Page 34 of Beginnings

Chapter 10

Ember

The padsof my paws were sore, but still I ran. Breath rasped in my throat and escaped in clouds of mist into the icy air. I refused to think about everything that had happened until I reached my destination. It was enough just to stay alive.

I urged my wolf onward, stopping only to lap water from the first stream we came across. My new wolf spirit was unsure of me. She held her memories and emotions close and did not allow me access. As soon as her spirit had entered me I had sensed her relief at losing her last host. I wouldn’t push her to tell me what had happened, but it wasn’t hard to guess. The loss of my first wolf lay heavy inside me, but I didn’t blame this beautiful white female. No, I blamed the human who had controlled her.

She sensed my urgency and didn’t resist; instead she forged ahead through her exhaustion and went where I directed. I thanked her, knowing I would lose a battle of wills right now.

My thoughts went to Walker. That faerie bastard had deserted us. Not only that, I didn’t understand why he’d darted Connor. I mean, he’d literally thrown him to the wolves. A snarl curled my mouth. I would find Walker, eventually—and rip him to shreds. Where I was going, there would be an opportunity to hunt in Faerie. It might take some time to get Som to trust me, but I would do it. If I couldn’t get to the SBI or Doherty, I’d track Walker. Even if it took years, I’d find him and make him pay for what he’d done.

I leaped over ditches and crossed fields, but exhaustion was setting in, allowing the ache of losing my family to consume me. When night fell, I allowed myself to stop at a stream. My wolf’s chest heaved and she drank deeply. I let her rest, but once she’d regained her breath, I urged her onwards, avoiding any signs of human life. My despair would just have to wait.

With single minded purpose, I held to my direction and headed for Rawson’s house. There would be agents observing the front and the lane, but I doubted they would be in the fields at the back. Still, I took my time approaching. The stunning white wolf that was now mine whined. Her anxiety filtered into me, so I sent a lick of reassurance down our bond. She shuddered, but kept going.

The smell of society; of cars and rubbish, cooking and sewage, assaulted my senses, but there was no sign or scent of other wolves.

My wolf inched forward on her belly, keeping low to the ground. Her bright white fur was thankfully covered in mud and, from the smell of it, cow shit. I grimaced. It had been my idea to roll in the mud before we reached the outskirts of the town. We reeked to high heaven, but it was far safer than standing out in the darkness.

A grey car was parked at the entrance of the lane, moonlight glinting off the paint. A shadow moved inside. I growled, sniffing the air. I knew all the cars that used these roads, and that car had never belonged to any of the agency families who lived here.

Once the clouds obscured the moon, I encouraged my wolf to dart forward. We dove beneath the bushes at the back of Rawson’s home, my home. It was hard to ignore the pain at that thought. It was no longer my home. I would not return here again. My wolf clamped her teeth around the handle of the bag I’d left behind. The clouds moved away, leaving the lane bathed in soft silvery light. Ice sparkled on the ground and it was bright enough to cast shadows, so we waited beneath the bushes. Moments later the moon was gone again. She darted back across the road and into the fields. There were no shouts, no gunshots or growls.

Breathing heavily she ran along the familiar route I used to get to Som’s, enduring her sore paws and fatigue while carrying the bag between her jaws.

Once the outskirts of the city came into view, I urged her to slow. The shadows were enough to hide us as we made our way through the emerging human world. Cars rushed along nearby roads, the noise scaring my new shifter spirit. This was a bad idea as even the suburbs of London didn’t sleep, and I had to negotiate my way through the concrete jungle to my destination on the banks of the Thames. But this was the only place I could go.

I’d have to work for my keep at Som’s, and I’d need to negotiate the terms of my employment, but if anyone could live under the SBI’s radar it was Somnelaire. As a bogwart, Som was a lower caste fae. I frowned, Walker was definitely different from any of the fae I’d ever seen. Could he have been high fae, like Connor had suspected, even though he had said he wasn’t? The location to the gates of Faerie was a closely guarded secret in the SBI. Other than Som’s workers and the psychos that hunted prey in the shadows, Walker was the only fae I’d seen, and even I knew that trick he’d pulled with the portal was something special.

