**
Monsters I could handle, motorcycles were something else entirely. I'd almost backed out when Alec told me we'd be taking his bullet bike, but I didn't want him to know I really was a complete wuss.
All of which explained how I'd ended up on Alec's shiny, blue Yamaha R1 with my arms locked around him in a death grip. Apparently I'd given away at least some of my fear though, because Alec took the first half of our forty-minute drive at a positively sedate pace, or at least what qualified as a sedate pace on a machine that could go from zero to sixty much faster than any of the exotic sports cars Alec and his friends usually drove.
Just as I finally started to enjoy leaning with Alec while zipping around turns at what I was starting to suspect were triple digit speeds, he pulled off behind a ramshackle, old building and held a finger to his lips. I held my breath and tried my best to try and figure out what he was listening for, but encased as I was by the blue helmet he'd insisted on, I would've been lucky to notice if a herd of elephants had been hot on our trail.
Several seconds passed, and then Alec smiled at me again and backed the bike into the building, which was every bit as decrepit-looking on the inside as it'd been on the outside.
"Are we here?"
"Disappointed?"
I felt my skin heat up again, but managed to stick my tongue out.
"No, we're not quite there yet, but before we continue on, I need your promise not to discuss this with anyone. Not even the rest of the pack."
I was taken aback with his sudden intensity, and part of me wanted to bristle at the implication I couldn't be trusted with a secret. His expression softened a little as he reached into the small bag mounted on the fuel tank, and handed me a bottle of water. I hadn't even realized I was thirsty until that second.
"I'm sorry, Adriana. I know I can depend on you, this is just important enough that I needed to make sure you understood what's riding on your discretion."
I finished with the first third of the bottle, and then nodded. "I won't say anything. What exactly are we going to see?"
"Not a what, but a who."
Much like he'd done when we'd been fleeing from my house, Alec picked me up and then slung me around so I could wrap my legs around his waist, and my arms around his neck and chest. This time Alec wasn't sprinting, but he still set out at a pace that made conversation impossible, so I just relaxed into him and enjoyed being so close for a second time today.
Once we stopped, I slid down Alec's back and looked around. The tiny cabin set back into the rocks before us blended into the hillside so well, I probably wouldn't have noticed it if Alec hadn't stopped so close.
As soon as he was confident I could stand unaided, Alec gave me a reassuring smile, and then knocked gently on the door.
The woman who appeared a few seconds later seemed frail in a way that somehow wasn't attributable to her graying hair, or slender frame. It wasn't until she released Alec from a hug, and slowly moved back into the cabin, that I realized it was how she moved that made her seem so old. Her motions reminded me of how my grandfather had moved the last few years before he'd died. Slowly, and with extra care, as if a careless action would leave him crumpled on the floor, racked with pain.
"Mallory, I'd like to introduce you to Adriana Paige. Adriana, Mallory."
I smiled, and gingerly offered my hand to her, which she clasped in both of hers. "I'm very happy to finally get to meet you, young lady. Alec is better company than most, but it's nice to have a new face around here."
I felt myself warming to her immediately, even more so as she ushered us into her small sitting room and clucked over me, all the while proclaiming that I was far too skinny. It was exactly the kind of thing you'd expect your grandma to say, but I almost believed her.
Alec helped both of us down into our chairs, and then smiled as Mallory waved him off. "You go ahead and do your chores. We girls will just get to know each other, and then once you're done, you can bring me up to speed on the latest developments."
We passed several seconds in silence after Alec disappeared, and then Mallory turned back towards me with a twinkle in her eyes. "So it finally happened?"
"I'm sorry; I don't understand what you mean."
"Alec's finally fallen in love, and with such a lovely girl. I was half worried he was going to spend the rest of his life so mired in responsibility, he'd never let himself notice anyone."
I was flabbergasted, but my lack of response didn't faze her in the slightest.
"I take it he finally realized you aren't a shape shifter then?"
Apparently my astonishment leaked through to my expression, that or maybe she could just smell the shock on me. Whatever the reason, her smile took on new intensity, and she slowly reached out and clasped my hand again.
"I'm sorry; I spend so much of my time alone with my thoughts that they develop well-worn grooves. I forget sometimes that other people haven't been privy to the endless hours of speculation that got me from one point to another."
There was something about her touch that distracted me. Not in a bad way, almost like the tickle you get in the back of your mind when you know you're missing out on some key point of plot in a suspense novel.
"You glow much more brightly than any human I've ever met, but you don't feel like a shape shifter, so you're either a very powerful Fir'shan, one strong enough to mask your nature from Alec, as well as me, or you're a very extraordinary human. Alec wouldn't have brought you here until he was sure it was the latter."
