The Hidden Truth (Shadow Claw Book 7)

by Sarah J. Stone

  Fergus sighed. “It’s enough for now, I guess. I’ll be heading to my room.”

  “Same,” Luke said and they left the place. They walked slowly, both of them lost in thought.

  “This is really weird,” Fergus said. “Sitting back like this and not having shit stress us out.”

  “I know,” Luke said, “Feels kind of boring. How messed up things gotta be that the only time you feel normal is when there’s trouble?”

  “But, like,” Fergus started, “We have families, though. Not like there’s nothing else to live for.”

  “I think it’ll take time for us to come around to accepting this,” he said. “You know, it’s not that I’m bored. I think I’m just anxious and restless and waiting for something to just happen to one of us.”

  “I think that’s called anxiety, man,” he said with a rub of his neck. “Does that happen to shifters? Anxiety and depression and all?”

  “Happens to anyone with a brain.” He laughed. “It can happen to us, too.”

  Fergus was silent for a while.

  “Nah, maybe it’s just us not used to this yet.”

  Although Ivanna was sat in Leon’s lap with her back against his chest, and as relaxing as that could get, she powered away with the paperwork. The work she should’ve completed in two hours finished in one and Ivanna turned around as soon as she was done, straddling his and peppering his face with kisses.

  Leon laughed, but it was cut off by her mouth on his. Smiling, he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her closer, running his fingers over her body. She sighed into his mouth with pleasure and reached for his hand, sliding it down to her butt. Leon couldn’t help laughing into the kiss.

  “Why do you like my hand there so much?” He chuckled pulling away.

  “I dunno,” Ivanna said, hiding her face in his neck. “I love your hands. They’re nice. And they feel even nicer there.”

  With a kiss to her ear, he gently stroked her bottom, running his hand down to her thigh and back up. Ivanna sighed in contentment and hugged him. Leon wrapped and arm around her and picked her up, moving to the couch and lying down on it with her. He held her close for a cuddle and Ivanna happily snuggled into his chest. She thought she would fall asleep any moment, and she almost did until Leon’s hand moved from her butt to her waist instead. That woke her up and she immediately pushed his hand down to the curve of her ass again. Leon smacked his hand over it lightly before going back to rubbing it.

  “Spoiled little kitten,” he murmured into her ear, biting the lobe to pull out a giggle from her.

  “It’s your fault,” she said nonchalantly. “Why is your hand so nice? Why are you good to me? Of course, I’ll want you more.”

  Leon shifted until Ivanna was on her back under his arm and he hovered over her. His hand shifted down her but to her hip, running down to her thigh.

  “How much do you want me right now, though?”

  Ivanna blushed under his gaze. His eyes suddenly darkened, lips parting to run his tongue over lightly as his eyes scanned over her face. He wouldn’t even look at her body until he knew what she wanted.

  “Um, a lot?”

  “What do want me to do to you, hmm?” he whispered over her lips, making her breath hitch in her throat. Ivanna always became confused on how to answer because though the two had been together for a long time, she always got extremely shy. Leon chuckled at the look on her face.

  “Can I touch you?” he asked. “You can tell me to stop whenever.”

  Ivanna nodded and he leaned down to kiss her, his hand trailing down her stomach, lifting her shirt to reach under, pulling her bra down and lightly thumbing over her nipple. Ivanna moaned softly in his mouth and he continued to fondle her, tweaking and kneading it affectionately. He moved away from her mouth to kiss her neck, wanting to hear her moans. She tried hard to suppress the noises but she couldn’t help it when his hands felt like magic against her skin.

  He bit her neck where her sweet spot was making her whimper, sucking and licking it to soothe the red skin and leave behind a love bite. As his hand danced down her body, so did his lips that soon closed over her breasts. Fingers slipped past the tights she was wearing and teased her clit over her underwear, making her whine and moan out his name. Ivanna ‘s mouth dropped open for air as the pleasure snatched her breath away, and she was soon squealing as Leon’s fingers slipped past the cloth and rubbed her nub furiously while he sucked her breast, the hand under her back reaching out to grope the other. Ivanna held onto Leon’s head as she grew dizzy and when his fingers plunged into her, she became a screaming mess and was soon coming into his hand while he kissed her hard to conceal her screams.

