Fated (5 page)

Shula was standing over Grace, like a vulture circling her prey. Lucas would have been worried for anyone else, but not for Grace. No one ever worried about Grace.

'I wasn't expecting any other Hunters to show,' Grace answered with a yawn. 'I thought she was alone.'

'You have one easy job to do and that's all,' Shula yelled. 'You don't have to get your hands dirty, you just have to sit there and warn us what's about to happen and you can't even manage to do
that
right.'

Shula had a point, though Lucas didn't understand why she was bothering to bring it up with Grace. Why try and argue anything with a psychic? They always won.

'Let's see how psychic you
really
are,' Shula yelled. 'Did you foresee
this
?'

Lucas watched her level an elegant roundhouse kick straight at Grace's head.

Grace slid like a whisper out of her chair and Shula's leg flew right by her, grazing the air before slamming with a crunch into Joshua's face.

'Ahhhhhh,' he screamed. 'You dumb--'

'Oh, I'm sorry,' Shula said, putting a hand to her mouth, her eyes widening in mock horror, 'did I hurt you?' She was smirking as she said it. 'I thought you Thirsters were supposed to be practically indestructible?' She paused, looking him up and down. 'Though clearly not flame-resistant.'

Lucas eyed Joshua, whose skin still resembled plastic grilled over an open flame. His shirt had melted to parts of his back and arm, and, where he'd torn it loose in the car, red strips of flesh had come away. It looked like someone had upended a tray of pulverised meat where his shoulder and bicep should have been.

'You got a problem with the way I look, Shula?' Joshua shot back. 'Because that would be kind of like the pot calling the kettle green, wouldn't it?'

Shula strode past him. Lucas could see the rage bubbling beneath the surface of her skin.

'I just need some blood and I'll be fine,' he called to her back. 'Ain't nothing going to help you look any better though.'

Shula spun around. 'Remind me again why I saved your skinny white ass?' she yelled. 'If it hadn't been for me you'd be southern fried white trash by now, being licked off the pavement by dogs.'

There was a giggle from the other side of the room. It was Neena. Her hand shot up to stifle her laughter but it was already too late. Joshua was right there, in her face, his crackling lip curled back over yellowing fangs. Lucas could see Neena's heart hammering beneath her shirt, could feel her fear like a vibration in the air. The shimmer around her intensified and Lucas wondered if she'd shift into a lion or a bear and try to take Joshua's head off, but she kept a disappointing amount of control. The shimmer faded. Neena stayed as she was.

'You know, Shapeshifter blood's the best damn blood there is.' Joshua spat the words into her face. 'Can't get me enough of that . . .' He smacked his lips hard.

'Shut up. As if you've ever,' Neena hissed back, her form solidifying.

Joshua's eyes were glowing. 'You wanna bet?' he laughed. 'You wanna know how it tastes?' His face was shoved into Neena's.

Lucas merged with the shadows. He moved fast, positioning himself just behind Neena's shoulder, ready to pull her backwards if he needed to, ready to slam his fist into Joshua's face. None of them were that good yet at sensing him when he was invisible, not if they weren't concentrating at any rate.

'Every mouthful of Shapeshifter blood has a different taste,' Joshua said now, his eyes dilating so much his irises were black moons and Lucas was able to make out tiny red eruptions in the white of his eye. 'You ever see
Willy Wonka
? You know that part where the girl eats an everlasting gobstopper and it tastes of everything? Like chicken soup and roast beef and blueberry pie all rolled into one? Well, that's exactly what Shapeshifter's blood tastes like - you get rabbit for starter, or maybe some sushi, then you get yourself some nice succulent pork belly for main. If you're
really
lucky you get some big cat steak, maybe a proper hot dog, then, to finish, always a bird. Funniest thing. Best you can hope for is swan. Finest damn meal I ever ate.' He smacked his lips together again.

'You're disgusting,' Neena spat. She edged backwards and bumped Lucas's shoulder and jumped. Her shimmer momentarily blinded him before she settled back.

'Oh, ignore Joshua,' Shula said from across the room. 'He's just an ignorant little hillbilly. The only thing he's ever eaten is squirrel. And the occasional human.'

Joshua swung around to face her. 'If you didn't have skin so disgusting it would be like biting through a crocodile's ass, I'd have tasted
your
blood by now too.'