I closed my mouth in astonishment. "I didn't realize Alec had talked to anyone about me. Actually I think you just let more drop in a few sentences than he's told me all week. Alec claims it's because I could be put in danger just by knowing certain things, but I think he's still just not quite sure he can trust me."
Mallory slowly leaned back in her chair, and then shook her head. "No, it isn't because he doesn't trust you. If he didn't trust you, he wouldn't have brought you here. He'd trust Isaac or Jasmin with his or even Rachel's life, but neither of them know about me. In fact, bringing you here expands the circle of people who know about me to a grand total of three. He trusts you, more than just trusts you, but he's right. There are a number of things you shouldn't know just yet."
Mallory smiled again in response to my heavy sigh. "I know that must be hard to swallow. I'll tell you what. Go ahead and ask away, and if I think you should know the answer to any of your questions, I'll just tell you and devil take the consequences."
It seemed too good to be true. "Aren't you scared of what will happen when Alec finds out that I know more than I'm supposed to?"
"And how's he going to find out, youngster? From how long it took them to unload my most recent food shipment, he won't be back anytime soon, and I'm certainly not planning on telling him. Are you going to let our little cat out of the bag?"
I started to shake my head, but honesty prevailed before I could finish the motion. "I mean I'm not planning on it, but I'm not very good at lying or keeping secrets. Especially not from Alec."
Mallory's chuckle was that of a much younger woman. "That bothers you a little, doesn't it?"
"Sometimes. A little. I just hate being such an open book to everyone."
"Try not to let it get to you too much. As hard as it may be for you to believe, Alec's even better at reading people than most of us. There are several of the pack there at the house who are nearly as bothered by that as you are."
The familiar feel to her touch suddenly fell into place. It was hard to believe that I'd spent so long with her and not realized that she was a shape shifter until she'd said as much.
"Ah, and the first question you want to know is how come you didn't realize I was a shape shifter, isn't it?"
I nodded, surprised at her insight, but more or less resigned to the fact that I was never going to have any kind of secret ever again.
"Partly it's because I'm so old, but it also has a little bit to do with the fact that I've spent the las
t couple of decades concealing my presence from others. I suppose it has become a habit to hide the more unusual aspects of my nature. I guess all that practice has made me better at it than most of the shape shifters you've run into so far."
It made sense, but didn't really help me fill in any of the broad holes that had been bothering me for so long. Mallory gave me several seconds to ponder her answer before continuing.
"How is the rest of the pack? Alec will tell me, but he'll filter his answer through what he thinks I'm able to hear, not necessarily what I need to hear."
"They're worried. Jessica and James seem to be the most unsettled by everything that's happened, but I think everyone is more or less concerned. Is there someone in particular that you were curious about?"
Mallory hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. "How does Donovan seem to be doing?"
The question took me completely by surprise. There was no reason it should have, but it was the last thing I expected her to ask me.
"He's good, I think. I mean I haven't been there very long, and I don't know him or anyone else very well, so it's hard to tell. As long as there isn't any kind of public fight with massive amounts of bloodshed, I probably wouldn't know that everyone is at each other's throats, but Donovan seems happy. He's always pleasant."
The expression on Mallory's face tugged on my heartstrings. The open vulnerability there made me cast about for additional tidbits to tell her.
"He's one of my favorites. Rachel and I were already friends, so it made sense that she'd be nice to me, and Dominic at least knew who I was, but Donovan was nice to me right from the start. It's almost like he approves of me where some of the others aren't so sure Alec's dating me is a very good idea."
Mallory's expression was far away as she spoke. "Yes, he would approve of the two of you. He's the consummate man servant, so very professional that you probably wouldn't ever know it if he didn't like you, but I'm sure he does. He approved of Alec's father's choice even back when most of the pack was still energetically opposed to the idea. He's always been one to see truly."
"You are, I mean, you were close?"
Her smile turned sad. "Actually, neither. We weren't close when there was an opportunity for closeness, and now that I'd like very few things more than to be close to him, there's no real opportunity for us to become so."
She patted my hand as she shrugged. "It's rather ironic how things work out sometimes, but that's not fair on my part. I'm sure there are things you would much rather learn of than how I came to be in my present circumstances."
"Actually, that's part of what I want to understand. I mean I didn't come here wanting to learn your story specifically, but there's so much history I don't know. There's this shared past that I'm not a part of. It's like, oh, I don't know, I think maybe learning about the past will help me understand what's going on right now."
Mallory's sigh seemed to allude to every one of her presumably substantial years. "How very perceptive. The past is very much driving what's happening right now, but so much of the past is tied up with the very things from which Alec's trying to protect you."
I was bubbling with questions, but sensing that now wasn't the time to push, I sat back and waited in silence while she decided exactly how much to tell me.
"Alec's father was killed nearly two decades ago. I don't remember everything about that night, I wasn't even conscious for a large part of the happenings, but the pieces I do remember are sharper than they should be. Sharper in my mind now maybe than even when they happened."
