I blinked back into consciousness a few minutes later. Somehow in the time between one eye blink and the next, I ended up in a guest bed, piled underneath blankets. I could smell Alex in the room even though I didn’t spot him right away. “Damn it Callahan, next time you start feeling dizzy, say something!” he fumed at me. Wow, he sounded pissed. Normally I have to kick someone in the shin to get that kind of anger out of them. Alex stomped over to stand beside the bed, leaned his face in and rested his forehead against mine. “You gotta stop scaring me like that Callahan.” He stepped away from me, towards the door. “Jessica is going to take care of you for a few days. Try not to get killed until I see you next.” And he was out of the door. Well that was just peachy because I had no clue how to respond. Refusing to ruminate on his weird actions, I slipped easily back into unconsciousness.
The next four days were a little tense and awkward. Tense because I couldn’t talk to anyone but Jessica and I was having horrible nightmares every time I closed my eyes for longer than a moment, and awkward because no matter how much I protested otherwise Jessica was convinced I was sleeping with Alex. But other than that, we got along famously. It felt strange to pretend normal; I’d almost been murdered twice. And then Friday came around and I spent the entire day trying to not set Jessica off. It was the night before the full moon and she was a wee bit prickly. I locked myself in the guest room except when I needed to eat or pee. If she wanted to, Jessica could simply go through the damn door, but it was a distinct reminder to her to behave. And that was how Alex found us, pretty much sitting on opposite sides of the door. It was also at this time that I finally put two and two together on certain things.
I’m a sensor, I feel magic but I can also hook into it. Ever since Halloween I could feel Alex’s specific signature and I couldn’t block it out. I think that because his magic is so strong with my magic in such a weakened state I didn’t have the strength to completely block him out. As he entered Jessica’s apartment, I could feel how close his Beast was to the surface, and even more I could feel its awareness of me as it brushed up against my mental barriers teasingly. I gritted my teeth and tried to bolster my mental defences despite the pain it caused. I blinked back tears as I heard Jessica move away from the door. The door opened and Alex came in like a descending thundercloud; I could practically see the Change energy radiating off of him. Jessica stayed back, body language cringing at the more dominant Changer near her. I had two options, I could cringe or I could be defiant. So I stood up and faced Alex square on. The bruises on my face and neck had entered the red and yellow stage, looking positively grotesque and my voice was still a little rough from the choking and smoke inhalation, but I met Alex’s gaze as if I hadn’t a care in the world. “Well, look what the cat dragged in.” I said lightly.
But apparently Alex really wasn’t up to my games today, he put a hand on my collar bone and pushed me back against the wall, which was turning into something he did a lot. Then he leaned his face in close to mine and actually growled. “I’m in no mood for your shit today Callahan. Tomorrow’s the full moon but we can’t leave you here alone. So you’re coming with us and I’ll be able to keep an eye on you myself.” His anger at my seeming resistance just stirred his Beast to push harder against my mental shields but surprisingly enough they held, though I ended up gasping.
“Then lead the way oh great and high mightiness.” I responded, voice a little more rough than my injuries accounted for. Instead of responding, he grabbed me roughly by the arm and pulled me to the front door. I broke his grasp on my arm sharply, much to Alex’s surprise. He turned a snarl at me but stopped as I slid into the cheap running shoes Jessica had picked up for me. Then I pulled on one of her old winter jackets. I was borrowing Jessica’s clothes but it was an awkward fit because I was a completely different shape and size than she was. But oddly fitting clothes was better than no clothes at all. After pulling on the jacket, I kept my mouth shut around a nasty comment and walked out to Alex’s waiting car. I slid into the back seat and slouched down, keeping my face turned down and away from the streets as we passed through neighbourhoods I knew. And I closed my eyes as we passed the wreck of my home. Seven people had died, everyone else had evacuated because I’d pulled the alarm to get help. My family home had gone up in flames and I couldn’t turn to my usual friends without putting them at risk as well. Needless to say, I wasn’t in a very good head space for the last week. It didn’t help that with my mind still torn up from magic, I had problems staying in contact with Cassie; she couldn’t stand the pain I was in. So I stayed bottled up, a feeling I’ve never enjoyed and this massive sense of betrayal was chasing me down every time I closed my eyes wasn't helping.