Shula was sitting with her legs up on the desk in front of her. 'Oh yeah? You think? You think you could get anywhere near me?' Shula kicked the desk. 'No wonder the humans don't want you in their world. Frankly, Joshua, who the hell would?'

Joshua's face contorted as though the sun was shining right on him. He flew at Shula with his teeth bared. Only the sight of Tristan, who'd suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, pulled him up short. Joshua froze mid-pounce, his teeth retracting instantly and his eyes flashing in fear towards the man in the suit standing next to him.

Lucas smiled inwardly. If he hadn't seen Neena shift right there in front of him he wouldn't have believed it was her. Gone was the short girl with frizzy brown hair and a smattering of freckles and in her place stood Tristan. And she had him down perfectly, from the polished brogues to the inch of white shirt cuff and black crystal cufflinks. Even the lip-curling sneer and the waxed centre part of his eyebrows were just this side of perfect. He glanced down at Tristan's arms. The only thing that was off was the symmetry. Shifters were always mirror images - never quite the real deal - but it took the brain a while to figure out what was off about the picture. It was Tristan's right arm that was damaged - he could no longer bend it at the elbow - but the Tristan in front of him was holding his left arm awkwardly.

'Enough! Remember the rules,' Neena said, except her voice was Tristan's voice - silky-smooth, with razor blades hidden in the seams. It was uncanny hearing it. Lucas felt his own back stiffen.

'I want explanations,' Neena shouted. 'I want to know who it was that let the girl go.'

She turned to face Shula, who swallowed hard in response and let the arm of her robe slip down another inch, revealing her bandage and a large scoop of cleavage.

'Was it you, Shula?' Neena demanded.

Shula shook her head. 'No. No, I didn't do anything. I got shot.' She pushed her bandaged arm towards Neena. 'A Hunter showed up. It wasn't our fault.'

Neena took a step towards her, the leather of her shoes creaking on the wooden floorboards. 'You think that excuses are going to wash with me, Shula? This is the Brotherhood,' she barked. 'Failure is not an option. Now, drop to the floor and give me fifty.'

Shula froze, her eyes widened and then narrowed to points. 'Neena?' she said. She took a step towards Tristan. 'Neena, is that you?'

The shape before her began to shimmer like a hummingbird. Briefly Neena appeared, her freckled face grinning, before morphing back into Tristan.

'I'm going to kill you!' Shula screamed.

Neena shifted so fast that the others caught only the sight of a small, brown, feathered creature flying past Shula's outstretched hands. Neena landed on the windowsill and tweeted victoriously.

Lucas watched her and allowed himself a small smile.

'Come here, little bird, come here,' Shula cooed, reaching out her hands.

The bird flapped its wings and took off towards Lucas. He felt the air tingle next to him and something brush his arm. He turned his head and found himself staring at a stranger - a twenty-something-year-old man, tall, with dark hair and grey eyes and a sullen stare. He looked suddenly familiar. Then he laughed under his breath. Neena laughed too, lifting an arm and running it through her hair - pushing it back off her forehead. He became aware that he was doing the same. Neena was mirroring him.

'Very funny,' Lucas murmured.

Neena raised an eyebrow.

Lucas frowned at himself. Was that really how he looked to others?

'You gotta scowl, Neena, if you want to be more convincing as Lucas,' Shula said, apparently no longer trying to kill her.

'Yeah, you gotta be all
too cool for school
and strut around in the shadows looking all moody and everything,' Joshua sneered.

Lucas lazily moved his head so he could look at Joshua. He chewed the inside of his lip while he wondered who in all the realms had ever thought that recruiting Thirsters to the Brotherhood was a good idea.

'You been studying Lucas's moves, Joshua? Maybe you should have stuck to the shadows too - then you wouldn't look like the mechanically reclaimed meat patty you do right now.' Shula laughed.

There were snorts of derision, broken by the soft sound of Grace's voice.

'He's coming,' she said quietly, her eyes flying open.

5

Joshua sniffed hard. 'It's Tristan,' he said.

Lucas wondered who else he thought it might be. Tristan was the only other person in the building apart from them. Humans couldn't get inside the old Mission. There was a huge security gate at the top of the road down to it with an
Enter at own risk: Trespassers will be shot
sign stuck on it. Which always made Lucas laugh, as it so baldly undersold the treatment.

