I concentrated on my hands, damping down the fire before it got started in one rational moment as I decided that I’d make this a fair fight, and then kicked out at the bear, not quite connecting, and rolled immediately to my left and back onto my feet. The other shifters around me moved back, clearly allowing the Lord Alpha’s right hand man the chance to take me down on his own. Fine, if that was the way they wanted to play it then I’d rise to the occasion.
Staines leapt towards me, with more lithe grace than I would have expected from his lumbering form. I managed to spring out of the way in time, however, and jumped up in to the air, scissoring out a hard kick and connecting with his shoulder. I landed back on the floor in a crouch as he began to barrel towards me. His right flank was vulnerable though and I saw my way in to slapping him down for good. I shifted my weight, preparing myself, and then stopped as I abruptly remembered the promise I’d made to Corrigan. Goddamnit. Although Staines had made the first move, I supposed that I had materialised rather dramatically in the middle of their home.
I jumped out of the way and turned, straightening up and holding my palms out in the universal language of surrender. “I don’t want to fight you, Staines.”
He snarled at me in bare acknowledgement of my words.
“I mean it.” As much as it galled me, I forced myself to completely relax. “I’ve just come to bring you this.”
I reached behind me to pull out the herb. The muscles in Staines’ shoulders tensed.
“For fuck’s sake,” I spat, “I’m just trying to help you. These,” I produced the blisterwort out with a flourish, “will help you.”
He sprang forward, knocking me to the ground, until he was on top of me with his muzzle in my face.
“Jesus, you lumbering oaf. I’m one of you.”
Staines snorted to show just how much he thought of that statement and opened his jaws to reveal sharp teeth. I twisted my head to the side to avoid his unpleasant hot breath and gasped. “Way Directive 14, you idiot.”
He paused, dark eyes staring at me unblinking. Way Directive 14 stated that no shifter could attack another creature who surrendered without prejudice. I had to hope that he was a stickler for the rules. He growled and leaned back, still in bear form. I raised myself up to my elbows.
“I give myself and my loyalty to the pack,” I intoned formally. “And if you’ll just give these to Julia she can use them to cure the red fever.” I pulled at the blisterwort that I was still clutching tight in my hand and waved it in his face. I softened my voice. “Please, just try it.”
“Oh, yeah?” came a sarcastic voice from the side of me. It was the were-tiger, un-transformed, who’d carried me in so unceremoniously earlier in the day. “How do we know that’s not some kind of poison?”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” I hissed. “You know what I can do.” For a split second I let the green flames flicker on, and then off again. “Do you really think I couldn’t hurt you if I wanted to? I lived with the pack for most of my life. I wouldn’t harm a shifter unless I had to.”
“You went rogue.”
“I can’t go rogue if I’m not really a shifter now, can I?” I was trying to keep reason in my voice. “And the only reason I left was because I thought that you – the Brethren – would be pissed off enough that I was human to kill my pack. I wasn’t to know that that was just some kind of myth.”
“We did used to do that, Mack. It’s just that nowadays that sort of thinking is considered a bit old-fashioned.” It was Lucy, back in naked human form and speaking more softly than her were-tiger brother.
“It doesn’t mean that we can’t resurrect the old ways,” snarled the were-tiger.
“Logan,” sighed Lucy, “just leave it for now. She helped us alright? In Cornwall. I would have died if it wasn’t for her.”
“From what the evidence suggests, you wouldn’t have been in danger in the first place if it wasn’t for her.”
I tried to move but Staines held me in place. “Look, I’m sorry, okay. Just take the plants. If you decide not to use them, then that’s up to you. But I’m telling you,” I added with a desperate note in my voice, “that they’ll help you. They’ll help Corrigan.”
“Well then I suppose I’ll have to try them, won’t I?” Corrigan’s voice boomed down from the landing of a grand staircase in the front of the hall.
I swallowed and tried to shift over to see him. He still looked good. A bit pale around the edges and there was the hint of a red flush rising from under his collar. But he wasn’t bedridden just yet. I felt a wave of relief flood through me. Thank God.
Staines finally moved off of me so I was able to scramble to my feet. I ignored the large circle of shifters that was around me, many of them still in were form and staring at me with wary malevolence.
