Violet's Shadow, page 11
Talk about poking a bear. “That’s not what I want, nsyr.”
“Nysr? You dare slip up and call me mate while you’re telling me and the rest of the fucking pack I’m not good enough for you?”
“I never said—”
She turned and shook his hand off when he tried to touch her. “Maybe not. But it’s all I heard.”
“We aren’t done talking about this.”
“Oh yes, we are. Until you can own up to the fact that you’ve already mated me, then we truly don’t have anything else to say.”
“Don’t walk away, Violet. Don’t make me chase after you.”
“Ha! As if. In your context, chasing after me denotes you have no choice. Huh. And look at that. It really sounds like you’re mated.” She put her hand to her chest and acted as if she were swooning. “Say it isn’t so, big strong Shadow, who isn’t gonna get any tonight.”
“Violet. Listen. I—”
She threw her bag over her shoulder and figured the rest could wait as she opened the door. “Have your people call my people. Until then? I’m out.”
Didn’t take long to get to a door on the main level and find her way outside. The cool breeze felt wonderful on her fevered skin. Whether from anger or the mating heat she didn’t know. Didn’t care. Just being thankful for the momentary relief was all she needed in that instance.
And Rayden. She needed him too.
Feeling less than, in the one place she thought she could be herself, totally sucked.
Chapter Ten
It didn’t take long for Hannah to find her.
She wasn’t shocked. They were connected somehow. Violet hadn’t figured out the whys behind it yet.
Hannah walked up to her on a patch of grass on the edge of the compound. Forest and mountains spanned the horizon surrounding them. Wolves paced the perimeter every so often, reminding Violet they could potentially be under attack at any time.
“Anything from your mom?” Hannah sat close but not touching.
The closeness was so nice. She’d never had a girlfriend she could talk to before. Always feeling weird and different had made growing up awkward at best.
Violet looked at her phone she twirled in circles and then set it beside her. “Nothing at all. Tried to call again, but still zilch. This is so not like her. We’re always in contact. I’m really starting to get worried. Like maybe she’s in trouble.” Saying it aloud sure didn’t make her feel any better about it.
Hannah stared at the tree line. “Where would you look if you were given the chance? Where would you start?”
“Destin, I guess. We were never away from each other so her safe places are there I’d think.” Violet closed her eyes, pulling her knees to her chest. “Everything’s so messed up right now. Feeling more than a bit lost at the moment.”
Hannah was quiet and then nudged Violet’s shoulder with her own. “But you know what? At least you’re not alone anymore.”
“You’re the only one I feel really close to, even though we don’t know each other real well.”
“Love that, but… What about Rayden?”
Violet sneered and then faced forward again.
“Did you at least remember what I told you?”
“He told me he wanted to keep having sex, ‘cause it’s awesome, but he doesn’t want to mate me, so…”
“What an asshole! The next time I see my brother I’m going to kick him.”
“Your brother? What?”
“Yep. Twins actually. I know we look nothing alike, but our parents were quite different.
“That’s why you were so familiar with him. At first, I thought maybe you were…” She trailed off, not wanting to offend her.
“Who? A lover?”
Nodding, she turned toward her, catching sight of several other Shadows staring in their direction. She smiled, but they quickly looked away. “Yes. I knew someone else or something else kept him at arm’s length. At least now I know her name. Kind of hard to fight a dead woman.” She shook her head, not wanting to get sidetracked. “But I have other questions first.”
Hannah faced her with a jubilant smile. “I love having a buddy to talk to. Hit me.”
“That’s actually what I want to talk to you about. Why do you get the stink eye from people here? I get it some too—from a few of them, which makes sense since I’m totally an outsider. Others seem fine with me. It’s different for you, though, and sometimes you seem so sad, but you’re so wonderful. Plus, I recognize almost everyone here and it’s like I know you but I can’t place you.”
Hannah looked at the Shadows and wolves in the courtyard and then exhaled. “I’m the Oracle.”
A memory morphed Violet’s vision for a few seconds. It was Hannah, but her hair was down and her eyes. They were white. Completely white with no iris of color at all. “The eyes. That’s why I’ve thought you were so familiar, but it wasn’t right. Oh, my gawd. You really are her.”
“Yeah. So… Shadows get a little spooked when I’m here. Especially when I don’t know when something’s going to come over me. No warning and then I’m speaking in riddles.” She closed her eyes and pooched her lips out and then finally faced her again. Defiance twisted her features. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to be my friend now.”
“Why would I not want to be your friend? When you’re the Oracle, do you become a raving asshole with resting bitch face or something?”
Though deflated, Hannah seemed to fill back up with laughter that bubbled out. “Don’t think so. I’m just serious I think because most of what I have to share is so dire and awful. Probably another reason they aren’t super excited to invite me over for dinner.”
“Then we’ll be just fine. And honestly, I’d say we need to stick together. Both of us seeing visions of stuff.”
“But I don’t see anything.”
Violet frowned. “What do you mean you don’t see anything?”
Shaking her head, she shrugged. “I see nothing. Remember nothing. Afterward I’m exhausted. Normally have no recollection of what happened during a prophecy. Probably another reason I’m not the prom queen.”
