The Nephelim
Chapter 5
animus and Staine

Thanks to Frank Downey for the stuff on guitar playing and tuning (something I�ve never bothered to learn despite having at least one fully stringed acoustic guitar in the house for most of my life) and FeyRen for taking the time to red-ink all those grammatical errors and literary fuckups committed whilst simultaneously trying to type, drink beer, ash my cigarette and watch MTV over my shoulder.

The term �Cadbury� refers to someone who can�t hold their alcohol � a �Glass and a Half� is all they can handle.

For comments, suggestions, hell, even flame, drop us a line at the usual places...

-Staine

[email protected]
[email protected]

Act V

‘Chantelle’ smiled teasingly and she slowly drew the straps down Elena’s shoulders, her grey eyes never for a moment leaving Carter’s face. She drank in his all too apparent lust as Elena finished the job, swaying gracefully out of the garment and letting the silken fabric pool around her ankles. Placing her hands on the other girl’s shoulders, Chantelle slowly turned her around to face the Watcher who was currently getting a lot more than an eyeful of the redhead’s delicious curves. Chantelle had to admit to herself the girl she’d run into in Nacht did have a body most would die for: good hips, tight waist and a set of tits that, while completely natural, would make a brilliant set of ‘after’ photos for any plastic surgeon’s brochure. Elena’s physical perfection was ideal for the role she needed the girl to play. She would be the key to unlocking Carter.

“You like…?” Chantelle smiled over Elena’s shoulder.

The Watcher nodded, his eyes wide. Nothing in his training as a Sigurdian had quite prepared him for the sight of two extremely hot females undressing for him.

Chantelle took a handful of Elena’s copper hair and gently pulled her head back, one hand tightly caressing her exposed throat as the other reached around her body to cut the underside of a perfectly formed breast.

“Then take her… she’s yours…”

Carter crashed into them, his mouth searching out Elena’s as his hands reached around the redhead’s body for Chantelle. She forced away her distaste and let him paw her. There was no way she was going to take pleasure from a Sigurdian. There were limits to the pursuit of fun that even she was not willing to cross. They tumbled onto Elena’s bed, a mess of half-buttoned clothing and intertwined limbs.

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Jenni watched the sun sink over the rows of tiled rooftops at the end of the street with more than a little dread in her heart. Around her, shadows, cast by the rapidly diminishing light, elongated like National Geographic time-lapse footage. Shadows that grew and danced around her much faster than they had any natural right to. She knew what to expect, knew what was about to happen, but the fear that filled her was still a tangible, nearly paralysing, force. The same primal fear she’d felt the first time this had happened. A fear that time and countless re-enactments had done nothing to abate.

Before her eyes, what appeared as merely the shadow of a mailbox across the pavement picked itself off the ground, its shape changing with its elevation to take on a new form. One that was vaguely humanoid, like a person with a jet-black sheet draped over him, but a sheet that carried with it no sense of depth. A featureless smudge of anti-light that inched, deliberately, towards her. She had no way of explaining it, but she could feel that shadow’s intent against her aura, against her very skin, even though a good twenty feet separated them. She didn’t know what that thing was, but it was definitely sentient. Something alive inhabited that shadow. Something she really didn’t want to get to know better.

Without stopping to think, she gave the apparition her back and forced herself to move, to put as much distance between the two of them as possible. For a residential neighbourhood, there was a surprising absence of sound. None of the usual childish shouting, condescending adult voices or car engines one expected to hear in the suburbs. Mainly because the street was devoid of life. The insubstantial shadow flowing behind her made no sound to indicate it was still on her trail, but she’d been here before and there was no doubt in her mind that the thing was still behind her, still trying to close the distance between them. She picked a house, seemingly at random, a single-storey, fairly nondescript red brick dwelling, and charged up the driveway, her heavy boots crunching up the autumn leaves strewn across the concrete.

Upon reaching the closed front door, she hammered on the panelled hardwood, knowing even as she did so, that no one was going to open that door. There was no one to let her in and provide sanctuary in this place where the shadows held dominion. But damnit! She still had to try.

“C’mon, fucking open up!” she screamed, her small fists beating desperately against the unyielding wood. It was so goddamn pointless!

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the first shadow had been joined by two more, each a flat, featureless, human-sized form. They began to fan out as they glided up the driveway, each moving out to limit her options for retreat. She could see two more crossing the street and another emerging from the yard of the house opposite her. She had to keep moving! She knew the layout of this neighbourhood in spite of the fact she’d never really been here, so she knew there was a largish park, almost the size of two football fields laid side by side behind this house. She had to get to that park! The open space would, at the very least, buy her some time…

Spinning around, she leapt over the small garden that ran alongside the front of the house and dashed around the corner to the wrought iron gate that led to the backyard. She didn’t stop to inspect the small lock. It was an old rusty thing that was hardly ever used and had long since fused shut. Letting momentum continue to carry her forward, she pulled her right knee up as high as she could and smashed her booted foot straight into the old-fashioned lock. As she knew it would, the decayed lock gave way and the gate swung open with a protesting squeal. Without a backwards glance at her pursuers, she ran up the narrow side path past the big, wheeled, bins stamped with a vaguely familiar TCC logo into the backyard. Gritting her teeth in preparation, she braced herself for the fall. Her right foot inevitably snagged the garden hose as it always did here and she went face-first into the ceramic tiles of the patio. Propping herself up on her elbows, she lightly pinched her bottom lip and winced as her fingers came away covered in blood. Stupid fucking garden hose did it every time!

But there was no time to lie around and whinge about a busted lip. She could feel them closing in behind her. Spitting out a mouthful of blood and saliva defiantly, she forced herself to her feet and broke into a staggered run around the patio, pausing only long enough to grab one of the wicker stools around the patio table before heading to the back fence. This was a harder obstacle to clear than the gate had been. With a public park behind them, the residents here had erected a six-foot overlapping picket fence around their backyard both to keep the general public out and to provide them their privacy. Still, she’d cleared this fence before and she knew it was doable. Bringing the stool with her had saved precious seconds. She’d been here the night before and she’d had to run back from the fence to get that damn stool…

Wedging the stool against the fence, she climbed onto it, grabbed the triangular points of the fence and vaulted over sideways. Her dismount on the other side was less than perfect and she was unable to bite back a cry of pain as she felt her left ankle buckle under her weight. A year spent playing field hockey was enough for her to know a sprain when she felt one. Surprise temporarily replaced the pain etched on her face. This was new; usually her landing was perfect.

“Shit fuckin’ happens,” she winced, gently putting some weight on the injured ankle. Her eyes watered up almost immediately as crippling pain shot up past her knee. “And it’s just my damn luck shit has to happen to me, now of all times!”

She hobbled painfully across the park but only made about ten metres before the pain became too intense to continue and she was forced down onto one knee. With a crutch of some sort, or a strong shoulder to lean on, she’d still be more or less mobile but that was neither here nor there. She didn’t have a damn crutch and there was no one here to help her. It was simply her against the shadows. A battle she would not be allowed to win.

“Fuck it!” she snapped, pulling out her tiny flick knife and thumbing the switch. It wasn’t much of a weapon, a two-and-half-inch triangular blade with its single cutting edge curved slightly to maximise the cutting surface without increasing its length. Good against normal people if surprise was on her side, next to useless against an able, prepared opponent. But it was all she had, and a little knife was better than trying to fight hand-to-hand when she was already crippled. And there was no doubt in her mind that she had to fight. She didn’t know what those shadows were, but that didn’t matter. They were going to hurt her, drive her out of her mind at the very least. Why they were after her didn’t matter either. The first time she’d come here, she’d tried to reason with them, and failed.

Negotiation was out of the question. There were only two choices left: fight, or run. And running was out this time. Fear filled her mind. She couldn’t run, and fighting was a lost cause because she couldn’t really harm something as insubstantial as a shadow with a flimsy little knife. Her eyes locked on the fence behind her, she sucked in a deep breath. They were coming and all she could do now was await the inevitable. But what the hell, in the end, all she had left was fear and pride. The pain was intense, but she was going to be on her feet for this. Wobbly, unable to back pedal or change stance quickly, but on her feet. They weren’t going to find a quivering little girl waiting to die, they were going to find a pissed off bitch prepared to give them hell as long as she drew breath.

“Quietly into the night my arse!” she hissed with more bravado than she felt as the first shadow flowed through the slats of the fence. The rest appeared seconds later, their insubstantial forms allowing them to flow through the gaps in the fence and appear whole on the other side. She tightened her grip on her useless knife as they circled around her.

Eight shadows.

“Enough!” the authority in that single word was unmistakable. Even the wraith-like shadows froze, bowing to the will of one much greater than they. Jenni stared at the newcomer in surprise. He was much taller than her, easily over six feet, and wide enough across the shoulders to avoid looking gaunt. His skin seemed unnaturally pale, but she could tell at a glance it wasn’t make-up. He was simply that pale. Dressed in non-descript black trousers and a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he did look a lot like the typical Goth but she somehow sensed he was not trying to make a fashion statement, he was just wearing what he felt comfortable with. As far as looks went, she thought he was rather cute, strong jaw, good bone structure, but his eyes! Aglow with an unholy green light that seemed to fill his eye sockets, he simply radiated power! Beauty, strength, confidence and will all wrapped up together. He was the closest thing she’d ever seen that came close to her mental picture of an angel. Or just as easily, a demon.

Magnificent and terrible to behold at the same time.

