Candlelight flickers and the scent of pine needles and earth fill the air, as though we really are amongst the tree roots.
In a dark alcove I see a panther’s yellow eyes flash.It’s really all I can see of him and I can’t help the trip of fear in my heart.
“Maurice,” Branson says, slipping his arm around my waist.“You have been expecting us.”
He dips his head though his slit eyes stay locked on me.
“Is Aslar in his cave?”
Again, the panther dips his head.
“Come on, Aslar is alpha, we must find him before we do anything else.”Branson urges me forward.“But watch your head, the rocks are low in places.Usually, we move around in panther form.”
He is right and as we make our way deeper into the den I have to fight a sense of claustrophobia.The place is a maze and I’d never find my way out without Branson at my side.
Eventually we come to a larger space that is high enough to stand up straight in and contains a table and several chairs.In the corner is a pile of bones, stacked up almost decoratively, and one wall is painted with images of paw prints and cats’ eyes.
“I thought Aslar would be here.”Branson puts his hands on his hips and looks around.
“I am.”A tall man suddenly appears.He has a graying moustache, longish and whisker-like, and his torso is bare.Like Branson, he wears only black pants that sit low on his hips.His abs are defined and he has a scar, four claw marks, on his right shoulder.“I had to find Nikoli.”
“And did you?”Branson asks.
“Yes, he will be here any second.”He looks at me.“It’s is an honor to meet you, Maisey, you are the talk of the underworld tonight.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” I say.“And I am glad to be of use.”
“More than use, you are saving an entire generation.Shifters have been persecuted and hunted throughout history, we are rare, some might say endangered, so we must survive this.”
“And it seems to me,” I say, “that you have come together as clans to do so.”
“Times have to change.”Aslar looks at Branson.“The young ones know this.”
I’m not sure what passes between them.Something unspoken that I can’t decipher.
“Ah, she is here.”A small man with black hair rushes in carrying a leather bag.“Good, good.”He speaks and moves fast and plonks the bag on the table and starts rummaging in it.“Five vials, that’s all we need, won’t take long and you’ll hardly feel a thing.You definitely won’t notice the loss and you will be making an enormous contribution to the underworld.”
“Are you okay?”Branson asks, studying me.
“Absolutely.”I shrug off my coat and hand it to him.“I want to do this, you know I do.”
“Please sit.”Aslar pulls out a chair.
I sit and notice him lingering close, his nostrils flaring slightly as he takes in my scent.
“A very rare find indeed,” he says to Branson.“You did well for your pack.”
“For all packs,” Nikoli says, laying out the vials and then popping a needle onto a syringe.“Ready?”
I nod.
He ties a band around my biceps and I fist my hand.A vein pops up in the crease of my elbow.
It takes Nikoli less than a minute to gather the blood needed to vaccinate all of the city’s clans.When he withdraws the needle, I scoop up a drip and hold it out to him.
His eyes flash and he licks the drip off with one swipe of his tongue.“I thank you.”
I collect another drop and hold it to Aslar.“Here, take it.”
