Wyrd Calling (Wyrd Bound Book 1) (24 page)

He stopped dead in his tracks, put one hand to his jaw and thought for a long moment before saying, "Yes. It is. I trusted you, though, so I did, entirely blind."

I tilted my head and pulled him forwards, continuing on our way home. I hoped I could remember the twists and turns. The city was laughing at me.
 

"Trusting me is a big deal for you, isn't it?"

The words trickled out of my mouth. I hadn't even realised I'd thought them. He nodded gravely. "It is. But you're special."

I smiled, and a warmth spread through me. I was special, and it was nice to remember that. The trees chattered and the flowers eyed us suspiciously as we made our way into the nicer part of the city again. Dan stumbled a little and walked slowly as he looked around him in apparent awe. When we walked through the front door of our building, the sun was stretched and pressing her presence out onto the horizon. Dan was still firmly, clearly intoxicated.
 

We tried to sneak up the stairs and into the apartment, but Dan insisted on stroking the walls and murmuring sweet nothings to them. I didn't feel quite so special any more. The lock seemed to clang and set off alarms made to wake the dead rather than its usual quiet click. I poked my head in and looked around. The living room was clear. We walked in and Dan collapsed on the sofa. He seemed comfortable enough, so I left him be. Unfortunately, things did not continue so smoothly. Alex appeared. He stood in the doorway in his boxers with his arms crossed and a stern expression on his face. I put my hands behind my back and tried to look innocent. I think that made it worse. He looked over to Dan and sniffed the air, his eyes darkened and his jaw tightened.
 

He said in a loud, snarling whisper, "You let him have Pasem!?"

I smiled sweetly. "He's a big boy. He can make his own decisions."

"Thalia, what were you thinking! By all above and below, I swear you're intentionally trying to sabotage this task. Stop being so inconsiderate, and do as the Sisters have told you!"

I glared at him and tried to ignore the sting that his words inflicted upon me. I wasn't intentionally being inconsiderate. I tried to look after the boys. I couldn't deny that I hated being bound to the Sisters, but to suggest I would sabotage it hurt, a lot.
 

I scowled at him. "Do not spit such foul words at me."

He curled his lip, "How much did he have?"

"One glass. I've been keeping an eye on him."

He sighed and allowed his shoulders to relax. "Fine, he'll sleep it off then."

With that, he turned and returned to the bedroom, leaving the door halfway closed. I ignored it and curled up on the armchair, where I thought about far too much.
 

I had to wonder if perhaps he was right. There was a small chance that I was subconsciously trying to sabotage the task. I gulped back the tears and tried to keep control of myself and think things through. I used to take tremendous pride in my duty. I had been compelled to complete all of my tasks thoroughly and efficiently. I got a buzz from it, the satisfaction of a job well done and knowing that I had helped people. That I’d made a difference in the world. I’d never been particularly happy about the lack of freedom, but they’d given me enough to enjoy myself. I could shift, hunt, and have downtime to enjoy the company of others. Tears began streaming down my cheeks as the thoughts ran rampant around my mind. My bottom lip trembled and I curled up into a small ball, an attempt to hide from the world as I battled with myself, trying to understand what had happened. I needed to see what I’d become.
 

One question ran around my head incessantly, singing it’s dark tune, “Had I lost my path truly, and become so broken?”
 

I tried to regain some control over my shallow breathing while I ignored the small pools of tears forming on my hands as they were clenched up beneath my head. My body refused to tuck up any smaller, while the question increased in its aggressive determination to have me answer it. The little feather from the choker they’d given me brushed against my hand, a cold, sharp reminder of my place in the world. Of everything I was supposed to be, that I could be and was.
 

I was proud of my position as alpha, I would have done anything for my pack, back before everything happened. I hadn't realised how much I'd changed, how much had passed me by. I felt shattered and lost, unworthy of all that had been given me. I hadn't meant any harm with Dan. It had seemed like a carefree thing to do that would help us get some information, which we so direly needed. I steadied my breathing and tried to be logical about everything. Had I harmed anyone? No. Had I jeopardised the task at hand? No. Then everything was still salvageable. I had to calm myself down and stop acting on my emotions. I was a Wyrd Bound alpha, and it was time to remember that, to believe it, and most importantly, to act it.
 

