Demon Day (19 page)

“
She is….” He seemed at a
loss for words. “She is the sun, the light of my heart. When I run
the forest I feel closer to her.”

Well, I was confused. “She’s not
Pack?”

He avoided my eyes. “No.”

“
Is there any reason other
than this why you can’t be with her?”

“
She’s never seen me, I’ve
never let her,” he said in a low confession. “She will reject
me.”

I held up my palm. “Please tell me
you’re not stalking some poor shifter-girl as a panther.” His
silence told me everything I needed to know. “Gods, Alec! Stalking
is not sexy. Breandan tried that crap with me, and I ended up
taking a tumble down a cliff, and getting lost, and–” I was getting
myself angry. I took a deep breath. “Stop tormenting the girl and
man up.”

Avoiding my eyes he mumbled, “I’ve
never actually, well, seen her.”

I stared at him. “What are you talking
about? How can you be in love with someone but never laid eyes on
them?”

“
Her scent is everywhere,”
he blurted. “In my head and my heart. But you see, I cannot simply
look at her. I would not survive it. I would want to Claim her and
she would reject me.”

“
Surely you can mate with a
shifter from another Pack?”

He sighed and looked away. “It doesn’t
matter. No one will understand.”

I shut up. He did not want to talk
about it and I was in no mood to push him. He inhaled deeply, chest
rising and expanding. Not liking the silence I blurted, “I wish I
could see the world you do.”

Alec’s eyes bulged, and he shook his
head at me, baffled. “You are fairy, Rae. Other demons cannot
experience the world as your kind can. You are connected to
everything.”

I burrowed my toe into the
undergrowth. “No I’m not,” I confessed in a whisper. “I feel better
in the forest or when I am near green things, yes, but I don’t feel
them. I know that Conall and Breandan do, they almost speak to the
land. It sings to them not me.” I shook my head. “I don’t think I’m
this Priestess they claim I am. I keep trying to make them see that
I bring nothing but trouble. But they laugh and smile as they throw
themselves in mortal peril for me.” I thumped my chest. “I’m going
to get everybody killed. And y’know what, I will say I told you so.
They have made a mistake and they are so stubborn they can’t see
it.”

“
Horseshit.” Alec gripped
both my shoulders as I wrinkled my nose at his language. The visual
it brought to mind was not pleasant. “I know you. The first time we
met, you didn’t run, hide, or snarl. You stood and faced me, a big
stalking cat even when your entire body was trembling. You touched
me; you petted me for gods’ sake. Why did you do that?”

I beamed at him. “You were
cute.”

His lip curled in disgust. “I choose
to forget you said that. You touched me because you knew I meant
you no harm. I know this because when you did it was like a flash
across my skin, a wave of … of … knowing. A crisp clarity that
allowed me to be certain I would be safe with you.” He shrugged. “I
have never felt such a kinship with anyone but my Alpha, and
probably never will again until I Claim my mate. And I’m not the
only one. I spoke to Byron last night and he said if you’d not of
been present there was no way he would’ve agreed to align himself
with the fairies. I, we, the whole Pack feel like we need to
protect you. And as much as I would love to say it was all down to
your sparkling personality and likeability.” I scowled and he
laughed. “I think it’s a chemical reaction. Your brother is right.
You are their missing Priestess; our reaction alone would suggest
there is more to you than a girl with wings and a tail.”

I harrumphed. “I still wish I could
see the world better. Sense things better.”

“
It’s only a lack of focus,
Rae. You are a bit of a scatterbrain. Flaky.”

My mouth dropped. “I am not
flaky.”

“
Close your
eyes.”

I did as he asked. “What
next?”

“
Quiet yourself and be
still.”

Okay, I could do that. Be quiet and
still. It is not like it was hard to stand and be. I made a small
noise of annoyance. They treated me like a baby. I was not dumb. I
rubbed my hands on my legs where the slash of my jeans used to be,
anxiously. How long was I supposed to stand still for? My tail
thumped my shoulder, and I flexed my wings, enjoying the light
stretch. I peeked an eye open and flushed.

