Call of the Raven (4 page)

Forgetting about Linn discovering him, he set
out on a mission. He considered the light switch but it was too far
away. Lowering down on his knees, he crawled across the carpet
until he felt the hole chewed into the baseboard with his hand.
Hearing Linn behind him on the stairs, he figured he was a true
sight, bottom up, long dark hair in his face, and the look of a
crazy man in his eyes.

“Asher, what are you doing?” she asked.

Jumping to his feet, he quickly grabbed a
golden candlestick off a nearby table and swung at the wall. “I’m
trying to find my phone before it stops ringing,” he explained, as
the candlestick sunk into the plaster. He roughly yanked it out and
swung again. “It’s in the walls. Can’t you hear it?”

The phone was no longer ringing, but he
discovered that a little too late. Linn’s knitted brow didn’t look
much different than anyone else’s when they looked at him as of
late. They all thought he was crazy. Someday he planned to prove
them wrong…just not today.

He swung once more, and this time he
succeeded in taking out a four inch chunk of wall, which fell to
the carpet. He swung two more times before Linn grabbed the
self-imposed weapon from his hand. Asher relented, even if he
wasn’t happy about it. Replacing the candlestick upon the table,
Linn smoothed it with her hand, as though checking for damage, and
then sent a frown in his direction.

“Asher, this estate has housed the Pillar
protégés for decades. How dare you disrespect it so blatantly?”

“Oh, I have nothing against the house it’s
that thieving little rat that I detest. Besides,” Asher said
walking past her, “since when are you more concerned for gold and
drywall. Shouldn’t you be scolding me for trying to hurt a
child?”

“I wasn’t aware that’s what you were doing,
but I’ll take the matter into consideration. It’s no wonder the boy
hides from you.” Linn was following. Asher had assumed as much.

“The boy hides because he doesn’t want to go
to school.”

“That, too, is a concern of mine. I have
noticed that none of the children are currently
in
school,”
Linn said.

“Right now the schools are closed due to the
weather or haven’t you noticed a snowstorm is coming?” A slow smirk
crossed Asher’s lips as he intentionally met her gaze. He had
noticed before, her inability to look directly at him, and this
night wasn’t any different. Those who lived in the house were used
to them, but it was obvious his strange eyes frightened her.

“The weather has nothing to do with you
canceling the Pillar Council meeting and you know it. I saw you
through the window of the guesthouse walking toward the woods. Ari
told me what you do every year on the anniversary of Grant’s death.
You still don’t accept the fact that Grant’s dead, do you
Asher?”

“No, I do not and if that proceeds to add to
what people already believe about me then so be it.” Leading her to
his office, Asher took a key from his robe pocket, slid it into the
lock and stepped inside. He allowed her to enter and then shut the
door behind him. The door shut easily but the added kick causing it
to slam shut was for her nerves alone. Startled, she shot him an
annoyed look. Asher gestured to a chair before the fireplace.

“Relax Linn, I have no plans to molest you,”
he taunted. Linn didn’t appear any less worried. “It seems we need
to have a chat, you and I…so sit and warm yourself.”

Asher walked to the fireplace, opened the
doors and tossed another log on the burning flames. He had not
failed to notice the look that washed over her features before he
turned his back to her, and that look was unmistakably…dread. “But
first, I need to take care of
another
matter of
irritation.”

Neat stacks of folders were boxed together on
Asher’s desk like a maze, and in the center, where his cellphone
had once sat, were several tiny black footprints. The footprints
were made when the clumsy rat accidentally stepped on the inkpad
that Asher deliberately had left open, and they were all the proof
he needed. The cellphone was the fourth one to come up missing in
the last month. Picking up a letter opener, Asher looked about the
room and out of the corner of his eye he caught the look of
surprise on Linn’s face.

“Linn, it’s not intended for you. Somewhere
in this room is a hole just large enough for a twelve-year-old
rebellious child in rat form to squeeze through, and I intend on
finding it. I told Ari just this morning that I thought I heard my
phone ringing and now I know I wasn’t hearing things. Well…at least
not this time.”

