All Hail the Shifter King
Title: Lords of Kensington, Part 5
Word Count: 2014
The slam of the car door startled her from her sleep, and with a gasp she grabbed at the door handle, jerking upright in her chair with her heart in her throat, the sound of the growling, buzzing thing in her ears, half-expecting to see some monstrous face staring back at her through the window and -
Nothing. Just a gas station, Ryder standing at the pump beside the car, and the two wiggling keesin in the back seat. They seemed awfully disappointed when she unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out of the vehicle, wincing at the stiffness in her back and shoulders.
"Sorry to wake you," Ryder said, and gestured around them. "Car was hungry."
"Mmm, it's fine," she replied, rubbing her neck and leaning against her door. Beyond the roof that covered the pumps, the sky was a deep, threatening grey and the snow was falling as heavily as it had been since they left the hotel. She'd stepped out without her jacket and already she was starting to shiver at the frigid wetness in the air. "I should let the boys do their thing."
"Sure," he said, and pulled open the top button of his jacket so that he could tug his necklace out from under his shirt and toss it over the roof at her. "You know the drill." She nodded as she slipped the coin around her neck and opened the back door of the rental SUV, grabbing her jacket and purse from beneath the two beasts as they eagerly awaited her permission to exit the vehicle.
"You guys know the drill, too," she said, scrubbing her hands across the tops of their hands. "Behave yourselves, yeah?" They grumbled and grunted at her - the closest she would get to a yes, she supposed - and she stepped aside to let them jump out. Before their paws even hit the ground a brief flicker of golden light shimmered across their bodies, so fast that even Katrina's trained eyes nearly missed it, and they emerged from the vehicle not as keesin but as a pair of gorgeous ash-grey wolfhounds. Stretching their long legs with sighs of contentment, they trotted to the narrow strip of what was probably grass - difficult to tell under all the snow - and squat trees that separated the gas station from the nearby convenience store and coffee shop. Katrina strolled after them, enjoying herself a little more now that she had the warmth of her jacket around her, and turned around to whistle sharply at Ryder. He leaned around the front of the SUV and she pointed first at him, then the coffee shop, then drew a question mark in the air. He flashed her a thumbs up, and she waited a few moments for the dogs to finish leaving yellow-tinged wells in the snow before she led them toward the shop. Once she ordered them into place beside one of snow-covered patio tables, she slipped into the shop and the glorious, enveloping smell of coffee and baked goods.
It all felt so normal, and perhaps that was the part that bothered her the most. Just a few hours ago - four and a half, the clock on her phone confirmed - she'd been frozen with fear in a dark hotel room, listening to some creature paw at the door. Now they were passing Antovinn and less than six hours drive from home, and she was both excited and resentful of the fact that Kensington was so close. Excited at the thought of seeing her parents and the familiar things she'd left behind, and resentful that something - some thing - had presumably followed them all the way from Rion Fell. Because what was that thing if it wasn't one of the horrors she'd seen lurking in the rain forest?
Except Ryder was terrified of it, her brain helpfully reminded. And you never saw him afraid of anything that Rion Fell could spit out.
She shook herself free of the dark ideas - that was not an avenue of thought she wanted to venture down right now - and stepped to the counter to order drinks and an assortment of fruits and baked goods to help sustain them on the next leg of the drive. By the time she got back outside, Thaddeus and Crispin had been joined by a young woman who crouched in the snow beside them, rubbing her gloved hands over their heads and thick necks. They were too well-trained to move, especially when Katrina was watching, but their swishing tails had cleared fans in the snow and they purr-grunted happily every time they were touched.
"Looks like you two made a friend," Katrina observed. The woman glanced up at her with wide grey eyes that were first suspicious, then warmed slightly as she stood and dusted off the hem of her pleated wool skirt.
"They're nice dogs," the girl said, resting her hand on Crispin's head. She was just slightly shorter than Katrina - the dogs came to her waist, and when Crispin sighed and leaned against her it nearly knocked her over. "You don't see hounds like this around here often."
"Thank you," Katrina said. "Come on, boys," she said to the dogs. "We need to get -"
"Are the six legs a defect, or a breed thing?"
Katrina froze in mid-turn toward the SUV, and slowly brought her attention back to the woman. Beneath her jacket the coin heated to a nearly unbearable temperature against her skin.
"I'm sorry?" she asked.
"Look, I'm not..." The woman trailed off as a man left the coffee shop, and waited for him to hurry through the snow to his vehicle. "I'm not looking for trouble. It's just not too often I see..." She paused again, then chuckled and gestured at Katrina. "Whatever family you are, I guess." She tugged at the charcoal grey overcoat she wore, shaking snow from her sleeves, then stepped forward and offered her hand to Katrina. "Anya," she said. "Where are you from?"
