‘Tam, I’m serious. You can’t attract public interest; it will affect the whole pack if you do. It’s not fair to put them in potential danger by getting the media involved in pack business.’
‘But I won’t be, I won’t write about us, the pack or anything remotely supernatural. I will just write about normal things, general news.’
‘Tamriel, even if you don’t write directly about us, you will still eventually become a public figure.’ She couldn’t help but snort at that; she’d been busting her balls at that damn newspaper for years and still they didn’t really recognise her as anything more than a junior lackey.
‘Don’t snort at me, pup.’ The alpha shot her a grin. ‘You are one of the most hot-headed, determined females I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. I have no doubt that if you stick to the world of journalism, you’ll become the next big investigative reporter.’ He slapped a heavy hand on her shoulder. ‘And with that comes fame, or a sort of fame anyway. With fame comes an interested public who will want to know where you live, what you do and who you hang out with. I can’t have that in my pack, I’m sorry.’
‘Well, crap,’ Tam cursed. She’d finally found a family, a home of sorts, and now she couldn’t have a career? ‘Julian, I’m good at what I do and I love it. I can’t give it up.’
‘It just can’t be easy with you, can it?’ He looked particularly thoughtful for a few moments. ‘How about a compromise?’
‘I’m listening.’ Tam grinned at the alpha. He knew she wasn’t backing down on this.
‘Right, you can’t work full time for that newspaper; it’s too big a risk for the pack.’ Tam sighed, and opened her mouth to argue, but he held up a finger to hush her and quickly went on, ‘I suggest you phone your newspaper, and tell them you will be writing for them on a freelance basis. Under an alias.’
Tamriel chewed on this thought for a moment; at least she would still get to write, and it would give her more freedom to research stories she actually enjoyed. Money would be tight though; freelance work was sporadic at best and was by no means a way of making a regular income, especially as a junior. Having said that, she would be living on pack-land by the looks of it, so she wouldn’t have a flat to pay for. She could also contact other newspapers and see if she could get freelance work from multiple places.
‘Fine,’ she said after a while. ‘But I’m going to need to find a second job, I think.’
‘Good!’ Julian roared. ‘We’ll work it out. You’re an investigative reporter, right?’
‘I am, yes.’
‘Interesting, how do you feel about private investigation?’ Tam barely had time to answer before a particularly grey, old-looking man stuck his head through the door,
‘Julian,’ he barked. ‘Alison is awake.’
They didn’t hesitate, just bolted out of the door after the old wolf, down to the clinic.
As Tamriel entered the clinic with Leyth and Julian, Doc stuck a finger against his lips, hushing them. ‘Don’t say any names. Don’t talk about location. Julian, you need to see this.’
Julian strode forward, looking confused. The door to Alison’s room closed behind him and everyone went silent, straining their ears in an attempt to hear what was going on inside.
Jake and Jones, the two djinn, were both dressed in designer suits, idly standing next to the door, trying to look busy. Sapphire and the second shifter were sat leaning against the wall, muttering about weapons vs. claws.
The two minotaurs were nowhere to be seen, but Tamriel knew they wouldn’t be far, she was sure of it. Other than that there were wolves.
One of them looked directly at her as her eyes passed over him. She broke her gaze, not wanting to annoy him. He was a moody beast, all dark and broody in the corner, his long, dark hair sweeping past his shoulders to rest on his back. He was eyeing the room intently; anger and fear rode her senses. She got the idea that there was more between this wolf and Alison than met the eye.
There were two blonde wolves, one with long dreadlocks that had been tied into a ponytail, the other with short, choppy hair. Both had bright-blue eyes and their posture was incredibly similar, as were their chiselled faces. Tam guessed they must be brothers, or at least related.
Finally she came to an older wolf with white hair, his worn skin seemed battered by time but did nothing to take away from his broad shoulders and muscled figure. Damn, every male in this room was built like a brick shit-house.
‘Why is everyone here?’ she whispered.