What the fuck was going on? There was never anyone else here, only herself and the shadows. And this was the part where they were supposed to cack her ass.

“Who are you?” she finally demanded, her voice little more than a frightened squeak.

Before he could answer, the shadows suddenly leapt at him, arm-like appendages sprouting from their dark forms as they hissed their challenges. Wide-eyed, she watched them attack the newcomer, moving with speed and grace no human could ever hope to match. The attack was over in moments… and the shadows never stood a chance.

She stared at the bodies in confusion. One second there had been the eight shadows flowing like mist around the (demon?) and the next, he stood alone and unharmed. At his feet lay eight, very mangled, human corpses. Corpses that faded out of existence before her eyes. He calmly slid what looked like a long dagger into a sheath that was strapped horizontally to his belt before looking up at her curiously. The green glow had left his eyes and he suddenly looked nothing like the towering figure of power he’d seemed to be before. Just a well-built, very pale, but otherwise normal-looking guy.

“I don’t get it, Jen,” he began in a very human-sounding voice, “you should have been able to handle this bunch all on your lonesome. Whaddaya’ need me for?”

“Need you…?” she stammered, “What…? I mean, I don’t even know you? Who… what are you?”

He frowned, “I’m Alec, duh! You been sniffing glue or something?”

She watched him calmly extract a slim silver cigarette case from his shirt pocket, select a cigarette and light it with an engraved Zippo before offering the case to her. She timidly took a cigarette, pulling her hand away quickly once she had it.

“You… you know me?” she asked cautiously, still feeling more than a little fear. Those shadows struck a very profound terror in her heart and yet he’d destroyed them so effortlessly it made her head spin. That made him someone to really fuckin’ fear!

He made a face as he held out his lighter. “Of course I know you!” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe. “Here,” he tossed her the lighter, “check out the inscription.”

She turned the Zippo over in her hand. Etched into the side were the words ‘Happy 21st Sweetness, love Jen.’

The ‘love Jen’ part was decidedly odd, to say nothing of the term of endearment. Those weren’t the sort of expressions she’d throw around playfully so if she’d actually done this, she must have really meant it, if - and it was a big goddamn ‘if’ - she’d actually given him this lighter. But those were just words and anyone could have had them etched. And it wasn’t like she had a name that was particularly rare. Saying she did this and using the lighter as proof meant nothing. But at the same time, there was a faint tugging at the back of her mind. She looked up at him again and the sensation of familiarity grew stronger. There was something really bloody surreal about him and she needed her chemical fix fast. Sticking the cigarette he gave her into her mouth, she snapped the lighter open, ground the wheel and sucked down a deep lungful of tar. The first drag was always the best and the nicotine was mildly soothing.

“I don’t understand…” she muttered, handing him back his lighter, “any of this.”

He looked as confused as she was, “whaddaya mean ‘don’t understand’? You gave me that Zippo four years ago at my 21st. We had that at Marc’s place because a pool party seemed like a good idea, and that was the night Marc and Allen had decided they were going to formally crown the King and the Cadbury and spent the entire night hurling taunts and glaring at each other over stubby necks as they went round for round. How could you forget that? Especially when you were the one Allen eventually barfed on…”

She didn’t know any Marc’s or Allen’s, or remember any 21st pool parties, but she could almost see it… feel it. Like something that had happened either a long time ago, and the memory had just faded over time… or… No! She couldn’t possibly remember something that hadn’t happened yet. That wasn’t even possible! If it had yet to happen, it couldn’t damn well be a memory then! Or could it? Either way, there was something…

“Jen?” ‘Alec’ interrupted, his expression one of concern, “you okay? What’s wrong?”

“This!” Jenni snapped, throwing up her hands in frustration, “all of this right here! Me getting chased by those things, you showing up and killing those things, those things apparently being people or turning into people when they die…” her voice rose to a shriek, “and YOU especially! How the hell do you know me? I’ve never set eyes on you in my entire fucking life! Trust me on that one, if I’d ever seen a guy with glowing green eyes I think I’d frigging remember it!”

He stared at her. “Okay, Jenni, enough’s enough! Now you’re starting to scare me.”

“Scare you?!? What the hell do you think this is doing to ME?!?”

“This isn’t funny,” he said seriously.

“You betcha’ arse it’s not fucking funny!” she screamed. “Now for the last time, who the hell are you?”

“I’m Alec Roth,” he answered, his expression showing he was clearly bewildered, “Jen, how can you not know me? For crying out loud, I’m simply what you allowed me to be.”

“What I allowed you to be? But I don’t even know you!” she protested weakly.

His confusion suddenly disappeared and he grinned cheerfully at her. “Oh, I get it! This is a dream! She warned me about this…”

“A dream? How can this be a dream? And if it is a dream, I’m not supposed to be able to know that it’s a dream! That, in and of itself, means what you’re saying is bullshit!”

Alec shrugged. “In order of appearance, anything’s possible, so I don’t see why this can’t be a dream. Tell me, when those Sigurdians were-”

“Who?”

“Sigurdians? The, uh, shadow things. Anyway, when they were chasing you around, did you get the impression that it had all happened before?”

Jenni blinked. He was starting to make sense now, there was a feeling of déjà vu. Tripping over the hose, knowing how to open the gate and scale the fence, those things had all happened before.

“I take it from your expression I’m right,” Alec remarked. “Now what happens if I didn’t show up here?”

“This part is usually different.” Jenni muttered, her mind racing, “I sprained my ankle coming over the fence so they had no trouble catching me this time, but usually it takes them awhile to catch me. I can’t hurt them, and they never stop coming after me, so eventually they catch me.”

Alec grinned triumphantly. “You said ‘they had no trouble catching me this time’ so that means this has happened before and I was right!”

Jenni scowled, “So? I figured we’d already established that!”

“Just confirming it, now what happens when they catch you?”

She involuntarily cringed as her fear welled up within. They always had her cornered eventually, always managed to get her trapped somewhere where she couldn’t run away… they always caught her… but then what? Her fear was much more intense now as her mind’s eye saw those shadowy hands reaching out…

“Oh God…” she groaned, closing her eyes in a desperate bid to blank what happened next from her mind. She felt strong arms wrap themselves around her and she instinctively fought to break free but whatever held her was much stronger than she was. “Lemme’ go!” she screamed.

“Jenni, snap out,” a soothing voice reached her ears. “Its safe, I’ve got you, its safe now and they can’t hurt you, I promise.”

She opened her eyes and saw only blackness. “You’re safe, Jen, safe,” the voice reached her again. “I’m here now and it’s going to be okay.” She felt her fear start to ebb away; the blackness was only his shirt, not the shadows. She’d just pressed her face against his chest. Jenni allowed herself to go limp in his arms, relying solely on his strength to hold her up as he stroked her hair soothingly. “I know this is hard, but what happens when they get you?”

“I… I don’t know.” she answered truthfully, pushing against him just enough so that she could look up at his face. “I know they’d eventually get me trapped someplace and then… then I just wake up, I guess.”

“Do you always run from them?”

She frowned. That was a stupid question and she made sure her expression told him so. “Of course I run! What do you expect me to do, fight them? With what? How could I possibly harm a shadow?”

“I think I showed you that they can be harmed,” he said with a proud little smile.

Jenni tried to return his grin but hers still carried a little of her fear. “You did,” she agreed in a whisper that was almost a whimper, “but I’m not you, I’m not as strong as you…”

To her surprise, he burst out laughing and she was suddenly filled with rage. How the fuck dare he find this funny? This wasn’t a laughing matter! Those things were trying to hurt her damnit! They scared the crap out of her and the fucking bastard found that funny! She drew back her right hand and slapped him as hard as she could across the cheek. “Fuck you, arsehole!” she snapped venomously.

Alec stared at her in shock, and then he started laughing again. “Now that’s the Jenni I know and love!” he declared, lifting her off her feet and spinning her in a full circle before gently setting her down again. His arms remained around her waist but she made no move to disengage. His arms felt like they belonged there.

“What’s going on here, and I pray to whatever’s out there that you have a damn good explanation, because I’m fucking terrified, like totally scared shitless, and I’m confused as hell, and you,” she slapped him again but not nearly as hard as the first time, “you are doing nothing to help.”

“Yeah, uh, sorry about that,” he said insincerely, “it’s just that seeing you actually admit to weakness… well I’ve never really seen you like this before, and for some strange, really perverse reason, it was just so funny. If you knew you like I knew you, you’d be laughing too.”

“I’m glad I amuse you so,” she grumbled sourly.

“You do, but Jen, before this, if anyone would have asked who was the badder badass between us, I would have always replied, with all honesty I might add, that it was you.” Alec paused for a moment, his green eyes locked firmly on hers, “Basically what I’m trying to say is that you’re just about the toughest, most unrelenting, most PMS-ridden feral bitch I know. Damnit, Jen, not even my father can cower you and at times he’s more that capable of cowering me!”

From his expression and his tone she could tell he honestly meant what he was saying. All of it. And he was so serious that she couldn’t help giggling. Her, a badass? Whatever!

“Feel better now?” he smiled warmly.

“A little.” It was true. She did feel better. His arms made her feel comfortable, made her feel like she belonged there, made her feel… safe. She still didn’t understand any of it, but she felt safe. “So what happens now that you’ve saved me from the bad shadow people that were out to get me?”

“Now?” he took a step away from her, “now you wake up of course! You’ve got shit to do. Namely, saving my bacon.”

