The House (52 page)

“I learnt to
take care of myself and my dad. He would drink away all of the
money we did have so we had to move to ever smaller, ever darker
places. I was too young to help with the money; there was nothing I
could do. He forgot about me, not all at once, but gradually. He
made friends with meaner and meaner people. They would give him
jobs. I didn’t know what they were but looking back I think they
were probably illegal. Sometimes, I wish he’d been caught then I
would have been taken away. Maybe they would have found my mum.

“He wasn’t
though, he was never caught. After a few years he got violent. I
went to school for a bit, when I could, but sometimes he wouldn’t
let me out of the house. At least he never let his new friends near
me. Especially as I was getting older, maybe twelve or thirteen, he
started to get more and more paranoid. I had to sneak out to school
when he was asleep and he would beat me if he ever found out I’d
left. He locked me in my room if anyone ever came over. I don’t
know, but I think he was on some kind of drugs. He never seemed
normal at least.

“Eventually I
just got sick of it. I ran away. I was going to find my mum but
there was no trace of her. We’d gone a long way from where we
started and I didn’t have enough money to go all the way back and
look. I didn’t know her maiden name even.” She stopped then, a
wistful look on her face. “So that’s all there is, I suppose. How
about you? How did you end up here?” I blinked slowly to give me
time to process all of it. Hannah had expelled her whole life story
in barely a minute with no time to ask questions. More than
anything, the look on her face told me that I would need to wait to
hear more to get to the feeling behind the story, the fear I could
still see just behind her eyes.

“Marie helped
to raise me,” I told her. I didn’t feel comfortable giving her my
whole story just yet, only enough that she didn’t feel slighted. “I
came to live here when I was sixteen and wanted to get out from
under my grandfather’s thumb. It was the best decision I ever
made.” And I believed that as well. If I could have done it all
again I couldn’t think of much I would have done differently. I
loved Marie, and the House was far more my home than the Covenant
ever was. I didn’t really remember enough of my parents’ house to
compare it with.

I was saved
from answering any more questions by a shout from downstairs for
me. I sighed and rolled my eyes at Hannah before I got up. I had a
bad feeling though, and I dragged my feet going down the stairs. It
was silly really, I’m telepathic not psychic, but I just couldn’t
shake the feeling of foreboding about me.

Sure enough,
when I got downstairs Jalas was waiting in the hallway. He looked
so out of place there surrounded by shifters that I almost laughed.
I had some idea why he was there however, and held back. It was not
a happy occasion in the slightest. I supposed the sense of
foreboding was coming from him. I would never quite be free of his
mind and there was an edge of, if not worry, then at least concern
seeping from him. Eddie’s anxiety didn’t help.

“Can we talk?”
he asked me. I was concentrating too much on breathing to answer
him so I just nodded and guided him to the meeting room. I would
have taken him to the formal living room, but people would want to
spend time with Marie and I didn’t want an audience for this
discussion. I also had a vague sense that the meeting room had the
most soundproofing.

I sat down
without waiting for Jalas when we got there. The expression on his
face was so serious it terrified me. I remembered his warnings
about the telepathy and I was sure they knew what I had done to
Talon. I didn’t want to face the kind of punishment I would get for
that. I would rather take my own life than face that.

“I’m so sorry
about Marie,” he said. I could tell that he actually was sorry, he
wasn’t just saying it. Not that it helped much. It just reminded me
that whatever was coming I would have to face it alone. I didn’t
have Marie any more, even if it was only to hold my hand. “The High
Council has summoned you,” Jalas said. No preamble, no lead up;
just information, given with as little emotion as he could muster.
In fact, if I had only his face and body language to go on I would
have said the statement didn’t affect him at all.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment. I had
to stay calm and told myself that I
was
calm, over and over again, but
my mind was in a panic. The High Council of Witches was akin to my
worst nightmare, as it was for many of us. It was like being told
you had to appear before the high court, except you didn’t get a
jury of your peers to decide your fate. You got only the elders,
who had always been set in their ways. I hadn’t heard of anyone
they had summoned without first deciding their guilt.

“How can they
summon me?” I asked finally. “I’m not a witch.”

Jalas just
looked at me. I was being stupid. The shifters may not recognise
the High Council as having any authority over them but it wasn’t
smart to ignore them either. They had a habit of catching up to
you. They had the resources to make my life very difficult and it
wouldn’t just be me. It would spread to my friends, my family as
well. If the High Council set its collective mind to something you
could be damn sure it would happen, one way or another.

“You have
witch powers. I imagine that they will try to count you as a witch
and ignore the shifter part of you. It’s probably easier for them
to think it through that way. You know what this means?” His face
betrayed nothing but there was something in his voice, a hint of
concern that touched me. Jalas had always been contrary. A
torturer, yet a gentle lover and fierce friend. He still scared me
sometimes but I knew he was trying to think a way out of this. At
least I hoped he was. If I was on my own my fate was already
decided.

“It means that
they are going to put me to trial for my powers. It means that I’m
going to die,” I replied, with as little emotion as possible. I
couldn’t believe that they hadn’t given me at least a little more
time. Marie had only just died and the House was in mourning. It
was going to be in chaos soon as well. We would have to sort
through all of Marie’s documents and her will. There would be so
much to go through and organise. I couldn’t abandon everyone to
that.

I didn’t have
a choice. If I didn’t answer the summons they would forgo all
semblance of a trial and send someone after me. Even Marlow and
James wouldn’t be able to help me then. I would die, but I would
die slower and far sooner than with a trial.

“They may not
execute you,” Jalas said. I just looked at him until he looked
away. “Your grandfather requested more time for you in light of
recent events, but the High Council was very determined. They seem
to have taken it as an insult that your abilities weren’t brought
to their attention before now.” He actually hung his head at that.
I knew that he and my grandfather had known that my powers were
growing, perhaps not quite how much they had grown, but still. They
had protected me by hiding my abilities.

