Shift (Castlerock Shifters Book 1) Page 11

  She turned to look at the other. He was glaring at her with such menace, she felt herself involuntarily sink back into her seat. She hadn’t even had time to get out of the Jeep.

  “Leave,” the man said coldly.

  Jack growled low from the back seat.

  “Wait…” she faltered at his withering look. She wanted so badly to go with them to make sure Seff would be all right. His tone was so unwelcoming; she knew that he wouldn’t allow it. And then, Seff’s strange request was still stuck in her mind.

  “Are you Quinn?” she asked, her voice breaking at his scowl.

  “Why?” he asked, after a brief glance to the forest where the boy had been taken. There was a bit less menace, though he was still glowering at her.

  “I’m not sure if it’s important… but Seff said to tell Quinn… to look up... for red,” she said, though it came out sounding more like a question. She felt stupid repeating the message, but the man didn’t seem to think anything of it. He nodded ever so slightly.

  And then, with a bit less force, but with the same menacing expression, he said simply, “Now leave.”

  Again, Jack growled.

  The man crossed in front of the Jeep and headed into the forest behind where the other had gone with Seff, without even a look back as he disappeared into the trees.

  She sat there staring after him, still shocked at his hostility toward her. She didn’t know what to do. Her fear for Seff’s safety was overwhelming, but she couldn’t make herself follow them. Something in the man’s eyes had given her enough warning not to do anything that stupid. Somehow Seff avoiding talk about family finally made sense and she just prayed they would take care of him.

  The adrenaline in her system finally burned itself out and she felt her body beginning to shake. Sobs ripped from her throat and tears welled in her eyes. She gave herself over to it; letting the emotion work its way through her.

  Jack maneuvered himself into the front seat and put his head down on her lap while she cried. That made her cry harder for a few minutes, but then she managed to get herself under control.

  Wiping away the tears, she realized her new dilemma. On the narrow road, there really wasn’t room to turn Yellow Jeep around. She lost count of how many times she backed up, turned and pulled forward before she was finally facing the right direction.

  When she reached the paved road, she had to get out and move the broken fencing out of the way. The wood posts were pointed precariously toward her tires. Once on the road, she drove to where Seff had been attacked. She stopped and got out to gather her things, trying very hard not to look at the pool of blood only a few feet from her.

  A million questions plagued her mind, but only one held her focus. Was Seff going to survive? She couldn’t get his pale, bloodied image out of her mind.

  When she pulled up to the cabin, she just sat there for a long time, thinking hard. Would they come to tell her if something went wrong? Did they blame her for his injuries? That might explain the anger she had seen in the man’s eyes. How had they even known she was coming? She shook her head, trying to clear the questions and violent images.

  When Jack whined, she reluctantly climbed out of the Jeep and headed into the cabin. She was only a little surprised to see that the door was standing wide open; she had left in such haste before. There was a hole in the wall behind the door, where the doorknob had slammed through the wood paneling.

  She ignored the damage as exhaustion hit her. It was barely mid-morning, but she closed up the cabin and went to curl up on the bed. Sleep descended on her quickly.

  Sixteen

  Quinn

  Seff had been near death. Quinn had seen that at a glance. He’d caught the scent of the Ishak on Seff when he’d lifted him from the Jeep. The boy had been more than attacked; he was completely mangled. Quinn’s anger had been sidelined only because the Healer needed his help to put the boy back together. When he’d held Seff, the boy had felt so lifeless and insignificant; it had scared Quinn in a completely unfamiliar way. He couldn’t imagine a world without Seff in it – he wouldn’t!

  “Seff, you hang on,” he kept repeating as they worked. He could feel the boy’s life slipping away each second, with each weak breath. His whole world focused only on the boy.

  It took them hours to undo the damage. The wolf had torn through muscle and crushed one of the bones in his right arm. The bite into the boy’s side was deep and wide. The Healer had the aid of the power in the valley, but it almost proved to be too much for even that.