We pulled up to the Changer safe house and I went inside, as gloomy as a storm cloud. I can’t help but note that it really did smell like wet animal in there. But when a familiar voice boomed out, I suddenly felt a lot better. “Callie!” Barry yelled and thundered over to me, actually brushing past Alex to scoop me up in a breathtaking bear hug. And I melted into it, clinging to my best friend for dear sanity. I hadn’t realized how close to losing it completely I had been this past week. For a moment I could just let my worries soak into my best friend’s chest. It was a little embarrassing how much I needed that. “Do you have any idea how scared I’ve been? I find out from Edward that your place is torched, a Demon Lord wants to kill you, you’ve gone missing and the entire Counsel is looking for both you and Cassie. They even searched my place to see if I’d hidden you. Hell, they searched Alex’s place too. Bet he didn’t tell you that one!” Barry had actually started shaking me a little with his scared anger.
Alex pulled Barry away from me. “Albert it’s not your place.” He said, voice a snarl.
“Not my place? I’ve known Callahan for years, been best friend and confidant to her for years. She killed the poachers who attacked my family, where the hell do you get off thinking that I don’t have the right to be upset?” Barry demanded, actually challenging Alex in his worry. The tension in the room suddenly spiked.
“Oh will you two please just lay them out on the table and measure already?” Jessica demanded, startling everyone out of their hostility. “She’s hardly worth the fuss, we’re all just on edge because of the full moon tomorrow.” She added.
“Gee thanks Jess.” I said dryly. Then we hooked arms and walked past Alex and Barry, ignoring them completely. I was actually quite grateful for her quick thinking, as I really didn’t need Alex killing my best friend in a dominance struggle; Barry kicks some ass but he isn’t vicious by nature, whereas Alex was.
“I’ll give you the grand tour while everyone else settles. A lot of new changers come the night before the full moon because they feel it’s safer until they have more control.” Jessica explained. She showed me the entire facility, which was nice. The room where the little fight with the devil kin had occurred was disinfected, clean, and had a new floor to boot. I’m guessing that with the discerning noses that the Changers generally have, Lysol just couldn’t get the blood smell out. On the plus side seeing the room with a new floor helped me ignore the twinge in my arm where the scar was. Those new tiles made me stop and think; I'd killed someone here and never even once stopped to feel even a shred of guilt over it but I didn’t get to pursue that thought because the boys decided to join us. Barry walked beside me and Alex was on the opposite side of Jessica; both were a little stiff. There were so many jokes I could crack at their expense but for once I managed to shut myself up before I said the stupid things.
The room in which I would be sleeping for the next couple of nights was actually a cell. Metal walls, metal doors, metal bed frame, and a wall in front of the toilet and sink for a facsimile of privacy and it all locked from the outside. I turned a look at them. “You’re joking right?” I asked voice not amused.
“No. This is the safest place for you for the next two nights.” Alex informed me. “You can’t get out and go wandering into trouble, and all the bad guys have to go through us. While we’re in the moon call, we’ll also be unable to hurt you inadvertently.” He added. I shot a look at a guilty looking Barry. Back when Barry’s gift first presented itself, I had sat with him during his first change in an attempt to prove that I wasn’t afraid of him. It was really weird, and kind of gross watching him shape shift but I managed. Barry also managed to remain calm but he tried to hug me in bear shape to show his gratitude and accidentally clawed my hip open. It wasn’t a major injury, but he freaked out. I got stitched up and now, years later have claw marks from the top of my left hip on the side of my leg, slashing diagonally to the front of my thigh. The scars are only about a foot long and don’t bother me, but Barry still feels guilty to this day, and Alex has definitely seen me in a state of undress so he had to have noticed them. “Tonight, unless someone succumbs early, you’ll not be locked in and are free to join us at dinner and the following movie. This month’s film is Hudson Hawk and food is pizza.” Alex said, quite formally, probably a tactic to help keep the Tigris theriomorph in check.