25

I woke up to Ryan and Nik trying to be quiet as they argued over who got the bathroom first in loud whispers. I cracked open an eye and looked at them, then over to Dan. He seemed to be sound asleep. With the memories of the thoughts the night before firmly in my mind, I allowed the jaguar forward. I walked over to Dan and sat next to him on the sofa, stroking his hair and allowing my energies to run over his. He felt slightly spiky and rough around the edges where the Pasem had had such an impact on him. I allowed mine to wash over him and smooth them out, which would then make him feel better overall. Of course, I could have done it from a distance, but I wanted the contact with him. My maternal instincts were kicking in. The role of an alpha is quite often very maternal, for me at least. I care for my pack, I will do whatever it takes to make sure that the pack as a whole runs smoothly and that all members are safe and happy.
 

It had been a very long time since I felt those instincts and desires, but they were beginning to surface. The wolf shunned them, the raven watched them with curiosity, but the jaguar embraced them. So I embraced the jaguar. I needed to move forward, and I couldn't see a better way to do that. Dan took a deeper breath and sat up a little straighter as he slowly opened his eyes. His brow furrowed and his mouth tightened a little, but he smiled and stretched.
 

"That was one hell of a night. We’ll have to do it again sometime."

I smiled. "How much do you remember?"

I continued to stroke his hair and settle the remaining little tufts of stray rough energy. He leaned into my hand for a moment and allowed his cougar forward, bringing him to almost purr.
 

Nik had won the argument over who got to go into the bathroom first, which left Ryan standing on the other side of the room looking at us with some confusion.
 

I pulled my hand back and smiled at Ryan. "He had his first taste of Pasem last night."

He grinned and nodded. "Ah, well he looks better than I did after my first taste of Pasem." He laughed quietly to himself and took a seat on the other sofa. "Man, that was one hell of a night. I felt like some vile demonic beast had dragged me through the entire city, crashing through the buildings. I swore blind my head had actually split into two pieces and my skin was peeling away from my muscle." He shook his head, laughing to himself softly, "One hell of a night."

I laughed with him, "I can't say my first night with Pasem was quite so rough." The images flashed back through my mind. "I shared it with this delightfully sexy little fae. His hands were as soft as freshly spun clouds and he knew how to use them..."

Ryan looked away for a moment while he decided how to react to that. Dan groaned softly and said, in a slightly scratchy voice, "Well, my head feels to be in one piece and my skin is firmly attached. I actually feel pretty good. I mean, the light’s a bit painful, but I can think and move. I don’t appear to have any bad memories, either."

He glanced to me and offered a small nod. "With thanks to Thalia."

I smiled and jumped when Alex appeared behind me. He had that growl in his voice when he said, "Good to see you recovered ok. It was reckless of Thalia to do that to you."

Dan bristled, "She didn't do anything to me. I was offered a drink I hadn't tried before, and I took it and drank it of my own volition. You may view me as a cub, but that doesn’t mean that I’m too young to make my own decision. I was in no way forced into anything. It was a new experience which I was happy to try."

Alex growled softly before he sighed and walked into the kitchen. "Who's having pancakes for breakfast?"

We all agreed that pancakes were absolutely what we needed for breakfast. Dan remained quiet, but waited his turn for the bathroom. He seemed to be fine. Alex was quiet and brooding throughout breakfast. He spoke only when he had to, and the boys avoided him. The boys and I, however, discussed Pasem, our experiences of it, and the best moments. I felt better about the entire situation, as though I was beginning to fit in a little better. A weight was lifting from me that I hadn't realised I'd been carrying.
 

Alex leaned back in his seat and looked between Dan and I. "Did you manage to get any information last night?"