Her hand gripped mine with a fragile strength that hinted at the vibrant, powerful woman she'd been back then. Back before the years had worn at her.
"The pack was huge back then. Much larger even than Brandon's is today, but all of that might didn't save Alec's father that night. There was a nightmare of blood and death, and when the sun finally touched the earth again the next morning, a full third of our number were dead, and most of those who remained were crippled. I would've been one of the former, except for Donovan."
The questions continued to bubble up inside me, but I throttled them down, suppressing them rather than risking an interruption which might cause her to not finish.
"At great risk to himself he carried me away from the site of the battle, running and swimming more miles than I care to think about. Eventually his strength finally gave way, and when he couldn't even crawl anymore, he found a cave and did his best to ensure I wouldn't die from exposure. As soon as he was able to move again, he went back and I haven't seen him since."
"But how?" The question just kind of popped out before I could think. It could've been taken as the worst kind of insensitivity; Mallory just gave my hand another squeeze.
"He hasn't always been crippled. In fact he used to be a delightful dancer. His injuries were sustained at the hands of the individuals who killed Alec's father, the same ones who wanted to kill me, and who tortured Donovan for days before finally accepting that I'd died from the wounds that left me like this."
Mallory shrugged, slowly and painfully in response to my questioning look. "My scars aren't readily visible, but they're there. That's why Alec is forced to come move the food he has sent to me. The scar tissue built up around my heart tends to pull in painful ways when my pulse starts racing. I tend not to worry about it all that much, but Alec fears it's a sign of deeper problems. I generally humor him and leave the heavy lifting for his visits, and we both pretend he doesn't know about the small garden I keep in a nearby cave."
I opened my mouth, but just simply didn't know what to say. The horror of being trapped in a body that was riddled with old injuries was something thousands of people faced every day, but it seemed even more of a shame for someone who'd once been so vital and strong.
Mallory's smile held only the faintest hint of regret. "No need to feel sorry for me. I've had a good run. A much better one than most of my friends did. If I haven't managed to accomplish what I was sent down to do in the course of almost a hundred and fifty years, then I've nobody to blame but myself."
"Still, I'm sorry. You seem much too nice of a person to have had all of that happen to you."
"Nonsense. If I am kind, it's no doubt because of those very experiences that I would've been the most desperate to avoid. I think most of the best people are that way exactly because of the things they've endured. Individuals like Dominic, Rachel, and Jasmin don't just happen. They're the result of a native goodness being tempered and refined by terrible experiences."
Mallory suddenly doubled over in a fit of coughing that left her white and shaking. I jumped to my feet and almost ran for Alec, but she grabbed my hand with more of that fragile strength, and pulled me back down.
"There isn't anything he can do for me, child, and unless I'm very much mistaken he's more than normally worried right now. He's in no kind of way needing yet more to fret about. Just let me catch my breath and I'll be as right as ever."
Several minutes later, once the renewed bout of coughing had subsided, Mallory looked back up at me with wan features.
"How did it happen? What brought things between Brandon and our Alec to a head?"
"It was my fault. I'd been dating Brandon, and we went to a party. Only while we were there he tried to do things I wasn't comfortable with. When I told him no, he--they--threw me out and told me to find my own way home."
It was harder to relate the story than I'd expected, but Mallory's cluck of disapproval over Brandon's actions helped a little. It made me hope that maybe she wasn't going to hate me for bringing ruin to Alec and the others.
"I was stumbling in the dark when Simon and Nathanial came for me, only I didn't know it was them, I just saw two enormous wolves running me down. If Alec hadn't stopped them I think they probably would've killed me."
"Undoubtedly, but don't let it bother you, sweetie. This has been all but inevitable since Alec's father died. From the moment they were born, I could tell that both Alec and Brandon had been gifted with uncommon
potential for power."
My blank look apparently made her take pity on me. "I'm sorry. I forget you're not aware of my special gift. I see inside people. Shape shifters really, but every once in a while normal humans as well. I can see their potential, and when they develop gifts, I can see the shape those gifts have taken."
"Gifts?"
"The most powerful of the Fir'shan, the hybrids as the younger generation calls them, occasionally develop unusual abilities. Alec's father's was that of being able to heal himself more rapidly than normal, even for our kind. Thanatas, the legendary king who defeated the southerners, was said to be able to mold his own body, making powerful changes that made him unbeatable in combat."
Mallory's explanation was tickling the back of my mind. "Is that why Brandon's unbeatable?"
"Nobody is unbeatable, but yes, that's why Brandon is such a formidable adversary. His gift is more prosaic than most, it's just increased strength and speed, but that makes him more than a match for most normal hybrids."
"That's why Alec had more food than normal dropped off here then? Because he really doesn't think he can win?"
