by Leela Ash
So much for the power of true love. She’d never been so horrified to learn she was right. “I didn’t think the Fangs of Apophis knew that regular Shifters could take true Mates.”
“Why does it matter what our clothes know? Their idiocy does not infect us.”
The Fangs were clothes? What did that mean? They weren’t allies or partners in crime?
A critical piece of information, dropped casually. Now if she could only survive long enough to pass that on…
Not that they’d kill her right away. SueSue said that dead Rats couldn’t be tortured. Well they couldn’t be threatened, either. With her dead, there’d be no bait to bring Lucas barreling into their trap.
That thought sent a chill down her spine and whispered of one terrible solution: suicide. One rush for the door, one bullet in the back… and she could warn Lucas to flee.
Did she love him enough to do that?
Before she could answer, she realized that wasn’t the right question.
It’s not just me: I have a child to think about. I can’t kill my baby, not even to save Lucas or the Aegis.
What other option did she have, though? Sit here and wait, watch her Mate die?
Or…
Not-Mom stood beside the couch, still as a statue.
When I was captured, she called me ‘Ashbaline’. Only my mother uses that name. So Mom still exists, somewhere inside her own mind. Could she be strong enough to seize control?
A painful thought. Ash had been helpless during her possession. Yet her mother was a Shifter, a fully trained witch. Surely that counted for something?
“Mom?”
Both of the possessed Shifters tilted their heads to stare at her. Like she was a cockroach crawling slowly across the floor.
“I know you can hear me. You’ve got to stop this. If these things destroy the Aegis, thousands of people will die.”
Cold, reptilian amusement lit Not-Mom’s eyes. “She doesn’t care.”
“Liar! My mother can be a pain but she’s not a monster! She won’t let innocent people die!”
“Are you sure about that?”
The creature’s mouth drooped open and a soft voice whispered out. “He really is a nice young man. The nicest Wolf I’ve ever met. But, well, at the end of the day he’s still a Wolf. He can’t protect the Aegis. He doesn’t know what to do with it. Really, it’s better if I take it.”
Mom! That was her real mother, lost in some Darkborn delusion. With feverish urgency, Ash snatched at the opportunity her captors had given her. “Mom, you won’t get it! These things will. You’re helping dark spirits, things from the Other Side, destroy our world!”
She might as well be talking to herself. Mom ignored her, like she always did. Muttering on and on about stupid Wolves and wise Hares until the creature possessing her closed her mouth with a smug, gloating smile.
It was a grin meant to break Ash’s spirit. Instead a fierce, proud hope washed over her.
You made a bad mistake, Not-Mom: you proved I’m right. The do need some sort of agreement with the “host” people you wear as “clothes”. You wouldn’t bother to trick Mom unless you needed her consent.
She remembered ruthlessly knocking her mother out, back when she was possessed. What had gone through her mind?
I was thinking that I’d wanted to punch Mom in the nose for a long, long time…
Ouch. She owed her mother an apology when this was all over. But it was another hint that a host had to agree, in some minor, twisted way, with its parasite.
If so, she needed a ‘pure’ reason for Mom to resist, something this monster couldn’t twist.
What was more ‘pure’ than saving thousands of lives?
Mom doesn’t see it that way, though. She’s not killing people by attacking Lucas. She’s getting the Aegis for someone who can use it better. Like, her.
Purity mattered. Simplicity mattered. Speed probably mattered too. Give Not-Mom enough time and she’d figure out a way to twist anything.
Caught by surprise, though… If she could force Mom into a snap decision…
The shadow of a plan formed in Ash’s mind.
Just in time too, because her guard placed a hand over his ear-set and said, “Vehicle has entered the drive.”
“Excellent.” Not-Mom stared at the front door, swaying gently in the breeze. “Give the order.”
“All units in position. Hold fire until the Dire Wolves are subdued.”
Seconds ticked by. Long enough to give her ulcers. Not enough time to improve on her shaky plan.
An engine roared closer. Tires squealed. Doors slammed.
