The Lycan Society (The Flux Age Book 1) (17 page)

Even for a werewolf she looked a little haggard. Negotiating the secret removal of two comrades, one dead and one near-dead, can’t have been easy.

Florence ordered room service, but Yasmin wasn’t really in the mood to gorge herself with pastries or coffee. Mischa, too, only nibbled on a single piece of toast.

“We’re leaving at dawn,” Florence offered as she collected her things. “You two should try and get more sleep. Take my bed, Yasmin.”

Mischa looked somewhat sheepish.

“What’s on your mind?” the female werewolf asked.

“I’m not coming with you,” Mischa announced in her strange, lilting voice.

Florence stiffened but gave Mischa room to explain herself. Yasmin could tell she desperately wanted to take the diviner back to New York. The strategic benefits of doing so were obvious. Diviners were as rare as hen’s teeth and would be invaluable in the coming Flux Age.

“This is my home,” Mischa began, eyes buried in her coffee cup. “Old Europe is returning. This is where I need to be.”

Yasmin reached across the table and gave her hand a squeeze. She was a strange and unsettling presence, but Yasmin could at least understand her need to stay where she was comfortable.

Florence nodded grimly.

“I understand, Mischa,” she said. “Before you go I need to know one thing. Did Herr X force you to use your skill?”

Mischa looked away, uncomfortable. She was obviously sensitive to her memories, keeping them locked down whenever she could. Yasmin concluded that the process of divining not only traumatized the girl but damaged her mind.

“The one with silver hair,” Mischa began in a shaky voice. “He asked me to divine lots of men.”

Florence’s eyes widened, kneeling before Mischa and clasping her hands in support. “Go on, Mischa,” she said. “It’s important we know this.”

“The old man made me sit in a room somewhere under the hotel,” Mischa continued. “I could only do one every hour. He became very angry. He said I was too slow.”

Tears slid freely down the diviner’s cheeks. Her powers had been abused and the effort had taken a lot out of her.

“Was the result always the same?” Yasmin found herself asking. It made sense that Herr X would try and build himself an army he knew how to control. Florence nodded, acknowledging her perceptive question.

Mischa looked straight at Yasmin with fear-filled eyes.

“They were all the same,” she whispered. “They were all ghouls.”

Yasmin’s blood went cold. In her time at the Public Library in New York she’d read about ghouls. One of the key players in the last Flux Age, ghouls tended to work very well together and relished the taste of human flesh.

Like
vampyra
they weren’t at their best during the day but were capable of super fast movement at night. If Herr X had gotten himself a band of ghouls, the Lycan Society was in for a torrid time.

“This Herr X is no fool,” Florence said thoughtfully. “He probably has the genome for ghouls and was able to recruit candidates after performing a simple DNA test.”

“At least he doesn’t have Mischa anymore,” Yasmin pointed out.

“Yes, but for how long?” Florence countered. An awkward silence descended, no one knowing what to say. Mischa had made her decision and Florence had no choice but to respect it.

“Are you staying in Berlin?” the werewolf asked her.

Mischa shrugged. Yasmin’s heart went out to her - she seemed completely lost, rudderless. Frowning, the diviner stood and walked to the door.

“Thank you for rescuing me,” she said with obvious gratitude. “I won’t let them find me again.”

Florence nodded. Yasmin believed Mischa - she was clearly a woman familiar with the underground and all it contained. Perhaps she could even find a safe place to lie low. If the wrong person discovered her abilities, she could well be abused again and again. Yasmin gave her a hug before she left. Florence shook her head and locked the door.

“Get some sleep,” she said curtly. “I’ll guard the door.”

Yasmin prepared to do as she was told, trying to ignore the vaguely disdainful tone in the werewolf’s voice. Was she angry with her for some reason? Perhaps something to do with her spirit beast?

Yasmin suppressed a wave of anxiety. She knew, deep down, what Mother Androska would soon be telling her. That she wasn’t fit for the Lycan Society.

One final tear wet Yasmin’s pillow as she finally found sleep. She felt as though she’d run a marathon only to be tripped over within sight of the finishing line.

She didn’t feel any better in the morning. Florence was civil enough but there was definitely a barrier between them. She couldn’t blame Florence - she had fulfilled her duty and that’s all she was professionally obligated to do.

But it still
hurt
. Yasmin had looked forward to some kind of sisterly relationship with this woman. Instead she’d somehow lost Florence’s trust. She felt like yelling that it wasn’t
her
fault she had the wrong spirit beast. But what could she do?

The Lycan Society was famously secretive and insular, despite their protection of humans. Yasmin doubted she’d find friends amongst them now. And then there was Jack …

She shook herself back to reality. To take her mind down that path was too painful. Florence passed her some travel documents as she sipped her coffee.

Jack and Max met them outside at the shuttle. Jack looked particularly disheveled, as if he hadn’t gotten any sleep. Again, Yasmin resisted the impulse to wrap him in a bear hug - he still had the look of a haunted predator. It seemed like she was the last thing on his mind.

She gazed idly at passing traffic as the shuttle wound its way to the airport. Florence asked Jack if their ‘bird’ had flown - he nodded. Yasmin assumed they were referring to the special charter for the injured/dead lycans.

Apart from that brief exchange the bus was morosely quiet. What had the Lycan Society gained from this mission? Herr X was still at large and
she
was a huge disappointment. Yasmin just wanted to crawl into a cave and stay there.

The only way Yasmin could describe the flight was ‘numb’. Florence ensured she was ensconced in a window seat and protected from all sides. Though she was grateful for the consideration, she knew that Florence was only doing her job.