Som occasionally did business with the servants of the high fae. How they got into our world, I had no idea, but they did. And the fae, especially the rich ones, loved their drugs just the same as humans and shifters did; only opiates didn’t do it for them, no, it was the Digitalis Purpurea plant, or plain old Foxglove that sent them into a drug induced haze. Highly toxic and deadly to humans, fae reacted differently. It was like heroin to them. There were entire underground markets for Digitalis leaves and dried flowers—anything the fae could get, in any form, was in demand, and Som provided the lot—with a little help from me as a mule and dealer when he needed it.

It was nearing dawn when I slowed to a walk. My wolf’s muscles screamed and her whole body shook. The stench of rotten food and the sour smell of the Thames banks mixed with the smell of sewage and salt. My wolf balked, but I encouraged her to keep going.

Nearly there, brave one. It’s best if I take control now. I know the way well. She whimpered, her legs shaking.

Soon, a painted green gate appeared. Bolting around the corner, I leaped onto the old wall that followed the edge of the Thames. Brown water surged below, full of shit and silt as the tide ebbed. I teetered on unsteady legs, the bag I carried in my jaws unbalancing me. I stopped and straightened, calming my wolf’s anxious spirit, then inched along the wall. If we fell that would be it for her; not so much for me. Fire always stepped in to protect me if she sensed my end was near. It would still suck to drown in that swirling, brown mess though.

I took a breath and lowered my head. I’d done this balancing act many times before—and I could do it now—except I was shaking like a leaf and my wolf was new—and scared.

I sent a burst of warmth along her bones, trying to reassure her that we were in this together. The wind eddied around us as I took more careful steps. Slowly, we progressed along our treacherous route.

Som had no idea how I continually got into his compound. No matter how hard he looked, he’d never found my entrance—or at least that’s what he said.

About twenty feet along the river wall the boundary to Som’s compound appeared. The wall loomed twelve feet high and was topped with razor wire. I’d never attempted to go over it. Instead, I dropped down into a small space between the two walls. I shifted, and my wolf receded without hesitation. The shift was painful and far slower than usual. We were both drained and not yet familiar with each other, but I knew precisely how to twist my human body to fit into the confined space under the storage building. I pushed in through the hole in the wall I’d found as a child. I’d grown, but I still managed to squeeze through it. I crawled along on my belly, ignoring the pebbles and rough ground that scored my breasts and stomach, and scratched my limbs.

The space became tighter, but I didn’t panic. Instead I pushed through, dragging the bag behind me with my foot through its handle. About seven feet further along it opened out into a two foot high foundation space under another storehouse. I tugged on the wolf who was becoming a part of me. She scrambled to do my bidding, fear of what I would ask of her filtering down our link. I swallowed my anger. The shifter who had been gifted this beautiful spirit had really done a number on her.

I will never harm you, I reassured her gently. She whined in acknowledgement and pushed through my skin. I encouraged her to clamp her teeth around my bag, ignoring my need to fall down and sleep. Skulking through the foundations, I used my nose to push at the loose grate under the steps of the store room. It swung in the center like a flap, just as it had always done. Cautiously, I waited in the shadows for a moment and sniffed the air. The compound was silent. There was the faint scent of the two guards who patrolled, but nothing unusual. I grabbed the handles of my bag in my teeth and darted out. It took only moments to reach the set of metal stairs that led up to a heavy wooden door.

Once I’d negotiated the steps, I raised up on my hind legs and scratched at the door. Flakes of red paint floated down and stuck in my fur. My shaking body wouldn’t hold me up for long. My wolf’s determination to do as I wished filtered into me. We can do this. I shook the paint off and lifted on my back legs again, scratching harder. The hinges on the door were loose and old so it banged loudly against my assault. Above me a camera blinked, it’s red light like a tiny eye.

“All right! All right! I’m coming! Quit scratching my door!” Som’s raspy voice was almost a comfort.

I watched the handle. It moved down and the door was pushed open. I launched myself inside.

Som staggered back. “Jeez, give me a chance to open it, girlie!”

I skidded to a halt, my claws slipping on the old wooden flooring.

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