Arrow found the opera house through sense alone, and when they got there it was easy enough to realize they had the right place. Lupin had explained to me how the units of wolves worked. The Pack always had twenty squads of combat ready wolves on hand, six wolves in each group. Tristan and Arrow were already at the site with group one, the rest of us arriving now, with eleven squads at our back, plus Lupin's inner circle. When we pulled up to the address Tristan had sent us, I suddenly understood the unusual reaction.
The opera house stood alone, no buildings surrounding it. The walls, that were probably once white, were now beige and crumbling, windows stained and broken, the architecture beautiful but damaged. However, that wasn't the off putting part, the large lake that surrounded it was what made me gape. Water circled the building like a moat, only thirty or forty feet across. But the dark water reflected just how deep it got, unable to see the bottom.
When the van parked, we emptied out like a clown car, there were four other cars all exactly the same. I stood at the beach of the magical moat. The building was quiet, absolutely still, it was unnerving. I touched Urlatrice's hilt, secured at my hip, the metal giving me reassurance.
Lupin came to stand next to me, our family surrounding us.
"She's not going to come, we're going to have to go to her." I said. Lupin glanced over at me.
"How do we even know she's in there?" He replied voice deep with irritation and anticipation. I'm certain Lupin wanted Eros's throat between his teeth even more than me. I looked down at the expanse of water. It wasn't much really, honestly to anyone that could swim it would be a piece of cake. I could swim just fine, used to love it, but I couldn't.
I looked back up at my mate. Lupin could feel it, my trauma, shame, guilt, and fear. His irritation built to anger. He snapped his head back to the building, ready for blood.
"We know that this is right because it's the perfect deterrent." I answered his question for those that couldn't communicate semi telepathically.
"Why is a twenty foot body of water a problem?" Arrow asked, back to his typical behavior. I glanced over at my brother and then back at the water. Even thinking about stepping into the water sent horror ringing through my body. Lupin's gaze snapped back at me.
"They don't know?" He asked, voice quiet and questioning. I looked over at my sister's equally confused face. I brought my eyes back to the water, staring at my feet, I shook my head. Shame rearing front and center, taking charge and in the lead.
"Do you want them to know?" My mate's voice was softer, gentler, his fingers brushing against my forearm. I closed my eyes against the feeling of choking, the drowning, the panic. I blinked at the metallic taste of rotting blood, ghosting on my mouth and down my throat.
I swallowed and braced myself. Packing all the memories away, pushing and folding them deep into my mind. I turned to face my siblings, my new family also listening.
"I can't go in any liquid." I said and Echo's shoulders dropped. "Pools, the ocean, baths, even with showers I had to work my way up to it, and even then, sometimes…" I trail off the memories trying to trickle back in. I shake them away.
"This was mine wasn't it?" I look up at my sister, the pain clear on her face. "The blood one… I remember how shaken you were." She worked her lips between her teeth. "That's because I-"
"Refused to set a child on fire." I met my sister's eyes. "I do not blame you for this nor should you blame yourself, none of this was our fault." My sister shook her head feverishly.
"No but-"
"No but's, Echo." I smiled at her. "It honestly doesn't matter, He is the only one to blame." She regarded me for a moment more and then she nodded.
"Fine then, how do we get you across the water?" I shrugged still watching the water. Waiting for the monster to reach up and drag me into its depths. Shivering and refusing, denying, rejecting the fear.
"Is there any way around?" Lupin asked, eyes still on me, very aware of the fear I locked away.
"No." Arrow said, watching the water with me. "We circled all the way around, it's completely surrounded."
"We can't use boats either," Tristan supplied. "We put the inflatable raft in the water and it sank, basically incinerated." I glanced over at him and he shrugged. "I can touch it just fine, so can Arrow, I figure it's magic." He shrugged again and I looked back at the water, my mind spinning trying to come up with a solution. Lupin leaned down lips near my ear.