I stuck out my hand and shook the herbs in the air. “It’s called blisterwort. Someone once told me that it was good for something called blushing disease or red fever. It sounds like what you’ve got. I really do think that this will help.” And, I thought silently to myself, I can always get you to suck my blood as a last resort, as Solus had suggested.
“Fetch the Cornish woman,” Corrigan instructed one of the shifters near him who took off at a dash. He surveyed the whole scene before him and made a dismissive wave with one elegant tanned hand. The shifters in the hall almost immediately melted away. Jeez, it didn’t matter how often I saw his control over the Brethren, it always astonished me.
Staines made an odd guttural noise, still in bear form. Corrigan looked at him and some sort of unspoken communication passed between them. I tried to see if I could make use of my own meagre Voice powers to listen in but it was to no avail. Staines lifted his large body up into the air for a moment and then slunk away.
Corrigan gazed down at me, his green gold eyes entirely expressionless. My knees felt slightly weak. “Uh, thanks,” I muttered.
“I spend months searching for you and then once I find you and let you go, you don’t seem to want to leave, kitten.”
My insides squirmed. “I’ll leave, my Lord,” I said quietly, “but, please, first take this.” Yet again, I stuck out the blisterwort and waved it around. “I really do think it’ll work.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because Mrs Alcoon, the woman that I need to go back to the mages for, told me about it. Honestly, it sounds like it cures exactly what you’ve got.”
“No,” he murmured. “Why did you come back with that? Why are you helping us?”
Nonplussed, I stared up at him. “The pack is my family. Of course I’d do whatever I could.”
“I’m not your family.”
“No,” I said softly, “you’re not. But, I…” I took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to be hurt. I think you’re alright, Corrigan.”
My cheeks were burning and I looked away, sure that he could see right through me. He gave a short bark of laughter and started moving unsteadily down the stairs. Alarmed, I ran up beside him and put an arm around his very broad shoulders to support his weight, telling myself that it was only because I didn’t want to see him topple forward and down the stairs because if he did Staines would probably have my head. Heat was emanating off his skin and betraying the strength of his illness but he smelled so very good, a mixture of citrus spicy goodness. I inhaled deeply.
“My Lord, I think you should sit down.”
“I prefer it when you call me Corrigan,” he said gruffly. “And before I sit down I want you to explain to me what you mean by saying that I’m ‘alright’.”
He turned his emerald green eyes towards me with the flecks of gold flickering within their depths. I licked my lips.
“Mackenzie, dear, you’ve come back! What’s this about a herb?”
“Good timing, Julia,” I muttered under my breath.
Corrigan’s eyes turned sharp but he didn’t comment.
“Pardon, dear?”
“Nothing.” I carefully extracted myself from under Corrigan’s arm, making sure that he wasn’t about to fall over, and trotted back down the stairs to where Julia was waiting. I stuck out the cluster of herbs. “Here. I think this will cure the red fever. It’s…”
“Blisterwort, yes, goodness. I haven’t seen it in years.” Julia peered up at me. “What makes you think it’ll provide a cure?”
“A little bird told me. I’m sure it’ll do the trick, Julia. And if it doesn’t…,” my voice trailed off, not wanting to put into words the idea that the Pack could bleed me dry and then they all might quite possibly be completely cured. Fortunately she didn’t really seem to notice.
“Yes, yes!” Julia’s eyes were gleaming in sudden excitement. “This might work. If I brewed it up with some lemon to make it palatable. Mackenzie, you may have just saved us all.”
Before I could be embarrassed at her words, Corrigan interrupted. “Aren’t you being just a little premature?” The skepticism in his voice was slightly galling.
“Perhaps not, my Lord. Blisterwort is an ancient remedy and something that I simply hadn’t thought of. I suddenly feel really quite optimistic.” She beamed at me and patted my hand. “I’ll go and try it out now.”
She wheeled round and sped her way out of the hall. I watched her go and then turned towards the door.
Where do you think you’re going?
I didn’t look back. I’ve done what I came here to do. The blisterwort will work, I’m sure of it.
You seemed to have another suggestion if it didn’t.
Damn him, he didn’t miss a trick. It will work.
“You should stay in case it doesn’t, Mack.”
It occurred to me that his words were the first time in what seemed like forever that someone had used the name I actually liked to be addressed by. I gave him credit for the thought and finally turned. “Thank you.”