“But how do I…” Jenni started to say, and found that she was laying on her bed, her sheets kicked all over the place from her nightmare. She shook her head, realising that she was close to tears because she wasn’t with him anymore. “But how do I do that?” she asked the empty air.

She sat up slowly, acutely aware of her laboured breathing and the involuntary tremors racing through her body. She reached out towards the small study table next to her bed and after a moment of fumbling succeeding in turning on her lamp. The half empty pack of Griffs was the next thing she reached for. Lighting a cigarette, she glanced at her reflection in the large mirror mounted on the door of her walk-in closet across the room. The dim light made her face look as haggard as she felt. A single thought buzzed through her head as she ran a trembling hand through her sweat-soaked hair.

Who the fuck was Alec Roth?

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Chantelle tipped her head back in feigned rapture as Carter added a second finger to the first already stirring her juices. As far as lovers went, he was actually quite good and had the circumstances been any different, there was no doubt she’d be seriously into the action he was offering. She watched Elena rocking under Carter’s thrusts next to her and thanked the stars the redhead was the one actually getting screwed. The Watcher’s thrusts had that perfect mix between flowing rhythm and brutality that promised one hell of a fuck and the last thing she needed was to get sidetracked. Something that would definitely happen if she was the one on the receiving end of that. Still, she felt a pang of envy hearing Elena cry out time and time again as the Watcher worked her over.

“Come with me, baby…” Elena panted, her nails digging into Carter’s shoulders. “I’m almost there, come with me…”

Carter merely grunted and redoubled his efforts, earning himself a string of inarticulate syllables from the Elena as the redhead bucked hard against him. Chantelle groaned and inwardly cursed as she felt Carter begin to work her G spot. The last thing she needed was to have her concentration lapse now! Gritting her teeth, she tried desperately to think of something – anything – to starve off her fast approaching climax. Sweat beaded her brow as she felt her control slipping. She grabbed his wrist but found herself unable to tug his hand away. Her all too human body wanted nothing more than to get off and her muscles refused to respond to her wishes.

“No…” she protested weakly.

“Yes!” Carter hissed, his eyes snapping shut and his back arching as he ground his pelvis into the near insensible redhead beneath him.

Chantelle sucked in a deep breath and with no trace of the subtlety she’d been trying to instil in Alec earlier, tore through Carter’s mental defences and thrust herself into his mind. She’d timed it perfectly and hit him during perhaps the only time his mind was in no position to defend itself, but in her haste, had forgotten her own advice about taking it slow. Her human body absorbed the brunt of the Watcher’s peaking sexual energy and combined with the stimulus she was already receiving, was more than enough to send her crashing way over the edge.

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Alec had gone to sleep exhausted from the party, and woke up with a smug grin on his face.

“I got laid last night!” he said to the mirror happily after he’d brushed his teeth. The Change, as he’d now dubbed it, seemed to be getting better and better. Would five hours sleep after a party have left him hangover-free a month ago? Hardly. In fact, there wasn’t a trace of tiredness in his limbs, not a single dark cloud on the horizon of his mind. He’d gotten out of bed refreshed and basking in the glow of his newfound non-virginity. As he’d been saying ever since he’d revoked his status as ‘punching bag’, life was good.

The only problem was that he had nobody to share this great non-virginal day with. Past experience had shown that Allen and Marc were not to be contacted on the morning after a party. Or the afternoon. In fact, it was probably best to leave them sleep for the whole day and check with them on Sunday. Who else? Chantelle most likely wasn’t a great idea right now, either. Alec was in the mood to enjoy the day, not work on his new gifts, no matter how fun the lessons were. Though it would be nice to be with someone he could talk about it with. He pondered the idea while he took a shower and tidied up his room a bit. His room was usually fairly neat, but the bathroom was another story. Having an en suite, he didn’t have to use the main bathroom downstairs, but this meant that he couldn’t just dump clothing on the floor and hope somebody would wash it for him. Picking up the pile of clothes behind the door, he sorted through it and checked the pockets so nothing nasty would end up in the machine. Digging into the top pocket of a shirt, he found a business card.

“That’s odd,” he mused, pulling it out and eyeing it over. It wasn’t until he saw Raphael’s name and telephone number that he remembered even taking the card from him. He was suddenly glad he’d gone through the laundry. After he’d finished checking pockets he threw the lot into a hamper and dumped it into the washing machine, then ducked back upstairs to make the call.

“Hello, Raphael speaking,” greeted the familiar voice at the other end of the line. Suddenly Alec realised that he had no idea what he intended to say.

“Uh, hi, Raphael. It’s-“

“Alec?” He could almost see Raphael raising an eyebrow quizzically as a half smile formed.

“Yeah. How’d you know?”

“I’ve been hoping you’d call, actually. Besides, I never forget a voice. What’s up?”

“Not a lot. Was wondering if you felt like doing something.”

“Sure. I’m up for it. Anywhere in mind?”

“Not really.”

“How about Nacht? Say, about nine tonight?”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”

“Will do.”

“Huh. That went easier than expected,” Alec murmured, putting down the phone. But what to do now?

From across his room, Alec's guitar seemed to glare accusingly at him. He'd been neglecting it of late, and now that he thought about it, hadn't even picked it up in nearly a month. Definitely time for some practise. He had to admit that it felt right when he put the strap over his shoulder and plugged it in to the amp. Choosing a pick from the assortment stuck to the stand, he played a riff to check the tune. It was a little out, but that was to be expected after leaving the thing just sitting there for so long. Time was he would've spent at least an hour every day practising. Now it seemed like he never had any time at all. No time like the present to remedy that.

Plucking low-E first, he listened carefully, adjusted the peg slightly, and tried again. It only took him a few tries to get what he thought was right, then he checked it with the little electronic tuner that Steve had given him when he'd bought the guitar. Holding the device up against the string, he plucked it and checked the readout on the tiny LCD. Spot on. The rest he did by ear, working up from E until the instrument was in tune.

Though he was fairly decent with the guitar, Alec had definite misgivings about his singing voice. As he had no aspirations to play for anyone besides himself, he saw no reason to develop it. Besides, it had always sounded a bit high and whiny in his opinion. If he ever got his dad’s voice in addition to his features he might give it a go, but for now he played mainly instrumental pieces like the lead to Metallica’s ‘Call of Ktulu’ and hummed the lyrics to anything with vocals. He’d been at it for a little more than an hour when he realised that he had an audience. Unlike his father’s presence, which was immediately apparent, this one was entirely human.

“Hey, kiddo’,” Steve said with a grin as he turned around. “Been awhile since I’ve heard you play. Don’t let me interrupt.” Alec played the beginning to ‘Foxy Lady’ – earning himself another grin – then unplugged the guitar and set it down on its stand.

“What’s up?” Alec asked, dropping down on his bed.

“Does something have to be up for me to come talk to you?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, you got me.” Steve straddled the computer chair at Alec’s desk and pushed himself over beside his foster son. “Anything you’d like to tell me?”

Alec put on his best innocent face, wondering what was going on. “No. Should there be?”

“Well, let’s see now,” said Steve, stroking his chin. “You danced up the driveway a little after five this morning, and you were actually singing on your way upstairs. I’d say something definitely happened last night.”

“Oh!” Alec felt himself blush and looked away.

“Oho! I see that something did happen!” He gave Alec a bone-jarring slap on the back with his paw-like hand and winked at him, making Alec’s blush deepen.

“Aw, shut up!”

“C’mon, kiddo’. Nothing to be ashamed of there.”

“Uh, yeah…”

Steve just laughed at Alec’s discomfort, poking him in the ribs with his elbow. “Ah, you know I’m kidding.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s cool. Just… don’t tell Lindsey, alright? I don’t think I could handle her jagging me like this, too.”

This sent Steve into another round of hysterics. “Who’d you think woke me up? You do know what this means though, don’t you?”

“What’s that?”

“Celebratory piss-up. My treat. A little hair of the dog to commemorate the busting of the cherry.”

Alec perked up, ignoring the ‘cherry’ remark. “I could deal with that.”

“’Course you could. I’ll go pick up some grog and meet you downstairs.”

“Sure. I need to be out of here by eight, though,” Alec said, remembering Raphael. “And no, I’m not meeting any girls,” he added when Steve grinned. “Just a friend.”

“Whatever you say, kiddo’,” Steve laughed as he went downstairs for his car keys.

Alec grinned despite himself. At least he had something to do for the rest of the day.

...---===EWPUB.ORG===---...

When Steve drank, he drank.

It wasn’t at all unusual for he and Alec to spend a Saturday afternoon much like this one polishing off a carton or two by themselves. What maddened Alec about it was the ease with which his guardian leisurely tossed a stubby down his throat and reached for the next before it had even hit his stomach. Add to this that the beer seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever, and it wasn’t hard to see why Alec tried so hard to keep up with him. It wasn’t just to avoid looking like a pussy, for while that was important, Alec genuinely enjoyed Steve’s company – the man was a constant source of fatherly filth material (assuming Lindsey was out of earshot) and beer only brought that side of him further into the fore. Then again, Alec reasoned, if it wasn’t for months of what Steve called ‘grog training’, he probably wouldn’t have stood a chance up against Nadine the night before.

So it was that when it came time to leave Alec was weaving a little as he left the house. While his angelic body chemistry was a boon the day after a booze-up, it still couldn’t handle the amount of beer he’d been pouring down his neck. Not right away, anyway. But the walk to the station and the bottle of coke he’d picked up on the way out helped. By the time he reached the station, tipsiness had faded into little more than a pleasant buzz.

