The Night Shifters (34 page)

Then I had to
laugh. I had just named him for good. It’s hard to take a daemon
seriously when he has a name like
Mr. Studly
. I was sure he’d be furious with me.

“I’ll do it,” I
said.

“Then let’s get
started.” Sir John took my hand.

•

Downstairs in the
dining hall, we stood around the big table. The Masked Man drew his
knife and pricked my palm so exactly five drops beaded up. He took
one on his finger tip and turned away to lift his mask where no one
could see.

Sir John kissed my
palm, gently. When he lifted his face, another drop was gone.

Camilla smiled as
she took my hand. “There is joy in giving, don’t you think?” She
tickled my palm – I could see the drop glistening at the end of her
tongue before she closed her red lips over it.

Nostradamus seized
my hand it yanked it toward his mouth.

“One drop!”
commanded King. “Or we’ll get it back from you the hard way.”

Nostradamus licked
my palm, and I shuddered. One drop remained.

King moved toward
me like a man underwater. His eyes were clouded with too many
emotions for me to read. He took my hand and lifted it to his lips
– then paused.

“I didn’t want
this. You’ll taint me with your freckle-faced – “ he sighed, and
kissed my palm. “Self,” he finished, and went back to his seat.

“It’s done,” said
Sir John. “Now let’s join hands.”

I took his hand on
one side and the Masked Man’s on the other. “Voice?” I called.
“Aren’t you going to join the circle?”

“I’m not a Night
Shifter,” she reminded me, “I can’t make or un-make the Night. But
I’m right here, I promise!”

Nostradamus sat
across from me, glaring with hatred – and for a moment I could have
sworn Bernard was peeking through. “Now you’re going to see what
real power is,” he said gloatingly.

“She knows
already.” The Masked Man gave my hand a squeeze.

But I didn’t. Not
until it began, anyway. One moment we were sitting there, and the
next we were spinning in a whirlpool. The black tornado had come to
claim us.

Their faces
blurred, until the only solid things were the hands that held mine
so tightly. I could still feel the five Shifters with me, though
all my other senses were confused. And then I felt other people,
the thousands who lived in the Night with us, as they were sucked
into the black tornado: Voice, Med and his jaded Adoni, Owner and
Blackie, One through Nine, dozens of the others pressed in upon us
as if we stood in an overcrowded room. We whirled together through
clouds and stars.

“Hazel,” Voice
whispered in my ear, “do you remember I said you were sort of
becoming a Night Shifter, but sort of becoming something else
too?”

“Yes,” I whispered
back.

“Do you know what
that something else is, now?”

“Sort of – a
Celestial Lover?” I guessed.

“You drank from her
fountain,” she said, “that’s where your nature led you.
Understand?”

“I think so.”

Before I could ask
her anything more, my sight returned, filling my head with almost
too much to comprehend. We passed a thousand worlds, each
containing a different quality of darkness. Then we swam through
molten light, and I heard Nostradamus crying, “This should not be
happening!”

Serena and the Red
Daemon passed us in their chariot, Serena now a giantess. She
leaned out and waved at us. “I can be a good sport.” She laughed
gaily. “There are other games to play!”

The Red
Daemon pulled her back. He didn’t use a leash on her, but the
effect was the same. “Hazel,” he called, “I rather like the
name
Mr.
Studly
. When I find you
again I’ll show you how apt it is.”

A red vortex
swallowed them whole, spinning closed behind them. The stars and
clouds poured in again, wrapped themselves around us, and then
scattered us until we all fell our separate ways. I missed the
feeling of Sir John’s hand, and the Masked Man’s, and even King’s.
Then I was falling, sleeping, drifting back down to earth.

•

When I woke again,
I was lying on a familiar couch, near a window where stars shown
in. No life-size toy soldiers stood watch over me this time. That
seemed a definite improvement in status. I rose and looked out to
find houses that busily changed to suit the whims of this new Night
and its dwellers.

But where
was
my
house? Evidently I was going to
start this new Night as somebody’s guest. Were there still things I
hadn’t remembered? And did I re-forget some things? Did I have more
allies this time around? Was this the City of Night 5.0? These were
questions I couldn’t help asking, but the biggest question still
waited to be asked.

The one about
love.

A warm light fell
on my back. A staircase had appeared. The light flickered, calling
me.

I went up the
stairs and paused at the open doorway at the top.

“We’ve been
waiting, my dear,” said Sir John. There were three chairs by the
fire, and he sat in one of them.

The second chair
was occupied as well. A muscular arm with a gold band gripped the
armrest. Next to the chair sat a table, and on the table rested a
familiar mask.

Smiling, I took my
place in the third chair and put my feet up.

“We have so much to
talk about,” said my dad, the wizard.

The stars winked
through the window as the Night folded its wings around us and
welcomed us home.

* * * * *

Formatted for
Smashwords by B10 Mediaworx

http://b10mediaworx.com