‘Packs stick together, we’re family. If one of us is injured, we all stand by them to the end. I’m guessing they’re all here to find out how Alison is.’
‘Who’s that?’ She flicked her eyes towards the broody wolf.
‘Dax, he’s a grumpy bugger but he’s OK. Would you like me to introduce you? We’re your pack now after all.’
‘No. It’s OK, thanks.’ She smiled.
‘Did I hear that right?’ The white-haired wolf strolled over. ‘You’re pack now?’ He smiled at her, his kind, silver-rimmed eyes creasing in the corners.
‘I guess so…’ She smiled and held a hand out. ‘I’m Tamriel.’
‘Ah, Tamriel, we’ve all heard so much about you!’ He batted her hand away and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into a bear hug.
‘We don’t shake in this house. Us wolves aren’t too formal you know.’ He stepped back, holding her at arm’s length. A soft rumbling echoed from behind her, the white wolf’s eyes moved to Leyth, who was standing behind her.
‘Easy now, Leyth. I’m an old male, and a mated one I might add, don’t be grumbling with me.’ He shot a grin at Tam. ‘I’m Raught. I am the pack elder, at your service!’ He bowed deeply, sweeping an arm out in front of himself.
‘Over there you have Dax, who is our resident moody genius.’ Dax glanced up and rolled his eyes, sending his gaze quickly back to the floor.
‘And these are Reylix and Taevyn, Julian’s kin. They’re cousins, if you hadn’t guessed they were related already.’ The two blondes gave her a wave.
‘They’re patrol.’
She eyed each man in the room, mentally memorising their faces and names.
‘You two. Can I see you in here for a minute?’ Doc pointed at her and Leyth, holding the door open so they could duck through.
‘I said no saying names!’ he hissed at Raught, who chuckled, walking over to the wall to resume his leaning post.
Once inside, Tamriel looked around the room. It was exactly the same as the one she’d been in; white bed, white walls, and a whole hoard of medical gear.
On the bed the blonde was sitting up, hair cascading over her shoulders, her cheeks flushed pink. She was strapped to the bed by her hands and feet. She wasn’t there, though; Tam could feel the empty void she’d come to associate with the tuhrned.
As she met the blonde’s gaze head on, she saw those black pits where eyes should be, felt the wash of their power. As the sensation rolled over her, she forced it away, her defence barriers shooting up, blocking the stench of that evil magic. Those black pits locked onto her and, for a heartbeat, she could have sworn she could see the ugly beast behind them. The bastard that was controlling poor Alison.
‘What’s going on?’ Leyth looked at Doc. Julian was stood in the corner of the room, facing away from the girl, cursing.
‘She’s been turned,’ Doc said.
‘We can control anyone we choose to.’ Though her lips moved, the voice didn’t suit her, it was forced, robotic. Not feminine at all.
‘Leave her alone,’ Julian snapped, grabbing at the girl, shaking her hard.
‘We can control anyone. Send this message to your Council. Tell them of our power. The remaining ones shall bend to us yet.’
‘What do you mean, remaining ones? I’m not delivering shit to the Council from you. Let my sister go.’
‘We will let her go when you join us, Alpha. Until then, she shall rot. On your head be it.’
‘I’ll never join you
sick bastards. You let her go. Now.’
Alison fell back onto the bed, her hair floating out around her in a halo.
Tamriel couldn’t help but notice a distinct crackling in the room, the air itself was ablaze with magic. She could feel it seeping through to her very pores. Heat rose from her core, sweeping through her.
She had grown used to her wolf, the flood of power that coursed through her when she called to it, tried to shift. She’d experienced the change often now, but she could by no means say she was an expert. But her wolf was a part of her, the other half of her very soul, and she knew that power, that heat, it was a part of her.
As a result, she knew now that this heat, this flood of power she could feel rushing through her had nothing to do with her wolf, and more to do with something else. Something more. Something entirely different.
Glancing down at her hands, she noted a distinct lick of blue flame. It shot out of her palm, briefly caressing her skin, warming her.