  Chapter 14

  Dinner was quiet with the only people talking were the members of the High Council amongst themselves about the mission Viria had assigned them.

  “It’s in the next town over,” Yale explained, “Under some pub where shifters occasionally go. There will be rogues there who have teamed up with the Morbus so we better make sure to take them out first.”

  “How long do you think this one will take?” Fae asked.

  “This one’s rather small,” Saun said. “Should take about two days to observe, plan, and annihilate.”

  “If you’re saying two then it’ll definitely be four,” Grippin grumbled, “This better be the last of their bases or I’ll go on a rampage.”

  “Please, Grippin, you’ve only ever taken out six bases until now,” Tina, one of the rarely present members of the Council said. “I’ve been scouring the whole country with Viria since the beginning of it all and destroyed about fifteen alone.”

  “Not like this is a competition!” Yale cried out. “We’re all sick of this.”

  “I think we all have the right to complain,” Fae intervened. “Grippin’s health has been ailing rather fast as of lately.”

  “Shouldn’t you retire already?” Blake, Viria’s first instructor, asked. “You don’t have to die doing this job.”

  “I shall die doing this job,” she said simply and carried on eating. The shifters looked at them uncomfortably. Ivanna and Leon had not joined them for dinner, and it didn’t seem like they would. None of the members of the High Council were bothered, though.

  A phone started to ring and Fae picked hers up, “Hello?”

  Someone started speaking in a rush over the phone and Fae grew very confused, “Erm, I’m not sure there’s a way to—” she was interrupted, “Oh, there is?...We could try, yes…” her face morphed into confusion. “You went into the forbidden library for this, didn’t you?...Viria you’d essentially be consuming your life force into this and shortening your life span. Do you understand—”

  Viria went into an agitated rant on the other end and Fae rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Fine, then. But we’ll do it after taking care of the base you’re sending us to.”

  More rushed speaking and the call was cut. Fae rolled her eyes and looked at the members of the Council. “She says to bomb the whole place. The pub itself is owned by the Morbus.”

  “Wouldn’t that kill innocent people?”

  “She’s asking us to use her bank account to reserve the whole place. All of the members of the Morbus will still be underground for their work. It’s a one day thing so might as well just get this over with starting now, then head over to where she is.”

  “What’s she calling us for?”

  “A ghoul community needs to be shifted into one of the sanctuaries since they’re being constantly visited and in danger of exposure. They’re pretty powerful and pledged their alliance to Viria in return for cutting everyone else off. Some rogue witches double crossed those ghouls and let the Morbus know about their existence.”

  “Good grief.” Grippin sighed. “Rogue witches really are cunts.”

  “This is starting to get tiring.” Yale sighed. “How much will Viria take on at once? She can’t save the whole world in a day.”

  “She negotiated with three opposing p
acks in a day and got them to sit down, be civilized, and sign a treaty in the middle of war so I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ivanna said, appearing behind them and taking a seat.

  “You guys really underestimate her sometimes,” Tina said.

  “It’s not about underestimating her, Tina,” Fae said through her teeth. “She’s only sixteen. I doubt she’ll even sleep tonight and will go on patrol duty there.”

  “You guys worry about her too much.” Ivanna sighed as she took a sip of her water. “She can take good care of herself.”

  Fae shook her head. Grippin rolled her eyes at Ivanna. “It’s not like you’ve had to be in her position when you were sixteen.”

  “Do I need to be to empathize with her?” she countered. “I’ve seen her at her worst, Grippin. And even then, she works better than I ever could under half the pressure. If it was up to me, I would have let her take my place as Morrigan’s next in line, if not for her wanting to go out and take on these missions.”

