Bloodfire (Blood Destiny) (7 page)

As if they owned the place, I thought,
gritting my teeth and hunching down lower.

The Brethren stopped and lined up in front
of us.
 
All of their hands were
resting lightly on weapons that hung from their belts.
 
Even from my lowered position I could
see the glint of steel.
 
Flexing
their authority, no doubt.
 
I looked
fixedly down at the floor instead.

A tall gray haired man stepped forward,
eyes sweeping over all of us.
 
The
room was so quiet that I fancied I’d be able to hear Anton’s balls finally
dropping behind me.
 
I risked a
glance up at their new leader.
 
He
wasn’t what I’d expected. No obvious outpourings of power or charisma.
 
He didn’t look weak physically but
neither would I have thought that I couldn’t beat him in a fair fight.
 
This was just a guy – and an old
guy at that.
 
I studied him
carefully.
 
There was certainly an
air of grace and elegance surrounding him and he held himself with confidence
and the suggestion of strength but still…I didn’t see it.
 
Maybe it was a shapeshifter thing.

He started to speak. “The Brethren brings
condolences for the loss of the Cornish pack’s alpha.
 
We know that he was a good leader who
kept the Way and held you together.
 
Do not fear that we will not uncover the truth of what happened.” His slate
gray eyes slid over the room. “His death was untimely and – unexpected.”

I blinked at the sudden unexpected rise of
tears and my throat constricted and felt tight.
 
John had kept us safe, all of us
safe.
 
He had never treated me
differently, despite my non-shifter status, and had even spent a ridiculous
amount of time training me to fight so that I could hold my own against the
rest of the pack should they suddenly decide that having a puny human amongst
them was them was too much insult to bear.
 
And there were some who thought that way – Anton behind me for
one.
 

A memory rose unbidden of my ten year self
and John outside the keep.

I had been crouched
down, throwing dagger in hand, shaking in fear.

“Mackenzie Smith, if you give into fear
then it will rule you.
 
Take the
fear and turn into focus.
 
Use that
focus wisely.
 
Feel for the creature
and prepare your mind.”

We had been hunting a small wyvern that
had been terrorising local farms.
 
The Cornish pack was generally peaceable and didn’t engage in much
fighting (well, few people or even otherworldly things came to sleepy Cornwall
to fight) but John had insisted that this was the time I put my training into
the real world.
 
I had straightened
up slowly and targeted my thoughts towards the clump of trees at the far end of
the field.
 
No fear.

A huffing sound had vibrated towards
us.
 
I had blocked out everything
else and focused on the noise, willing the wyvern to leave the safety of the
brush and come out.

“That’s it,” came
John’s voice.
 
“You WILL do this.”

I remember gripping the dagger tighter and
taking a step forward, probing the trees with my eyes until I spotted a sudden
movement on my far left.
 
I took a
step forward, and then another.
 
Without warning the wyvern had burst out of the copse and flown like a
dagger towards me, staying low to the mossy ground.
 
I kept hold of the fear and, as the
creature swooped close, I swung up, gripped onto its leathery neck and hung on
with one arm.
 
The wyvern had screeched
in rage and dragged me up.
 
It had
veered one way then another, trying to shake me off before a taloned paw came
swiping round to scrape me off.
 
I had
raised my leg and snap kicked the claws out of the way.
 
I felt hot inside and knew that the
fire, if I let it, would burn out of control.
 
With my free hand I felt for the soft
space in between the beast’s shoulder blades and sank the dagger in.
 
Of course once the wyvern tail-spinned
down I had belatedly realised that I was far too high and that hitting the ground
was going to be very hard and very painful.

“Focus the fear and fan the flames,” I had
whispered to myself, before letting go of the wyvern’s neck at the last minute
and rolling to the side to avoid being squished just in time.

My technique had been sloppy and careless
but John had run towards me with a huge grin splitting his face.
 
He’d gathered me up towards him a bear
hug.

“See? See?
 
I knew you could do it.
 
You might not be a shifter, girl, but
you have got skills, and power.
 
You’re amazing.”
 
His eyes
had shone down at me with pride and I had realised in that moment that nothing
else mattered.
 
I had killed the
wyvern and he was proud.
 
It didn’t
matter that I was human, I could focus my mind with more skill than most shifters
and I had taken down the little dragon when half of the pack would have been
too scared to try.
 
I belonged.
 

Later we had stripped down the carcass
together and burnt it.
 
I still had
a tooth from the creature’s mouth in the small chest where I kept my meager
valuables.
 
John had not let me fail
at anything – but now he was dead and I had failed him.

Not without some effort, I zoned back into
the present and realised that the
gray eyed
man was
still talking.
 
“These are dangerous
times and you are without an alpha.
 
For thirty years we have left you in peace.
 
We respect the Cornish pack and the work
that you do keeping this corner of the country safe, however we also offer you
an opportunity to brighten these sad days.
 
We will aid you by conducting the ceremony and appointing a new alpha,
as is our responsibility.
 
We will
hold evaluations and interviews with every single pack member to ensure the
appropriate alpha is chosen.

 
And we also extend you an
invitation.
 