...---===EWPUB.ORG===---...

Jenni paced. It was irritating, insanely so, but she couldn’t help it. What, exactly, did that blonde chick know and more importantly, how, the hell did she know? It was just so weird.

No one knew about the dreams. She didn’t keep them written in her journal because someone was bound to go through that eventually, if they hadn’t done so already, and she sure as hell wasn’t about tell anyone about them. Ever! Those dreams were hers damnit! Hers alone!

Even if they made her want to scrub herself with a wire brush until she bled.

But there’s only so much pacing one can do in a room that can be traversed in six strides. Grabbing her cigarettes and an astray, she sat down on her bunk and sparked up. The more Jenni thought about it, the more confused she got. On the one hand, a part of her did want to talk to someone, but the rest of her felt violated. Someone out there knew what was going on in her head. Knew what was going on in her fucked up, completely scrambled, sprung-monkey mind. It was like that bitch Eliza had kicked a hole in the wall she’d built up around herself and just reached inside to yank out a piece of her soul.

How… the fuck… dare she?

The feeling was more than just disturbing, it was flat out fucking scary. She wasn’t ready for anyone to know about her dreams. Hell, she wasn’t even ready to know about those dreams.

It was why she didn’t share.

Gritting her teeth, Jenni grabbed her house keys and her wallet off the nightstand and shoved her cigarettes in her hip pocket. Her fucked up problems were her fucked up problems and no one had any right to butt in. She didn’t ask for help and she didn’t want any. But now someone thought they knew something about her. Something as private as her dreams…

It was time to get some frigging answers!

...---===EWPUB.ORG===---...

Alec glanced at the station clock for the eighth time since arriving at the station. The red flashing display politely informed him that it was a quarter past eight, he still had ten minutes to wait for his train, and for some unfathomable reason, the CityTrain, usually arriving on Platform 1, was going to be on Platform 3 today. Irritated that he hadn’t noticed the platform change before, and pleased he’d noticed it before the train actually arrived, Alec stood up and headed for the overbridge. It was a gloriously cool night as summer was just beginning its autumn transition and he had plenty of time, so taking the approved method of track crossing didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

He was halfway across the bridge when he picked up the uncomfortable sensation of being watched. At first, he thought it was just an unwanted leftover of his old paranoid self and was about to dismiss it as of no consequence, but the prickly sensation increased as he walked down the stairs to Platform 3. It was almost as if he was getting closer to… whatever. But that was ridiculous, he shook his head in irritation, if someone was watching, getting closer shouldn’t make any difference!

Then he remembered what ‘Martina’ had told him the day before: ‘there’s a lot of shit going on in the world that doesn’t really make sense or fit into the grand scheme of things.’ He considered the stuff in his life that didn’t really make sense and decided the chance of running into another ‘something’ that didn’t quite make sense was more than possible. All that remained was to get a ‘head’s up’ on the situation. Hooray for pulses! He thought as he sent them out, and in his best mental imitation of Mr T, added: I pity the fool who tries to blindside me…

He got a lock a couple of seconds later. There was someone under the bridge on the platform beneath him. Oddly enough, whatever this thing was, it seemed to be shimmering - as if it’s aura were a tangible force, or its form was constantly shifting. No doubt about it now, he frowned, here was another thing that didn’t quite make sense. Forcing himself to remain calm, because there was no indication yet that whatever was down there actually planned on charging out and hacking him into little pieces, he made his way down the stairs and continued up the platform without a backward glance at the overbridge. Had he been any other person, there was no way he should have known there was anything back there, and without any further information, he figured it was probably safer to maintain an image of ignorance. Still, despite the lack of a hostile reaction, the walk along the platform was fairly unnerving. Just having an ‘unknown’ at his back was serious grounds for concern, especially when it stepped out from under the bridge. He could practically feel it staring at his back but he continued walking until he came to the first set of benches. Taking a seat and trying to ignore his rapidly beating heart, he casually turned his head to get a visual on his ‘new friend’. His eyes didn’t have much to work with. Whoever was out there may have stepped out from under the bridge, but chose to remain within its protective shadow. All he got was a silhouette of what looked like a short, slightly stooped guy in trousers or jeans and a long sleeved shirt.

Alec lit a cigarette unconsciously as his mind analysed the images sent to it by both his eyes and his pulses. But the two images didn’t quite match up. The differences were subtle, lurking just beyond the fringes of his comprehension so they came out as a certain fuzziness around the figure but that was more than enough to tell him whatever this thing was, it was clearly out of the ordinary. His hand strayed to the comforting handle of his knife, strapped horizontally to his belt just under the small of his back.

Keeping his pulses locked onto the figure, he let his eyes sweep the length of the platform. Deserted as expected. There weren’t too many people that hung out at train stations at this hour. Tremaine Terrace was a fairly small residential station and, as such, didn’t even rate the proverbial bored Rail security person. It was just him and it and the chances of anyone showing up anytime soon were practically nil. Alec looked around and considered his options, never for a second taking his pulses off the figure watching him. If he chose to run, he could head left and jump the tracks to Platform One or head right and try to climb the steel fence that abutted Platform Two. The fence wasn’t hard to get over if one had time, but with no idea how fast the other was, it was a risky gamble. No, if it came to wussy-like fleeing, the best bet was to turn around and head down along the tracks to Lonnevale, the next station. There was a pub next to the station and a pub meant people. Drunk people most likely, but people nonetheless. And aside from the occasional freight train, the tracks posed no danger. But that option would only work if he could outrun and outdistance whatever was out there. And Lonnevale station was a good kay and a half away - quite a distance for someone who thought the walk from bed to the kitchen table equalled a marathon. So running was taking another gamble but there wasn’t much choice. Taking a deep breath, Alec opened up his mind and willed a channel between himself and the figure in the dark. Before he ran, he wanted to find out what he was running from.

The mental peeping did not go as expected. His channel came up against a barrier that stopped it dead. Alec blinked in surprise and tried again to no avail. Whatever this thing was, it had a very effective way of keeping him out of its mind. He thought back to his conversation with Martina and remembered she’d said something about a ‘trained’ mind that could keep interlopers out, but this didn’t seem to match the description she’d given him. If anything, it felt more like something preventing him from making contact with the mind as opposed to a mind that could keep itself shielded. The difference was academic as far as his attempt to suss out his ‘friend’, but he made a note of it anyway. It was something to discuss with Martina or Chantelle – or whoever she decided to be – the next time they met.

“The train arriving on Platform… Three… is a CityTrain… stopping at all stations to Central… Please wait behind the yellow safety line until the train has stopped,” announced the automated announcement system.

Alec ground out his cigarette and stood up as the train coasted to a stop alongside the platform. He hopped on as soon as the doors opened and turned quickly to take one last look at the other only to find the station deserted. Unable to send his pulses through the walls of the carriage, he shrugged and took a seat facing the door. Martina’s words came back to him: ‘If you don’t understand it, and it’s not bothering you, leave it be. Don’t go looking to start shit when there’s no need to.’

Whatever that thing was, it was enough to scare the crap out of him so Alec was more than happy to let it be.

...---===EWPUB.ORG===---...

Jenni lit her third cigarette with the cherry of her second and glanced around the parking lot again. It was as deserted as it had been when she’d walked in half an hour ago. Eliza was frigging late. They had arranged to meet around eight o’clock and it was already quarter past.

“What the fuck am I doing?” she asked herself irritably.

“Waiting for me I presume?” a feminine voice called out.

Jenni spun around to see the tall blonde she’d been waiting for leaning up against a pillar behind her. “You’re late.”

“I know, sorry about that,” the blonde smiled affably. “Traffic.”

“So…?”

“So?” ‘Eliza’ raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“Hey, you were the one that came to me, so speak, whaddaya know and whaddaya want for it?”

“Who says I want anything?”

“Oh spare me the bullshit!” Jenni snapped, “I’m not some stupid little girl who believes the world is full of nice people that just love helping others out for the sake of it. You reckon you know stuff about me, I wanna know what you know, what you intend to do about it and whaddaya want.”

“Okay, but why stand in a parking lot when there’s a perfectly good mall upstairs-”

“I didn’t come here to fill out my wardrobe.” Jenni interrupted. “And anyway, pretty much everything’s already closed.”

“Yeah, well I could do with a cheeseburger and those plastic food court chairs are infinitely more comfortable than leaning on cold concrete. Come on, whaddaya have to lose?”

“Another ten minutes of my pointless existence apparently…” Jenni mumbled under her breath as she followed Eliza up the stairs. A few minutes later they were in the food court and a few minutes after that, at a table, Jenni with a medium Sprite and Eliza with a Happy Meal. Jenni watched the other girl unwrap her burger without bothering to hide her distaste. How anyone would voluntarily eat that processed shit was beyond her.

“Not a Macca’s fan I see,” Eliza grinned. “You remind me of someone…”

“Look I really don’t give a crap-”

“Aleck Roth.”

Jenni’s eyes widened. “What… the fuck… did you just say?” she hissed.

“Aleck Roth.” Eliza repeated, pronouncing the name with an odd aspirated ‘k’. “Judging by your expression, those two words just cemented my credibility.”

“What… who is he?”

“Someone very special.” Eliza answered before her expression turned imploring. “And someone who needs you.”