"Can your monster get across?" My monster stretched at our mates' mention of him. I stuffed him back down, he couldn't be here, see this. I looked over at Lupin, my eyes glowing red.
"He's even more scared then I am." The monster roared as I locked him away, raging against my bonds, needing to protect me as he believed he could. But if Cleon got out, terror would surge uncontrolled.
Lupin nodded then turned to face his wolves. The troops were clad in black gear, they needed no weapons, their bodies deadly enough.
"We will shift here, then cross the water. One group will enter the building around the back, the other going through the front. I'll be with group one, while Fable enters through the front, drawing Eros's attention." I took a breath as Lupin split us up. Six troops were split evenly, Rayen, Ember, Declan, and Arrow going with Lupin's group. As they sorted themselves out I watched the water. Waiting, trying, but failing. I couldn't do it, I couldn't.
Lupin brushed his fingers against my elbow, lips near my ear. I turned slightly to look at him.
"You'll ride me." He said quietly, but not quite enough.
"Lupin!" My sister chastised an evil smile on her face. "While I applaud your directness, now is not the time for sexual relations, we have a bitch it kill." I glare at Echo, unable to fight a small smile. She winked at me, Rayen howling in laughter. I shook my head and turned back to face Lupin. I give him a questioning look and he continues as if we weren't interrupted.
"You asked, once, what I was." I nod as he steps back, eyes glowing silver. "I have two shapes." I stare at him, I had figured as much, but still it should be impossible. Shapeshifters have only ever had two halves not three.
He shifts, body splitting down the middle, flesh turning inside out. He stands there, the grey wolf that I already know, eyes shining and watching me. He shifts again. Slower and gradual. Bones cracking and skin twisting, growing, contorting. His grey coat lightens and grows longer. His body stretching, stretching, stretching. Until it stops. A big, large wolf almost twice as large as me. White fur striped, black and brutal. He's jaw opens, teeth six inches long and sharp. And his eyes, his beautiful eyes, have changed. Black as pitch but as expansive as the universe. Deep and dark and deadly. I smile at the beautiful monster.
"If you want me to ride you, you're going to need to bend down." The wolf smiles, gums pulling back and fangs bared, dripping saliva. Arrow shivers beside me.
"Don't do that again." Arrow says, a cringe on his face. I chuckle as Lupin bends down, belly to the floor. I come around him and shimmy up and onto his back. His fur is soft and warm, I press my face against him, wrapping my arms around his torso.
The wolves around us shift, all monstrous, strong and snarling. Lupin pushes up onto his feet and we move, as one, towards the water. I close my eyes and press closer to Lupin. I feel his body descend, legs kicking under me, the cold water lapping against my feet. I hold him tighter, squeezing my eyes and pushing hard against the fear.
My mate whines under me, feeling my terror. I shake my head against his fur, unable to speak, incapable of opening my eyes. He whines again, his body tense, I brush a kiss to the back of his neck a semblance of comfort. It's all I can give him at this point. I'm grateful beyond relief for his existence. I wouldn't even be capable of contemplating this without him. I trust no one more. Lupin growls, feeling my love and reciprocating.
Time passes, quietly and slowly. Only the sound of splashing water, causing my grip to tighten and fear to grow. I pushed my mind away from the present, hiding in the recesses of my mind. I haven't had to do this in years, yet still it comes easily. Locking myself away and becoming completely unaware of reality.
Something touches my leg and I snap my head up, finally opening my eyes. Echo looks up at me, a soft smile on her lips. I look around and realize we've reached the other side. Everyone looks at me, I realize we must have been here for a while. Slowly I detach myself from Lupin, sliding off his back, all of my joints sore and stiff.
My mate shifts back, a man once again. He wraps his arms around me and I let myself melt into him. Let the fear wash over me for a moment, knowing he will hold me. I will not fall.
"You ok?" He asks gently. I take a deep breath, forest and pine and sandalwood.