“Even if that is true they’re just
children.”

“Well they’re not
my
children,” Asher
said bluntly.

“You’re a Lake. Just as they are adopted into
the Pillar family so are you, and whether you like it or not they
are left in your care.
You’re
the Keeper.
You’re
supposed to watch over them and protect them, not try to hunt them
down like some heathen lunatic. Haven’t you ever tried spending
time with them?”

He wasn’t giving up, just postponing the
search since Linn had taken the fun out of the hunt. Tossing the
letter opener upon the desk, Asher walked to his favorite chair
positioned before the fire, and dropped into it. He threw his feet
on the matching footstool and turned his eyes upon the flames.

“I do not love,” he said.

Linn moaned. “Yes, Asher I know your vow
never to love but that doesn’t mean you can’t feel.”

“Oh I feel things.” Asher said. “I’m just not
sure they’re beneficial to the children.”

“Asher it’s
your
duty as both Keeper
and the wolf to look after them.”

“Yes Linn, so I’ve been told so you can stop
with the annoying emphasis, besides it’s time we progress beyond
this particular conversation.”

“What about Ari, have you heard from
him?”

Asher rolled his eyes. “You’re deflecting the
matter at hand but since you asked, sometimes when he knows the
weather is bad he stays at the Plaza
and
sometimes he stays
there for other reasons.”

“You mean when he schedules a night with his
newest blond secretary?”

“My brother does seem to have a healthy appetite for
secretaries but I can’t say that I blame him.
I’ve
seen
her.” Asher boldly eyed Linn appraisingly, noticing the
fact she was in her gown and a very unattractive matronly one at
that. In her shifter form Linn was a white Siberian tiger, one of
the largest and rarest in the cat family. That alone should impress
Asher, but not much did.

He considered her pale complexion and the way she
wore her white-blonde hair swept back from her face to reveal a
flawless complexion. Most men would believe Linn to be a remarkable
example of a woman. Asher, however, did not. He had grown to accept
Linn’s presence but that didn’t mean he liked being put in the
position of having to talk to her. He wrinkled his brow, thinking.
“Well, not all of us can be so blessed.”

Shifting self-consciously Linn pulled the sweater she
was wearing tighter over her full bosom, as though she wasn’t quite
sure if his comment was directed toward her or in envy of Ari.
Asher was content to leave her wondering. And yet, whether he liked
it or not, the male side of him never failed to notice the
magnetism of her eyes. He saw them, not Linn’s eyes of course but
eyes just like hers in his dreams on a nightly basis—although
significantly more blue.

“Besides Linn, regardless of my brother’s
indiscretions, I am not my brother’s keeper. Well, technically I am
a Keeper in title, but I think you know what I mean. Ari is old
enough to take care of himself. With the land lines down my cell
would have come in handy. You know I could have had it back by
now.”

“As well as tearing up the entire second
floor in your foolish attempt to do so,” Linn grumbled. “Besides,
if that is the case and you truly have misplaced your phone—”

“
I didn’
t misplace my phone!” Asher
stated angrily, and then biting his tongue shook his head. “I see
there’s no point in talking to you. I’ll hire someone tomorrow to
repair the drywall. Does that satisfy you?”

“For heaven’s sake Asher there’s a storm on
the way and I’m not referring to the one raging outside, and we’re
sitting here discussing phones?”

“Actually we were discussing rats, drywall
and my missing brother.”

Again her eyes narrowed on him. “The Pillar
Council meeting was prearranged three weeks ago. I traveled from
India to discuss important matters with you in regard to the Union,
and you have done nothing but evade me since my arrival. I’m
beginning to think that you planned this, for Arimus to be late, so
you would have no choice but to postpone the meeting.”

“Ari please, he hates being called by his
given name. He says it sounds like an air freshener.”

“Asher,” Linn rebuked him with another sigh.
“Surely, you must understand the importance of my presence
here?”