Everyone else in the room was so focused on Alison that they didn’t notice her weird flaming hand. It must be a trick of the brain, it had to be.
But then her life had taken such an epic swan dive into utter weirdness, was it really that much of a stretch to create fire with your hands?
She didn’t know, but now sure wasn’t the time to find out.
As the men fussed over Alison and argued with the sick bastard controlling her, Tamriel let her gaze scan the room. Power seemed to resonate from Alison’s body; Tam could almost see it, a dark aura surrounding Alison’s pale skin, black streaks of power wrapping their way around her, churning with every word she spoke.
Tamriel focused on this darkness, watching it move. It was well and truly attached to her.
‘Can you see that?’ she whispered to Leyth,
‘See what?’ he hissed back, looking at her. She moved her gaze back to Alison.
The awful black aura had gotten darker.
‘Nothing.’ OK, either she was imagining it, or she was the only one who could see the sickly power wrapped around her.
As she watched the churning magic, she noticed something odd just above the girl’s body; resonating from her chest was a white light, it was small and difficult to see, but now that she’d noticed it, Tamriel found that the black power moved around it, avoided the light at all costs. It was as if it couldn’t contaminate that one area, yet it was stopping that white light from accessing the girl’s body.
Tamriel strode forward, ignoring the confused glances she received from the men. Carefully, she pressed a hand on the girl’s chest, placing it over where the white light was emanating from.
Abruptly the energy she could feel in the air became more violent, whipping against her.
‘Alison?’ Tamriel whispered, watching the white light intently.
The light pulsed at the sound of the girl’s name, becoming fractionally brighter; Tamriel felt something latch onto her hand. It felt for all the world like cold, ghostly fingers wrapping around her own.
Tamriel gasped as the white light slowly began to pulse and shift. She could feel her own energy, her life force seeping out of her and into, what? The girl perhaps? No, into this strange white light that was moving and reshaping before her very eyes. Tamriel was certain she should be confused, afraid. She should be questioning her sanity, as she had done so many times over this last week or so, but she just couldn’t. She was transfixed by that light, by the caress of energy she could feel washing around her. It felt so natural, so easy. She was definitely weird. A freak among freaks.
She watched in awe as the light slowly began to take form, the particles shifting, drawing energy from her to become brighter, moving themselves around until they began to form the distinct shape of a ghostly woman, sitting, no floating, cross-legged above Alison’s body. Tamriel could do little more than stare as the ghostly woman’s eyes met her own.
‘Alison?’ Tamriel whispered, staring at the ghostly woman’s face. Alison nodded, though the movement sent the light particles scattering in a thousand different directions. As they tried to reform, it felt as though they were draining her.
‘What do you need me to do?’ Tamriel whispered.
Alison opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She looked frustrated, and incredibly frightened.
This is so weird, Tam thought. It was almost like she was in a daze; this caress of power, of energy, it called to a part of her that she hadn’t known existed. She’d been finding a lot out about herself of late.
It was a wonder she hadn’t gone mad. But then, on some level, she’d always known she was different. Though she hadn’t been able to put a name to any of it. This energy, this magic, that she could feel and see?
She’d been able to see things like this all her life; she’d just disregarded it as a trick of the brain. Telling herself she was making it up, it wasn’t real. But now? Now she was literally looking at Alison in spirit form, she had no doubt that it was real; there was a magic, energy about her that she could use to tap into this dark magic. She could, she just had no idea how or why.
She looked again at the pale woman in front of her. ‘Alison, tell me what to do,’ she whispered. The woman opened her mouth again, seemingly frustrated with the lack of sound that was coming out.
Slowly, she moved her arm towards Tamriel, placing her cold, spectral fingers on her temple.
A single word formed in her mind. ‘Help’.
‘Help you how?’ Tamriel whispered again, suddenly incredibly aware of every eye in the room watching her in confusion, though she didn’t blame them. She probably looked ridiculous standing here, talking to nothing, staring into empty space. She shrugged the feeling off and concentrated on Alison.