Now or never. Wrapping herself in good memories – her eighth birthday, the pride in her mother’s eyes when she graduated first in her class – Ash rose to her feet. As Not-Mom spun towards her, she poured every ounce of her love for this prickly woman into a bright smile.
“Mom, I love you. And I’m pregnant. You’re going to be a grandmother.”
Then Ash spun and bolted down the hall towards the front door. “Trap!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Don’t come in! Don’t come in!”
Curses behind her, shouts. Then the roar of an assault rifle.
Ash staggered, sure that those bullets would shred her. Instead, they tore into the ceiling and sent bits of tile raining down on her head.
Behind her, Not-Mom and the guard wrestled, each trying to wrest the rifle away. Stunned by the rebellion of her ‘clothes’, the Darkborn’s mouth gaped wide with comical shock’.
It didn’t surprise Ash. At the end of the day, Magdalene Anderson was her mother. They might argue. They might disappoint each other. Yet no matter how dark the days grew, there was always something pure about a mother’s love.
Slamming into the wall, Ash slid around the edges of the trap and darted outside.
Lucas, Lily, and Rex stood there, frozen by her warning. “Don’t go in! There’s a magic trap on…”
Lights flared in the Wolves’ eyes. A clean, silvery glow like the full moon. As they Shifted, Lily and Lucas raised their muzzles and howled. Two notes, woven together. A piercing cry that made both Rex and Ash wince with its fierce, primal energy.
Screams burst out around them, and scattered shots. Spinning, she saw Not-Mom and the guard collapse in spasms. They writhed, jaws gaping, until – with a final spasm – they vomited fountains of black goo into the air.
A pollution that evaporated in a twist of dark smoke.
Wailing like banshees, the Wolf-twins swept past her to destroy their foes.
Chapter 25.
When the battle was over, Lily called the Sand Pack to help with clean up. Most of the attackers were Fangs, murderous villains even before they got possessed. Lucas and the others captured many of them while they struggled to recover their wits. Those that escaped were quickly run down by Wolves. Only Mom was an innocent victim. Amid the violence and confusion, Rex whisked them away to his resort, Ancient Ways.
Two hours later, after a hot shower and a couple glasses of wine, Ash was beginning to feel human again. A message from the front desk waited, informing her that there was a meeting at the Anasazi Conference Room in fifteen minutes. She freshened her make-up, wished in vain for clean clothes, and then headed down the hall at the appointed time.
Their little group of Shifters awaited. With them were Aaron King from the Sand Pack and a couple Rex introduced as Finn Donnelly of the First Flight and his Mate Bree, a Hare.
Mom was there too, standing ramrod straight. Ash slipped to her side and hugged her stiff form. Her mother softened a bit at the embrace… but not much. “Ashbaline, we need to talk.”
“We do, Mom. Later.”
Uncomfortable with public displays of affection, the Hare nodded and pulled away. Once that would have stung. Yet more proof that her mother didn’t love her.
Now, she knew better. Ash had proof of her love that no worries could assail. If Mom didn’t care, that Darkborn would have shot her in the back. End o
f story. Secure in that knowledge, Mom’s foibles and bad manners lost their sting. Oh, they were still there, still annoying. Yet Ash could see them for what they really were: signs that her mother was a damaged person. Someone who deserved patience and help, not scorn. And that underneath she did love her.
All these years, I blamed myself for her misery. Mom would be happy if only I was a Shifter… if only I had been smarter… if only I hadn’t been born. In fact, she makes herself unhappy. It’s got nothing to do with me. Mom loves me – as much as she can. She’s just too damaged to love me well.
She prayed that that would change. That a baby, a grandchild, could finally loosen the knot around her mother’s heart.
As Mom stepped away to speak to the Dragons, Ash checked in with Rex. “Hey there. Are Paige and the kids alright?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t be here if they weren’t.” The broad grin on the Bear’s face dulled any sting in those words. “Though SueSue shot some poor SOB from the Sand Pack before she figured out they were on the same side.”