  In the end, Seff was patched up, but unable to wake. There were no guarantees that he would ever regain consciousness. He sat watching Seff’s chest rise and fall – trying to will the boy to open his eyes, to no avail. The morning had gone by so fast; his mind was still reeling.

  * * *

  Quinn and the boys had been ready to head out to search for Jaisey and Seff that morning, but the Speaker had stopped them. Something was going on and it had them scared; they didn’t want anyone leaving the village.

  Quinn had gone to the council chamber to demand some answers. There had been a nervous tension in the air that Quinn picked up on immediately.

  “What’s wrong?” he had demanded, looking to the Speaker for his answer.

  Instead, the response had come from Fillin.

  “Quinn. Something is very wrong,” he had said, sounding like he was in pain.

  Quinn had asked again, enunciating each word clearly, “What is wrong?”

  Then the Speaker replied, “There’s something in the forest, to the north.” He’d looked pointedly at Quinn. “It is possible that the Ishaks have crossed again, but,” he shook his head, “this feels different. This is like nothing we’ve ever felt Quinn. You need to understand the importance of that.”

  Quinn had searched their faces, not really understanding.

  “Wait, you said you’d be able to see if the Ishaks crossed again. How can you not know if it’s them or not?” he asked. The fear creeping up his spine told him he didn’t want the answer.

  “Our power - the power of the valley is being blocked somehow. We can’t see,” Fillin responded. There was a hint of frustration in his voice. This was something they had never come across.

  “What do I do?” he asked. He knew there must be some form of action, but what that was eluded him at that moment.

  The Speaker had been about to say something when another elder – Ylva had suddenly convulsed. Her hands had gripped the edge of the table; her eyes held a faraway, haunted look. The rest of the elder’s had followed suit, their eyes all taking on that same unfocused look. They were seeing something that Quinn was not. Then there were mumbles and a few gasps.

  And then several of them had shouted, “NO!” at the same time.

  Quinn had watched with wide eyes, not knowing what to do.

  The Healer had been the first to respond. He’d risen quickly and headed for the door – Quinn had followed close behind. Outside he yelled at the gathering of boys, “Go home now!”

  The tone he’d used left no doubt that this was not the time to argue. They’d all scattered, glancing back at Quinn with their own questions in their eyes.

  The old man had almost been in a flat-out run as he spoke, “Quinn, get Ulric and wait on the west road. Jaisey is going to come with Seff. He’s been injured. She’s bringing him to us, and you must intercept her and get him to me as quickly as possible. The boy’s life hangs in the balance.”

  The old man had turned to him and the expression on his face had nearly taken Quinn over the edge. He had never in his life seen fear in the old man’s eyes. It had been unsettling to see this man who had been his rock – crumbling.

  “Go. Don’t hesitate when you reach him. You bring him right back to me! Do you understand?” he had demanded.

  “Yes, yes. I will Grandfather,” he had replied, shaken.

  Of course, he and Ulric had been there when Jaisey had come around the corner. Quinn wasn’t even sure how the el
ders could possibly have known what was going to happen, but they had.

  * * *

  So now, they waited for the boy to open his eyes.

  He headed home to try and get some rest, unsure what other action he could take. He fell into a restless, exhausted sleep almost hoping to find Seff there – to tell the boy to wake up. He searched in his dreams but Seff was not there. The boy refused to let Quinn find him. Then Quinn could hear him calling, hollering to him; asking why he didn’t come. When he woke, he returned to Seff’s side and didn’t leave again.

  He’d overheard the elders explaining to the boys exactly how seriously they needed to take this new threat. They were even told they were to use lethal force if needed. While it has been centuries since they’d had to fight any enemy, they were still trained for the eventuality. Quinn realized exactly why the lessons were so important now and he was grateful for them, though he truly hoped the boys would not have to be involved in anything further.