The woman looked her straight in the eye, concentration hardening her features; her cold fingers resting on Tamriel’s temple became colder, stronger. It was as if she were forcing the words straight into Tam’s mind.
‘Make. Them. Leave.’ The words appeared so harshly in Tamriel’s mind that she winced a little.
‘I’ll try my best,’ Tamriel whispered, releasing the woman’s ghostly hand and removing her palm from the woman’s chest. She looked terrified again, the light particles scattered quickly, losing their shape, and the brightness rapidly dimmed until what was left, hovering over Alison’s body, was the ghostly dim white light that had been there to begin with. Barely visible.
Tamriel heaved a great breath as her mind returned to her. It almost felt as though she’d been dreaming, as though now she had let go of the energy that she assumed was Alison, and brought her mind back to the here and now
‘Tamriel?’ Leyth’s voice reverberated through her.
‘I—’ Tam couldn’t speak; the world around her spun and wavered. She felt Leyth’s strong hands steady her as she wobbled.
‘What’s wrong, are you OK?’ he whispered into her ear.
She closed her eyes for a moment.
After a second, she took a deep breath and looked around the room.
It was as if she’d been looking through blurry eyes that had suddenly cleared; everything looked so clear, so real. The dark aura around Alison had retreated somewhat, and the ball of light looked dimmer than ever; she could still feel the harsh crackle of energy around her, and though she wasn’t sure it would work, she knew what she had to do to help her.
Tamriel eased out of Leyth’s strong grip.
‘I’m going to try to talk to them, if that’s OK?’ she said, amazed at how strong her voice sounded, when in actual fact she was trembling through to her core.
Doc hesitated. ‘How?’
‘Well, they can see us, right? They’re using her to talk to us?’
‘Yeah.’
‘So why can’t I talk to them? They’ve already seen me through the eyes of another tomb, it won’t make much difference if they see me again.’
The male stepped back, looking quickly at Julian, who had his eyes locked onto her, all three of them looked confused, ma
ybe still a little angry, but more than anything, they all looked completely baffled.
Slowly, Tamriel moved directly in front of Alison’s beautiful face, her ruby-red lips and her soulless black eyes.
She moved so her face was dominating the girl’s vision, then took a deep breath, trying to calm her trembling limbs. She looked directly into the black pits that were Alison’s eyes, allowing that heat, that bizarre power at the very centre of her wash through her and latch onto the darkness that seemed to engulf the woman. It felt sticky, dark. Putrid.
As she looked deep into the dark depths of that horrific power, she realised she really could see through it, she could see straight through Alison’s ‘eyes’ and out the other side. She couldn’t make much out, but she knew he was there, watching her, waiting. The anger boiled up inside her, hatred burnt from her core. This bastard had almost killed Alison, had tried to kill her. Had succeeded in killing Leyth’s kin, and had no doubt killed many more.
It made her want to scream and her wolf howl.
He needed to be stopped.
‘Hello,’ she spat. ‘Remember me?’
As she spoke, the wolf in her came roaring to the surface, making her canines lengthen and her ears burn. Obviously her wolf was as determined as she to make sure this bastard knew they weren’t going down easily. They would fight.
‘I’m the one that got away. I found your base and destroyed it. I will find you.’
She stared at the black empty pits, focusing on them intently. There was something there in the darkness, she was absolutely sure of it.
‘I can feel you. I can see you sitting there in your stone hideaway.’
As her anger peaked, she felt the dark energy, the magic in the room, wrap around her, trying to control her, gain access to her mind, her soul. Violent, pissed-off energy that rippled through the room in waves and singed the air.
Tamriel did her best to latch onto that energy, to use it, to smash it down, force it away. She had no idea how she was going to make him leave, or what she was supposed to do, but she tried to work it out. Suddenly, the power began to retreat, rapidly disappearing back into Alison. Tamriel realised she really could see them, behind those black eyes there was a strange, dark and very warped, yet still particularly clear, reflection of a deathly pale man with no hair. His gaunt face held dark, almost purple, eyes that narrowed as he looked back at her.