“Sounds like a blast.” I responded blandly. I was about to add a scathing sarcastic remark when I heard a haughty female voice coming down the hall. All three shape changers groaned under their breath and I soon found out why. Curly, flaming red hair marched into the room followed closely by Jason the werewolf and his wolf pack buddies. The woman was strangely frail but formidable; she had an aggressive jut to her jaw, falsely full lips, an anemic looking body and three inch heels on. I could tell that despite her makeup, she was stepping into her 40’s. She dressed like a cheap showgirl, at least in my opinion; red sequin heels, fishnets and a tight green dress, falsely red hair and an enthusiastic amount of makeup on. She was also giving me the hairy eyeball.
“So you’re what all the fuss is about.” She asked rhetorically. Jason was smirking at me. “Not much to look at is she?” She added insultingly.
“Ashley, what are you doing here? You normally avoid the night before the full moon.” Barry asked, stepping slightly forward. At the same time Jessica tightened her grip on my arm warningly, they were definitely trying to get us apart. I could handle my own against a puffed up clown like her, but I was sort of amused to see other people jump to my emotional defence. Normally I’d get pissed but I was smart enough to realize this had very little to do with me, and everything to do with the full moon and dominance struggles.
Ashley ignored Barry and stepped in close to Alex and put a manicured hand on his chest. “Why Alex dear, you seem unhappy to see me. Did you not want me meeting your little pet?” she asked coyly. I smiled even though I really wished I could rip this idiot’s throat out. Alex ignored her and looked back at Jessica and me, a suddenly amused glint in his eye.
“Callahan Orenda, I’d like you to meet Ashley Young. Ashley, this is Callahan.” He formally introduced us. With a frown Jessica let my arm go so I could shake Ashley’s hand. With a contemptuous smile she shook hands.
“Charmed, I’m sure.” She said arrogantly to me.
“Not really.” I replied. I could actually hear her grind her teeth, which for me counted as a win. But I really wasn’t here to pick fights with petty Changers. “So how come you don’t usually come to the pre-full moon festivities?” I asked, sliding past the insult as if it’d never happened.
“Usually there’s nothing interesting to draw my attention.” She replied. The way she enunciated the word attention was predatory. I think she was honestly trying to intimidate me.
“So I would be so interesting as to make you change your patterns and come out to see me. How sweet, giving me such a warm welcome.” I deliberately misinterpreted. She actually snarled a little, poor girl wouldn’t have a clue how to handle me. I’m betting her usual bullying worked on most people who were naturally more submissive and she charmed all the others who were dominant, or at the very least avoided angering them. She expected me, as a non Changer female, to be submissive. Hell I pick fights with Alex the ultimate dominant Changer, there was no way I’d let Ashley push me around.
She stepped in close to me and put a hand on my arm, not rough but definitely threatening; I could feel the Changers next to me go alarmingly still. Once again I was the cause of all the tension. I had a couple of options: I could back down, I could let my friends bail me out, or I could handle this bitch myself. “Honey, don’t you know it’s rude to grab people? I understand that people your age start to forget things, but that’s really an important social nicety.” I said sweetly. I grabbed her hand as she started to squeeze painfully. Strength she may have, but I know how to fight. I pinched the nerve in her hand and she let go abruptly, much to her surprise. “Now Ashley, there’s no need to play rough. Just stop trying to bully me and we’ll get along fine.” I said calmly.
For a moment I do believe she was going to listen to me, my complete lack of fear unnerved her. But then Jason started to growl at me; for some reason the little bad wolf didn’t much like me. His continuing aggression spurred Ashley to keep hers up so I knew she was going to try and slap me a moment before she did it. Instead of connecting, I moved at an angle to her and grabbed her wrist and twisted her elbow, locking her arm. At the same time I kicked the back of her knees, dropping her to the floor. It all happened so fast that the other Changers were only just reacting by clearing away. “If you insist on acting stupid, I’ll rip your face off and keep it as a souvenir. You may be stronger than me, but I’m no push over.” I warned, all playful joking gone. I twisted her arm just so she knew I could dislocate it at any time. “Do we understand each other?” I demanded. She growled and snarled at me but no amount of strength would defeat the leverage I had on her; finally she whimpered and stopped fighting.