  The shifters were astounded by what they saw. They were all so…obsessed with Viria. It seemed as if there was nothing else they ever talked about but her. Then again, she was the center of everything that was happening in the HQ. She’d taken on such a huge role of responsibility and arranging for all the missions.

  “Once this is over, I’m taking her away with me for a few months,” Grippin said firmly. “The kid needs to have a proper childhood.”

  “That’s for Viria to decide,” Ivanna replied. She was not affected or agitated in the slightest and Nina was astounded and a little appalled to see that. Ivanna used to be the girl who cried over dead birds and goldfishes. Now she defended a sixteen year old putting her life at risk to fulfill burdensome responsibilities.

  This is absolutely ridiculous, Nina thought. She and Viria have lost their heads!

  “This is insane,” Cassie whispered to Luke. “Why would Ivanna support something like this?”

  “People have their reasons, sweetheart,” he said. “Some kids are forced to grow up and fend for themselves when very young. Something Viria herself went through. I know…”

  She looked at him and remembered the life he’d led. He didn’t look her in the eyes but she understood the pain he was in through the bond they shared.

  “If you think I have it bad, then Viria’s seen worse,” he said. “I read her diary in her study room, office, whatever. Cassie, she can’t sleep without having nightmares. She spends two days on four hours of sleep. The things she sees are downright scary and she even drew them. I don’t understand what she’s seen in the bases and torture chambers after Morrigan passed, but it wasn’t easy for her. She’s had days where she had absolutely no one to call for help or turn to, Cassie. No one.”

  Diana had overheard everything. She remembered how Viria told her about walking away from her mate and self-harming. That alone was enough to depress Diana.

  The shifters realized something very profound about the whole thing. Where they had their own struggles and scars, they had predominantly become more focused on their own selves. And although this wasn’t wrong, it did take them away from their sole responsibility of caring for the masses. Viria on the other hand completely moved away from such a behavior and dedicated her existence solely to knowledge, other people, and their development. Luke understood Ivanna knew exactly how Viria worked. She was simply trying to curb one more pressure that would settle onto Viria and make her feel underestimated and under-appreciated.

  “Whatever happens,” Ivanna spoke over the arguments, “No one will force Viria into anything. She chose this life and she can very well back off at this point and allow us to carry on with the missions. There’s a reason she’s doing all this, and it’s not on you to take it upon yourselves to help her when she’s doing perfectly fine this way. This is just one more burden she would have to face from within the facility and I will not have your emotional and moral opinions hinder her.”

  “How could you let a child fuck herself over like this?” Fae demanded with a fist to the table.

  “She wants to find purpose in life, Fae,” Ivanna explained. “You need to stop thinking she is some ordinary teenager when you know she well surpasses even us adults in every way. Viria can’t just sit around and read, or go walking around the park. She doesn’t work that way. She’ll get bored and probably kill herself.”

  “She’ll get herself killed with all these missions she goes on,” Yale said softly.

  “Would you rather she commit suicide and bear the guilt, or she die honorably a martyr?”

  “This is insane,” Saun spoke up. “Are you really comparing what’s a better way to die? Children should not be dying.”

  “But she would be, nevertheless,” Ivanna retorted. “Doing nothing would kill her faster than this mission.”

  “They’ll never understand.” Luke sighed to Cassie under his breath. “She’s wasting her time. I’m sure these people have lived very privileged lives.”

  “I will not waste my time anymore with this argument,” Ivanna said firmly and got up to leave the table.

  Viria was fast asleep in the guest room back at the cemetery. It was cool, airy, and very peaceful.

  Mitch kept watch over her. He’d never noticed it before, despite carrying her twice, but she was tiny. She was stuffed into the blankets as if they were a cocoon. It appeared she’d never slept so well before in her life, judging from the loud snoring and the drool falling from her open mouth. He smiled at the sight. He still had a lot of happiness remaining to fade away.

