A light drizzle was falling as Andre padded on silent paws along the outside of the stone wall that surrounded the Misty Hills estate. True to its name, the landscape was currently covered in a fine mist, dense pockets of fog gathering in low gullies, the rest of the forest damp and hazy as the rain failed to fully penetrate the branches of the trees.
Andre kept his nose to the ground as he went, ears twitching, alert to any sign that something was amiss. This was just a routine inspection of the property’s borders, but that was no excuse for carelessness. The wall itself was enough to stop most idle wanderers, a clear sign that this was private property, and for those who didn’t get the message, the other security measures were sufficient to either deter overly-curious explorers or alert the Den to their presence. The boundary was checked at least once a day, but every now and then, it was worth carrying out a more thorough check of the surrounding area.
It took several hours for someone to work their way around the entire property, but Andre found the job to be something of a pleasure. He didn’t often get to use his tracking skills anymore, and there was something soothing, almost hypnotic about the slow, methodical inspection, the quiet stillness of the countryside, the slow patter of the rain on the leaves.
It was about ten o’clock in the morning when he finally made it around to the eastern side of the property. On that side there was a wide woodland area owned by the adjoining property, but the owners were elderly and hadn’t ventured this far from their house in years. As a result, it wasn’t uncommon for someone looking for a little peace and quiet to jump the estate’s gate and spend some time meandering about the woods.
Andre started at the gate and worked his way out, and the first scent he detected was John’s. No surprises there. Whenever anyone jumped the gate, it activated a motion sensor which sent an immediate alert to Andre, Simon and Silas’s phones. Each of them could easily pull up the video feed and check who was coming or going, and so long as it wasn’t anyone who was confined to estate grounds, nothing more would come of it. It was a well-known fact that John had left the estate several times in the past few weeks. He’d been taking his lessons on meditation very seriously, earnest in his desire to get a handle on some of his wilder emotions, and it made sense for him to want to go somewhere he wasn’t likely to be interrupted to practise.
Andre circled around, detecting the older scents of Raniesha and Simon – again, not a surprise. The pair of them had an on-again-off-again relationship, one which neither of them had ever sought to define in concrete terms, and they were known to sneak off together at random intervals for a little privacy. From what Andre could detect, though, they hadn’t come this way in at least two weeks.
There were scuff marks on the ground around one of the pine trees, and he wandered over there... yup, more of John’s scent. A few odd scrapes on the tree suggested he’d been climbing it -
Wait a minute. What the...? Andre circled around again, detecting something in the grass that wasn’t quite... What was that? It was hard to detect, even harder to define, but something was definitely off. He closed his eyes, breathing slowly, canine senses put to their full use, nose twitching as he scented individual blades of grass, a small patch of dirt, a leaf on a slightly higher bush...
Petrol.
He stopped, looking around in confusion. Why the hell would petrol be...?
He sniffed around some more, found another tiny patch, then... what the hell was that? It was like pine oil, almost indistinguishable from the smell of a pine tree, but with a very faint chemical tinge that Andre would have missed if he wasn’t as well trained as he was. It led away from the pine trees, and Andre followed it, ears alert, eyes constantly moving, seeking out any stray object, a footprint, a stray scrap of plastic or wire, anything that might seem out of place.
The path led downhill, through long grass and shrubby undergrowth towards the road. The last ten metres or so were relatively free of cover, though the grass still grew long, and Andre crept down towards the road, keeping his body low, ever mindful of the risk of a local car coming along and spotting him. The scent of petrol was stronger here... A sudden blast of it in his nose had Andre snorting and gagging. Refined senses were all well and good, but they could certainly make life uncomfortable at times. He examined the patch of shrubbery carefully, and it was easy to discern that some sort of vehicle had been hidden here in the very recent past. A motorbike was most likely, given the size of the hiding place and the patch of flattened grass, though there was nothing here now.
A cool fear began clawing its way up his spine.
Checking the road was still clear, Andre ran for the cover of the trees, then made his way back to the pine tree. A quick sniff confirmed that John had been climbing it, but he suspected that maybe he hadn’t been the only one.
He shifted and gave the tree a cursory examination, checking for traps, wires, anything that might have been left behind with nefarious intentions, at the same time as pulling gloves out of his pocket and putting them on. If he was right – which he prayed he wasn’t – then there was no telling what nasty surprises might have been left for him to find. An easy leap had him up into the lowest branches, and he climbed higher, noting the small signs of wear on the tree’s bark. Up another branch, around to the left a bit, another step up...
Bingo. From this sheltered vantage point, he had a clear view of the estate’s front lawn, the row of aspen, the edge of the lake. Setting his feet carefully, he shifted again and spent a long moment sniffing the branch he was standing on. John’s scent was there, along with that same chemical smell of the intruder. How the two of them hadn’t run into each other was nothing short of a miracle.