I'd completely forgotten about that part of things. I ran back over the night in my head and pulled forward the relevant memory.
 

"All she said was the Puppet Master is the only being which can control energies to that degree."

He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "The Puppet Master?"

I nodded and Dan confirmed. "Anyone have any ideas?"

Nik said, "I've heard the term. He's a creepy being which lives up to his name. He somehow manages to slip into the core of your energies and plants a barb or something like that. He then uses that to take control of you, so he uses you like a puppet. It’s really creepy shit, but I thought it was only told to cubs to keep them in line.”
 

Ryan said, "Oooh! I remember those stories now! I had no clue that he could be an actual being, I figured he was just some scary story and nothing more. Damn. I hope he isn’t, I don't want to run into him."

Alex looked between them and thought over things. "What are the chances that this is a real being and she's not screwing with you?"

"I'd give it a fifty-fifty. Pixies are known for screwing with people, but they rarely outright lie in this way. So there is certainly something to it, it's just a case of us figuring out exactly what that is."

"It's odd that we've been around as long as we have and haven't run into him, but that doesn't mean we can rule him out yet."

 
We needed to do something. I wasn't going to sit around and wait for the killer to fall into our laps. The ‘Puppet Master’ thing was far from ideal, but it was something, a starting place. We sat down and went over all of the stories we knew and collected up the information and details that remained the same through each of them. It was definitely a male, his appearance changed, but there was a distinct lack of open energy about him. Every being usually has an energy to them. It changes and shifts depending on mood and the species, but it's present. He, however, seemed to lack that. I wasn't sure how that was possible, given the energy is a part of our life force. No energy means no life.
 

That then led us to wonder if perhaps he was linked in to death, but we hit a dead end then. He was clearly linked to death because he was killing the sirens; every murderer is linked to death. I paced around the room and tried to think of new leads, fresh places to look, but nothing came to mind. We'd been through all of the contacts on the black market. Dan had spoken to everyone he knew, and we’d been out around all of the markets that we could find. The fae had told us all they were going to and the hellhounds knew nothing. Demons were far more trouble than they were worth. The complete silence and removal of all energetic trace suggested something closer to the very energy-based species, such as the pixies and fae.
 

Alex placed his hand on my elbow and stopped me from pacing around the living room. "Pacing isn't going to help, Baby Girl."

The growl had finally left his tone, and the worried look had returned to his ice-blue eyes. I shrugged. "I have to do something. We're clearly missing something."

Dan looked at me with his eyes half closed. "What about the shadows?"

I cocked my head and looked at him. "How do you mean?"

He gave me that cheeky little smirk that I'd come to know him for. "Well, you're a shadow walker, right?"

I preferred the term shadow dancer, but I wasn't going to argue. "What makes you think that?"

I couldn't help being suspicious. There were precious few who dealt with the shadows. Those who knew shadow dancers existed at all treated us with fear or hunted us. They felt we were abominations that needed to be removed from the world. Paranoia had kept me alive that long. I saw no reason to drop it then.
 

He closed his eyes entirely and held the palm of his hand open. His energies cooled and his face tightened. A small wisp of pale darkness appeared over his palm. It hovered and danced for a moment before it vanished again. A small bead of sweat formed on his forehead before he opened his eyes and let out the breath. He gave me a proud grin and waited eagerly for my response. I chose to keep myself closed from him. Pack or not, I was not willing to allow such information out. "Very good. I've not seen many who could pull the light from fire quite so thoroughly."

His face fell, but he fought to drag his smirk back to his lips. The dullness in his eyes gave him away though. "What makes you think that it’s not real shadow? Why would you assume that it’s fire rather than the real thing? I don’t see how you could tell."

I smiled at him. "I've been around a very long time, and fire is my element. I know it three miles off with ease."

I crossed my arms and watched his reaction. Alex should have known if we had an Ila Peurta scum in our midst, but I couldn't be too sure. Alex had moved slightly closer to him and was watching him just as intently.