"Yeah." I nod, the wolf relaxes slightly, stepping back from me and meeting my eyes. He presses his lips to mine so quickly I can't even reciprocate. He turns around to face his wolves. They are all still in animal form, saying goodbye to the other groups. Ava and Declan, both almost identical black wolves if not for Declan's scar, nuzzling each other's snouts before they seperate. Rayen bounds up to me, a dark brown wolf with tan under-fur. She nudges my knee and I bend down petting the spot between her ears. After a few moments she licks my hand and trots away.
I look up at Lupin, still knelt on the ground. He looks around, eyes darting and lips tense.
"What is it?" I ask as I stand back on my feet.
"I don't hear anything." He says, voice deep and soft. I wait a moment, listening to the quiet.
"I can't either." He glances down at me, worry creasing his eyes. "I can sense the vampires, though. There's a lot of them." I wince, the Undead's touch trailing up my neck. I look up at the building. "They're in there."
At my declaration, we move. Lupin disappears with his group around the side of the building. I look up at the three stories of decaying cement. In the front there are double doors, a short staircase leading up to the entrance. I look around at my wolves and sister. I take a breath and start up the steps.
☽◐⬤◑☾
Walking into the opera house I could see the old beauty. The marble floor and swirling walls, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. We were in a large hall, stairs on either side turning up to the second floor, two ornate doors sunk into the wall in front of us. Both doors were propped open, revealing only darkness. A soft lilting song played through the building, violin and piano, celo and flutes.
"The vampires are in there." I said quietly, informing the wolves. A few growled and lowered their heads baring their teeth, ready for a fight. We approached the doors, the wolves flanking me and Echo behind them. As soon as we crossed the threshold the lights flickered on. Vampires lounged in the rows of chairs, crawling up the walls and hanging from the ceiling. The balconies above us held more and more vampires. In the light their appearance was harsher, their rotting flesh vibrant and seen rather than smelled. Though it definitely still smelled.
The aisle leading to the stage was clear and lit. Eros sat on a large gaudy throne, situated in the middle of the stage. Her dark auburn hair curling over her shoulders and cascading over her breasts. Her pale white skin covered in scraps of black leather, I was pretty sure it was meant to be a dress, but it was more like a sleeve. Black leather boots climbed up to her knees, legs crossed and lounging back. Her dark eyes stabbed into mine, red lips a slash of a small smirk. She was beautiful, the bitch.
"This seems a bit dramatic, Eros." I call down the aisle and over the building music. She uncrosses her legs and leans forward.
"Come, dear Fable. Let me kill you civilly and your wolves won't get hurt." I cross my arms, the growling and snapping of teeth growing behind me.
"I think killing each other like savages will be much more entertaining." The Erote laughed, a tinkling sound of bells and music.
"And you know how much I love to be entertained." She teases, I smile, my mask in place, and even she knows to flinch.
"Why do this Eros? You know you stand no chance." She snarls at me, her delicate face savage.
"You weren't supposed to ally with the Pack. You were supposed to be alone, you were supposed to die. You killed my brother, Fable Walker, my revenge is justified." She looked proud, smug, as if she knew she was right.
"Your brother tried to kill me, Eros. I simply reacted, his death is his own fault. He shouldn't have tried to kill a ten year old." The woman barked a laugh.
"Don't act high and mighty, Banphrionsa, you've killed younger." I tilted my head, the smile still stretching.
"Yes, I've also killed older, wiser, and more experienced, then you." She threw her head back and laughed.
"I am thousands of years old, you are a blink in the expanse of my life." I shrugged.
"And you are a child in the years I have accumulated on the tip of my sword." I place my hand on my hilt, she watches my movement, her face rightfully grimacing. She pauses for a moment, thinking, then smiles small.
"So you have a mate?" I squint at the extreme change of subject. After a moment of my silence she continues. "He didn't tell me that, I don't know why He didn't tell me." She shrugs. "But He wants you dead, Fable Walker, so you will be dead." I chuckled at her venom.