“Yes, yes we understand each other! Now please let me go.” Ashley wailed. Pain was definitely not this woman’s forte.
I released her arm and stepped back quickly just in case she tried anything underhanded. Like all bullies, once I had beaten her at her own game, she stayed defeated. However, I’m pretty sure that given a chance, she’ll try to stab me in the back. Though being a jackal like she was, she might claw me in the back instead. I almost stepped right onto Alex’s foot because he’d moved up close behind me. As it was my back ended up against his chest. My heart jumped into my throat and his hand came to rest on my shoulder.
“Ashley, you and you’re... friends should be aware that not only is Callahan here at my invitation in the past she has earned the right to call a favour from us. As such, I will not tolerate violence against her person.” Alex grated formally. With one fell swoop, he’d eliminated the independent dominance I had just established. I would have kicked him except I understood why he’d done it. Right now I’m on his turf, under his rule so I can’t be my usual self. Well I can, but I have to pretend it’s with his permission. Because trust me, if he tried to pull a stunt like this anywhere else, I’d have kicked his ass next. But instead I just stood there, letting him silently take claim of my independent actions. He squeezed my shoulder gently as if he knew what standing still and keeping my mouth shut was costing me. “Do we understand each other?” he asked, parroting my words.
Ashley tore her hate filled eyes off of me and stared for a moment at Alex’s hand on my shoulder. She cleared the anger from her face before she met Alex’s gaze. “I understand you completely Alex. I am as ever your obedient subject.” She replied meekly. Everyone in the room knew that her sentiment was false, but Alex let it go without comment. “If I have your leave Alex, I think it would be best if I went home. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Alex gave her a permissive nod of his head and she fled with what little dignity she had left. Her entourage left with her.
Barry and Jessica let out relieved sighs. “Damn Callie, I seriously wonder about your sanity sometimes.” Barry said laughing. He turned to look at me and the smile slid right off his face. Alex still hadn’t let go of my shoulder and I could feel my jaw just out in anger.
“Jessica, Albert, if you don’t mind I need to have a word with Callahan.” Alex said, voice devoid of the anger that made the hand on my shoulder shake. Jessica headed right out the door but Barry paused a moment. Poor Barry, caught between loyalty to me and to Alex. I winked at him and he took off.
Alex spun me around, trying to keep his grip on my shoulder but I pushed him away. Yeah, I know, shoving an angry shape Changer is a capital letter BAD IDEA. But my general mood wasn’t one of patience and tolerance. “Are you insane Callahan? Challenging one of the most dominant shape changers like that. You’re lucky I was right here to protect you! For the rest of the night keep your damned mouth shut and behave yourself!” he ordered me.
“You know what maybe I am insane because somehow I saw things a bit differently. I handled myself perfectly fine, she had backed down and jackal or no jackal, she wasn’t getting the best of me. So I didn’t exactly need you stepping in and trampling all over the little bit of reputation I had just established. Now they’re all going to think I’m all bluster but I’ll run to you if I need help! And as for that last little bit of nonsense, I am not one of your subjects so don’t you dare try to order me around. You might be hot shit in your little world, but in my world I am King. Do you understand that?” I demanded. I had also grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in close, glaring into his brown ringed orange eyes.
Alex in return grabbed my ponytail and snarled at me. “What I understand is that you are the most suicidally inclined Caster I have ever met. I don’t know how you’ve survived as long as you have but if it wasn’t for me, you’d be long dead by now. You should be grateful!”
“Grateful? You seem to forget that one of the times I almost died it was saving your ass from certain death. Or do I need to remind you that all I had to do was nothing and I would have been free of you?” I asked acid in my voice.
