From the Shadows (A Shadow Chronicles Novel) (20 page)

“Oh, shut the hell up, Loch Ness,” Saphrona muttered, turning and
marching up to her horse and grabbing hold of the reins. She turned back to the four of us primly and said, “I’m going to see Hadhafang back out to pasture. After that, why don’t you all come inside for a drink? You’ve had a long drive, and as Mark said, there’s a lot of catching up to do.”

Mark, looking only mildly chagrined, flashed a grin at the rest of us and followed to take care of his own mount. Lochlan, Race and I merely shook our heads and laughed.

***

After Saphrona got everyone something to drink, we all settled in the living room. Mark, naturally, asked Race to tell him where he’d been for the past 16 years, what he’d been up to all that time. He wanted to know when and how he’d learned about vampires and
shapeshifters. With a glance at me, Race gave him much the same story I’d gotten just that morning, how his mother, being rather freaked out that her son could turn into animals and having no knowledge of the supernatural world that existed right under her nose, had packed up her only child and ran. She’d feared persecution by the government, and separation from Race. Their moving around so much had kept the two pretty isolated, and it was pure chance that they hadn’t encountered any other werekind or vampires for the next five years.

Then Race recounted his first meeting with a vampire, that female he’d encountered at a college party.
Leaving out the gory details—thank goodness—he admitted to having a relationship with her that lasted a few months, during which she introduced him to other vampires. And that, he said, was how his being passed from one vampire “master” to another got started. He was, as he had told me, their daywalker. The guy doing the gopher work, the “whatever the fuck they told me to do” work because they were all nocturnivores, as he called them. Again he refrained from sharing details—certainly didn’t go as in depth as he had with me—but he also admitted to Mark that not everything he had done for his vampire employers was legal. It was not something he was proud to own up to, to have to live with, so he’d broken away from that life and was looking to start over. Our meeting, he said, had shown him that making that decision was the right thing to do—not just for the sake of his conscience, but possibly his life.

It was only natural for Mark to ask about his lack of stories containing werekind,
and Race explained that after meeting me and learning after so many years that he was not alone in the world of the two-natured, he was beginning to think that his former employers, all five of them, had purposely kept him in the dark.

“Probably thought not telling me I wasn’t the only one
of my kind would keep me on a short leash,” he muttered darkly, taking a sip of his beer.

“Bringing her pets to heel—no insult intended—is certainly Vienna Silk’s style, that’s for sure,” Lochlan added.
“Especially when they are male. I daresay that woman takes the term ‘control freak’ to a whole new level.”

Race snorted. “You’re preaching to the choir on that one, bloodsucker.”

Mark shook his head as though trying to absorb all that he had learned. He then looked between Race and I, seated next to each other on the couch, and said, “So you two are really…together now? I thought you said that shifters, werekind—whatever—didn’t mate with other shifters.”

I glanced at Race, who took my hand and brought it to his lips and kissed the back of it, then looked at my broth
er with a sigh. “For many years we haven’t been,” I began. “Another part of our meeting is that apparently the Fates are ready for that to change again…if we decide to play along.”

Frowning, Mark asked, “What the hell does that mean?”

“You might remember me mentioning a historical figure in our world called the Beast Master.” Mark nodded. “Well, the Beast Master is someone who has the ability to not only mediate peace between all the Families, in essence becoming their leader, but also enable shifters to bond with each other. In order to do that, he or she must be bonded with their own destined mate.”

“So now all the
unbonded shifters will bond with other shifters?” Mark pressed.

I shook my head. “Not necessarily. The histories that Mom and our pack have shared say we’ve always imprinted on humans, but during the lifetime of the Beast Master, our kind also bonds with each other. The latter won’t be possible, though, unless and until Race and I complete the bonding.”

“You mean it’s not completed yet?” Saphrona asked. “I mean, you guys are… well, you’ve…haven’t you?”

I felt a flush creeping up my neck, and noticed
Mark fidgeting in his seat. He was just as uncomfortable hearing about my sex life as I was hearing about his. “Um…we have, but there’s a little more to it when it comes to shifter bonds. There’s a very private ritual that is traditionally performed to cement the bond, for lack of a better term. Race and I haven’t decided whether or not we’re going to do it.”

“From what Juliette’s told me about it, it’s a really, really big deal,” Race put in. “There’s a lot of responsibility we both have to be willing to take on, a lot of pressure involved, and quite frankly neither of us is sure we’re ready for it.”

He glanced at me then and offered me a smile. “I’m sure we’ll talk about it more over the next few days though, see what we want to do about it.”

“It’s actually very responsible of both of you to give it due thought, instead of just blindly following tradition,” Saphrona mused
somewhat sourly.

“Listen, Jules,” my brother said after downing the last of his beer, “I know you’re sick of me saying this already, but I think it’s time you called Mom.”

I sighed heavily. “I know. By the way, what—if anything—has she said to Dad?”

“She told him you left your job in England—whi
ch, coincidentally, was a hell of a cover story—and have been spending your time since catching up with friends you didn’t get to see for the last year,” he replied.

“I figured she’d tell him something like that. At least, it’s the only thing I could think of that she might say,” I said. “Dad’s still probably mad at me for not coming home once in a while
, considering I’ve allegedly been back stateside for nearly a month.”

Mark flashed a wry grin. “Yeah, pretty much. Mom also mentioned the other day that your buddy Jake called looking for you. Said he had something he wanted to talk to you about, bu
t wouldn’t tell her what it was—oh, and that she was respecting your privacy by not just giving him your new cell number.”

This made me groan. “Okay, okay, I feel guilty enough already.” With another, slightly exaggerated sigh, I patted Race on the knee and pushed to my feet. “Guess now is as good a time as any. I’ll be out back for a bit. You guys do some more catching up or whatever.”