Jenni shook her head. “Needs me for what?” Before Eliza could answer, anger quickly replaced the confusion on the brunette’s face, “Whoa, this better not be some sort of fucked up blind date bullshit because if it is, I’m gonna rip your frigging-”

“I assure you, this is not a game.” Eliza said seriously. “Now answer me honestly, do you believe in fate?”

Jenni’s expression made it clear she was at the end of her patience. “What sort of stupid question is that?”

“Humour me and answer it.”

“No, I think the idea of fate is a big load of crap, satisfied?”

Eliza smiled. “Ah Dashaelle, you were always the cynical one.”

Jenni stared across the table in shock. Dashaelle. She could have sworn she’d never heard the word before but something about it sang out to her. Almost the same way the pale guy in her dream did. Familiar, yet totally baffling. A memory that felt like it should be there, but for some weird reason was just out of reach.

“What did you call me?” she whispered, her face ashen.

“An old word.” Eliza answered. “A very old word that to you means nothing and everything at the same time.”

“Okay enough with the word games because this is beginning to sound very B-Grade. Just tell me what the fuck you’re talking about and quit dancing around the topic!”

Eliza sighed dramatically. “Impatient too. I should have figured…” she put down her burger. “The reason I asked what you thought about fate was because it’s fate that brings us all together…”

“Us?” Jenni interrupted.

“Us. You. Me. And Aleck.”

Jenni shook her head again. “I’m not following.”

“Dashaelle, it’s more than a name, it’s a title. Your title. In the old tongue, it translates roughly into Guardian.”

“Okaaay… so I’m a guardian? Um, of what?”

“Of Aleck.”

Jenni burst out laughing. “You’ve got to be shitting me! I’m supposed to protect that guy? What planet are you living on? He’s the kick-ass one that saved…” she stopped suddenly realising she’d said more than she should. There was no way of her knowing how much Eliza actually knew so it was stupid to go blurting things out without provocation.

Eliza nodded understandingly. “You were right to hesitate. In time he’ll be all that you saw in your dreams. And more.” Her expression turned wistful, “but that time is not now. He’s growing more each day but he’s still got a fair bit to go. Someone needs to watch over him when I cannot.”

“And this someone is supposed to be me?” Jenni asked dubiously.

“Yes.”

“Hmmph. You high?”

“Well I could do with a spliff now that you mention it…”

“Good, get me one while you’re at it.”

“So will you do it?” Eliza asked.

“You’re serious aren’t you?”

“Very. The Shadows in your dreams are rather fatally inclined towards him. Someone needs to watch his back until he can handle them himself.”

Jenni took a long sip of lemonade. This was so way over the top it wasn’t funny. Those shadow things had been plaguing her dreams for ages and they scared the crap out of her and now she was being asked to keep an eye out over something they specifically wanted to hurt? She thought back to how this Alec person had effortlessly ripped them new arseholes. He was so obviously the key to something because she hadn’t felt her old fear in the last two night’s worth of dreaming since he showed up in her head. But if something happened to him, would her fear return? Could she really afford to take that chance?

“Okay, assuming this isn’t just the biggest load of bull I’ve ever heard and I decide to go along with being Dashaelle or whatever, what do you honestly expect me to do aside from scream for help when someone bad shows up? For Christ sakes I’m only a-”

“Girl?” Eliza finished with a sly smile.

“Yeah.”

“Well there’s not a whole lot I can do about that…” Eliza answered in a light tone, “but on a more serious note, don’t sell yourself short. There’s nothing a little boot camp can’t fix. By the time Logan and I are done with you, you’ll be the regular butt-whupper Aleck will later know and love.”

“Do I have any time to think this over?” Jenni asked weakly. This wasn’t quite what she expected.

Eliza held up her half finished burger. “Sure, but I’ll need your answer by the time I’m done with dinner.”

...---===EWPUB.ORG===---...

The trip from Central to Nacht was uneventful, and he reached the nightclub with ten minutes to spare. Figuring he’d find a table and settle in, he smiled at the doorman and went to go through, stopping when a meaty arm barred his path.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” someone asked loudly.

Shit! “Uh, going inside?”

“Not without ID you’re not,” said the very large, very bald bouncer.

“Uh. Okay, in that case I’ll have to go get it.”

“Right. Now bugger off.”

Since he’d been here before, it simply hadn’t occurred to Alec that he might need ID to get in. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a goddess to escort him this time. He sat down on a bench and cursed under his breath, hoping Raphael wouldn’t be too long. To pass the time, he focussed on one of the Goth girls waiting outside the club. In seconds the probe was in place, her mind had been pierced, and her thoughts came flowing through.

<I hope he doesn’t take too long.> The thought was accompanied by the image of a man. A man of a little under six feet with a clean-shaven head and immaculate goatee. A man who looked very much like-

“Raph!” the girl said suddenly, stepping forward to hug Raphael as he stepped up onto the footpath. Alec had been so intent on forming the link that he hadn’t noticed his approach.

“Hello, Alec,” Raphael greeted him with a handshake. “I see you two have almost met. Alec, this is Jana. Jana, Alec.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” said the newly-introduced Jana.

“Likewise.”

“Jana doesn’t really like bars,” Raphael explained quickly, “so do you mind if we went to the coffee house first?”

“Not at all,” said Alec, happy that he didn’t have to bring up his lack of ID.

“Alright, then. Let’s go.”

As was his wont, Alec got a good look at Jana while they were walking. The one feature that stood out the most – for there is always one feature – was her bearing. She walked upright, head high, shoulders back, as though she wasn’t afraid of anything. Completely relaxed, she wore her clothing like a second skin and seemed completely at ease. This simple, unselfconscious security was something that had struck Alec about Raphael the moment he’d met him. At first glance, Alec had thought that this girl was a Goth. On closer inspection he could see that he was mistaken. Her dress was black, but patterned with a faint silver tracery of branches and leaves that stood out in the light and disappeared completely when in shadow. She wore rather dressy low-heeled sandals and not a whisper of makeup. Her dark hair was combed back simply to rest behind her ears and tumble down her back. He guessed that she was in her early twenties. All in all, she struck Alec as someone who was comfortable with herself and her surroundings.

“Jana is also a member of the Order,” Raphael explained as they walked. “I wanted you two to meet.”

“Ah.” Alec mouthed for the lack of anything more intelligent to add.

“We’re also here to meet a potential candidate,” said Jana, showing a friendly American accent that he’d not noticed in her first words. “You’re more than welcome to join us, of course.”

“Sure,” said Alec, “that might be interesting. Where are you meeting him?”

“At the park near the Marvin Bridge,” Jana supplied.

“Odd place to meet someone.”

“Well, a little,” agreed Raphael. “This particular person is rather shy, and didn’t want to meet in a crowded place. The park is good enough.”

“When are we going?”

“Ten o’clock, so we have plenty of time. Are you hungry?”

“Starving, actually.”

“We’ve got time to eat before we go. Java Town’s food isn’t too bad.”

It was almost nine o’clock when they reached their destination. True to Raphael’s word, the food was above the standard of the usual city fare. While they were there they made small talk over gourmet sandwiches and a plate of JT’s football-sized muffins. Although she didn’t wear any earrings or bracelets, Alec noticed a pendant around Jana’s neck. A flat rose made of small sections of onyx that glittered in the warm glow of the yellow lamps situated around the store.

“So, how long have you been in this ‘Order’ of yours,” Alec asked Jana.

“About two years.”

“Are there any age restrictions?”

“Not at all,” said Raphael. “I joined when I was thirteen.”

“Really?”

“You’re surprised? I have been interested in this sort of thing for as long as I can remember. When I was offered membership into a group that studies and nurtures such talents as our own, I jumped at the opportunity.”

“And the members all have talents like ours?”

“Not exactly. There are talents and there are talents. We have ritual magickians and the like, as well as people who were born with strange gifts or who developed them over time. It’s a pretty mixed bag.”

Alec mulled over that for a moment, wondering just what Jana’s talent was. Was it possible that she’d noticed him rummaging through her thoughts earlier? Martina had told him that such a thing wasn’t possible. It was passive reading, but he was a little worried just the same. What if he’d gotten it wrong? “So just how big is the Order?” he asked aloud.

“That,” Raphael said with a smile, “is something I cannot tell you. Suffice it to say that we have groups, or ‘grottos’ in every state of Australia, and a few overseas as well.”

Alec nodded thoughtfully. “Fairly large, then.”

“Yes. I think we’d better get going soon if we’re going to make it. It’s nearly nine thirty.”

By now their plates were empty, so they paid for their meals and exited the building, coming out into the darkened street.

“There is one thing you should be aware of, Alec,” Raphael said as they walked. “Normally our field of work is relatively safe. The gifts themselves are not as dangerous as the people who wield them. In the hands of the wrong person, some gifts can be totally catastrophic.

”Is the guy we’re meeting supposed to be dangerous?”

“I don’t think so, but you never know. I haven’t had much contact with him, so I’m not sure how he’ll react exactly. All we’ve done is spoken via telephone and Email, and I haven’t met him in person before. He seemed eager to meet, so I don’t think there’s any cause for concern, but I thought I should warn you just in case.”

“I’m… protected,” said Alec, referring to the knife he wore. Raphael nodded his understanding.

“Can’t be too careful.”