"Perhaps," I shrug. "But my end will not be dealt by your hand." The Erote smiles, twisted and cruel.
"I beg to differ." At her words Lupin walks out from behind the curtain. His eyes are glazed, his movements robotic, he stops beside Eros's throne. The woman runs a manicured hand up my mate's stomach, a smile hung on her lips. The monster inside me roars to life, clawing and scratching at my walls, begging to be let out.
Eros's hand stops right over Lupin's heart, nails digging into his flesh. My mate stares emotionless, at nothing. I snarl at the woman, the wolves behind me joining. Echo stands at the back but even still I can feel her building magic. I can see the other wolves, the wolves meant to surprise Eros, stalking out of the curtains, hackles raised and teeth bared. Arrow is cloaked in shadow, Lani at his side fae daggers in hand. They surround Eros and Lupin, but don't attack, they can't, not with her hand so close to his life.
Eros eyes me, a triumphant smile on her face. Her fingers dig in further and it takes all of my will power to keep down my monster. But I know, if I move, he dies.
"Come here." She demands, eyes sparkling. When I don't move she digs in further, blood running down my mates chest. I walk forward and the wolves at my back move with me. "Leave them behind." She snaps, face twisting. I turn and meet the eyes of each wolf, they bow their heads, submitting to my rank. I meet my sister's eyes and she nods, understanding my request to protect them. I make my way to the stage, taking the steps and stopping in front of Eros and my mate. Lupin doesn't look at me, doesn't even notice me. Eros smiles up at me.
"What did you do?" I ask through gritted teeth, the monster raging inside.
"I did what Erote's do, dear. I took the man's heart, made him trust and love me." I glance over at Lupin, pain reaching out for him. "Don't worry darling, he doesn't truly love me. It's a short spell, I didn't have the time to unwind his soul. For it is so tightly woven into yours." I tense at that, eyes snapping back to hers. She chuckles, tinkling bells ringing. "I've never divulged in the Bond between a Mated Pair, but I've heard the stories. Two souls as one, a love that nothing can rival." She clicks her tongue. "They say your hearts are delicious, the filet mignon for Erote's." I cringe at the statement but not for myself.
"Let him go." I growl, my monster driving my instinct.
"Why would I do that?" She asks looking at me as if I'm stupid. I look over at Lupin, agony coursing through me at the sight of his blood. Murder, my monsters only thought. I feel the monster in my eyes as I look back at the source of my mates pain, promising death. She laughs at me, the imbecile. "He doesn't know, does he?" I tense at her words and she laughs harder. She's not right, but then she is, because he's never seen it. Has never met my monster.
"Turn." She commands, her smile harsh. I look back to my mate, blood pooling on the ground at his feet. When I don't do anything she rips her fingers out of his chest, he grunts in pain but gives no other reaction. Not even when she wraps her hand around his throat. "Turn." She commands again, the smile gone. My monster throws himself against my walls, desperate to protect, to help, to kill her. My fists are clenched, fingernails digging into my palm wanting very much to agree. But I wasn't driven by instinct like my monster, I knew that she had his life in her hands and would kill him without remorse. "Turn!" She shouted, frustrated at my disobedience. Delicate face now red and brutal.
I shift my eyes, caught on the presence of my brother. He stands behind the throne, still cloaked in his shadows. His brown eyes catch mine and I give him a silent plea. He nods, catching my request in his web of secrets. Arrow disappears around the massive throne. I turn back to Lupin, watching the tendrils of shadow curl around his limb, wrapping up him like snakes.
"Turn!" Eros yells, hand tightening around his throat until he stops breathing. The monster screams inside of me, angry at locking him up, desperate to save our mate. The shadows grow, crawling up Lupin, Eros unaware as she stares daggers at me. When Lupin's mouth gaps open like a fish, fear pricking in his eyes, I can't hold it down any longer nor do I want to. I meet the bitches eyes.