The best and the
brightest amongst you may join us, come to London and become part of the
Brethren, the shape-shifter elite.
 
We have spaces for new recruits.
 
This is your opportunity to join in the battle to keep all of this
world, not just Cornwall, safe from all harm.”

A tremor of excitement and fear ran
through the assembly.
 
Well that was
interesting.
 
Not only would the
individual pack members be able to leave and join other packs around the
country but they now could also become part of the so-called elite.
 
I knew that just as there would be many
shrinking from this challenge, just as many would rise to it and demand
it.
 
My brow furrowed.
 
No doubt the Brethren were really just
looking for cannon fodder.
 
I felt
my hackles rise whilst forcing myself to acknowledge that this could be a good
thing.
 
As much as I might despise
them for their reported brutality and aggression, the Brethren could be doing
me a massive personal favour.
 
A new
alpha would keep my geas in place, and the Brethren’s recruitment drive would
surely allow me to see off the backs of all those troublesome shifters who
still couldn’t accept me.
 
And who
were probably champing at the bit to show off anyway.
 
I was still contentedly sure that Julia
would be named alpha
 
–
otherwise why else would her Voice now be working?

Without false modesty I knew that, despite
my human shortcomings, Julia was right and the pack benefited from at least
some of my skills.
 
I might not able
to shift but I was pretty much the best they had in any fight.
 
To the extent that since I’d turned into
a teenager and gone into defense full time they hadn’t lost any shifter to
anyone or anything.
Apart from John.
 
I grimaced and shoved that thought away
before it overwhelmed me.

Beside me, I could hear Tom panting like a
puppy, patently desperate for approval.
 
I wouldn’t have been surprised if he jumped up then and there screaming,
“Pick me! Pick me!”
 
Never mind, I’d
manage to convince him otherwise later.
 

Forgetting that I was supposed to be
keeping my head down, I scanned the ranks of the other Brethren shifters. I was
curious now about what their feelings were about taking in some of their distant
country bumpkin cousins.
 
My eyes
travelled down the line.
 
There was
a bored looking blonde haired woman with a stance that suggested predator
–wolf perhaps – then a slight dark man who was obviously a fox
judging by the calculating cunning in his eyes, then there was…uh-oh.

The next shifter was looking right at me.
 
Green gold predatory eyes gazed into
mine expressionlessly.
 
I snapped my
eyes back to the floor and stopped breathing.

I’m
no-one
,
no-one worthy of attention, I whispered silently, trying to quash the rising
panic.
 
I couldn’t endanger the rest
of the pack by being discovered.
 
Every sinew in my body screamed but I forced myself to keep my eyes and
head trained on the ground.

Don’t look up.
 
Don’t look up.
 
Don’t look up.
 
Seconds passed.
 
Minutes.

“Hey,” Tom nudged me.
 
“What are you doing?
 
Let’s go.”

I slowly raised my head and abruptly realised
that the introductory assembly was over.
 
The Brethren, including scary green eyes, were leaving to be directed to
the guest quarters and the rest of the pack who hadn’t rushed off to play the
part of ingratiating hosts were milling about in little huddles, no doubt
discussing just who the ‘best and brightest’ would be.
 
I breathed a sigh of relief.
 
It was okay
,
I’d passed
.
 
Now
all I had to do was keep out of their way for the next three days and I’d be
free.

Chapter Five

Back in the dorm, I paced around, trying
to release some of my earlier anxiety.
 
I wondered if I’d able to sneak out and do some hunting without any of
the Brethren noticing.
 
Probably not.
 
I
picked up a pillow from a nearby bed instead and pushed it against the wall,
starting to pummel
it ,
the speed and weight of my fists
keeping it in place.
 
3 days.
 
That was just 72 hours – in fact make
that 70 now.
 
I could do this.

A throat cleared behind me.
 
“
Julia,
won’t
be pleased if you destroy her soft furnishings.”

“I’m not destroying
anything, Tom.”

A few stray feathers fell from the edge of
the now burst pillow.
 
I cursed and
let it drop, turning round.

“It’s okay,” he said,
reassuringly.
 
“The masking worked
– they didn’t smell you.”

“Sure, as long as I don’t plan on bathing
any time soon and keep slathering myself every 6 – 8 hours, then I’ll be
absolutely fine.” I retorted sarcastically.

Tom came closer.
 
“You will be great.
 
They’ll do the rites, choose the alpha,
ask for leavers and then it’ll all be over.”

“He’ll still be dead.”
 
I looked at Tom and breathed out.
 
“Sorry.
 
I just….”

“I know.”
 
He reached out and tucked a loose strand
of hair behind my hair and changed the subject. “I miss the red.”

“Yeah, me too.”

I was pretty sure I could never be called
vain but I did love my hair.
 
I
patted its new colour self-consciously.

Mackenzie.

Julia’s voice popped
into my head.

I need you to meet me by the tree.

I’m on my way.
I sent back immediately
before turning to Tom.
 
“I have to
go.”

“Practise with me later?”
His eyes held mine pleadingly.

“You want to join the
Brethren.”
 
It wasn’t a question.

“They’re not all bad,
Mackenzie.”

“They’re brutes.”