At this time of night the streets were fairly crowded with clubbers, movie-goers and friends and family out to dinner at the many street-side restaurants. The sun had gone down more than an hour ago and true night was upon the city. Alec shuddered when he thought of his near-encounter with a vampire only a few nights before. If that was only one of the things that comes out when the sun goes down, he felt more than justified in carrying his knife. He’d considered trying to get his hands on a gun, but had ultimately decided not to. Quite apart from the fact that Australian gun laws make it nearly impossible for anyone to get their hands on a pistol, the idea of owning such a weapon repelled him. A knife you had control of. Once a bullet goes flying, however, it could go anywhere, and he’d rather not have the accidental death of some random person on his head. For the first time he considered the implications of his power with regards to combat. Could he strike a person from a distance? He guessed that the knife would be a better bet in a tight situation. And at range, he could always use his pulses to guide it into practically anything within his line of sight. Focussing on his radar sense and picking out a target might only take a second, but he could draw his knife in far less than that.

At length they reached the outskirts of the massive Kennedy Park, over which ran the Marvin Bridge leading in and out of Turnam. One of many parks in the city, it was far from the most popular and if anything was rather featureless. It occurred to Alec to ask his companions what they were carrying by way of weaponry, but it was too late to do anything about it anyway.

“Five minutes to spare,” said Raphael as they reached the bridge. “He shouldn’t be long.”

Alec nodded as he took in his surroundings. This area of the park was directly under the bridge, and thus was only able to get a little sunlight. The stony ground was devoid of grass and plants, and wasn’t very well lit. In the faint light he could see the word “ULTIMATOR” scrawled in foot-high letters of orange spray paint against one of the bridge’s many supporting pillars. The rest of the graffiti went mostly unseen in the shadows. If his own angelic eyes were finding it hard to see under here, it could only be worse for his companions. He let loose a short, weak pulse to outline his immediate surroundings and stiffened when he felt the smooth, silent motion of someone coming in his direction from the opposite end of the bridge’s underside.

“Someone’s coming,” he hissed, drawing back to his friends.

“Raphael?” came a voice from the darkness. There was nothing of menace in the words, but something about the tone put Alec immediately on guard. Something hoarse, as though this person was used to shouting or growling his words. He kept his hands by his sides so as not to give himself away as he drew level with Raphael and Jana.

“Michael, how good of you to come,” Raphael said pleasantly.

“I thought you were coming alone.”

“In this city? A little dangerous for the likes of me to go prowling around alone at night. How are you?”

“Fine,” said Michael as he came into the light and stopped a few paces short of the group. He was far shorter than Alec had imagined. Not taking the time to scrutinise his target completely, Alec’s sense had merely shown something solid coming, rather than the full outline. The man looked about thirty with a narrow, rugged face and wild, shaggy brown hair. His arms were held to the side of his compact, wiry body as he spoke with a near complete lack of body language. No gesturing, no head movements. Merely words.

“I’d like to introduce my companions. This is Jana, also from the Order, and Alec.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Alec politely. Jana merely smiled.

“Shall we go somewhere a little more comfortable so we can talk?” ventured Raphael.

“No.”

“Well, perhaps-”

“Raphael,” Jana said in a low, warning tone.

“Jana, go,” Raphael said quickly. “Alec-“

“Holy shit!” Alec shouted, leaping back as Michael’s body disappeared in an explosion of dense grey mist. “What the fuck is that?”

“Lupine!” Raphael bellowed, taking a quick step back and pushing Alec to one side to give them both more space to move. “RUN!”

Lupine! One of the words the vampire had used. Not a wraith, not a lupine. For an instant his muscles locked and he couldn’t move as he watched a nightmare creature step out of the rapidly dissolving mist. About three times the bulk of the original, Michael’s new form was hideously muscled and built for death. Lips rolled back from jaws rimmed with dagger-like teeth. The eyes were feral yellow, the hands some weird amalgam of man and wolf and something else again, bearing vicious oversized claws at least three inches in length. His brain picked now pointless facts and threw them to him: Lupine was a foreign word – Latin, maybe. Lupine was from lupus, which meant wolf. This, this thing was another creature that wasn’t supposed to exist. A beast he’d laughed off as fantasy as a child. A frigging werewolf!

Alec found his knife in his hand without meaning to draw it. The monster surged forward, and Alec’s nerve hardened. His fist tightened around the handle of his weapon and his eyes narrowed to slits. He hadn’t needed to fight since pummelling Matt but if thing wanted to play, he wasn’t going to disappoint it. The primal side of his brain cast off fear and embraced the chance to prove its worth. Then he was knocked aside as Raphael made a mad dash for the creature with a blade of his own, a short, curved weapon of gleaming steel. Its edge winked in the filtered streetlights as he sliced through the air, missing his mark as the lupine darted back, parrying the blow with its fist and slashing him brutally across the chest with its other hand before smashing Raphael in the face with force enough to hurl him to the ground. All this happened in an eerie slow-motion as Alec watched, an observer rather than a player in a horrible scene of death. Was Raphael alive? Could anyone live through that? Alec was about to find out, for he was next.

Time regained its normal speed and the creature turned its burning eyes to Alec. Fear clotted in his throat and stabbed him in the stomach, but he found that he could move, that indeed he was moving, and faster than he’d ever believed possible. A taloned hand streaked for his throat and he dodged back, turning sideways to present the smallest possible target. The lupine grunted, hunkering down so their eyes were on the same level. Alec stared back into the yellow eyes and waited, every muscle tensed expectantly. This thing was twice his size and easily stronger, if not faster than he was. Duplicating Raphael’s charge would probably be suicide.

“Could we at least talk this over?” Alec stalled. Lupine claws slicing through the air millimetres above his head as he ducked and pulled away again were his only answer.

“Yeah well fuck you then!” Alec snorted lunging in for a stab and missing as the lupine moved even faster than he! Shock turned to pain as a great clawed hand hit him like a sledgehammer in the chest, knocking him to the ground next to a concrete pillar. He grabbed his chest in horror and his hand came away covered in blood. Another instant and it was on him, claws extended to finish the job. In a last-ditch act of pure desperation, Alec let loose with his radar and blasted the thing straight upward. He realised right away that there was no concussion to the blow, merely movement. It landed hard on its back and was on its feet immediately. Alec felt his strength failing and now it was clear he was in serious trouble. It was getting harder to breath and he suspected he had a couple of broken ribs. He could barely move and even his pulses seemed to be waning. He coughed up a painful mouthful of blood and pulled what remained of his pulses to him, trying desperately to form a shield of some sort. Attacking that thing was clearly out of the question now and the best he could hope for was to hold out long enough for someone to notice there was an oversized bipedal wolf wandering around.

Then, on que, another fighter joined the fray, this one moving with the swift, easy grace of an experienced warrior. In two strides the new combatant reached his enemy, and with blinding speed slashed the lupine from balls to sternum. A great ‘WHOOOSH’ of grey mist exploded outward, the lupine disappearing immediately. With the same speed and surety, the warrior swung a clenched fist into the mist and a figure flew backward to strike a post and crumple to the ground. The warrior turned and flew to Alec, going down on his knees and laying his hands on his chest. His expression was pure worry and fear. Alec opened his mouth, but nothing would emerge. He felt not pain but a cold numbness in his body and realised that he could not move.

“Aleck!” the newcomer whispered frantically, both a call and a plea held in his voice. Alec’s saw the world tilt and fade as his eyes rolled back into his head, and then he knew no more.

...---===EWPUB.ORG===---...

All was darkness. Claustrophobia. Cannot move!

“UHL LAEYN!” screamed a familiar voice.

“Your God has fled, Seraph,” said another, equally familiar. “You are beyond your Father’s help.”

”No!”

“Yes. You must do this without Him.”

“I am not a god! I cannot bring soul and flesh together. I am bound by limitations. You of all know this!”

“Yes. All you can do is trap your son’s soul in a corpse. The curse of your kind was always servitude. Your powers let you destroy with impunity, but never truly create. Will you release him to me or sentence him to an eternity in darkness?”

Fear. Eternity? No! Not like this! But he had no voice to protest. All he could do was listen as his fate was decided.

“I will not let him die!”

“Will you bargain with me?”

“You would hold my son’s life over me? What is your price!”

“That remains to be seen.”

“You cannot hold me to this.”

“I can and I will. You cannot force me to do your bidding so you are in no position to make demands. Only your son’s will holds his soul within his body and it is but a thread. In moments he will be gone. Will you submit?”

“Yes!” Alec could feel the desperation and defeat locked into that single word.

“Then give him to me.”

...---===EWPUB.ORG===---...

Warmth. Alec was floating in a sea of warmth, and he realised that this warmth was not tangible. It was the warmth of love. A mother’s love for her son. Falling, rushing, sinking… then a warmth that was all too real. Warmth of the spirit, but also the warmth of flesh. His body healed. Whole. Alec stretched his arms and opened his eyes to find that he was alone. His father was gone, and some deal had been struck. Of that he was certain. Then he realised his surroundings and stood, picking up his knife.

“Alec!” Raphael exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders.

“What happened?” demanded Alec, pushing him back so he could look at him. “Are you alright?”

“I got a shield up at the last second. It got my shirt and knocked me flat but not much else. I’m bleeding, but only a little. Just a scratch.”

Alec sighed with relief. “I thought it’d killed you.”

“I was lucky. You, on the other hand.”

“Where’s Jana?”

“Here,” said a voice from nowhere. A piece of darkness dissolved and Jana stepped forward, carrying a weapon of her own.

“Where were you?”

“Part of my talent. I can effectively hide myself from most people when the conditions are right. This place,” she gestured to the many-shadowed landscape of the bridge’s underside, “has perfect conditions.”