"Kensington," Katrina said, not shaking her hand. "I'm sorry, I think you're confused, I'm just -"
"I don't want to hold you up," Anya told her, eyes darting nervously around the parking lot. "I'm just on border patrol, if you know what I mean."
"No, I don't -"
"Someone picked up on you when you landed," she interrupted again. "Don't ask me who, we're not entirely sure about it yet. But you've had a pack following you since the airport and they're taking keen interest." She dug in the pockets of her jacket for something, and that was when Katrina noticed the odd necklace the woman wore - a band of shaped leather that swooped low across her collarbones, joined above her sternum by a flat, hammered ring of gold. "Take this," Anya said before Katrina could comment on the jewelry, and closed the gap between them to offer Katrina a pitted brass key. "Bring it to the pack hall in Kensington. Atticus will fill you in."
"Pack hall? But I don't -"
"Listen, you've got to go. You don't have much time to -"
"No, you listen!" Katrina snapped, frustrated. "I don't know what you're talking about, okay? I'm human, I'm just human. Nothing you're saying makes any sense!"
In the silence that fell between them the keesin whimpered and cowered against the wall of the shop, startled and upset by Katrina's outburst. Anya took a step back as well, more in confusion than anything, her gloved hands tensing into fists for a moment before relaxing again.
"If you're human," she said finally, her hand slipping inside her open jacket and creeping toward the small of her back, "how are you throwing around glamours?"
"It's not me, it's this damn thing." Katrina hooked her thumbs in the leather strap and pulled the coin out, letting it fall against her jacket. "I don't have a clue how it works, I just -"
"Then who owns it?" Anya demanded, clearly aggravated. "And what are you thinking, running off with a kin's magic when -"
A sheet of golden light exploded just inches from their faces and both women recoiled with a yelp of shock, Anya throwing up her hands to shield her face and Katrina dropping her armload of food and cooling beverages. Just as quickly as it appeared, though, the light vanished and there was a clatter as the things it had caught fell to the ground. Trembling, Katrina crouched and picked them up, uttering a string of profanities that surprised even her as she realized they were crossbow bolts, the carbon fibre bodies tipped with wickedly sharp, serrated hunting broadheads.
"Shit," Anya hissed beside her. She'd crouched to pick up one of the bolts as well, and her eyes flitted nervously across the parking lot, the multiple stationary vehicles, the thick curtain of falling snow that made it near-impossible to see. "Shit. I didn't think they'd get here so fast." Grabbing the sleeve of Katrina's jacket, she pointed to a small silver sports car with deeply tinted windows, parked just a dozen spaces away. "Take the dogs with you. Get in the car and -"
"Are you out of your mind?" Katrina demanded, jerking her arm away. "If these things are after you I'm staying as far away as -"
"They're not after me, you idiot, they're after this and whoever it belongs to!" She smacked her fist against the coin dangling from Katrina's neck, causing it to hiss as the hot surface made contact with her snow-spotted gloves. "So getting you out of here and back to Kensington is -"
A shrill scream tore through the air from the gas station, and Katrina spun to find a woman on the ground clutching her leg, a bolt protruding from her thigh. Another scream and a man went down near the station entrance, followed by the sound of shattering glass before a vehicle careened out of control into the pillar of the stadium lights at the parking lot's edge.
She was on her feet and running before she was even aware of making the decision to move, sprinting back across the parking lot with the keesin moving in a tight figure eight around her, their eyes glowing a hellish red as they searched for anything that might threaten their adoptive mother. The coin flared and sparked against her jacket, pinging out expanding sheets of light to block the bolts as they flew at her - they were by no means perfect, though, failing to catch one that tore through the flapping hem of her coat and another that skewered her purse. She barely slowed, though, and skidded into the SUV so hard her breath momentarily left her. Yanking the doors open, she yelled at the dogs to get inside and gave Thaddeus an extra push when he couldn't quite move fast enough - as she straightened and slammed the door, the light flared so close to her face it light-blinded her and she staggered back, slipped in the snow, and fell heavily to the ground. Cursing loudly and scrubbing at her face, she made it to her hands and knees just in time to see something enormous - the size of a large bear, possibly larger - with insectile wings throw itself through the glass storefront of the gas station with a bellow that sounded like the roar of an angry mob mixed with the groan of a rockslide, so deafening she was frozen in fear, her heart shoving and crawling its way into her throat.
Seconds later, Ryder rounded the back of the store at a run, keeping close to the wall as he searched the lot. When her finally spotted her on the ground he paused just slightly, just long enough for her to scream at him to stop, before he ran to her.
He was just ten feet away when his body jerked suddenly and he stumbled, losing his balance before he twisted again as if struck by an unseen assailant, and collapsed in a heap to the ground.