“Look, I know why you’re here so let’s just get this
out in the open. You don’t like the way I’m running things
but—”

“I’m the least of your problems! There are
more than a dozen who question your leadership as Keeper. That is
nothing I intended to hide from you.”

Asher had wanted to catch Linn by surprise,
desiring above all anger and not concern from her. Even though this
news was interesting in its own light, he outwardly remained
undaunted.

“Half a dozen you say?” He pretended to
contemplate. “Then I am far better off than I suspected. I thought
the numbers would be considerably higher given the lousy job I’ve
done as leader.”

“Those two unexpected
guest
,” she
emphasized with a disgusted grunt, “were two of three Watches that
have come to dispute your leadership. You do remember what a Watch
is, Keeper?” she asked and felt compelled to explain when Asher
chose to ignore her. “They are those put in charge of a district of
the Union under your
pretend
supervision.”

“I
pretend
nothing but interest in
this conversation.”

Linn’s face reddened at the sight of Asher’s
stare and again she chose to look anywhere but straight into his
strange eyes. He was born with the unusual blue color that
according to Ari’s dippy stereotypical blonde secretary resembled
the color of some neon blue aquarium fish.

However, the black rings around his irises
appeared on the very night of Grant’s call. Over time, as his magic
grew, Asher learned that not only were the black rings sensitive to
his moods, he could change the color from black to an angry red
with just a single thought. As Linn squirmed under his stare, he
manipulated the rings to show her just how he felt about the
current subject matter.

“Stop that,” Linn demanded, quickly standing.
“Why must you bully to get your point across? I hear you Keeper
loud and clear. You have no intentions of—”

Asher held up a finger to instantly silence
her. “I
don’t
bully and, when it comes to your cohorts, I
will listen to them but not until Ari is here!” Asher threw in the
last when he saw Linn look at him with that, ever present, look of
annoyance on her face. “Ari is the liaison to the Union after all,
and he keeps all information that he’s collected in his briefcase
which never leaves his side.”

“All right,” Linn stood. “I guess that will
have to do, for now.” She started for the door.

“Linn,” he called and waited for her to face
him, “most know that I am not as strong when the moon is in such a
cycle. If by chance your partners were planning to use this time
against me, then I want you to know something. I am
still
very much in control.”

“Yes Asher,” she said reaching for the
doorknob, “but the question is, of what are you in control of?”

Once Linn was gone, Asher returned to his
room. Standing before the dresser he thumbed the medallion that lay
draped across the antique wooden chest. His bed chamber was full of
all sorts of similar heirlooms dating centuries back.

The paintings on the wall were original oils
by renowned artists which depicted the lives of the Keepers before
him. But they held little interest to him. Asher hated the
paintings and everything within the room, especially the medallion.
For him they were nothing more than reminders of what he was…a
doomed vessel.

Asher’s only hope was that
control
lied within his own destiny.

Hearing a noise in the adjoining room and
fearing that one of the logs had rolled out of the fire, he went
through the closet that connected his bedroom to the office. His
eyes caught movement and saw that it was the swivel chair behind
his desk, rotating to the right, as though somebody had bumped into
it. Someone had been there all right. Oddly though, the scent
didn’t match the musty smell of the rat that he had become
accustomed to.

And yet who else could it be?

“Mouse traps, that’s what I need, and big
ones by the looks of it.” He stepped into the room and, just as he
did, something struck him on the back of the head. Pain pierced
through his brain as he went down on his knees and fell forward.
Unable to stop himself, his face hit the carpet. The last image
Asher saw before closing his eyes was a pair of black boots as they
ran past him toward the door.

Chapter Three

Uprising

Ari’s head hurt
but otherwise he felt
fine. In dog form he circled and lay down on the patch of straw the
fowlers had thrown down for a bed. They didn’t seem to care what
form he was in as long as he was tied up. Besides, he guessed they
didn’t find a Labrador especially threatening. The only reason he
even preferred his animal form at all was because the room was
cold, and those that kept him didn’t find the need to build a fire.
They hadn’t really treated him that unkind though.