Mallory pondered for several seconds, before finally shrugging. "That may be unduly pessimistic. He's detail-oriented enough that part of it's probably just an insurance policy for me in case he doesn't prevail, but there is a kernel of truth to your concern. Alec is an incredible fighter, but Brandon's like hasn't been seen in centuries."
"Why are you telling me all this? I've been with the others for almost two whole weeks, and nobody's hinted that there were hybrids with special powers."
Mallory patted my hand again. "I probably wouldn't have complicated things this way save for the fact that for only the third time in my long life, I've looked inside a human, and seen something outside of the ordinary there."
"Wait, you mean me? I've got a power? I'm about as ordinary as you can get."
"Hardly ordinary. Have you had more of the dreams since Alec rescued you?"
"How can they be a power? They're gorgeous, but nothing cool like what you described."
Mallory started to answer, only to break off as she was overcome with another coughing fit. Thankfully this one was less intense.
"Many of the gifts aren't flashy like Brandon's strength. In fact, I suspect that many of the Fir'shan actually develop gifts but never realize it because they're of a less powerful nature, and are mistaken for luck, or uncommonly sharp instincts. Your gift seems to be that of sharing dreams."
I gasped as I realized what Alec must have suspected for quite some time. "You mean that was really him in my dreams?"
"Indeed. That's part of why he was so concerned you might be a powerful Fir'shan posing as a normal human."
A tiny sound just outside the door preempted my next question. Alec carefully maneuvered a pair of huge metal baskets in through the door. I felt my eyes go wide as I realized that they were full of hundreds of cans of food. I didn't even want to guess at how much weight was in each basket, but as Alec cleared the door it was obvious that the slow speed that he'd been moving at had only been due to him not wanting to hit anything. He moved like they weighed no more than a couple of pillows as he crossed the cabin and set them down in front of what must be the food pantry.
"That was almost as quick as normal."
Alec nodded in response to Mallory's observation. "I've been lifting weights for a while, but present circumstances dictated a more aggressive program."
He opened the door to the pantry, and started putting cans away, but Mallory waved him off. "You'll put them in the wrong spots. Just leave that, and I'll put it away later. Don't go all mulish on me, I may be old and feeble, but I'm still able to move a can of food. Come over here and let me look at you."
Alec came back towards us with an air of resignation. Mallory tenderly accepted the letter he produced from a pocket somewhere, and then waited while Alec knelt in front of her.
I felt a tingle of power as Mallory reached out and placed her hands on either side of his face. The power surged, and Alec's heavy, cool power was joined by something light and laughing.
Several seconds later, Mallory released Alec with a sigh and fell back in obvious exhaustion. Alec watched intently until she shook her head, and then the mask fell for just a second before he locked it back in place, hiding the disappointment that for the slimmest of moments had been plainly written on his expression.
Mallory reached out, as if to take Alec's hand, but he gently set her hands back on her lap. "Nothing's changed. We'll just proceed as before. Rest now, and should the worst come to pass I'll send Donovan to you."
A few seconds later Alec and I were outside the cabin, walking back in the direction of the waiting motorcycle. I reached out to take his hand, and felt a glimmer of relief when he didn't reject the gesture as he had with Mallory.
"Alec, was the letter from Donovan?"
I had to repeat the question again before he shook himself and nodded. "I've been running letters back and forth between the two of them since I was ten. I don't come out here very much, but I make the trip as often as it's safe to do so. They both live for those letters."
We walked in silence for several more seconds before I got the nerve up to verify my interpretation of what I'd just seen.
"She was just looking inside you to see if you've developed a power yet, wasn't she?"
Alec helped me over an especially daunting rock and then nodded. "And nothing has changed. She's been telling me for years now that I have the potential to develop a fairly spectacular gift, one that should it choose to manifest in a useful form, could be more than a match for Brandon's strength. Apparently I'm still right on the point of developing said gift, only our time has run out. I fight Brandon tonight. Besides, even if I were to develop a gift this instant, most of them require practice to master, and I'm not going to have a chance to do any of that."
"I'm sorry. It's my fault that this all happened."
Alec stopped and tugged me around to face him. "Don't be sorry. I wish this had happened a long time ago. We kept stalling, kept waiting for me to develop the ability to stand Brandon off, and it was the wrong thing to do. I should have challenged him when Simon and Nathanial killed the tourists, should have slapped Vincent down the day he almost killed Ben, should have done something a thousand times over, but I just kept waiting. Well, I'm finally done waiting, and it's a relief. I'll fight Brandon tonight, and one way or another things will finally be resolved."
I shook my head in denial, unable to contemplate the horror of what he was discussing, but he gently stopped me before I could complete the motion.
"This isn't your fault. Even if it was, it wouldn't matter because spending the last two weeks with you would've been more than worth the price."