“
How the hell was that
quiet or still, Rae?” Alec rubbed the bridge of his nose with his
thumb and forefinger. “Your tail and wings were everywhere. Your
hands could not stay in one place. And whilst I’m sure Breandan
gets a kick out of watching you rub your own body I would suggest
not doing that in front of other males. You made odd humming noises
and you … well … twitched. A lot.” He pursed his lips, shook
his head incredulously. “No wonder you have trouble controlling
your magic. Isn’t it all about focus and patience? If you cannot
stand totally still and quiet for less than a minute, how do you
plan to cast spells? Or be still enough to track a mouse through
the undergrowth in a storm.”

I was bright red and flustered. He was
right, of course, but still it was embarrassing.

“
Twitchy seems a bit
harsh.” He prodded me in the side, in the shoulder, laughing. I
slapped his hands away, giggling. “Okay fine, maybe I’m twitchy.
Stop making fun of me and help me.”

“
I already have,” he said
proudly. “When you can learn to be still in your mind and body you
will learn how to control your body.”

“
Gods you demons suck. You
never give me anything decent. Always I have to go away and work on
control, or patience, or awareness.” I yanked at my hair. “I think
I may scream if I don’t learn something I can use soon.”

Alec stopped laughing and eyed me in
disappointment. “Have you considered you aren’t improving as fast
as you could because you’re resisting what you’re being told? What
if you stopped and listened? If you tried what you had been taught
you’d learn more and faster.” He nodded at his own words. “Fairies
learn fast.”

“
Unguh, whatever,” I
grumped bad naturedly and stomped off.

Yes, he was right, but it was galling
he felt the need to say that to me. Did I not listen to what I was
told?

My boots fared well in the forest, and
I was able to move with surprising ease. Hearing Alec behind me, I
moved into a jog, which in a flash became a run. Hearing him pull
behind, I slowed, knowing he would not be as fast in human
form.

It was easy to forget that shifters
were essentially humans who had evolved differently, like
witches.

“
You like to run,” Alec
panted at my elbow, bent over with his hands to his knees. “That
was a flat out sprint, impressive, and as much as I want to give
you time to cool down, my head would get torn off if anything
happened to you.” His hand landed on my shoulder and spun me round.
He looked deadly serious even with the colour high on his cheeks
making him look boyish. “So don’t do that again, okay?”

Opening my mouth to lash him with
words, I took a moment to think on it. I gritted my teeth because
he was right. Damn it to hell. I nodded sharply.

Alec returned the nod, went to speak
but his mouth opened, and stayed there, his whole body locked up
tight. His fingers dug painfully into my shoulder and he closed his
eyes. His head snapped round and he wrapped his hand around my
upper arm to hold me still. I shifted, crunching leaves under foot
and he snarled at me quietly, eyes glowing, the pupils becoming
slitted. His canines lengthened as I watched. His nose flattened
even as his chin lengthened and his ears pulled back, smoothly
curving to triangles. He snarled again, crouching.

He did not need to tell me trouble was
close because I heard a sharp intake of breath on the wind and
dropped to the ground myself. Instinctively I reached to the
Source, a sun of brilliant light and heat that seemed nowhere and
everywhere, a power that was mine to grasp despite how foolishly I
had used it in the past.

Alec sniffed deeply, tasting the air
and shuddered. “How did they get so close? Sentries are posted
across the Pride border.”

A hoof fall was within normal human
hearing distance, and the warm smell of hay and horse curled into
my nostrils. I listened carefully and heard the steady clomp,
clomp, clomp of horse hooves.

My heart rate pumped double time and I
struggled to come to terms with what was happening.

Clerics were on Pride land.

I stilled, my mouth dry, and heart
heavy, “Unless they died before they could raise the
alarm.”

The rumble that thundered from Alec’s
chest was not human. “I’m going to Change,” he rasped and hunched
over, stripping off his trousers and leaving them in a crumpled
heap.

