Of Noble Chains (The Ventori Fables) (29 page)

“Good enough for me.”  Hayden gave her another kiss.

“Take me home?”

“Less good for me, but okay.”  Hayden and Zia left her bloodied and shredded clothes in the bathroom, and he took her to his car.  The drive home was a comfortable quiet, and Zia wondered what he was thinking about.  She thought it might have been Donataen.

Hayden walked her to her front door, and they shared one last kiss before he left.  As Zia shut the door, she leaned against it and sighed, everything still feeling like a dream…or a nightmare.  Actually, it was a mixture of both.

Her eyes closed as soon as her head touched the pillow, surrounded by Hayden’s scent, she sighed again.  It was easy for her to drift off to sleep, but she couldn’t help but wonder what the rest of her summer would involve.

She hoped most of it would involve catching more STRAYs that nobody even knew about.  Her eyes had been opened, and she felt like she could finally breathe.

Nari the Unseen did what she did best; she hid.  It wasn’t noble for a Ventori to hide, or to use dirty tricks to accomplish their goals, but she had to now.  If she wanted to surprise Rinehart the Unbreakable, she didn’t have much choice.  So she waited for him to turn his key in the lock to his front door.

When he entered, he was flipping through some papers and called out, “Hey Nari.”

She cursed, and came around the corner.  “How’d you know?”

“I didn’t, just a hunch,” he shrugged and tossed the papers on a nearby table.  “What are you doing here?”

“Achaicious is dead,” Nari told him, “and there’s been movement in the underground.”

“Movement?  What kind?”

“The bad kind,” she came closer, her long blonde hair swirling under the vent above her, “haven’t you noticed the new Specters coming to town?  You caught a Black Angel, right?”

Aeryn nodded.  “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying something’s happening, and I don’t know what that is,” she crossed her arms, “something’s coming, Aeryn, and it’s big.  The Arch has always had secrets, and they aren’t including me in them.”

“So why are you here?” Aeryn didn’t see her point.

“They’re the ones killing the Ventori,” she tried not to yell, “they’re the ones making Specters go STRAY, and they’re the ones behind everything bad in this city!”

“Well what do you want me to do about it?” Aeryn was yelling now.  “I came back to find Noble’s killer, and I did, so I’m done.  I’m going to finish with Kehzia, and I’m going to get the Light out of here!”

He ripped open his front door, and Nari took the hint.  She wondered when he had grown so cold.  As she passed him, she kept her eyes on the hallway and said, “Don wouldn’t have wanted this, we used to be friends.”

She stepped out, and the door slammed shut.  Her one friend in the entire city, the one person that could help her, just kicked her out.

Her feet moved fast as she left the building, resisting her own tears.  Never, not ever, did she think Aeryn would ignore the obvious.  And as she smashed open the front doors of the building, a woman caught her eye.

“You know,” the raven haired woman said, “I think we can help each other.”

Nari paused, ready to attack.  She could sense this woman was a Specter, but she leaned casually against the building, arms crossed.  Her head turned lazily to face Nari, and she stood straight.

“What do you mean?” Nari asked.

“The Ark needs to go.”

“What do you care of the Ark?” Nari allowed her hands to lower to her sides, though her instincts were on full alert.

“Walk with me, I’ll tell you a story.”  The woman nodded her head down the empty street, and Nari glanced up at Aeryn’s building.  When she locked eyes with the woman again, she stepped forward.

Nari the Unseen had finally found someone willing to help.  Maybe now she would finally be able to discover what those at the Ark were doing.

“What’s this story, then?” Nari asked, her footsteps echoing as they walked.   But she noticed this woman made no noise as she moved.

“Have you heard of Kehzia Noble?” the woman questioned back.

“Yes.” Nari knew of Kehzia from all the stories Donataen had told. 

“She might not be all that she seems,” the woman said, “the Ark aren’t the only ones with dark secrets.”

“What are you saying?” Nari could feel her skin beginning to crawl, and she didn’t want Kehzia involved in this.  She was Donataen’s little sister, she
couldn’t
be involved.

“Miss Noble…she is the key to taking down the Ark, even if she doesn’t know it yet.  Or a better way of putting it, would be taking
over
.”

“She can’t get involved,” Nari stopped on the concrete, “she has nothing to do with this.”

“Oh,” the woman laughed, “she has
everything
to do with this.”

Thanks for reading to the end!  Continue on for sample chapters from
Shadeland
,
The Warden in the Gates
, and
Shimmering
!

D.L. Miles graduated from Sheridan College and currently resides in Southern Ontario.  She loves playing World of Warcraft and Halo, and is far too attached to fictional characters.

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A YA urban fantasy feature shape-shifter Ember Reed

SHIFTING

It was dark, as usual in Sagefall.  But I didn’t mind, darkness was okay; after all it brought out the fireflies!  What I wasn’t a fan of was the fog, and the rain, and the constant clouds rolling overhead, and the wind that always took my breath away.  Speaking of which, a gust of wind rushed through me, picking up my hair and whipping it over my eyes.  For once I smiled at being blinded, because I was also blinded by a new colour as I walked down the street.

I had just finished it that afternoon, and I just needed to go out and show it off.  It was the most unnatural hair colour I had ever had, and it was nice change of pace from my usual blonde.  I passed by a closed store and caught my reflection; a girl with pastel green eyes and pale orchid purple hair stared back at me.  My lips curled into a smile.  Jayden was going to love this…or maybe he wouldn’t.  Well, it didn’t matter.