“And that thing?” he pointed to her odd-looking weapon, which resembled nothing more than a long-handled garden fork.

“This,” she said, gesturing with the weapon, “is a Trident of Paracelsus.”

“A what?”

“Fancy name for a simple concept. The body of a spirit – while it’s on our plane of existence, anyway – is made up of what is called etheric substance. It’s a subtle material, and isn’t usually visible to the human eye.”

“You’re saying that this guy wasn’t human?”

“Oh, no. He was entirely human. He merely possessed a rare skill: the ability to gather and mould etheric matter.”

“And your fork can cut this ‘etheric matter’?”

“Spirits of any type do not like iron or steel. Silver is even worse for them. It tends to dissipate their body, scatter it. That’s the origin of the myth that silver bullets are the only thing that can kill a werewolf. As you just illustrated, it’s bullshit. You can just as easily slice through its etheric body with a steel knife. If one steel knife can destroy the body, a tool with multiple blades will do the job more efficiently. His body, as you just saw, was dense enough to hurt you, but not dense enough to fend off the effects of steel. Hit him with a two-by-four and he’ll have a headache, but cut him with a knife and he’ll explode.”

“But his physical body will remain?”

“Yes. Disoriented, but alive.” She wrapped her arm around him. “Let’s leave Raphael for a bit and take a walk. He’s going to have to get rid of what’s left and trust me, it’s really not a pleasant sight.”

Alec shrugged and with a glance at Raphael, allowed Jana to lead him off.

...---===EWPUB.ORG===---...

Raphael took a battered-looking clay disc from his pocket and gazed upon its surface for a moment. The sigil engraved upon it gave the impression of a winged cross or stylised eagle. Altogether it was a very arcane looking symbol, and one which Raphael knew well.

<Flauros!> he called silently. <Attend me!>

As always, the spirit’s arrival was heralded by a feeling of intense cold. Not so much a physical drop in temperature, though there was that, too, it was a chill of the soul.

<You beckoned?> Before him stood the gauzy and half-formed outline of a snarling leopard. Huge and imposing, the creature drew back its teeth and glared at him with glowing red eyes.

<Your form displeases me. Change it.>

<Of course.> Obediently, the leopard rose, its features melting, as it went from quadruped to biped in a matter of moments. Flauros’ human form was even less appealing than his animal one. Towering over Raphael at seven feet in height, his face more resembled the leopard than the human, as did his feet and hands. Though Raphael knew that this Goetic spirit was not, strictly speaking, a demon, its manifestation had been described as demonic by more than one dabbler. Flauros, a “Duke” from one of the earlier grimoires, was not a pretty sight to behold. His appearance suited his demeanour very well – he was reputed to be a great deceiver, as did his ability to destroy by fire. He was one of the first entities Raphael had worked with. Though the creature made no secret of its hatred for his master, he recognised power when he saw it, and was quick to obey the young man’s command.

<Destroy this body for me. Burn it down to nothing.>

<As you command.>

Using his knife, Raphael scribed a circle on the ground around the unfortunate lupine’s mortal body, filling it with dancing blue light to form a boundary against the spirit’s power. He placed the clay disc onto the lupine’s chest and stood well back. <Do it now,> he commanded, and at once the body burst into flame. From the corpse at the centre, the flame spread outward, filling the ward until it was flaming dome, blazing with light. A normal fire may take hours to destroy a body, but this was no normal fire. Flauros commanded elemental flame, and the grisly task was complete in a matter of minutes. When he released the ward, Raphael was met with a gust of foul-smelling gas which rose on the night air. In the centre of the circle, now a pool of black glass, lay the clay disc, untouched and unharmed. Using a stick to flick it out of the still-hot mess, Raphael picked it up and replaced it in his pocket. It was cold.

<Depart, Flauros, but be ready to answer my call.>

Without word, the spirit fled.

...---===EWPUB.ORG===---...

“Okay, so if that’s the case, what’s with the big fork?” Alec asked as he and Jana continued walking. “Wouldn’t it be a better idea to hit it with something that can hurt it? I mean, sure, it’ll destroy this other body, but you can’t expect to do much damage with that flimsy thing.”

“The object of this weapon isn’t to battle physical beings. My role here was only to take down the Lupine if Raphael couldn’t. Once the etheric body, or the ‘Body of Transformation’, is destroyed the person wearing it is rendered helpless for a moment. The destruction of the body is a huge shock to the system. After that, Raph would have been well able to take care of him.”

“But not in this case.”

“No. We weren’t expecting Michael to attack. It was lucky you were here.” She stopped and faced him. “Raphael missed a lot of what happened after the oversized wolf knocked him for six, but I was there the whole time,” she said in a low voice. “By rights, you should be dead. You know it and I know it. That thing damn near ripped a hole right through you.”

Alec stared at her silently. There was no way he was about to explain the deal his father had stuck with a girl that ran under at least three different names (and bodies) that he was aware of. There was no doubt in his mind that the other voice had belonged to ‘Chantelle’ even though it was not Chantelle’s voice he’d heard. His consciousness had been drawn into a void of sorts, not unlike the greyness she dwelled, and she’d used the same voice she’d used the first time she’d drawn him there, but gone was the playful bantering tone she normally used around him. He’d come to grips with the idea ‘Chantelle’ was much more than just a girl awhile ago, but she was clearly much more than even that. If she could deal with a Seraph of his father’s calibre from a level of superiority…

“I take it from your silence this isn’t really something you want to discuss.” Jana commented in an offhanded tone that carried only the slightest hint of disappointment. “That’s cool, I mean you don’t know me from Jack,” she chuckled quietly, “or Jill in my case, and I can deal with that. Hopefully, when you’ve gotten to know me better…” she shrugged and left the sentence unfinished.

“Thanks.” Alec smiled gratefully. “Now I know you’ve got no reason to tell me anything since I’m not in a position to return the favour-”

“Just ask.” Jana grinned. “But if the question’s above your security clearance, then you’ll have to settle for a ‘no comment’ and try again later.”

Alec laughed, glad that she’d effortlessly managed to defuse the awkward situation. “There’s one more thing I don’t understand, though. Why you?”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t mean to go all chauvinistic on you, but… well, you’re a girl. Why is it that you’re the one who has to go out and fight the big nasty?” Rather than be offended, Jana laughed.

“I may be a girl, but I’m also the only Wraith in the vicinity.”

“Wraith?” Again, the vampire’s words came to mind.

“Yes, Wraith. Like our Lupine friend back there, I control etheric substance, but with a crucial difference: his form didn’t come into being by virtue of any talent he might have had. Lupines and other were-creatures only gain their Body of Transformation – the body they create as an outer shell – through constant practise and devotion. Sometimes it’s part of a religious belief, other times they merely like the idea of becoming a wolf and running amok. Lupines are generally predatory creatures who enjoy the rush they get attacking people. Usually they have only one shape they can take on, as well, and it takes years to gain the ability to call it forth at will. A Wraith, on the other hand, is born with the talent of gathering together and moulding etheric substance. There’s no ritualistic devotion to an animal totem. It just happens.”

“And you were born like that?”

“Yes and no. I discovered the talent at a very early age, but it took time to develop it into what it is today.” She turned to see Raphael heading up the path toward them. “Don’t worry,” she said once more. “I won’t tell him anything you don’t want me to.” To Raphael, she said, “Is it done?”

“Yes,” nodded Raphael.

“I…” said Alec.

“Have you to go?” finished Raphael.

“Uh, yeah. I guess so. I need to, uh…”

“Think things out?” said Jana.

“Yeah.”

“That’s perfectly understandable,” said Raphael, clapping him on the shoulder. “Tonight has been weird and more than weird. Tell you what. If you want to talk, just give me a call. Remember, we’re here.”

“Uh, sure,” said Alec, turning around and wandering off, hands in his pockets and head bowed. Both Raphael and Jana had seen it before. Fine one moment, Alec had suddenly reached the end of his tether. The weirdness of the situation hit him, and hit him hard. He needed time alone.

“What do you think?” Raphael asked Jana as they watched Alec walk in an aimless fashion toward the park’s exit.

“He has potential,” she answered, turning her back on the departing figure and staring at her weapon. A cloud of blue-tinged mist surrounded it, obscuring its contours and finally blanking it completely from vision. Then the cloud lost its colour, gradually becoming transparent. Raphael glanced away for a moment, and when he looked back the weapon was gone.

“What the eyes cannot see, the brain will obscure,” he said softly.

“Of course. Shall we go?” Raphael nodded, and they walked off in the same aimless fashion, arms linked and unspeaking.

...---===EWPUB.ORG===---...

Alec stared at his reflection in the window across from him as the train rumbled through the darkness. Things were moving way, WAY too fast for comfort. To date, all the changes had been beneficial, but this, well this was the last thing he had expected. He’d gotten laid the night before, and tonight he’d come within an inch of getting cacked. And for what? Just because he’d accompanied a ‘friend’ to meet a potential recruit to an Order he owed no allegiance to, a Lupine had almost turned him into crow bait.

And should have turned him into crow bait. ‘Martina’ had warned him about staying away from things that didn’t make sense, and his father had told him there were things out there that were dangerous, but did he listen? No. If Menthayel hadn’t shown up when he did to belt the bejesus out of that Lupine and… (he stopped himself when he realised he’d been reaching for her real name, and settled on a moniker instead) and ‘Chantelle’ hadn’t pulled him from the brink of death, he’d be dead. They’d both warned him, and in the end, they were the ones that had to show up and save him. Life had never really been a bed of roses, but Alec had never come as close to death as he had just an hour ago. It was an experience he never wanted to go through again.