Word Count: 2014
The slam of the car door startled her from her sleep, and with a gasp she grabbed at the door handle, jerking upright in her chair with her heart in her throat, the sound of the growling, buzzing thing in her ears, half-expecting to see some monstrous face staring back at her through the window and -
Nothing. Just a gas station, Ryder standing at the pump beside the car, and the two wiggling keesin in the back seat. They seemed awfully disappointed when she unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out of the vehicle, wincing at the stiffness in her back and shoulders.
"Sorry to wake you," Ryder said, and gestured around them. "Car was hungry."
"Mmm, it's fine," she replied, rubbing her neck and leaning against her door. Beyond the roof that covered the pumps, the sky was a deep, threatening grey and the snow was falling as heavily as it had been since they left the hotel. She'd stepped out without her jacket and already she was starting to shiver at the frigid wetness in the air. "I should let the boys do their thing."
"Sure," he said, and pulled open the top button of his jacket so that he could tug his necklace out from under his shirt and toss it over the roof at her. "You know the drill." She nodded as she slipped the coin around her neck and opened the back door of the rental SUV, grabbing her jacket and purse from beneath the two beasts as they eagerly awaited her permission to exit the vehicle.
"You guys know the drill, too," she said, scrubbing her hands across the tops of their hands. "Behave yourselves, yeah?" They grumbled and grunted at her - the closest she would get to a yes, she supposed - and she stepped aside to let them jump out. Before their paws even hit the ground a brief flicker of golden light shimmered across their bodies, so fast that even Katrina's trained eyes nearly missed it, and they emerged from the vehicle not as keesin but as a pair of gorgeous ash-grey wolfhounds. Stretching their long legs with sighs of contentment, they trotted to the narrow strip of what was probably grass - difficult to tell under all the snow - and squat trees that separated the gas station from the nearby convenience store and coffee shop. Katrina strolled after them, enjoying herself a little more now that she had the warmth of her jacket around her, and turned around to whistle sharply at Ryder. He leaned around the front of the SUV and she pointed first at him, then the coffee shop, then drew a question mark in the air. He flashed her a thumbs up, and she waited a few moments for the dogs to finish leaving yellow-tinged wells in the snow before she led them toward the shop. Once she ordered them into place beside one of snow-covered patio tables, she slipped into the shop and the glorious, enveloping smell of coffee and baked goods.
It all felt so normal, and perhaps that was the part that bothered her the most. Just a few hours ago - four and a half, the clock on her phone confirmed - she'd been frozen with fear in a dark hotel room, listening to some creature paw at the door. Now they were passing Antovinn and less than six hours drive from home, and she was both excited and resentful of the fact that Kensington was so close. Excited at the thought of seeing her parents and the familiar things she'd left behind, and resentful that something - some thing - had presumably followed them all the way from Rion Fell. Because what was that thing if it wasn't one of the horrors she'd seen lurking in the rain forest?
Except Ryder was terrified of it, her brain helpfully reminded. And you never saw him afraid of anything that Rion Fell could spit out.
She shook herself free of the dark ideas - that was not an avenue of thought she wanted to venture down right now - and stepped to the counter to order drinks and an assortment of fruits and baked goods to help sustain them on the next leg of the drive. By the time she got back outside, Thaddeus and Crispin had been joined by a young woman who crouched in the snow beside them, rubbing her gloved hands over their heads and thick necks. They were too well-trained to move, especially when Katrina was watching, but their swishing tails had cleared fans in the snow and they purr-grunted happily every time they were touched.
"Looks like you two made a friend," Katrina observed. The woman glanced up at her with wide grey eyes that were first suspicious, then warmed slightly as she stood and dusted off the hem of her pleated wool skirt.
"They're nice dogs," the girl said, resting her hand on Crispin's head. She was just slightly shorter than Katrina - the dogs came to her waist, and when Crispin sighed and leaned against her it nearly knocked her over. "You don't see hounds like this around here often."
"Thank you," Katrina said. "Come on, boys," she said to the dogs. "We need to get -"
"Are the six legs a defect, or a breed thing?"
Katrina froze in mid-turn toward the SUV, and slowly brought her attention back to the woman. Beneath her jacket the coin heated to a nearly unbearable temperature against her skin.
"I'm sorry?" she asked.
"Look, I'm not..." The woman trailed off as a man left the coffee shop, and waited for him to hurry through the snow to his vehicle. "I'm not looking for trouble. It's just not too often I see..." She paused again, then chuckled and gestured at Katrina. "Whatever family you are, I guess." She tugged at the charcoal grey overcoat she wore, shaking snow from her sleeves, then stepped forward and offered her hand to Katrina. "Anya," she said. "Where are you from?"