My new colour reflected what little light hit it, almost seeming silver it was so pale a shade of purple.   I fussed with the edges, reminding myself I needed to get it cut soon.  Drawing me from my daze, a thick section of fog rolled over my boots.  I wrapped my blue raincoat tighter around me.

A young couple passed by, and I began to pace after them down the block.  They were holding hands, their fingers entwined as they laughed loudly about some movie they had just seen.  A bit of jealousy stung at my heart, and I pushed it away.  I would find my love, in time.  Fifteen years seemed like a long enough wait in my opinion though.

I was so distracted by their happiness that I almost missed the bookstore.  I stopped quickly and with a jerk yanked on the door handle and stepped inside, all the time wondering just when my time would come.

The smell of books old and new hit me instantly, and I breathed them in.  I couldn’t imagine anything better, except maybe cupcakes.

“Ember,” the clerk, Brenda, said, “back already?”

“Yup.”  I smiled wide.  I liked Brenda, she was a mid-thirties woman, with short brown hair and loved books just about as much as I did.  Though we preferred different genres, she was always fun to talk to, especially when it came to discussing themes and characters.  “I found this new series online and I wanted to check it out!”

She gave me a knowing smile as she rolled her eyes.  “One of your online friends making suggestions again?”

I blushed lightly, knowing it was the truth.  Though Brenda was always nice to me, she said I spent too much time on the computer.  But since I was homeschooled it was just one of the things I could spend my time on; that and my online friends were really my only friends besides Jayden.

“What’s it called?” Brenda questioned when I didn’t say anything.  “And what on Earth did you do to your hair?”

I told her the name of the books.  “You don’t like it?  I just did it today.”  I gave her another wide smile, but she just shook her head.  That was the best reaction I could hope for, I guessed.

“I think we have some in the back, give me a minute,” she told me and I said she could take her time.  As she disappeared into the backroom, I moved past the shelves until I found the Young Adult section, and began to pick through books.  Most of them I had already read, but I still felt that familiar urge to pick them up and flip through their pages.

Just as I reached for a title I didn’t recognize a grunt came from around the corner.  I glanced over my shoulder, still partly admiring my new hair while doing so.  There was nobody there, but I heard the grunt again, this time it sounded more like a groan.

Slowly, I turned the corner to find a blonde girl leaning over holding her stomach.  She didn’t look much older than me, and she groaned again.  Her brow was scrunched in pain as her expensive looking blue clutch fell to the carpet.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I ran up to her.  I was ready to yell for Brenda to call 911, but the girl just shook her head as her hand shot out to grab my sleeve.  She clutched at my arm, hair falling in front of her eyes as her knees connected with the ground.

“Don’t,” she moaned.  “Go away.”

“It’s okay, I won’t go,” I cooed, falling to the floor with her.  My knees gave a small throb in protest as they hit the carpet, but I kept my focus on her.  “Do you want me to call someone?  Get you something?”

“Go away,” she ordered, and I realized that her first order was the same.

“I can’t just leave you,” I said, and then I felt it.  That heat that I had felt so many times before and wished I could create.  The sparks struck at my skin, crackling as they lingered safely against me.  When another jolt hit me I was actually knocked back, landing on the carpet with a gasp.

Her brown eyes met mine, and in them I saw all her fear and pain and confusion.  But there was anger there as well, and as her mouth opened to scream her body contorted.  I had seen it happen plenty of times, but never so fast; it had only taken her less than a second to transform from a gorgeous girl to a tiny green toad.  Never, in all my fifteen years of life, had I seen a shape-shifter change so quickly.

Scrambling to my knees I reached for the girl, her new legs ready to jump her away from the area.  But I could tell from earlier that she had had no idea what was happening, and I had to help her somehow.  “Have you lost your mind?  Why did you Shift here?!”  I grabbed her and her clutch into my hands, ignoring her squirms to get away; I only hoped she didn’t change back while I was holding her.

“Good news,” Brenda said when she suddenly appeared behind me, and I jumped.  “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you, but I found the book you wanted!”

I stuffed the girl into my jacket pocket and zipped it up, spinning on my heels to find Brenda holding exactly what I had come here for.  She held it out to me, and I took it after wiping the sweat from my palms on my sleeves.

“Thanks,” I said, voice a little too high.  “I think I should hurry, meeting Jayd later.”

“Well I’ll help you at the cash then.”  She smiled as she went around the corner.  Quickly, I grabbed two more books, and hauled them towards the counter.  The girl squirmed and croaked in my pocket, and I prayed that Brenda didn’t hear it.

When the books were paid for I said goodbye and shoved them gently into my backpack.  I couldn’t get out of the store fast enough, and bumped into a boy with dark red hair on the way out.  As I crossed the street I called to him, “Sorry!”  But he didn’t seem to care.

When I was safely behind a bush I yanked out my cellphone and dialed Jayden.  He picked up on the first ring, “Hey, Em, what’s up?”

“Uh, I’m not sure,” I said, biting down on my nail.  The girl began to calm down in my jacket, hopefully she wasn’t suffocating.  I placed my hand lightly over my pocket, and she grew still.  “I ah…I found a girl and I don’t think she knows she’s a spook.”

He laughed.  “What are you talking about?  You know it’s not possible to not know; this isn’t one of your books.”

“I’m serious!” I pouted, my feet moving fast as I tried to find somewhere private for me and the girl to talk.  I also needed to contact Wolf, but for some reason Jayd was the first I called.  Well, family always came first, right?  So my cousin was a logical choice…sort of.  I continued, “I found her Shifting in the bookstore, and I don’t think she knows what’s going on.”  I explained how I grabbed her and was now across the street in the little park that sat there.  Jayd was quiet on the other end, realizing just how serious I was.