"You are so wrong." She smiles at the pain shaking my voice and I let the monster go. He rips through me, my body snapping and twisting and shifting. I become something else, something unknown, something truly truly terrifying.
I had once watched myself Turn in the mirror. I was still a child and had wanted to know what my monster looked like. My father had agreed, deciding it was for the best if I was aware of all my parts.
My body had still looked human enough, I had still resembled a female, though I grew twice my size. A pale bone plate slid over my face covering everything except for my lips, how I could see was beyond me. But I could, and I had stared in the mirror as my skin twisted, replaced by a hard white substance, like bone. My arms split in two, painlessly, and my fingers sharpened into talons. My legs ended in sharp joints, thighs angled back like that of an insect. My toes were replaced by a jagged bone, like a rhino's horn. A thick fleshy tail grew from my tailbone dragging across the ground. From my hips, two long and jagged bones protruded, angled to spear anyone in front of me. The complicated designs of my new flesh were oddly hypnotizing. To my own assessment I looked powerful and oddly beautiful.
In the reflection of the mirror I could see my fathers face contort with the start of fear. I turned off the nightmares and he let out a breath.
"Are you afraid?" He asked me, curious. The half monstrous woman shook her head in the mirror.
"Not at all." I replied, my voice a scraping ticking sort of noise. He nodded and motioned for me to continue. I complied, giving in all the way to the monster.
I watched this transformation as well, still bewildered as to how I could see.
The plate on my face slid all the way down, covering the last of my human features. My fleshy tail shot out, expanding and widening. My legs split to thousands of thin spears and traveled down the expanse of my tail, merging as one. The bones at my hips turned and melded into my arms, growing into long jawed barbs, my hands disappeared all together, arms ending in sharp points. I folded the swords, that were my hands, under my forearm, tucking them out of the way. Protruding from my butt was a long pincher, curled up like that of a scorpion.
Looking at myself I was no longer human, I didn't even resemble a mammal. I had a head, an abdomen, and thorax. I looked like a bug. I was a giant mutated man-eating centipede. To anyone sane I probably would have been repulsive, or at the very least, unsettling, but I found it incredibly amusing. So, eleven year old me, had unfolded the monster's giant scissor arms and danced the macarena.
My father had shook his head, a smile starting on his lips.
Now though, as my monster ripped out of me, no one smiled. There was nothing slow or twisting about this Turn, my body was torn apart by the rage of my monster. I welcomed it, loving the sensation my monster gave me. Letting instinct ride me and my monster gain control.
I turned fully, never even trying for a human likeness. My monster and I were one, and together we took a breath and…
"Cover your ears!" Echo shouted into the shuddering silence. We screamed. The room rattled and glass broke, the monster's keen of grating glass amplified by my banshee. As our scream went on, growing louder and harsher, vampires began clawing at their throats, throwing themselves off the ceiling to hit hard on the floor. They did anything, to get away from the terror my monster brought. For that was what I was, after all, a Living Nightmare. And my monster made you feel it, made you live it, until you drove yourself to death. It's how I had killed Eros's brother, a demi-god of terror, Deimos. He had found it insulting that I rivaled his claim of true terror, he decided to test me, only he had one miscalculation, he never thought that I would win.
It seemed only fitting that this be how Eros died, however the bitch had taken Echos advice to heart. Both hands covering her ears, a look of pure terror as she watched me. Even with her ears covered she was afraid, and rightfully so. But I had warned her, she was wrong and now I proved it.
With Eros's hands preoccupied, Arrow pulled my mate away from my target. Lupin was tugged back by the shadows m, landing hard and eyes blinking around. They landed on me and gaped. He was back, whatever spell Eros had put him under was gone. His chest was still covered in blood and a bruise was forming on his throat, my monster cut off the scream and growled at Eros, knowing she was going to die.