  If he had just followed Seff that first night, when he had read the note or even the following night, instead of waiting for the morning to search. But no, he had followed the rules for once rather than listening to his inner voice. This was what he received in return. No, he was sure he would never do that again. He had good instincts, and it was wrong to ignore them.

  The days and nights stretched on too long and Seff didn’t stir. They all talked to him as the Healer instructed. He told them that Seff was lost in his own mind, though he could hear them. He just needed to find his way back, and their voices would show him the path.

  They all talked and carried on until their voices were hoarse, but Seff remained still, unchanging. The boy’s injuries were healing with each passing moment, but he was not responding.

  It was Tate who suggested after the third day that they get Jaisey to come and talk to him. Everyone had just sat there looking stunned, shocked. Why hadn’t Quinn thought of that himself? He knew how much the boy loved her and how attached she was to him. Surely, she would get a response from him.

  Aatu was nodding grimly, agreeing to the plan before it had even been thought through. He saw it as necessary as well. Quinn heard the old man mumble something about broken promises, but then he turned and addressed Quinn directly.

  “I think perhaps you should find out what was said between Ulric and the girl first. Knowing him, he would not have been pleasant with her,” the Healer said, looking ashamed, though it was for nothing he had done.

  Quinn was instantly furious. Excuses or no, Ulric had not had the right to be even remotely rude to Jaisey. She had saved Seff twice now. The girl had been pushed aside in his concern for Seff, but now he realized how wrong that had been. She would be worried sick over Seff’s welfare and none of them had thought to go see her and check on her. He hadn’t thought to go and check on her.

  Had she even remained on the mountain? The attack would have affected her as well. They didn’t even know if she’d been injured. And now as he thought about her, he felt crushing guilt. He should have gone to her before. He’d managed to avoid contact with her for his own sake, but this was different.

  He nodded to the Healer and headed to talk to Ulric. He found the man near his house, cleaning up a work area; sawdust was everywhere. Had the man been building something? He shook off his questions.

  “What did you say to her?” he demanded.

  Ulric didn’t even look surprised. “I told her to leave,” he said simply.

  “Did you even think to thank her for bringing Seff to us?” he asked, though he knew the answer. Of course, he hadn’t. He didn’t care about Seff. Quinn had to rein in his anger.

  “She asked if I was you,” Ulric said finally.

  “What?!” That got his attention. She had asked for him specifically?

  “She said that Seff had told her to tell Quinn he should look up for the color red. And then I told her again to leave.”

  Quinn held his tongue until he got his anger under control. “Anything else?” he asked.

  Ulric stared at him for a long moment, his eyes filled with some dark emotion, “No.”

  Quinn looked down at his clenched fists. His anger was barely contained. He was about to turn to leave when he heard a quiet sigh.

  “Quinn… I need to tell you something,” he said quietly.

  Quinn’s head snapped up at the tone of the man’s voice; he sounded almost sad. It was the closest thing to an emotion he’d ever heard from the man, besides animosity. He just stared, unable to respond.

  “I know you don’t remember Daciana, Seff’s mother. He looks very much like her,” he paused, lost in thought.

  “No, I don’t remember her,” Quinn said, prompting him to continue.

  “When we were children, she and I made a pact to spend our lives together,” he continued, ignoring the gasp from Quinn. “When Seff’s father came during our first winter solstice, well…” he trailed off again.

  “What happened?” Quinn asked. His curiosity was peaked now. He’d always wanted an explanation as to why the man treated the boy the way he did. And more importantly, the story was helping keep his anger at bay – mostly.

  “They only looked into each other’s eyes. That was all it took. I was nothing but a memory,” he explained bitterly. “Aatu explained to me once that it’s like that for some. That some have a true soulmate out there. Something in us, in our wolf halves… something intensifies it so that it cannot be denied.”

  “I had no idea,” Quinn started to say, sympathetically.