“Oh.” Violet distinctly remembered something, but didn’t want to bring it up since she was a bit thrown by Hannah’s revelation. “My visions. They’re getting more frequent. Easier to…accept…maybe. I feel stronger here. Like I’m Batgirl or something. Is it even possible?”
She nodded. “Absolutely. Makes perfect sense. All the Shadows of a pack are tied together. It’s why we can hear each other when we’re wolves. We can help heal each other too. Especially our mates. And we all have gifts. But that’s a bit harder to get a bead on. So in a way you’ve been damaged by not being here, and we’re effectively healing you now. Pretty cool, huh?”
“It’s wonderful.” Violet chewed on her lip. “Gifts. What are the gifts?”
“Shadow specific. Normally tied to our prophecy. And a lot of the time something to do with our mates.”
“Do you have a mate?”
“We all have a mate. Somewhere. Mine’s out there. Lord help him when he finds me.” She laughed, but there was something else there.
Violet decided to leave it alone. Her head was so jumbled at the moment and she didn’t know if she could handle anything else. But her head wasn’t onboard with taking a breather. She bit the inside of her cheek. “Mates. I remembered something about the other night I wondered about.”
“Which night are you talking about?”
“The night I made my spectacular entrance.” She rolled her eyes, and Hannah laughed. A real laugh this time.
“It’s not the first time it’s happened, but it has been at least a couple hundred years. Everyone around here enjoyed it.”
“I know members have to shade here for the first time who’ve been lost for one reason or another. But do all of us have this kind of …uhh…grand debut?”
Her twinkling laugh made her want to hide. “No. We tend to get to them quick enough to teach them what has to happen and how they need to get here so they can consent to traveling here. But the sex still has to happen. That’s the bonus round requirement. So yummy. It’s required for shading and shifting the first time. A piece of a fully transitioned Shadow must be inside them so they can complete the last step. It’s almost as if we each have to be recoded to belong.”
“Recoded.” She said the word, tasting it on her tongue. “But I wasn’t coherent enough to be taught. I didn’t consent to coming here.”
“No, you didn’t. Your nsyr made a commitment for you.”
Mate.
That was why it was so rare.
And her mate didn’t want to have anything to do with her. Great.
“How many Shadows are mated here?”
“Only twenty-five pairs or so. They’re the ones with the hand prints on them.”
“Hand prints?”
“Mmhmm. During the mating ceremony, each of them places a hand on the other. It becomes part of them, and two prints appear.”
“From one hand. How’s that possible?”
“The wolf print shows up in the palm of the Shadow print. Like a negative image.”
“Why a negative? Wouldn’t it be dark? Filled in?”
“Because their mate fills them up. Completes the other.”
“That’s…beautiful.”
“It truly is,” Hannah agreed with her.
“But? Only twenty-five pairs?”
She nodded. “And unfortunately a few Shadows who lost their mates.”
“Oh, gawd.”
“Yeah. Not awesome. The numbers are really low now. Really low. It’s hard for us because we’re so secluded. The enforcers are the only ones currently leaving the compound. Not because we can’t go as well, but most of us like it here. Some choose to leave. Some are asked to leave.”
“But how do you get stuff here? How did you even build this place, anyway? It’s huge. And where are we? Germany, Santa Barbara, Fiji? I know nothing about this place I’m supposed to lead.”
“Some of the Shadows can shade objects too. Small things. Nothing bigger than a chair normally. When everything went down with Mathias years ago and we were under constant attack, we all fled. Scouts were sent out beforehand to find someplace we could all fit. This place was an abandoned military compound in Scotland. Several Shadows combined powers while in wolf form and sent out a signal. Like a homing beacon, and since we can feel each other, we all assembled here.”
“Did everyone make it? All of our pack get here?”
By the look on Hannah’s face that was a definite no. “A few didn’t make it. A few were lost. A few didn’t want to come. It’s not a prison, but some felt it was.”
“But can’t anyone just walk up here if they wanted to?” She gestured beside them. “It’s not like we have the Great Wall of China around us. There’s some forest and mountains. Seems it wouldn’t be too hard to ambush us easily.”
“Not exactly. Ever seen the movie Brigadoon?”
Violet’s mouth fell open. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No. Why would I be kidding?”
“That’s my mother’s favorite movie. We watched it all the time when I was a kid.”
“Not surprised.”
“Based off of Shadow history too?”
“Absolutely. But we don’t show up every hundred whatever years. We just don’t show up at all. Not ever. And that’s been for years and years and years.”
“And my mother was part of it somehow? She found out about it, I mean?”
“No. I’m saying your mother was the Alpha who came up with the idea. Almost a hundred years ago. Hiding in shadow. Brilliant idea.”
“You’re shitting me.”
Hannah’s head fell back when she laughed. “The truth. I swear it.”
“But… She wasn’t extraordinary when I was growing up. I just can’t reconcile it in my head. And we’re in a shadow. Trapped in between?”
“Now it’s a kind of in between. And some magic thrown in too, to ward people off. And Shadows of other packs. Keeps them away too. At least it has until this point.”