I placed my
hand over Jalas’ where it lay on the table.

“Thank you,” I
said. I suddenly felt old. I thought of all the things I had to do,
of Hannah and Eddie who needed my help. Of all the shifters out in
the hallway, clearly listening, who would expect me to take over
the House. I knew that Marie had all but named me her heir. I had
been trained to take over her position, although she had never
thought it would be so soon. Still, it was my job, it was my
responsibility and all of my choices in the matter had just been
taken out of my hands.

“How
long...how long do I have?” I asked.

“Two weeks,”
Jalas said. “I wish there was more that we could do. Your
grandfather is making the arrangements to get there and we’ll need
to figure out who you’re going to take with you.”

“How many
people will I be allowed?” I asked. I had never actually been to
the High Council before; I wasn’t a witch, I didn’t know all the
rules. I would be surprised if most witches knew the procedure. You
went to the High Council as a last resort.

“Theoretically...” Jalas began, “...as many as you like. But
realistically, I wouldn’t take more than three. That way you can
reasonably expect the High Council to house them. It’s not an easy
place to find accommodation. I think we can talk them into
providing at least that much.” I nodded. I seemed to be doing a lot
of that.

“Will my
grandfather be coming?” I asked.

“No, he will
not be allowed to leave the Covenant. They will say that they can’t
spare him.” I had expected that. I may argue with my grandfather
almost constantly, but it would have been nice to have him there.
Someone who knew what they were doing. I couldn’t argue that he
wouldn’t have been a strong person to have at my back either.

“I can
accompany you if you wish though,” Jalas told me and I felt the
corners of my mouth twitch up slightly. Whilst not entirely
unsurprising, the offer pleased me. I wasn’t stupid. If I could not
have my grandfather, with all his considerable influence, then
Jalas would be the next best thing. He was my grandfather’s right
hand and could wield his power in my grandfather’s stead.

“I would like
that,” I replied. It was a formality, though I think he had
expected me to refuse. Jalas would be going whether I wanted him to
or not. My grandfather would not budge on that, I was sure. “Thank
you.”

“Who else?”
Jalas asked. Apparently, they needed the details quickly. I knew
that travel was difficult, and I respected that, but I would have
liked a little time to think it over. Then I realised that I didn’t
need to. There were really only two other people I could take.

“Stripes and
Eddie.” If Jalas was surprised by my answer he didn’t show it. I
didn’t think about the consequences of having my former and current
lover in the same place for an extended time. If they were childish
enough to get into it when I was facing such dire circumstances I
would send them both home.

I needed
Stripes to hold my hand. I knew it would be terrible to ask her to
come away before she had fully recovered from her own ordeal, but I
didn’t rate my chances of not falling to pieces without her. Eddie,
because...well, I really wanted to take Hercules. He was my other
best friend at the House. However, I would need him to run the
place. If it wasn’t me, it had to be him.

We would have
to sort out paperwork eventually to make sure that he would get
possession of the House from me, but I wouldn’t have to do that
until we could judge what the trial would be like. Eddie would be a
comfort and sometimes he pointed out the obvious things that
everyone else had missed. He was an outsider to this world, maybe
he would see through all the pomp and circumstance. Maybe he would
come up with a brilliant plan. I wasn’t going to hold my breath on
that count.

Of course,
both Eddie and Stripes agreed to come. Hercules nearly threw a fit
when I told him that I would leave the House to him, but there was
nothing I could do about that. James took it all very calmly. I was
surprised that he didn’t insist that he come to protect Stripes. I
had a feeling that she had spoken to him about it. Stripes was a
bit like me in her need for at least the illusion of freedom in her
life. I didn’t like to think what she’d had to say to him to make
him stand so still as he agreed not to join us.

It would be
hard for me to leave Hannah behind. I wanted to be there for her.
She had opened up to me, at least a little, and I knew that by
leaving so soon and so suddenly I would break her trust. I didn’t
have the heart to explain what would happen in detail. She knew
something was wrong, but not what it really was. I didn’t want to
instil such fear of our world in her so soon. She would probably
get the story from Hercules when we were gone. Women had always
been his weakness, and a pretty face could get him to reveal almost
anything.

I was pleased
with Hannah’s progress. She had changed well, if not smoothly. She
was a beautiful black jaguar and I thought that I would cry when I
saw her transformed. She was the spitting image of Marie in her
other form, except that Hannah had a white dot on her left ear. I
even ran with her in my lion form. It had been far too long since I
had run properly and it felt good despite everything else.

She had seemed
to enjoy her time on the full moon. The atmosphere was akin to a
party despite our harsh week. All of our friends together, all
doing something we loved. I had actually laughed that night. I
hoped that it would go some way to erasing Hannah’s memories of
Talon.

I found myself
sitting in a café with Stripes just a day before we were due to
leave for the High Council. It would take the best part of a day to
get there. I had lured her out under the pretence of needing a new
outfit. In truth, I had plenty of clothes that were suitable. My
grandfather was sending Jalas with an extra suitcase full of things
for me to wear that would be appropriate. I got the feeling he
didn’t trust me to make apt choices in that department. I wasn’t
sure that I did either. I had never even seen the High Council and
I had enough of a hard time dressing for the Covenant.

“It’ll be
alright,” Stripes said as she smiled at me. I had found that
Stripes would smile if James or I were around. I’d seen her other
times though and it broke my heart. Ironically, she would only cry
if one of us were present as well. I thought that I might hate
myself if I had to leave her but I had other problems that
afternoon. More than just the worry over the trial and potential
death sentence.