What it
really
should say, he thought, was something like:
Enter at own risk: Trespassers may be shot, drunk, eaten, poisoned, sliced or attacked by a wild animal. The psychic will tell you which.

Beside him Neena shifted back to herself. Lucas cast a look at Caleb, who'd slunk into the corner. He was wearing sunglasses, held together with some electrical tape where they'd cracked across the bridge. It was hard to tell what he was thinking but his tail had stopped flickering. He'd been silent all this time but that was his usual state of being: silence, flickering and the occasional bout of snarling.

Tristan opened the door - the real Tristan this time. He was dressed exactly how Neena had portrayed him - in a charcoal grey suit with a white shirt and grey tie that matched his hair. His eyes swept the room. He walked to the front, his bad arm held stiffly at his side, and stood there looking the six of them over, taking in their various states of disarray and burnt flesh. Lucas could hear Shula fidgeting, Caleb's tail rubbing against the wall and Joshua's nasal breathing. At his side, he could sense Neena shimmering lightly.

Finally, Tristan opened his mouth. 'Who is going to explain to me why she's still alive?'

The razor blades were out.

There was an answering silence. No one moved and no one breathed. Everyone waited for somebody else to answer.

'There was a Hunter. He surprised us.' Shula spoke up eventually, her voice wavering.

Tristan turned on her. 'Your job is to
kill
Hunters. Not to be
surprised
by them.'

He rounded on Grace. 'How did you not see him, Grace? You told us we had a window of opportunity.'

'He slipped through.' She shrugged, the only one of them who didn't appear fazed by Tristan's mood. 'You know how it works. My visions are sometimes hazy.'

Tristan narrowed his eyes at her. 'There were six of you and only two of them. One an untrained human girl. What happened?' Tristan surveyed the room, looking for an answer.

Lucas resisted the urge to melt into the shadows. Instead he stood straight-backed against the wall, his face impassive, waiting for the rage to abate. Tristan usually went for shock and awe tactics.

'I
asked
what happened,' Tristan shouted again.

'Caleb. Caleb happened,' Shula answered, checking over her shoulder that Caleb and his tail were out of range and under control. Caleb glared at her from across the room, his tail swishing in an arc.

Tristan ignored them both and turned to Lucas instead. 'I want details. Lucas?'

Lucas held his gaze. 'The girl put up a fight.'

A deep furrow appeared between Tristan's eyebrows. 'She's not trained.'

Lucas kept his voice low in response to Tristan's raised one. 'She can handle herself.'

Caleb suddenly spoke up, his voice angry and breathless. 'She knocked off my glasses, damn it. They're broken. And not one of you bothered to help me out,' he hissed at the others.

'Yeah, like I'm going to help you and get sliced to salami in the process,' Shula yelled.

Tristan interrupted, his voice dropping back to normal. 'Shula, what happened to your arm?'

'I got shot.'

'By the girl?'

'No, by the Hunter. He was there. It was like he knew we were coming. I was just about to kill her when he turned up out of the blue.'

'Who was it?' Tristan asked, taking a step forward. 'Did you see?'

'Oh yeah,' Shula nodded.

'And?' Tristan said. It seemed like he was about to grab Shula by the arms but then suddenly remembered he shouldn't.

'It was Victor,' Neena cut in.

Tristan turned his head to look at Neena. '
Victor?
'

'Yes.' She nodded.

Tristan looked at the rest of them for any sign of disagreement. When no one offered any, he shook his head. 'Still, six of you and only one of them. Truly spectacular.'

'He shone one of those torch things at me,' Joshua whined.

Tristan studied him. It looked like he was thinking the same thing that Lucas had been thinking a few minutes before, questioning the worth of having a low-grade Thirster in the Brotherhood. 'I gathered that,' he said eventually. 'Here. Have some of this.'

He threw a silver Thermos at Joshua, who caught it in the one hand that wasn't fried like a chicken's claw. Lucas watched as Joshua's fangs flew out and his eyes filmed over, becoming glassy. 'Is it human?' Joshua asked as he undid the top of the flask and sniffed the contents.

Tristan raised his eyebrows as if to say,
What the hell else would it be?
'Yes, it's human,' he said. 'You know the rules. Human blood only within the Brotherhood. You took an oath.'