She saw the look in me, though I don't know how, being faceless and all. But she turned to grab Lupin, her only shield against my attack. When she saw he was gone, she stood looking for him, looking for any form of defense. When she found him out of her reach and standing up with the help of my brother, her face paled. She turned back to me realizing the same mistake her brother had made, but just like him, realizing it too late.
I lunged at her, unfolded my sword arms and slicing her in half, like scissors through her torso. Her upper body slid to the floor, blood spilling out of her. Eros's face stuck, frozen in a never ending expression of true and utter fear.
It's not enough to placate my monster, we rage into the corpse of Eros. Tearing her to pieces, ripping at her flesh with our rigid forearms. When we find her heart in her tattered remains we rip into it with our teeth, as she had planned to do to us. We smash at the mushed up apple sauce that was once Eros, sending bits of fleshy confetti flying. We turn roaring needing more carnage and find the vampires attacking. Our wolves are fighting back, teeth bared and claws sharp. Arrow's shadows dance around him like flames, clinging to the nearest vampire and consuming it's body, the vampire writhing and screeching in pain until it lies still on the floor. Echo stands in the back, eyes glowing full pale yellow, lips muttering incantations. Lani moves with the swiftness of a pixie, daggers slashing into vampires, the metal glowing red. My monster doesn't hesitate and we join the fray, ripping the damn vampires to shreds.
☽◐⬤◑☾
Vampire, after vampire after vampire. Oh look, another vampire. I was bored. My monster though, was having the time of his life. I so rarely got the chance to let him out and have full rein. This was the exercise he needed, we both needed, to be honest. If this hadn't happened soon he'd have forced his way out, and that can only end badly.
Almost all of the vampires were dead. A few had gotten away, realizing the probability of them winning. My monster, the hunter that he was, felt defeated that the prey had gotten away. I on the other hand couldn't care less, the vampires were a pest and parasite, but they were fundamental in our world of monsters. We couldn't eradicate an entire species in one night. However, my monster disagreed firmly. So when he spotted a vampire trying to sneak away, he went chasing after it.
"Fable." The word was loud and commanding. We turned to find our mate, covered in gore and standing on the other side of the room. "Come here, Fable." My monster grabs all control and hurtles towards our mate, storming over prone corpses and chairs on the way. We stop inches away from him, head bent down, face to face. "Fable." He says again, softer. My monster rears back and roars in our mates face. Lupin frowns, feeling our disapproval.
"Cleon," My brother says from somewhere behind me. "The monster's name is Cleon." My mates eyes regard our brother for a moment before flicking back to me.
"Cleon." He whispers, soothingly. The monster melts at our mate naming him. Savage instinct falls away until the true Cleon, the one I know from my dreams, always locked in a beautiful cage, presses our forehead to Lupin's. Cleon speaks, his voice the grating sound of bones and terror.
"Hundreds of years of carnage and death, then followed by thousands of darkness and loneliness. I never asked to be reborn in Fable Walker's body, but in her life I have felt love and seen beauty. You have let me out of the cage, Lupin Hunt. I can ask for nothing more." Lupin presses his hand against the side of my monster's face. We flinch, having never felt physical affection in such a state. My mate closes his eyes, a moment passes and then they flick open, complete blackness, like that of his second wolf.
"Fenrir." My monster mutters in recognition. The wolf growls low, grabbing the side of my head harder.
"Mine." The wolf snarls the claim, my monster preening at the possessiveness, but I surge forward.
"Mine." I hiss back, equally as possessive. The wolf smiles, stars shining in his black eyes.
"Of course, my Lady of Death." The wolf melts out of the eyes of my mate, leaving Lupin's green staring at me. The monster in me settles as well, my body slowly shrinking back into my human form, clothes still on and sword at my hip. Sometimes, magic truly is wonderful.
"Ready to go home, love?" I nod in Lupin's arms, too tired to say anything else. Home sounds nice.