The shrubbery crackled, and through
the tree line, I saw them. They were too close. I glanced at Alec,
back already snapping, and joints popping. His spine exploded out
with the extra vertebrate of his tail, and was covered over with a
sweep of skin and hair. His mouth was closed and he quivered with
the effort of not crying out.

They could not find him here like
this. If they did….

In a burst of speed, I darted forward
quickly locating the two Clerics trawling the undergrowth from the
backs of two freakishly large stallions. Snuffling the floor at
their feet were bloodhounds. None of them reacted to me. I had
moved so fast they hadn’t seen me, nor had their dogs scented me
yet.

Behind the backside of one horse –
entangled in a net and dragged carelessly across the floor – was
the body of a young shifter, a tiger. The bubble of disgust and
anguish started in my stomach, rolled up my torso, forced its way
out my throat, and exploded in my mouth. I screamed, long and loud.
I was so horrified by the dead shifter youngling it was easy to
project the fear and terror into my voice.

The Clerics heads snapped to me, guns
coming up to point in my direction. I bolted. The dogs sprang at
me; barking, and jaws snapping.

I kept my speed fast enough to avoid
capture, but slow enough so they would be tempted to give chase.
Hearing them urge their steeds into gallops I kept going, knowing I
was headed somewhere high, somewhere near water.

Damn it, yet again I was running from
the Clerics, and yet again, I was terrified, but gods help me I
would not let them take Alec like they had taken Maeve.

Leaving the forest treeline, I sped
out of the tall grass, smelt the lake up ahead. Chest heaving from
panic rather than physical exertion, I scowled when I saw Clerics
were posted along the opposite bank. I careened to a stop, spinning
round. The crimson red of the blazers were visible behind me,
bouncing up and down wildly, so I changed direction and darted back
into the grass.

A fierce growl pierced the morning
air, Alec calling for help.

Fueled by the need to get to him and
ensure his safety, I ran faster, no longer worried whether those
pursuing me would not be able to see me let alone catch
me.

Alec launched himself on a Cleric,
ivory teeth bared until they disappeared into the man’s exposed
throat, throwing his head back to rip it out. The horse pranced
madly as the Cleric rolled from his saddle and was dead before he
hit the floor. Alec was already a pace away, leaping on the next
trespasser who was a woman, mounted on a huge black stallion. Her
hood was up and cast a shadow over her profile. She raised her gun
as the horse danced beneath her, neighing loudly, and kicking his
forelegs when Alec pounced back and forth, snapping at his
fetlocks.

There was a loud crack, the smell of
gunpowder. Alec screamed – the sound oddly human.

“
No!”

I threw myself toward them when the
horse kicked Alec away and sent his body hurtling through the air.
He twisted and landed on his paws, but his legs buckled and his
brawny body hit the floor. He scrunched his eyes shut and
shuddered, blood on the ground from his wounded side.

Falling to my knees, I clasped his
head in my hand and patted him softly. I was relieved when his eyes
slitted open then focused, jeweled irises trained on the Cleric
behind me.

I shot a glare over my shoulder and
the Lady Cleric pulled on the reigns so the horse backed up, her
gun was pointed at Alec’s face. I froze, but my tail thrashed
behind me like a whip.

“
Back away from him and get
down on the ground,” she said calmly.

I did not move trying to think fast,
but coming up with blank spaces and images of Alec’s brain
splattered all over the floor. I let go of his head and pushed him
down when he struggled to stand. He whined, fearful for me, and I
rubbed him behind the ear.

“
Don’t worry,” I muttered
in a voice too low for the Cleric to hear, but by the way his ears
swiveled forward Alec heard. “I’m thinking of a plan.”

Standing I stepped away from Alec,
eyeing her distrustfully. “I’m not your enemy.”

Another horse trotted up behind me,
with a haughty faced Cleric. Neither of them looked familiar to me,
nor particularly memorable in any way.