“Sounds like it hasn’t kept them all out if someone saw it to talk about it. If a movie was made about it, someone sure blabbed.”
“We don’t require people to stay here. Never have. It’s not mandatory, but most of us prefer it. It’s strange for most of us not to be surrounded by other Shadows. And not all people we approach who have Shadow blood want to come here to live. To understand. And sometimes things go wrong when they shade for the first time. We suspect it was someone who didn’t make it who talked about the concept of the mystical town in the mist of the highlands. Since that’s where we are. We hope, at least, that they survived out there.”
“Collins said something to Rayden about it. Losing someone he was trying to transition here. I was pretty out of it, but he seemed really upset by it.”
“Loving someone is rarely easy.” Hannah didn’t say anything else, but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.”
“Will you tell me about Cora?”
“I can tell you a little bit. I don’t know much actually.”
“What’s the correlation between Rayden and her and Mathias?”
“She was his sister. They were both raised here. Their parents are gone now. Cora loved Rayden for as long as she was alive. I think he wanted to mate her, but just couldn’t. When she died, Mathias went nuts and turned on us. He tried to band together some asshole Shadows and lead an extermination raid. He wanted all of us either dead or subservient to him.”
“He wanted to take over?”
“Exactly. But he was no Alpha. Was never going to be. Then the killings started. It was horrible. Truly never saw anything like it. And never want to again. He’s pure evil. If he finds this place. We’re doomed. He’d convinced quite a few rogues to join him. All lethal.”
“Doomed doesn’t do it for me. Couldn’t we all just leave? Find somewhere else to live?”
“We’d have to disband. Finding another place like this is fairly impossible. And trust me. We’ve been looking for a very long time to have a backup plan.” Hannah stared up at her, looking at her as if she were some kind of savior.
She had no idea what to do with the look of…hope…in her eyes.
In one blink Hannah was completely gone and the Oracle sat there in her place. Her white eyes glowed so brightly as she stared at Violet it was like looking into a star.
The voice was Hannah’s but methodical. Exacting. And nothing to be messed with.
“Five prophesies come together to show you the power of one. To save yourself you must seek the shadow of death. To save your mate you must be willing to give up the one thing you hold most dear. And to save your pack you must truly believe the impossible.”
“Whose prophesies come together?”
“The pack. Yours. Your mate’s. Your mother’s. And one more. All will be made clear soon. And only you have the ability to change the future. Use the power wisely, my child. For if you fail, the future of the Shadows fall with you.”
Violet opened her mouth again to ask another question, but Hannah blinked rapidly and shivered. She went transparent for a second as well, and Violet panicked.
It was almost as if she shaded for a moment. But then she was back, her head lolling to the side, but she caught herself.
Violet reached out to steady her when a vision slammed into her.
It catapulted her in the middle of a battle. A bloody battle, and the copper tang of blood stung her nose. She gasped and tried backing away, but something strange happened.
Pressure on her arm drew her attention and then all of a sudden Hannah stood next to her. They both gasped.
“Oh, gawd,” Hannah mumbled. “What the hell just happened? Is this one of your visions?”
“Yes.” The answer left her lips before she really thought about the question. Hours ago she would have said she was dreaming and nothing else, but somehow she knew the scene in front of them was yet to play out, and it would unless she could do something about it.
Dead Shadows littered the open area they all stood in. Some the enemy. But mostly theirs. Horrible. It wasn’t a strong enough word to describe the devastation this fight would cause.
“I’m stronger with you here. Calmer. And I’ve never been able to see so clearly.” She spoke in a whisper. Not wanting to draw attention to them, though she assumed they wouldn’t see them. Everything was strange now, and she was certain she still didn’t know all the rules to follow.
“The attack. We need something in here to tell us when they’re going to attack.”
Mathias. A wolf and then a man she’d never met before stalked closer. But his face. It was her face. Hers. As if she were his…
No. Couldn’t be.
It just couldn’t.
He seemed to look straight at her. And then he laughed. A villainous laugh, which chilled her to the core and then she noticed an unconscious bloodied woman at his feet.
Her mother.
“Seems you’re quite adept at killing family members I need dead, Rayden. Fitting I’d pick the anniversary of one of them to officially wipe your pack out of the gene pool.”
All of a sudden, Hannah and she both seemed to realize he was looking behind them. They seemed to know it at the same time.
Hannah got there first and gasped. Violet swiveled around and looked where she was focused.
Where they were now all staring.
And there she lay.
It was her.
Dead eyes in a dull shade of violet, seeing nothing, stared up at the dawning sky. Rayden clutched her to his chest and howled. The sound ripped her apart and tears sprang to her eyes. Stepping backward, she wanted to turn and run. To flee. To stay hidden for forever. But she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t desert her pack. Or her friend or her reluctant mate. “Don’t say anything, Hannah. Not to Rayden. Not to the others. No one.”
Hannah watched the scene before them. “But maybe we could— Or they could—”
“No one. Promise me? As your Alpha. Promise me.”
A sigh bifurcated the space between them. “I thusly promise.”