A moment later, he was back in human form, pulling his phone out of his pocket. His hands shook ever so slightly as he dialled Baron’s number, and then he had to work for a moment to find his voice when the man answered. “Call Isabelle and tell her to send Helga and a couple of her sisters over for a visit. We’ve got a broken water pump.” The phone went dead, the coded message understood perfectly.
Andre felt a shiver run through him, the forest around him suddenly sinister and threatening. Though he was trained as an assassin, he hadn’t been maintaining anything like his former level of fitness, and the last time he’d fought a Satva Khuli, he’d won only by the narrowest of margins. The three assassins that Council would send should be able to take care of the Khuli by working as a team, coming at him or her from multiple angles, but if the estate came under attack before they arrived...
“Sirius...” He trailed off, words failing him as the enormity of their situation hit him hard. He glanced around the trees again, the silence doing nothing to reassure him that he actually was alone, and then dropped to the ground, shifting to leap cleanly over the gate. They had about six hours to wait until the assassins would arrive, possibly more depending on where the Council’s plane was at the moment. Help us, he thought desperately, as he sprinted for the manor. Forgive me if I fail. Receive me with honour into the afterlife. And please, let this old assassin make one last kill before joining my brethren in your great hall.
Alistair strapped a bullet-proof vest to himself as he stood in the weapons storage room off the side of the library. The manor was currently in a state of controlled chaos, rapid preparations underway for the shifters to make a stand against the Satva Khuli that Andre had just reported. For the moment, the manor’s residents were scattered. Getting armed was the first priority, along with donning bullet-proof vests and the custom-made armour that fitted onto their wolf forms. Baron had gone upstairs to contact the Council, asking for reinforcements. Skip was preparing one of the laptops to be brought down to the foyer, a wireless connection to a satellite link ensuring they could continue accessing the internet and its wealth of information even if the Khuli infiltrated the house. George and a few helpers had gone to the kitchen, boxing up some basic food supplies. A few others were going from room to room, making sure every window and door to the exterior was closed and locked. Something so simple as a pane of glass wasn’t likely to stop a Khuli, but there was no sense in leaving them an open invitation. Once everyone was prepared, they would congregate in the foyer, and Alistair headed there now, two loaded pistols at his side and two extra clips of ammunition in his pockets.
The foyer was crowded and getting more so as people finished up their duties elsewhere and arrived back, checking in with Caroline, who was currently in charge of keeping a head count and assigning duties. Alistair caught her eye and gave her a nod, watching as she ticked his name off her list, then he made his way to the edge of the room, finding a spot that wouldn’t be in anyone’s way.
The sight around him filled him with mixed emotions; admiration at the way the Den came together as a well-oiled machine and fear that despite their best efforts, they wouldn’t be able to repel this most sinister of predators. Pride at being a part of this team of warriors, mingled with sorrow at the thought of losing even one of them to the Noturatii – an eventuality that was all but inevitable. Either himself, or one of his brothers and sisters was going to die before this was over. He could feel it in his bones.
The foyer itself was well designed, and this was where they would make their stand. All of them together in one room presented a united force with no opportunity for the Khuli to pick them off one by one. Yet this room also had many potential exits, just in case anyone got the bright idea to do something lethal like drop a grenade in their midst. They would remain here until the assassins arrived, and then, barring further instructions from their rescuers, stay here longer still, until the Khuli had been sought out and put down.
Following that, of course, there would be an emergency evacuation to their secondary residence in Scotland. As yet, the Grey Watch hadn’t been informed of their impending arrival, both because they didn’t want to risk a Khuli hacking their communications, thereby putting the other pack at risk, but also because there was a slim but realistic chance that either the assassins or the Council might decide to just bypass Scotland and move them directly to another country.
Either way, they wouldn’t be able to stay here.
Across the foyer, John leaned against the wall, irritated by the weight of the gun at his hip. Keeping quiet and out of the way, he contemplated the news that had just rocked their world, trying to decide what he should do next.
A part of him was disappointed. He’d enjoyed the long chats with the Khuli, and there was no way they were going to continue now. He was also annoyed she’d been careless enough to allow herself to be discovered, yet at the same time, thoroughly impressed that Andre had managed to find her. The fact that he himself had done so weeks ago didn’t factor into his assessment at all. He’d discovered her by chance, rather than by any deliberate effort or refined skill, and he was careful to always leave room in his worldview for the vagaries of pure luck. Perhaps there was a higher power with a purpose in these random encounters. Perhaps not, but they seemed to keep coming up all through people’s lives, so he didn’t want to discount the possibility too quickly.