  He felt himself being summoned by the Heads, so he walked away from his post. He reached the temple in no time and addressed the Heads.

  “Any progress?” one of them asked from within the darkness.

  “She found their main base,” he said. “The headquarters where it is all happening. She says she wants to shift the whole cemetery using magic to one of her sanctuaries.”

  “Is the danger that close?”

  “With rogue beings working with them and our allies turned foes, we are susceptible to being forcibly approached. They might dig up our graves and pull us out, force us to move and comply.”

  “Well, that doesn’t sound good at all.” One of them sighed.

  “She’s called for reinforcements to help with the shift.”

  “What I find peculiar,” one of them started, “is that she’s so willing to help everyone with so little to ask for in return. No wise person would work this way.”

  “She’s just extremely kind at heart, sir,” Mitch answered.

  “No doubt about that,” they replied. “It was obvious as soon her soul was plucked out to talk to us. The soul’s colors reveal a lot about the person. But despite that I think we still have the right to remain cautious for our people’s safety and well-being. Could you investigate her, Mitch?”

  “I’m sure she would have nothing to hide if you simply spoke to her,” Mitch suggested.

  “I don’t think she would comply with that request with the amount of pain and suffering I saw her soul carry,” a female ghoul said. “She’s grown a thick skin.”

  “I find it rather unfair you would want to probe into her personal details implying no consent from her side for that information,” Mitch argued. “She is doing so much for us.”

  The ghouls frowned at him and peered over from their mounted coffins, studying him.

  “How much do you not feel anymore, Mitch?”

  “I do not feel considerably.”

  “Your dark energy trails toward her, though,” they mentioned. “You are bringing her a lot of peace. The idea of death must appeal to her since her body and essence so willingly accepts it.”

  Mitch could not understand what they were saying. It was true he was trying to bring her peace through surrounding her with dark energy that would deflect dark components of the world and soul from bothering her, but this was something else they were talking about.

  “You have come to a standstill in your pr
ocess of fully becoming an undead,” a gruff voice spoke. “This is…new.”

  “Are you attracted to Viria, Mitch?”

  “I don’t believe it to be so, no.”

  “Think again, young one,” they said. “Something very peculiar is happening here.”

  “Nothing is happening,” Mitch said. “Nothing will happen, I can assure you. Not in such trying times. May I be excused?”

  He did not wait for a reply and simply walked away, returning back to his post to watch over Viria. He could not feel anything for her. He shouldn’t. He was a dead man, anyway.

  Chapter 15

  Viria was surprised to see the time on her phone. She’d spent twelve hours in deep sleep. With no nightmares or any other forms of discomfort. This was the strangest thing that had ever happened to her, but she’d noticed that she’d slept well here, even last time when she first visited. For once in her life as a witch she had no explanation for something. She knew the dinner she’d been offered the night before was not messed with in anyway or else she would have smelled it. If not that, then she would have tasted it. Even if not that, she’d made herself immune to poison and other illicit drugs so it would never had worked.

  “I hope you slept well,” Mitch said from the curtained entrance. Viria rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t believe she was still sleepy. She did not want to get out of bed at all.

  “Better than ever, to be honest.” She yawned. “I’m absolutely baffled.”

  Mitch smiled. “Breakfast?”

  “More like lunch.” She sighed. Her phone rang and she answered it on the first ring, “Hello?”

  “Mission’s completed, and Ivanna has initiated breaking into the Inner Circle,” came Yale’s voice.

  “You’re on your way here now?”

  “Will take us fifteen minutes at most.”

  “Good, then.” She sighed. “I’ll be waiting.”

  She hung up and saw a tray being lowered before her. An odd realization hit her like a brick that she was literally being cared for right now, and it was the same case last night for dinner. It brought her discomfort, the hospitality, but she didn’t let it show. Mitch seemed fine with the gesture as if it was something completely normal to do.