Reaching into my pocket for my cell phone as I walked, I headed back through Saphrona’s kitchen and went out the back door. I waited until I was sitting down on the stoop before I opened the phone and, my hand suddenly shaking, I pressed the button to which I’d assigned my parents’ home number on speed dial.

My breathing stilled as I put the phone to my ear and listened to it ring twice, before it was picked up and I heard my father’s voice say “Singleton residence, this is Dan.”

Swallowing and blinking back an embarrassing prick of tears, I replied. “Hi, Daddy.”

“Well, well, well. I see what your priorities are, young lady—your brother, your friends, and then your old man.”

I laughed to stifle the threat of tears, thankful my father was joking with me. “I’m sorry, Dad.  I’ve been meaning to call or come by…”
An acceptable partial lie: I’d wanted to talk to him, but hadn’t had the courage since I couldn’t tell him everything.

“
It’s alright baby girl,” he replied. “I was young once, believe it or not. So how are you? What have you been up to the last few weeks? Oh, your Mom told me about Mark’s truck being stolen—you know he got it back, right?”

I looked across the wide driveway at my brother’s red Dodge Ram. “Yeah, I know. I’m just glad he wasn’t mad at me,” I said, telling my father what I was sure he expected to hear, even though it was not even close to the truth. A pang of guilt stung me but I knew that it couldn’t be helped. Dad didn’t know about the supernatural—he’d been told the night I’d been tortured but then had been made to forget by Lochlan, as he’d not handled the truth very well.

“Honey, he could hardly be mad at you for his truck being stolen from a parking garage,” my father admonished. “And you haven’t answered my question: what have you been up to?”

“I’ve just been hanging out, really,” I said slowly, not really sure what to say t
o him at all. I’d wondered what to say to my dad about where I’d been probably a thousand times in the last few weeks, but nothing had really come to me that wasn’t a lie. I hated lying to Daddy, but what choice did I have?

Then I realized I could tell him something of the truth. “I’ve actually been in Cleveland the last couple weeks, just catching up with my friends—and you’ll never guess who I ran into there.”

My father chuckled. “From the tone of your voice, I’m guessing it’s a boy. Do I need to have a talk with this guy about his intentions towards my daughter?”

I could feel a blush in my cheeks when I thought of the things Race surely intended to do with me as soon as we were alone—things I had no problem letting him do. Clearing my throat, I replied, “No, Daddy, but we are seeing each other now. He actually came home with me—I’m at Mark’s by the way. It’s his old friend Race.”

“Really? You and little Race Covington, eh?” Dad said. “Must’ve been quite a shock running into him after all these years—he and his mom moved what, about twenty years ago?”

“Just about.”

“Well, he better be good to you or my Marine son and I are going have words with him.”

I laughed. “Mark already told him if he breaks my heart he’ll break his neck.”

Dad laughed as well. “Good for your brother. So listen, I’m real glad you called honey. I’ve missed you.”

My breath hitched a moment. “I’ve missed you, too.”

“You want to talk to your mom now? She just came in from the grocery store,” my dad asked me then.

“Um, yeah.
Thanks, Dad—it was good talking to you,” I said.

“It was good talking to you too, sweetheart. See you soon, I hope.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you will,” I replied.

“I’d better. Here’s Mom,” Dad said, and then I could hear the phone being passed over, and then my mother’s slightly breathless voice came on the line.

“Oh, Juliette, I’m so happy you called!”

I felt myself starting to choke up again and had to fight it down before I could speak. I’d been really close with my mother like many only daughters were with their moms, and especially after I’d started phasing. While I’d wanted to share my secret with my brother and father, I’d also thought it really special that our
shapeshifting was something my mother and I shared just between the two of us.

“I am too,” I said at last. “I’m really sorry to have worried you, Mom. I just needed some time to myself after what happened.”

“I think I understand, baby, I just wish you’d at least have called sooner. We’ve missed you around here.”

“Well, actually I’m home now—sort of. I mean, I’m in town. I was in Cleveland but I’m at Mark and Saphrona’s now.
Might stay in the spare bedroom if they’ll let us, but if not I don’t know where we’ll be sleeping.”

“Ahem…
we
?” my mother asked me pointedly.

I chuckled.
“Yeah. I, uh, have some news.”

“Besides the fact that you’re back home where you belong, apparently—though I must say I’m a little miffed you chose to go see your brother before the woman who gave you life,” Mom chided me lightly. I knew she wasn’t really upset with me for seeing Mark first, as she knew how close we were.

“So who’s with you, Juliette?” she asked me. “What happened in Cleveland? You didn’t…” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Oh my goodness, did you
imprint
?”

Her tone suggested awe and shock—and who could blame her?
Her voice dropping meant she’d been within earshot of my father, though now I could hear her moving through their house, presumably so that she could speak more freely without Dad overhearing something he shouldn’t.

I felt myself smiling. “Yeah, actually I did.”

“Congratulations, sweetie! I think…”

Now I laughed. “It’s okay Mom, you can say that. It’s a very good thing. I needed him, like the psychic said. I’ve talked to him about what happened. I had to, you see. Race needed to know the truth.”

“Race? Good heavens, do you mean Race Covington? I haven’t heard that boy’s name in so long!” She sighed. “So you told him everything, then? Has he been good to you?”

“He has. Despite everything he’s had to deal with, he’s been very considerate of me,” I told her. “And Mom, there’s something else. About Race, I mean.”

“What is it?”

“Well, like I said, I told him everything. I had to tell him about werekind because despite what he is, despite a long-standing association with vampires, he knew nothing
about us.”