  The man snapped his head up glaring at him, his voice angry again, “Of course you didn’t know. I only tell you because when they left here, she promised I’d never see her again. She knew it hurt me to have her here.” His voice became so cold, mocking.

  Quinn flinched.

  “Seff is not related to me.” It was almost a growl. “Don’t you get it? When she was dying, she requested that I become the child’s guardian. Either his blood uncle or grandmother here could have taken him in, but Daciana thought that the love I held for her would flow to the child. But why would it? She didn’t return my love! I’m left here to stare in the eyes of the proof of her betrayal. The boy is nothing more than a reminder that the only person I ever loved – loved another.”

  Quinn stood there, unsure how to respond. He supposed that the man was justified in his anger. But, how was that helping him? And Seff had not done anything personally to him. He didn’t deserve the treatment that Ulric dealt him. He wanted to say something to make the man see what he was doing to an innocent boy, but Ulric turned his back and went back to his cleanup.

  Quinn returned to the Healer’s and told them of Ulric’s conversation with Jaisey – if it could be called that. He did not reveal the personal conversation. It would’ve been wrong to betray that trust. He’d considered it though, knowing that it explained so much about the way Ulric treated Seff. Everyone in the younger group had just sort of assumed that Ulric was his uncle, but clearly, that was not the case. He hated feeling even the tiniest bit of sympathy for the man. Betrayal, anger, jealousy – it made a person ugly and, in the end, bitter and unhappy.

  The importance of the color had been of no interest to Ulric. He simply would not care. The boys and the Healer saw the price that had been paid for that knowledge though, right in front of them. Seff had figured out the aural tone of the Ishaks. The kid had nearly died, and he still thought about them and what he could do to help. Quinn’s affection for the boy seemed to get deeper and deeper with each passing moment.

  He alone had found that the color they had been looking for was red, though that was something of a mystery as well. During the time that children were taught how to see the colors – one of the first lessons was that a dying creature’s aura, no matter its original aural tone, would turn to red; much like the color of blood that flowed from dying creatures. What did that mean? Were the Ishaks dying? Or was there something in their basic makeup that put them at odds with the living?


  “But what did he mean look up?” Colin asked.

  It was the Healer that replied quietly, almost as if he were speaking to himself. “It never occurred to us that they could shift to other forms.”

  “Other forms?” Colin asked.

  “Birds,” Quinn replied with shock.

  The Healer just nodded, deep in thought.

  Quinn knew that was something that wasn’t in the histories. Was this a new ability for them or had they been able to do that all along?

  “They’ll not be flying our skies any longer. Now that we know that’s how we missed them, we’ll be able to see should they cross again,” the Healer said with authority.

  Quinn once again felt the need to start tracking, but the old man was hovering over Seff again.

  “We must get Jaisey here soon,” the Healer said, concern lacing the words.

  Before Quinn could say he was going, one of the boys stopped him.

  “Quinn, I think an adult might scare Jaisey now,” Caleb said quietly from the corner. He was one of the quieter boys in the pack. He never did anything without thinking it through first. He looked up at Quinn, “I’ll go get her. I can take Tate with me. We won’t be threatening in any way. She’ll come with us.” He said it as though he were sure.

  The Healer nodded to himself. A small smile appeared on his lips. He clearly thought this was going to work.

  Quinn didn’t even want to hope, but it was there now. He could see Jaisey talking to Seff and him opening his eyes to smile at her, wondering where she had been all this time.

  Quinn nodded as well – hopeful.

  Seventeen

  Jaisey

  Jaisey spent her days in a blur following the attack. Nothing made sense. Nothing felt right. She wanted to leave but found she couldn’t even think about it until she knew if Seff was all right - or not. Jack picked up on her mood and became her ghost, following her silently as she fretted.

  She wanted to follow the road and try to find Seff but knew that his family wanted nothing to do with her, so that action was always stopped.