At least she didn’t have to talk to anyone. Florence seemed content to watch the news package and Yasmin was fine with that. All the European feeds were about the ‘horrific’ monster found dead in central Berlin. Witnesses described ‘wolf-like beasts’ skirmishing with the chimera before ‘heroically’ strangling it.

There was rampant speculation on the identity of the wolf creatures. They’d captured the imagination of the European public. Yasmin pondered this. Now that the Flux Age had begun, would the Lycan Society be able to remain underground, the way it preferred? She doubted it very much.

Surely all the Lycan Chapters around the world would need to work together to protect humanity. Especially with the Berlin Club doing their very best to sow discord and chaos wherever they could.

Yasmin drifted into sleep with thoughts of fantastical beasts and monsters. The descent into New York woke her from a troubled slumber.

New York, USA

Florence and Jack seemed as aloof as ever at the airport. Yasmin was shuffled into an unmarked car and whisked away at high speed. She noticed their different route to the Chapter House, this time a wharf on the west side of the East River where they dropped through an old maintenance hatch. Ten minutes of cold, dark tunnel and they were in lycan territory.

Yasmin wasn’t given much time to prepare for her inevitable meeting with the Mother. She knew the werewolves would report first, so she waited in an anteroom outside the Mother’s office. She felt as though something in her had died.

Sure, she was a little jet-lagged and it had been a long day. But the longer she waited, the harder her heart became. She could feel a strange anger building inside her. Its ferocity was something she’d never felt before.

Other feelings and sensations gradually came to her attention. For one, her body felt stronger, more powerful. She thought it must be leftover adrenalin from the previous day’s battle, but it was still out of the ordinary.

Second, she found herself welcoming the deep darkness of the underground lycan stronghold. She realized she couldn’t bear the idea of direct sunlight at that moment.

And finally, she was
thirsty
. A burgeoning dryness in her throat that simply wouldn’t go away, no matter how much water she drank. It was a discomforting sensation, one that she hoped had nothing to do with her spirit beast.

She already suspected what she was, and experiencing these new sensations scared her. She knew she was suppressing the beast inside. At that moment she didn’t want to know. But the beast was persistent. Determined to be set free. And what would happen then? The only thing she could do was ensure she didn’t turn in front of the lycans. The lycans who were about to cut her loose.

Finally the Mother’s door opened. Florence emerged, then Max. Jack came last, ashen-faced. None spoke to Yasmin as they passed, but Jack’s leg brushed hers. Was that a sign? Heart thumping in her ears, Yasmin stepped into the office.

Mother Androska beckoned her to sit. She looked more ravaged with stress than ever. The sadness in her eyes seemed fathomless. At that moment Yasmin knew for sure there was no future for her here.

“Thanks for cooperating, Yasmin,” she began. “You’ve acted with integrity and honor.”

Yasmin nodded, wanting to dispense with pleasantries as soon as possible.

“The briefing I just received was more troubling than I ever expected,” the Mother went on. “Seems Herr X is building an army of night creatures.”

Yasmin nodded, opening her mouth before her brain told her to stop. “If there’s anything I can do to help, Mother, please tell me now.”

She felt her bottom lip quiver and stilled it with all her focus. It wouldn’t do to cry before the Mother. The Lycan Society was now at war - the Mother had other things to think about than the hopes and fears of a silly girl.

But the Mother’s eyes filled with tears too. Yasmin looked on with amazement as the old woman gave in to her conflicting emotions.

“I’d have you in a heart beat, dear girl,” she said in a choked voice. “But your body will soon tell you this isn’t your home.”

Yasmin shut her eyes, knowing deep down this was true.

“You’re a vampire, Yasmin,” the Mother said plaintively. “Not just any vampire, but a rare Queen Mother.”

Here it comes
. Yasmin breathed in deeply, steeling herself for further pain.

“I can feel it, Mother,” she said honestly. “What would you have me do?”

The Mother closed her eyes, clearly dreading the question.

“That’s not something I can answer,” she said tiredly. “Life as you know it is about to change forever.”

The Mother put special emphasis on the word ‘forever’. Something about it made Yasmin uncomfortable.

“A life away from here,” she said more angrily than she wanted to.

The Mother looked her straight in the eye.

“Over time you’ll see why, Yasmin.”

So that was that, then. Yasmin was about to begin her new life, whatever that was.

“Why me, Mother? What if I don’t want to be Queen?”

The Mother offered a faint, mirthless smile. “It’s not that simple,” she said. “Other vampires will seek you out. They’ll depend on you to release them. The Chain of Blood starts with you.”

Yasmin tried to absorb the Mother’s words but all she had was a million questions. She remembered the way that Ukrainian scientist looked at her in Berlin.

“I met a vampire,” she said slowly. “I felt like I’d always known him.”

The Mother nodded. “Echoes of long dead
vampyra
, a proud species decimated by the last Flux Age.”

The Mother was about to say something else, but evidently decided against it. Instead, she steepled her hands and rested her chin on them. It was her signature move and hinted at deep rumination. There was an elephant in the room, something the Mother left unspoken. At that moment that the true implications of her spirit beast hit Yasmin.

“Am I an enemy of lycans?” she asked, perhaps a little too quickly.

The Mother held her gaze. “That, dear girl, is entirely up to you.”

The intensity of the Mother’s gaze sent a shiver down Yasmin’s spine. She realized the old matriarch wasn’t talking about some minor grievance between Yasmin and the New York lycans - she was referring to the incredible power Yasmin now possessed. A power that could breathe life into a long-lost race and change the face of the coming Flux Age. For the first time she could feel that weight pressing down on her, threatening to crush her into oblivion.

She looked at the Mother through entirely different eyes. Strategic eyes. Was the Mother going to let her leave? She hadn’t considered the fact that she was now a potentially valuable prisoner.