Should he tell Andre what he knew about the Khuli? His loyalty was to his Den, and always had been – Li Khuli knew that, just as she must have known that if she hung around in that tree for long enough, she would eventually be discovered. But even now, with the Den being locked down and panic in the eyes of those around him, he didn’t truly believe she was going to harm any of them. Could he really just leave her to die?
Once he’d finished speaking to the Council, Baron hurried down the stairs back into the foyer. Most of the Den was gathered here now, and he needed to catch up with Andre, to find out more about what he’d discovered, and also put on his own body armour. But as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he happened to glance around and saw Dee loitering in the corner, Taya in her arms, a human baby sucking on a bottle, and Luke prancing about at her feet, tail wagging as he pounced on her shoelaces. Changing direction, he headed over to her. His gut churned at the idea of what a Khuli could do to the children. “I want to evacuate you and the pups,” he told her softly, reaching out to stroke Taya’s hair gently. “Whatever goes down here, these two shouldn’t be a part of it.”
“Silas told me we couldn’t evacuate,” Dee objected. “He said the property could be being watched, and if a small group leave, they’re an easy target for a Khuli. As bad as the situation is, we’re safer here.”
It was true, and that was the reason why the whole Den couldn’t be evacuated until the Khuli was killed. Despite the risk of a Noturatii battalion landing on their doorstep, if they tried to leave, the Khuli would just follow, making any Den who tried to help them a target as well. But even so... “The Khuli’s after Miller,” Baron argued. “We wouldn’t send you by car. Andre could get you and the pups off the property on foot without you being followed. Please, Dee. There’s too much at stake…”
Dee looked down at Taya, then gave a watery smile as she watched Luke playing on the floor, oblivious to the drama going on around him. “There’s no guarantee the Khuli is only after Miller,” she pointed out, a pragmatic statement that was nonetheless entirely unwelcome. “The Noturatii have been wanting to get me back ever since I escaped from the lab. It’s perfectly possible they’ve got two targets, and I’m the second one. Which still makes here the safest place for us to be.”
Baron said nothing, not at all happy about her stubborn refusal, trying to come up with a convincing argument that might persuade her otherwise.
“I want to keep them safe,” Dee said, when she saw he wasn’t going to let it go. “Even more than you do. But every way I look at it, this is the safest place for them to be. We have a team of nearly twenty warriors standing at our side and assassins on the way.” Her eyes grew bright with unshed tears, and she hugged Taya closer to her chest. “The Khuli will only get to them over my dead body,” she said, her voice trembling just slightly. “I mean that absolutely literally.”
It was just after half past two in the afternoon when Alistair’s phone rang. The foyer was relatively quiet, considering there were nineteen people scattered around the room, and the shrill jangle made several people jump. Alistair answered it quickly, unsurprised about the call. In his line of work, there was always someone needing to give him some piece of information, or wanting an interview, or a colleague checking in with a story that needed covering.
“Drew?” a breathless voice on the other end of the line said, and Alistair’s mind was so caught up in the current drama in the Den that it took him a moment to place it. “Lee? Hey, how are you?” Damn it. He’d told her he’d be back from London in a few days, and she’d said she wanted to see him again before she left England. But now that the estate was under siege, that was going to be all but impossible.
“I need to speak to you,” she said. The not-quite-frantic waver to her voice immediately told Alistair something was very wrong.
“What’s up? What’s happened?” He glanced around the foyer. There was no quiet corner where he could score a few moments’ privacy.
“I can’t talk over the phone. I need to see you in person.”
Fuck. Damn this fucking Khuli! Alistair’s heartrate doubled its pace. He’d tried to be a true friend to Lee and was loath to just leave her there...
“I can’t,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry. I’m just... I’m caught up in something of a crisis at home, and I’m not going to be able to get away.”
“This is important! And urgent. Please, Drew.”
“I’m sorry. I believe you when you say it’s important, but I -”
“It’s a matter of life and death. Not mine – I’m fine,” she added, just as Alistair thought he was about to have a heart attack. “But if I don’t speak with you, then other people are going to die.”
Alistair sat very still as that announcement settled in his mind. “Which people?” he asked finally.
“I can’t tell you over the phone. It’s not safe.”
Damn it all to hell. What was he supposed to do now? How could he just turn his back...?
“I’m sorry,” he heard himself say, as Baron caught his eye from across the room, giving him a hard, warning stare. “I’m really, really sorry. I really want to come and help you. But I can’t. I’m sorry, I just can’t right now.”
There was a long moment of silence.
“All right,” she said, sounding strangely calm. “I’m sorry, Drew. I didn’t want you to find out this way.”
Alistair felt his whole body tense and a chill slid down his spine. “Find out what?”
The phone went dead.