Chills & Thrills Paranormal Boxed Set (55 page)

Shala frowned.

"I know that doesn't make sense to you, but he'll
understand."

"You take me, Lily. I don't want to go with
Ravenheart." Shala shot the warrior a quick glance, then lowered her
voice. "I don't like him."

"Nevertheless, he'll get you to safety. Go with him,
sweetheart, if only because I ask you to."

New tears formed in Shala's eyes and she threw herself on
Lily's shoulder, wrapped her small arms tightly around Lily's neck, and began
sobbing. Lily stroked her tangled hair, fighting with the fierce wind to smooth
it. Thunder and lightning punctuated Shala's sobs, causing them to pierce
Lily's heart ever deeper.

"I love you, Shala," she whispered. Shala loosened
her hold on Lily's neck and looked into her eyes.

"I 1-love you too," she said. "And I d-do
forgive you."

Lily inhaled sharply, struggling to hold back the ache in
her chest. She held Shala until her tears subsided.

"I'll go," she whispered, rubbing her reddened
eyes. "I'll get help."

"Yes," Lily said, standing up and taking one of
Shala's hands. Slipping her other hand into the pocket of her jacket, she
palmed a vial. Whether one would be of much use against nine werewolves, she
didn't know.

With her hand still in her pocket, she reluctantly gave
Shala over to Ravenheart. "Be good to her," she warned, "and
keep your word. You won't want to pay the price if you don't."

She received a baleful glare in return, but was gratified to
see him lead Shala gently from the clearing. When the pair reached the forest,
Sebastian grabbed the collar of her jacket.

"Let me relieve you of that, dear one." With a
smooth move, he pulled it down her arms, forcing her hand from the pocket.

But not before her fingers curled neatly around the vial.

Her jacket in hand, Sebastian gave her a werewolf nudge that
sent her sprawling into the center of the ring. Beryl moved to the pit and
stoked the fire. The other werewolves began shrinking to the smaller wolf form.
When the last one alchemized, they lined up single file and marched around the
ring until they'd surrounded it. Sinking to their haunches, they lifted their
large heads in unison and emitted a synchronized howl.

     
"The Song of
Hades begins," Sebastian announced, raising his hands to the sky.

"Yeafanay cawfanay naylanay may
," Sebastian
recited in front of the wind-tossed flames, his long tail coat flapping around
his legs as lightning flashed above. The tall black obelisks behind Sebastian
darkly reflected the fire. "A she-wolf shall be born this day.
Yeafanay
cawfanay naylanay may
."

"Powers of darkness, heed our cry," Lily
translated, cringing on the ground inside the circle. Steeling herself against
dread, she rolled to a sitting position, fingering the slim plastic vial
between her fingers. Already she felt twinges in her knees and elbows. Soon
they'd spread into the long connecting bones. She must escape before the
ceremony caused those agonizing changes in her body.

"Wait!" a panicked voice called. Ravenheart bolted
out of the woods, the kicking and squalling Shala tucked under his arm like a
bundle of clothing.

"Let go!" Shala bellowed, beating on the warrior's
back. "Let me go!"

He thumped her on the head, which did little to check her
pugnacity. Sebastian turned toward Ravenheart with a sardonic smile, obviously
amused by Shala's spirited battle, then waved his hand toward the circle. The
wolves sitting in Ravenheart's path moved apart, and Sebastian turned back to
Lily. "I did not promise my follower would necessarily obey my orders.
Only that I would issue them."

"He offered me what you refused," Ravenheart said.
"In exchange I agreed to deliver you and the shaman's child into his
hands."

"Damn you both!" Lily leaped from the ring at
Ravenheart. The wolf beside him pivoted and snapped his jaws near Shala's head.
Lily halted. "All right. All right. Don't hurt her."

Backing up with her arms behind her, she gingerly uncorked
the vial. It was a last desperate effort, but their only chance, and she was
determined not to waste a single drop.

Spilling just the smallest amount on her fingers, she
flicked it on the wolf who'd snapped at Shala. Although some of the water got
lost in the wind, enough hit its target. The wolf yelped in agony and fell on
its side, fluctuating rapidly between wolf and man-wolf form.

Shala screamed at the hideous sight. Ravenheart gaped in
horror, obviously not comprehending what was happening.

"I told you the bitch could not be trusted," Beryl
bellowed from his place beside the fire.