He wondered what the ‘deal’ was, but after a moment of thought, let the matter slide. He couldn’t even begin to guess what a Seraph and a goddess (?) might decide upon as payment, and unless one of them deigned to tell him, he’d never know. The sound of the adjoining carriage door opening startled him and before he could stop himself, his pulses formed an involuntary shield around himself as his hand darted for the knife at his back. The blade had almost cleared the scabbard when he found himself looking at a balding, middle-aged man in jeans and a faded flannel shirt. This time his visuals and his pulses returned an identical image. His heart still racing, Alec pushed his knife back into the scabbard. The man merely shook his head and walked past mumbling something about ‘damn paranoid stoners’ under his breath.

Christ! Alec took a deep breath, held it for a moment and then exhaled slowly. How the hell was he going to draw the line between personal safety and paranoia? The last thing he wanted to do was spend the rest of his life jumping at shadows! But with his near death experience still so fresh in his mind, he knew he was in for a really high strung weekend. What he really needed to do was talk to someone. Raphael was out because he didn’t want to go over the details of his brush with Lupine until he’d had time to get his story straight, Jana was out because as she’d said, he didn’t know her from Jill. Marc and Allen were lost causes because they’d just think he’d been smoking pot and bitch that he hadn’t deigned to share. He had no plans to pull Steve or Lindsey into this mess either so that just left him with his two benefactors: his father and ‘Chantelle’. Between the two, Chantelle was probably the better choice. Yet another ‘last thing’ he wanted to do was face his father and the inevitable scowling he deserved to get. It was rather moot though – he had no way to contact either of them.

The train finally pulled into his station and drawing his pulses as close as he could, Alec stepped out onto the platform and nervously glanced around. Deserted. As much as he wanted a cigarette, its glowing cherry would probably render useless his ‘nothing to see here’ shield. He’d just have to wait til he got home before sparking up. Fuck it. He tightened the shield until he could barely breathe and then set off in a brisk walk.

The walk from the train station was uneventful if uneventful meant that nothing leapt out of the darkness and tried to kill him. That didn’t stop him from jumping at every sound and seemingly out of place shadow. He was a nervous wreak by the time he finally made it through the front door. After throwing the deadbolt and fastening the chain, he headed up the stairs to his room and got his third surprise of the night as a small form crashed into him. His knife was in his hand but he dropped the weapon as silver hair caught his attention.

“Oh God, Aleck, I’m so sorry…”

Instinctively, his shield expanded until it covered most of the room. He gritted his teeth and with no trace of finesse, poured everything he had into reinforcing it creating, in effect, an anti-scrying ward so overcharged that it would probably have lobotomised anyone trying to breech it. As he felt his strength ebb, his inner defences folded and a name suddenly appeared in his mind.

“Nischa…?” he began tentatively.

“Aleck you have no idea how much I wanted to-”

Alec cut her off with a finger against her lips, his eyes widening as he took in her tear-streaked visage. “Christ! What happened to you?” he asked, his voice harsher than he intended it to be. She was so much more powerful then him, but the very thought that something had upset her pushed all thoughts of his own near death out of his mind. When, not if, he found the fucker responsible, he’d rip the shithead’s nuts off and make him eat em!

Nischa cringed in his arms. “Please don’t hate me…” she begged in a tiny voice.

“Hate you? What the fuck for?” Alec frowned. “Babe, if anything, I owe you my life!”

“Then you’re not mad at me?” her voice was filled with a desperation he’d never heard from her before.

“Of course not! I can’t even begin to thank you!” He walked her to his bed and sat down cross-legged in the middle before motioning for her to join him.

Unselfconsciously seating herself on his lap, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face under his throat as if she was afraid to let her go. Yet despite the fact the fact her groin lay over his and she had her ankles crossed behind him, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of stirring from the horny bastard downstairs. Odd because it was allegedly about the most intimate position possible according to Tantra.

“Hmph, I guess there is something in that mind over matter shit after all.” Alec muttered.

Nischa pulled away slightly and blew a lock of hair away from her eyes. “Huh?”

Alec nodded at her and then glanced down at her lap, over his. “Mind over matter.” He repeated and received another blank look. “Your continual rejection of my advances has apparently sunk in and now it’s the night before Christmas.”

It took a moment for her to get it and a playful slap came his way a moment later. “Sweetness, I saw that thing in full bloom on the train yesterday,” it was obvious she was trying, but her voice still carried pain, “and take it from someone who’s been around the block, mice ain’t got nothing on ya!” It was Alec’s turn to blush.

“Why’d you think I was mad at you?” he asked deliberately changing the subject before she got the chance to rip on him any more. To his surprise, she burst into tears and buried her face in his shoulder again. At a complete loss of anything better to do, Alec simply wrapped an arm around her and gently stroked her silken silvery hair with the other. He honestly had no idea why she was so cut up but remembering the old maxim: ‘never push a girl’, was content to just wait her out.

And wait her out he did. For the next four hours or so.

Dawn was just breaking when Nischa finally looked him in the eye again. “Please don’t lie to me Aleck, if you never want to see me again, just say so and I’ll go.” She deadpanned in a particularly lifeless tone.

He rolled his eyes. “Aw fuck, enough with the hating okay? It’s really getting old, so for the last time, I don’t hate you!”

“But I should have been there earlier!” she protested, “I should have stopped it from getting that far!”

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Nish,” it felt… odd, calling her that as he’d never tried to shorten any of her monikers, “you saved my life. I was there the whole time, I heard the conversation you had with dad. And for the lastest last time, I don’t frigging hate you do drop it okay?”

A haunted look appeared in her eyes. “You know I bargained with him?”

“Yeah, and?”

Her expression clearly pained, she glanced away for a moment before her eyes returned to his. “And how can you not see that I was merely using your life for my own ends? Instead of just saving you as I was supposed to, I waited until I could bargain with your father. I let my needs come before yours and if he had taken just a moment longer to capitulate, I could have lost you! How can you be so cavalier about that?”

Alec rolled the thought about in his head for all of about three seconds. He’d been asking himself the same question for most of the night and come up with a satisfactory answer about an hour ago. “Easily. You’ve said it yourself, no one was supposed to know about us. If you just dashed out and saved me, father would have wanted to know why you bothered. By forcing him into an I.O.U. situation, you managed to save my ass and still keep our connection under wraps. Damn clever if you ask me…”

She stared at him in surprise. “How…” she began and then burst into tears again.

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Alec grumbled in mock irritation, “look, I know you’re a girl and all, but this crying all over my shirt is gonna gimme pneumonia in a minute so unless you wanna pull me back from the dead a second time, lay off with the waterworks!”

Nischa’s sobs degenerated into chuckles and then she was laughing outright. Alec had never heard laughter sound so sweet. “I take it you’re done with the hissy fits?” he remarked, earning himself a smack upside the head.

Nischa’s violet eyes sought his. “When did you grow up?”

Alec let the question hang for a bit before answering. “I was talking to Jana, the other girl that was there,” Nischa nodded, “and she told me I was dead. Said she knew it and I knew it. She was right. I was dead.” He tightened his hold around her. “The only reason I’m still here is in my arms right now.”

“Aleck I-”

“Love you.”

“Yeah.”

“I wasn’t finishing your sentence.” He felt her happiness wash over them and for a long time, neither spoke, each content just to hold onto the other as if their very lives depended on maintaining physical contact.

Nischa finally pulled away when Alec’s alarm rang and 6:30. “Oh God, this is so damn typical!” she apologised. “Here’s you almost dying because of me, and instead of tucking you into bed like I’m supposed to, I keep you awake all night just so I can cry on your shoulder like a damn baby.”

“Don’t sweat it, I’m not.” Alec said before a particularly cheesy grin appeared on his face. “Besides, what straight guy in his right mind would pass up the opportunity to have the sexist girl in the whole wide world on his lap the entire night?”

“You… YOU SEX-CRAZED FIEND!” Nischa sputtered in mock outrage.

“Yeah, I love you too, sweetness,” Alec grinned as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

“I love you too but you better crash. It’s been a long night and you’re starting to look like a zombie.”

“I know,” Alec yawned. “It’s been quite a night. Oh shit, just remembered something…”

“Yeah?”

“When I saw you crying, the first thing that went through my mind was that I’d rip the balls off the shithead that upset you and make him eat em. Apparently I was referring to myself.”

“Awww,” Nischa cooed cupping his face in her hands. “That’s sweet, utterly detrimental to your libido darling, but still very sweet.”

“Yeah, well, if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll take a raincheck on chewing my nuts.” Alec muttered dryly before joining in on her laughter.

“Well darling, I hate to let you go, but there’s some things I need to attend to.” Nischa said regretfully.

“What? Prowling already? Wasn’t sitting on me all night enough for you?” Alec teased and got a perverse little thrill at the sight of Nischa actually blushing.

Then her expression sobered. “No, darling, I’m just going to ensure those fucking Lycans never knowingly set foot in the same block as you. ” her voice became a low vehement hiss, “Even if that means I have to personally gut every lupine from here to Thailand.”

Alec shuddered involuntarily. She wasn’t joking, and for their sakes, he hoped every lupine in Turnam had a one way ticket for far the fuck away. He didn’t need to see her in action to know the girl in his arms was about the last person he ever wanted to be pissed at him.

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