focused within herself, fixed on her own feelings. She was trying to decide how she should feel about what Seth had just told her. The possibility that her mate was the son of the assassins who killed her parents and landed her in the social care system, and then at Alma Venus, to be educated as a Vulpes bride and sold to a fox-shifter. How ironical life could be!
“Amelia…?”
That low, kind voice uttering her name… It sounded weird to her ears. Or, maybe it was the wind. She closed her eyes and tuned everything out. Her heart ached, but her mind was going in circles, unable to wrap around the new information. “How do I feel about it?” she asked herself. She breathed in and out slowly, then opened her eyes and turned to Seth.
“I don’t care.”
At first, he thought he had heard her wrong.
“I don’t care,” she repeated. “It’s not about who you are, it’s about what you do, right? Whether the assassins are your parents or not, it doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change what they did, what my life was like, and it won’t change how I feel about them or you. You’re not responsible for any of their actions. I shouldn’t even tell you that. You know it already, I know you do.” She stepped closer to him and took his face between her palms. “Seth, you’re better than them. It’s a good thing your father left you and your mother. He didn’t deserve you.”
Seth lost himself in Amelia’s bright eyes. The darkness didn’t affect his vision, and he saw her in all her beauty. Even with her body covered in endless layers of clothes, she was breathtaking. He took her hands into his and placed a kiss on each of her knuckles.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you too.”
They stayed like that for a few more minutes, then Seth pulled her back towards the cabin. They had been out long enough. He could tell she was freezing, and his body wasn’t enough to protect her from the bleak wind. Blake was waiting for them, her glass empty. So was the bottle, but she still had to go through half of the files. She raised her eyes and watched Seth as he helped Amelia out of her coat, scarf, and boots,
then took her by the fire and rubbed her arms to warm her up. She smiled thinking what a cute couple they made.
“Sorry we were gone for so long,” said Amelia.
“No worries. I did some reading.” Blake rounded the table and walked to where they were standing in front of the fireplace. “Listen… Damon just called me. He said he wants to leave next week and asked if we’d like to join him.”
Seth furrowed his brows. “Why would we do that?”
“Well, he thinks Amelia and I could use a break. I don’t disagree, actually. Canada is beautiful, and we could see this as a vacation. At least, you and Amelia could enjoy it. It would give me a good opportunity to assess the state of his earth and see what his foxes think of the change in leadership. I’m not sure my father’s decision to ban Damon was one of his best. We have to bring his foxes back under our control somehow. Like it or not, they’re still part of Clan Sylfur and their actions affect us.”
“Fair enough,” agreed Amelia.
“I suggest we take Elena and Aaron with us,” said Seth. Damon’s invitation made him oddly uncomfortable. Blake had a point, but he would have liked it better if she had taken more time to think about it.
“Sure. Can’t hurt.”
CHAPTER FOUR
The Tricksters
When Roman insisted it was better for everyone if Damon took his earth and found another place to live, Damon bought a lake and the land around it and built the loveliest cabins on and around its shore. He didn’t have a numerous earth and there was so much space that some of the cabins ended up rather isolated. Eventually, the members of Damon’s earth gathered on one side of the lake, leaving some of the smaller cabins on the other side empty, and started using them for short getaways. That was where Blake, Amelia, Seth, Elena and Aaron were going to spend their one-week vacation, and they were all positively delighted. Elena and Aaron could have one cabin, while Blake and Amelia shared another, and Seth took a smaller one. They were isolated enough so no one would notice when Amelia would slip silently into Seth’s cabin, but close enough to Damon so that Blake could pay him visits any time she wanted.