“Oh my word, is he okay?”
“His dignity is in tatters and his Pack might start calling him ‘Rat Bit’. But he’ll live.”
Ash glanced about at the clustered Shifters. “Did Paige not want to come?”
“No. The kids are pretty wound up, as you might guess. She’s trying to get them to settle.”
“They must be terrified.”
“Nah, more like excited. Can’t stop boasting about how they got away – as if she wasn’t there too! We’re never going to get them to bed at a reasonable hour.”
Lucas joined them, wrapping his arms around her. Ash leaned back against her lover, savoring the safety of his strength.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself.” She tilted her head back against his shoulder, surrounding herself with his musky, masculine scent.
“You hanging in there?”
“Yup. The house chardonnay has been a big help.”
He startled, frowning down at her in puzzlement. “Are you supposed to be drinking? Given that, you know, you’re…”
“Oh crap, you’re right!” How could she have forgotten that? “I’ve having some trouble wrapping my head around this pregnancy stuff.”
His stern glower softened at once. “Eh, I’m sure a drink or two won’t be a problem.”
True. She settled back against him as Finn Donnelly banged his beer bottle against the podium, to get everyone’s attention.
“Thanks for coming, folks! First things first. Can someone clue me in on what’s happened?”
Casey stepped forward, more somber and reserved than the other Dragon. “We believe we have discovered the Aegis. It appears to be some artifact, brought from the Other Side by Lucas and Lily’s parents. They broke it in half, sending one piece with each of their children. When the twins met again, the Aegis reformed.”
“I don’t supposed we know what it’s good for?” the big Dragon asked.
“Not yet. Though it appears to bond with certain Shifters who touch it. To date myself, Lucas Clay, and Rex Fairburn.”
Talk stopped as they took a break to pass the little shield around the room.
Sadly, it didn’t react to anyone else, not even the new Dragon. Donnelly sighed as the Aegis remained completely indifferent to his touch. “At least we’ve got the thing – even if we don’t know what to do with it. Next question: how the hell do the Snot Monsters fit into all of this?”
At last there was something she could contribute! “Darkborn,” Ash said, stepping into the middle of the circle of Shifters. “That’s what the one possessing Mom called itself. It also claimed that the Fangs were merely ‘clothes,’ By clothes…meaning they are just things to be worn or used.” So they are not allies, and they didn’t share information with them. It seems they used them…like puppets.
Startled silence followed – broken by a shrill squeal of delight.
“Oh that makes so much sense!” Bree, the new Hare, practically bounced with joy.
Her Mate squinted at her suspiciously. “Why?”
“Didn’t you ever wonder how the Fangs got so organized all of a sudden? They’ve been around for centuries. Lurking in the background. Fighting for every scrap of power they could get. But they’ve never worked together. They’d backstab each other as cheerfully as they’d attack the First Flight. They’ve never been a serious threat to most Shifters. Until now.”
Ash gasped as she, too, saw the pattern. “Now they work together. They’ve started a massive program to kidnap Shifters and their Kin.”
Bree nodded. “Mostly Rats, for their espionage skills, but I bet some of those poor people are destined to be clothes, as they would say. What a gross thing to call someone” She shuddered. “This also explains why the Fangs always seem to be a step ahead of us. Before the first Wellspring awoke, they had already begun collecting ancient artifacts…”
“…because the Darkborn had infiltrated the Fangs of Apophis,” Ash added, “and they knew that magic would return.”
“Whoa whoa whoa!” Finn exploded. “You two are not telling me that the Fangs are innocent victims, are you?”
“No, of course not,” his Mate assured him. “They’re still the same evil, selfish monsters they always were. But they’re smarter now, because they’re being controlled.”
That seemed to pacify the big Dragon. “Okay, good. I was going to be seriously pissed if I found out the Fangs weren’t villains.”
Chuckles circled the room. Ash didn’t join it, however, because something unpleasant needed to be said. Something no one wanted to hear. “We still need to warn the Fangs of Apophis about the Darkborn.”