“You’re a hopeless pain in the ass Callahan.”
“And you’re a thankless bastard Alex.” And then he kissed me. It surprised me so much that I kissed him right back. It wasn’t exactly a gentle brush of the lips either. But something more interesting than a little tonsil hockey happened; his Beast seemed to be aware of me and this is what it had been waiting for because I could suddenly feel Alex’s freaking tiger inside my head. My mind felt like it was wrapped in soft fur. We both jolted back away from each other in the same moment. If I wasn’t so freaking alarmed, the look of utter shock on his face would have made me dance in celebration. Instead I fell back on anger to hide my fear and confusion. “What the hell?” I demanded. Some kind Goddess or God somewhere was smiling down on me because instead of responding, Alex stormed out of the cell and slammed the door shut without a word. When I tried to open it a few minutes later, I realized that it was locked. “Bastard!” I yelled. Guess my invitation to the movie was revoked.
Barry did slip me some pizza later on in the night. But by then even he was awfully grouchy and his eyes shown eerily with his Bear colours. Maybe getting locked in wasn’t such a terribly bad thing. It made for a very long night though because I had no plans to sleep. When Barry let me out in the morning, everyone was still on edge. I knew today would be a bad day to run my mouth off, so I kept my anger stuffed into a corner of my mind; but even I was feeling a bit twitchy.
“Here, these should fit. The showers are just down the hall on your left.” Barry said softly, handing me a pair of sweats. I smiled at him and took the clothes. Maybe a shower would help me keep a lid on my volatile temper. I do not like being locked up like an animal; if I had I would have willingly gone to the Counsel House. Now I’m not one of those obsessive people when it comes to showers and being clean, I can roll around in the mud with the best of them, but a good hot shower is soothing to me. So with a better disposition I managed to eat breakfast with the Changers. No topic seemed really safe but somehow we landed on chatting about me finding a new place to live. Since Cassie was going to eventually marry Zeke, this was a good time for me to find my own place; it’d be weird though as I’ve never lived on my own, I’ve always lived with Cass. The entire time we were discussing me getting to ‘stand on my own two legs’ I could feel Barry watching me intently, so I looked at him and crossed my eyes slowly. He blinked and laughed.
“Sorry Cal, I didn’t mean to stare. You just seem, different this morning.” He apologized.
“Different? What is my second head suddenly visible?” I asked jokingly.
“No, you just feel different. I swear if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a new Changer. But I guess that’s probably due to you being around so many of us. We’ve never really had a non Changer here the night of the full moon.” He explained. Chances were that he was partially right; I know some of it was a bleed over effect of my secret gift. The longer I’m around a person, the easier it is for me to look into their gift and use it or blend with it, and since my control wasn’t 100% right now I was doing it without meaning to.
“Well, I happen to just be surrounded by Changers in their home base, the day of the full moon. I’m sure if I were a Changer, we’d all know about it by now.” I replied, hiding the truth in a lie and Barry smiled at me.
“Very true, I know if no one else would know Alex would, and he hasn’t said a damn thing about it.” I tensed a little as Jessica added that. As it was, Alex was too close to figuring out all my secrets so I was grateful that he’d been out of the line of sight since last night.
“Where is your glorious leader?” I was only politely curious as to where he’d gone to.
“He’s doing the monthly meet and greet. The Counsel sensors who screen children give him a list of names of those who are or will be Changers. So he invites the parents of young Changers to come and see the environment where their child will be spending their full moons. He then leads a class of theory for the young Changers so they know the explanation of what’s going to happen. It doesn’t actually prepare them, but it helps calm them down. When it gets closer to night fall you will be escorted downstairs and then I’ll help Alex with the volatile new comers.” Barry explained.