Lily flicked a few more drops. The other wolves broke rank,
scurrying back with fearful whimpers. Lily scattered more water. Sebastian
roared in outrage, then leaped forward and tore Shala from Ravenheart's hold.
She shrieked as Sebastian's hands closed around her neck.

"Enough, Lily!" he commanded, dangling Shala in
front of him. Gasping for breath, the girl tore frantically at the werewolf's
hands. "Toss that fluid into the fire or I will break this young mortal's
neck like the match stick that ignited the flames."

Lily paused, trying to gauge the extent of Sebastian's
resolve. If he killed Shala he would lose his power over Lily, something he
clearly wanted. But his fear of the sanctified water was great. Enough to make
him follow through on his threat? She considered hurling the entire bottle at
him, but he stood too far away. She might miss.

Shala let out a sickening gurgle.

"Put the girl down first, Sebastian," Lily said,
holding the vial in front of her.

"No tricks, Lily, or you will sorely regret them."

Lily nodded, and Sebastian returned Shala to the ground. She
dashed forward and wrapped her arms around Lily's waist. The wolf who'd been
injured took on human shape. Immune to the water's effects now and glowering at
Lily, he wiped the last remnant of water from his body, then quickly resumed
wolf form and joined the other six.

Lowering their heads, the seven of them crept toward Lily
and Shala, fangs bared, gleaming eyes reflecting the flames of the fire.
Thunder shook the clearing. Renewed wind gusts battered their clothes and hair.

"Recork the vial," Sebastian commanded. "And
throw it toward the fire."

With a show of insolence she didn't feel but knew was vital
for their safety, Lily replaced the stopper, then tossed the bottle in the air.
The wind carried it to the right of where she'd aimed, and it landed not far
from Beryl's feet. He jumped back

"Dispose of it," Sebastian

Beryl's eyes darted around the clearing, and he moved to
collect two long sticks, which he then used as pinchers to gingerly lift the bottle.
With a look of immense relief, he dropped it in the flames.

"The ceremony resumes," Sebastian intoned
dramatically.

Ravenheart stepped eagerly into the ring. Sebastian gave
Lily a commanding look, then glanced meaningfully at Shala. With the child still
clinging to her, Lily backed over the line in the dirt.

"L-Lily." Shala hiccupped. "What's going to
happen?"

Kneeling, she cupped Shala's dirty tear-streaked face, then
looked up at Sebastian. "Please let her go. She's just a child."

"You've grown fond of these mortals, have you
not?" He looked vaguely puzzled that anyone who'd been so close to him
could do such a thing. "I warned you such sensibilities would bring you to
doom. Am I not proof of that? Look how I doted on you. Yet you, the daughter I
once cherished, have caused me terrible pain. No, Lily, this girl will become
what I always hoped you would be. So 'tis your choice. She stays in the ring
and becomes one of us, or . . ." He licked his man-wolf muzzle as if
anticipating a treat.

Lily's shoulders sagged. She pulled the trembling Shala
close, feeling more miserable than she had the morning she'd keened over
Jorje's lifeless body. She'd brought on this horror as surely as she'd taken
Jorje's life. If not for her, Sebastian and his godless eight wouldn't even be
here, Ravenheart wouldn't have been tempted to take a shortcut to shamanhood,
and Shala wouldn't be trapped in this ring. White Hawk should have let her die.

"Sebastian, please . . ."

Giving no reply, Sebastian stretched his arms to the moon.
The sky lit up with lightning, as if he'd commanded it. "
Yeafanay,
cawfanay, naylanay, may. Yeafanay, cawfanay, naylanay, may.
Werewolves
shall be born this day."

Defeated, Lily sank to the ground and settled Shala in her
lap. The girl had grown eerily silent, her eyes huge pools of fear.

"Hang on to me, sweetheart," Lily said. "No
matter what happens, hang on."

Sebastian began reciting words that Lily had often used
herself in the same unholy ritual and knew by heart in all their variations.

"Lady moon doth touch dark Pluto now. Yet fickle lady
waits for none and soon moves on.

Oh, phantoms of the dark beneath rise up to heed my
cry."

A log crashed in the fire, sparks swirled on the fierce
wind.

"Bring fang and claw and strength beyond what mortals
know.