“Ashbaline!” her mother gasped. “Don’t be ridiculous. Even if the Darkborn are somehow ‘worse’ than the Fangs, that doesn’t make us allies.”
“This won’t help the Fangs, Mom. It will crush them.” An entire room of Shifter paused, listening. To her. Ash Anderson, a mortal Kin with no gift. Once that would have filled her with pride. Today, it just seemed natural. At long last, she’d proven herself. “What will they think when they learn that they’re pawns, not kings? They’ll tear their own organization apart trying to find the Darkborn. No Fang can trust another.”
“Exactly!” Bree nodded. “Which will make it ten times harder for the Darkborn to bring this Nemagorix character back. They’ll be too busy defending themselves from us and the Fangs!”
“I never thought I’d see the day when I helped those bastards,” Finn grumbled. “How do we even get in touch with them?”
“I can do that.” Again, her mother stared at her like she’d grown a second head. “I have a phone number for Ralph Waters, a Rat who used to work for the Fangs. I can pass this information on to him.”
Lucas snorted. “He’ll probably use it to worm his way back into their good graces.”
“I bet he’ll be a lot less excited about working for the Fangs when he learns he might end up as ‘clothes’.”
The meeting broke apart then. Mom and Bree speculated about the nature of the Darkborn while the men debated the Aegis and who – or what - ‘Foot’ and ‘Pile of Bones’ might be in the drawing.
Lucas, however, pulled her aside. “You look tired. Want to head back to your room and call for room service?”
“Sure. I could use a break.”
Besides, there were things they needed to discuss, in private. Life-changing things.
Yet once they reached her room, Ash found herself tongue-tied. Sitting on the couch, sparkling water in hand, she struggled to find the words she needed.
I have to tell him the truth. He deserves that much.
Yet it was Lucas, not her, who spoke first. “Ash? I’ve got something I need to tell you.”
He wanted to talk? That was a new one! Puzzled, she curled her feet up underneath herself.
“Rex, Lily and I… we talked a lot, in that car. About family. About Mates. I guess Mates are really a big thing.”
“Mos
t Shifters think so, yes.” Ash was pleased with that calm response. Far less snarky than ‘Yes, finding the other half of your soul does matter.’
“So it made me think. About you. About… us.” He hesitated for the first time, like ‘us’ was a scary word. “I realized that I like you. A lot.”
Now the sarcasm did bubble up. “Does that make us ‘friends’?”
“Yeah.” He gave her a rueful smile. “And I realized I’d like to be more than friends. Ash…” At last, he faced her, strong and determined. “I have no idea what it’s supposed to feel like, but I know this: I can’t picture a life without you in it. I want to wake up every morning beside you. I want to build a future, together with you. I can’t imagine being happy if you’re not with me. If that’s what love is, then I guess I love you.”
Tears filled her eyes, tears of joy. “That sure sounds like love to me.”
On a roll now, he took her hands in his and dropped to one knee before her. With a shock, Ash recognized that posture… but he couldn’t seriously be getting ready to ask her to…?
Realizing what this looked like, Lucas dropped her hands like a pair of hot potatoes and scrambled back into his seat.
Okay. So he wasn’t proposing. Ash tried to ignore the sharp pang of disappointment.
“Yeah. So, anyways… uh, I’d like to stick around.”
And they said romance was dead!
With difficulty, she managed not to roll her eyes. “I wasn’t planning on driving you off, you know.”
“Yeah but, what I mean is…” His eyes began to flicker around the room until he gritted his teeth and forced himself to meet her gaze. “What I mean is, I don’t care who your baby’s father is. I want to be there, for both of you. Lily and me, we weren’t raised by our ‘real’ parents – and we turned out okay.”
Okay-ish, she thought. Though she had to smile, both at his words and at the sweetness of that offer.
Also, at the opening he’d given her. “Lucas, there’s something I need to tell you, too. Something that may change your feelings about me.”
“Okay.” He tapped his toes, brimming with nervous energy.
“I lied to you… about the baby? It is yours.”