“Ah.” I was just full of complex vocabulary terms. “So what do we do until then?” It was hard to not sound absolutely bored but after a week of being confined in doors and then a night locked in a room I was starting to get sick of my own head space; it was never the safest of places at the best of times and lately it has been more dark and gloomy than even I like to endure. At least I know how to entertain myself tonight, I’d surreptitiously grabbed what I needed to try and pick the cell lock. Safety my ass, I didn’t want to spend another sleepless night locked up, but I wasn’t about to announce that to these two. After sitting meekly for a week I’m going stir crazy; I was able to work out in my room as much as I could but I’m used to doing things, not waiting for stuff to happen; I was aching to go blow off some steam.
“Well, if you’d like to join us, usually we meditate and do leisurely activities to help keep our control up and our aggression down.” Jessica said with a quirky smile on her face and I groaned a little. Getting Changers worked up on the day of the Full Moon was just a terrible idea though so I’d just have to survive a little more boredom.
So that’s what we did. Meditation was a little more like nap time for me than actual mental relaxation, though that on its own provided some laughter because I started to snore a little. Barry poked me awake while he laughed at me and it at least helped me feel a little less ragged. The very little sleep I allowed myself lately was taking its toll and even with the forced idleness and constant inactivity I was feeling strung out. I caught site of Alex and a family or two of new Changers but Barry seemed to rush me out of sight, probably because I still wasn’t one of Alex’s favourite people. Which was perfectly fine with me; he wasn’t exactly on my Christmas card list either. The rest of the day was spent playing non stressful games. I wanted poker but we settled for crazy eights. I never knew that you could play the game so often that your brains actually start to leak out of your ears. Barry took off after that, to help Alex I assume. When Jessica and I got sick and tired of our rousing games of crazy eights we switched to, of all games, Pictionary. That was actually fun because I’m pretty good at it, and Jessica has a hilariously dirty mind, so that random game session turned into a bout of who could make the most innuendos within the time limit. Barry rejoined us partway through and we had hysterical fun. After that we headed into the kitchen where we ate some chicken. Intellectually I knew that Changers can eat any kind of meat, but it always startles me a little when they don’t eat red meat.
We were having fun washing up some dishes when Barry and Jessica suddenly went still. I calmly turned around to see Alex watching us. “Callahan, you need to head down to the safe room now.” He said calmly. I opened my mouth to argue, it’s instinctive for me to object whenever he bosses me around now, but I managed to resist.
“Fine, just let me grab some pyjamas and I’ll go down.” I agreed, reaching for more dirty dishes.
“That won’t be necessary, there’s already some in the room.” Alex said, stopping me in my tracks. He’d gone into the room, and I just hoped he hadn’t searched it. My rudimentary lock picking tools were hidden, but in a room like that they wouldn’t be terribly hard to find. Masking my anxiety, I shrugged and gave Barry and Jessica each a quick hug but they were both still awkward and stiff. I felt like I was being led to the executioners block as I followed along behind Alex. He opened the cell door and gestured for me to go in; I rolled my eyes at him and walked in.
It took me a moment to notice that there were no pyjamas visible, but that moment was all Alex needed. One arm reached around and pinned me against him while a needle pricked my shoulder. “Son of a bitch!” I swore and smashed my head back, busting Alex’s nose open. He let go instinctively and I danced out of his reach even as I felt a cool wash of weakness steal the strength from my muscles. I was swaying where I stood but managed to stay upright. Alex took his hand from his bleeding nose and watched me while I eyed the empty syringe in his hand. The drug he’d shot me with was tearing me from consciousness despite my valiant effort to blink it back.
“It’s just a sedative Callahan. Jessica told me that you’ve been doing everything you can to stay awake. I know you’re paranoid about Marcus but you need to sleep. You can trust us to keep you safe.” He explained, walking towards me. I think it surprised him that I was still standing. I could feel my muscles tremble from chemical weakness, but I tried kicking him in the shin. Bastard didn’t even blink he just caught me as I collapsed.
“Kick your ass.” I muttered as he picked me up and actually tucked me into bed. He smiled at my ever present defiance like it was amusing which just convinced me that he was an arrogant bastard who desperately needed to be put in his place when I woke up. I was about to tell him how I’d wipe the floor with him when I was pulled out of consciousness entirely.