"Kensington," Katrina said, not shaking her hand. "I'm sorry, I think you're confused, I'm just -"
"I don't want to hold you up," Anya told her, eyes darting nervously around the parking lot. "I'm just on border patrol, if you know what I mean."
"No, I don't -"
"Someone picked up on you when you landed," she interrupted again. "Don't ask me who, we're not entirely sure about it yet. But you've had a pack following you since the airport and they're taking keen interest." She dug in the pockets of her jacket for something, and that was when Katrina noticed the odd necklace the woman wore - a band of shaped leather that swooped low across her collarbones, joined above her sternum by a flat, hammered ring of gold. "Take this," Anya said before Katrina could comment on the jewelry, and closed the gap between them to offer Katrina a pitted brass key. "Bring it to the pack hall in Kensington. Atticus will fill you in."
"Pack hall? But I don't -"
"Listen, you've got to go. You don't have much time to -"
"No, you listen!" Katrina snapped, frustrated. "I don't know what you're talking about, okay? I'm human, I'm just human. Nothing you're saying makes any sense!"
In the silence that fell between them the keesin whimpered and cowered against the wall of the shop, startled and upset by Katrina's outburst. Anya took a step back as well, more in confusion than anything, her gloved hands tensing into fists for a moment before relaxing again.
"If you're human," she said finally, her hand slipping inside her open jacket and creeping toward the small of her back, "how are you throwing around glamours?"
"It's not me, it's this damn thing." Katrina hooked her thumbs in the leather strap and pulled the coin out, letting it fall against her jacket. "I don't have a clue how it works, I just -"
"Then who owns it?" Anya demanded, clearly aggravated. "And what are you thinking, running off with a kin's magic when -"
A sheet of golden light exploded just inches from their faces and both women recoiled with a yelp of shock, Anya throwing up her hands to shield her face and Katrina dropping her armload of food and cooling beverages. Just as quickly as it appeared, though, the light vanished and there was a clatter as the things it had caught fell to the ground. Trembling, Katrina crouched and picked them up, uttering a string of profanities that surprised even her as she realized they were crossbow bolts, the carbon fibre bodies tipped with wickedly sharp, serrated hunting broadheads.
"Shit," Anya hissed beside her. She'd crouched to pick up one of the bolts as well, and her eyes flitted nervously across the parking lot, the multiple stationary vehicles, the thick curtain of falling snow that made it near-impossible to see. "Shit. I didn't think they'd get here so fast." Grabbing the sleeve of Katrina's jacket, she pointed to a small silver sports car with deeply tinted windows, parked just a dozen spaces away. "Take the dogs with you. Get in the car and -"
"Are you out of your mind?" Katrina demanded, jerking her arm away. "If these things are after you I'm staying as far away as -"
"They're not after me, you idiot, they're after this and whoever it belongs to!" She smacked her fist against the coin dangling from Katrina's neck, causing it to hiss as the hot surface made contact with her snow-spotted gloves. "So getting you out of here and back to Kensington is -"
A shrill scream tore through the air from the gas station, and Katrina spun to find a woman on the ground clutching her leg, a bolt protruding from her thigh. Another scream and a man went down near the station entrance, followed by the sound of shattering glass before a vehicle careened out of control into the pillar of the stadium lights at the parking lot's edge.
She was on her feet and running before she was even aware of making the decision to move, sprinting back across the parking lot with the keesin moving in a tight figure eight around her, their eyes glowing a hellish red as they searched for anything that might threaten their adoptive mother. The coin flared and sparked against her jacket, pinging out expanding sheets of light to block the bolts as they flew at her - they were by no means perfect, though, failing to catch one that tore through the flapping hem of her coat and another that skewered her purse. She barely slowed, though, and skidded into the SUV so hard her breath momentarily left her. Yanking the doors open, she yelled at the dogs to get inside and gave Thaddeus an extra push when he couldn't quite move fast enough - as she straightened and slammed the door, the light flared so close to her face it light-blinded her and she staggered back, slipped in the snow, and fell heavily to the ground. Cursing loudly and scrubbing at her face, she made it to her hands and knees just in time to see something enormous - the size of a large bear, possibly larger - with insectile wings throw itself through the glass storefront of the gas station with a bellow that sounded like the roar of an angry mob mixed with the groan of a rockslide, so deafening she was frozen in fear, her heart shoving and crawling its way into her throat.
Seconds later, Ryder rounded the back of the store at a run, keeping close to the wall as he searched the lot. When her finally spotted her on the ground he paused just slightly, just long enough for her to scream at him to stop, before he ran to her.
He was just ten feet away when his body jerked suddenly and he stumbled, losing his balance before he twisted again as if struck by an unseen assailant, and collapsed in a heap to the ground.