Bestow these gifts upon your servants now that they may roam
the earth as wolf and man, as man and wolf forever more."

The seven wolves emitted long, piercing howls. From
somewhere above, a bird of prey gave out a shrill, foreboding cry. Shards of
pain ripped at Lily's body as she fought back alchemization. Ravenheart wailed
in torment beside her, clawing at his belly. Shala twisted feverishly in her
arms, whimpering. Lily stroked the child's mud-smeared arms and dropped kisses
on her teary face.

"It's all right," she whispered, though her body
felt as if it were shattering into pieces. "It's all right."

"Rush, yeah, rush, Great Phantom," cried
Sebastian, his voice growing ever more fervid. His eyes glinted red with angry
intent. Fingers of flame reflected in the unclothed portions of his silvery
coat. Lily closed her eyes in resignation. With a sob, Shala writhed out of her
lap, but Lily was in too much pain to hold on.

"Race, Great Phantom, race, yeah, race. The Lady rolls
on, time grows short. Heed us now. Heed us now.

Time grows short. Heed us now.

Yeafanay cawfanay nay–"

Yealanay cawfanay nayfanay may
."

Lily didn't know where the unbidden refrain came from, but
it raced through her mind in contradiction to Sebastian's words. "Spirits
of light, hear our plea," she whispered weakly. "
Yealanay cawfanay
nayfanay may.
"

Her pain was now so intense she could barely lift her head,
but at Sebastian's hesitation she forced it from the ground. He paused. A look
of outrage crossed his face. Arms still raised in invocation, he eyed her
suspiciously. At least she thought he did. Her vision was so blurred nothing
was truly clear. And what was that, sitting on the stony rim of the fire pit,
all white and golden-eyed?

"Cease that babble," he barked.

 
"
Yealanay
cawfanay nayfanay may
," Lily choked out again, encouraged by his
outburst. Her vision cleared a bit. Shala stirred beside her, moaning softly.
Ravenheart grunted in discomfort. One of his feet extended beyond the edge of
the circle and a wolf snapped at it. Sebastian snarled an order to desist, and
it backed away.

With a shrill, ear-splitting shriek the white shape rose
from the wall enclosing the fire, swooped down and buried its talons into
Beryl's head. Beryl yelped and clawed at it, but the bird deftly avoided his
flailing hands, soaring to the fire pit again.

Suddenly it was gone. In its place stood White Hawk, a knife
in one hand, a bright yellow scarf tied around his face. With a war cry, he
rushed toward the circle, scattering small white objects in his wake. Wolves
flew in all directions, howling and spraying dirt. Beryl doubled over,
coughing. Sebastian dropped his arms and covered his muzzle with a kerchief
pulled from his suit pocket. Wolfish noses began receding. A hairless arm
appeared on one wolf, a leg on another. Coughs and gasps mingled with the whine
of the wind.

Ravenheart made a strangled sound. Lily rolled into a ball
as the acrid ammonia seared her lungs. Forcing herself not to resist, she
inhaled another dose, feeling the familiar tingle of ebbing body changes. She
glanced over at Shala, alarmed to see her lying limply on the earth, apparently
not breathing.

Scrambling to her knees, she tilted the girl's head back,
inhaled another breath of ammonia, then pressed her mouth to Shala's and
exhaled.

Coughing, Shala jerked upright. "Breathe," Lily
rasped, almost too overcome to speak. The girl broke into sobs, trying to
escape the ammonia but breathing nonetheless. Breathing Oh thank God, she was
breathing.

Springing to her feet, Lily swept Shala from the ground.
Mayhem surrounded her. Sebastian bellowed as his height shrank and his fur
began to fade. Already in human form, Beryl huddled on the rocky soil, retching
from the fumes. The seven ceremonial wolves, having reverted to human shape,
were ripping at their own bodies as fangs and paws dissolved. Ravenheart
screamed inside the circle, pallid and in obvious agony. White Hawk whooped
incessantly.

With Shala against her shoulder, Lily ran from the circle,
dipping to reclaim her jacket from the ground as she raced toward White Hawk.
When he saw her, he gave out another whoop, then crouched and swept his knife
in front of him, waiting to see what move she would make.

The obvious motive behind his stunned Lily. He thought she
was part of this!

"Always the fool," she snarled, moving cautiously
closer. "Take your daughter quickly. And run! Now! Before they
recover."