Blair POV.
I yawned and stretched as I flicked on the coffee machine, up barely after sunset. It had been the same for this past week, stumbling bleary eyed through the corridors to eat before the rest of the house woke up. Well, Syn mostly. I felt my cheeks flush red as I thought back to the absolute fool I had made of myself after feeding from him. The flush deepened as I remembered the feeling of waking up wrapped in his arms. I had spent longer than I cared to admit staring at the patterns of his tattoos before I slipped out of his room and dashed back to mine. I had been avoiding him ever since, unable to bring myself to be able to face him. Thankfully at least I seemed to be through the change now, human blood was satisfying my cravings, so I hadn’t had reason to see him. I was also doing my best to avoid Zacky out of pure embarrassment too, although that was proving harder. He’d tracked me down the first night I’d spent trying to avoid everyone to discuss starting training again. He didn’t say what Syn had said to him and I certainly didn’t ask for fear of letting Zacky know where I had accidentally spent the day. That news would go down faster than a led balloon with my brother. Syn and he had just started getting back on equal footing, I suspected that Zacky would probably try to kill him if he ever found out that I had spent the day asleep with him. So I had agreed to return to Home to start training with Danger’s changelings without much comment. I yawned again and switched on the stove before sticking my head into the fridge to rustle up the ingredients for an omelette.
“… still no sign?” Danger’s voice floated into the kitchen as I was trying to stack ingredients into my arms without dropping anything. I froze, an onion rolling free of my stack and falling to the floor.
“No. We’ve looked around the immediate area and will be expanding the search grid tomorrow. I don’t expect us to find much though.” A deep male voice that I didn’t recognise replied. It sounded like they were at a distance still, my newfound vampiric hearing catching a conversation that would usually be out of range. Quietly I stepped away from the fridge and slid my pile of ingredients onto the side before turning round to try and spot where the voices were coming from. Danger sighed.
“I don’t imagine you will. Oberon’s saggy bellend, that woman will be the death of me one day.” It sounded like they were outside. I glanced towards the back garden and did a double take to find that the patio door was ajar. How the hell did I not notice that before? I needed to start being more aware in the mornings. Movement outside drew my eye outside. Danger was walking across the patio with a tall stranger dressed in what seemed to be hunting leathers, a huge black bow slung across his back. He looked like all the colour had been bleached out of him, from his pointed ears and angular face, he had to be Fae, but I hadn’t seen him around Home or the house before. I frowned, trying to work out what type of Fae he was as something seemed familiar about him, but I couldn’t work out what it was. Shadow Wights are pale, all shades of white, black and grey. Syn’s voice floated through my thoughts, his words from the other night causing something to click into place.
“… send word to the other Clans?” I watched the stranger as he spoke, tuning out of my thoughts and back into the conversation. His skin was white as ash, his braided hair a shade of very pale silver, I couldn’t see his eyes, but I’d place money on them being grey too. He had to be another Shadow Wight.
“Yes, I suppose you better. It’s probably playing into her dramatic hands but I don’t have a choice really. Ask all of the Clans to be vigilant for any signs of her and to send word to either of us if they see or hear anything.” I watched the two of them walk, the similarities in their movements obvious, shadows seemed to cling the both of them as they moved, virtually silent as they crossed the garden. The more I watched them, the more I started to see the differences in how Danger carried herself. There was something infinitely more predatory about the way she stepped, a softness in her movements that reminded me of a lioness on a hunt. There was a gleam about her eyes that spoke of sharp, voracious intelligence, something that was more than just the wolf nature I had seen peek out her eyes at times. I wondered again if Syn’s theory about her father was right. There was a sense of raw power from her that I didn’t get from the other Wight. I realised with a start that they were walking right for the door. Panicked, I turned back to my breakfast, rummaging in the cupboard for a skillet, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to slink off and avoid her as I had been doing all week.
“Of course, I’ll despatch shadow messages immediately. Shall I ..” The stranger’s voice trailed off mid-sentence. I assumed they had reached the door and realised I was there. A pang of guilt shot through me for eavesdropping on a clearly private conversation. Should I look over? Introduce myself? Apologise? Run away and hide? I was saved from having to make a decision by Danger.
“This is Blair, my Sister-By-Law. Anything you have to say, you can say in front of her.” I turned and gave a small smile, raising a hand to the stranger, wishing with all my might that I had actually bothered to take the time to put some clothes on instead of staying in my PJ’s.
“Hi.”
“Blair, this is Leif, gođi to my Shadow Wight Clan.”
“It is an honour to meet another of the Shadowmage’s kin.” Leif gave me an elaborate bow before turning back to Danger. “Shall I also send a shadow message to the Seers to ascertain if they can see The Wanderer?” Danger shook her head firmly.
“No. There’s already enough crazy involved with this latest stunt, let’s not go inviting more to join the shit show. Leave the Seers to their shadows and riddles.” Leif bowed his head.
“As you wish. I will send you an update tomorrow.” He clenched a fist over his heart and gave a half bow. “Shadowmage, may the Shadows protect and aid you.”
“May the Shadows guide you home Leif. Thank you.” Danger laid a hand over her heart and bowed her head. With a final bow to me, Leif turned and waved a hand, shadows writhing and darkening next to the door, he stepped into them and vanished. As soon as the shadows had dispersed back to where they were previously, Danger sighed and walked over to the table, sinking into a seat with a loud groan.
“Omelette?” I offered. She smiled at me.
“That would be amazing, thank you Little Wolf.” I rolled my eyes at the nickname and set about making us both breakfast.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop your conversation. I didn’t realise you were out there until it was too late.” Danger waved a hand at me dismissively as she got back out of her seat and headed towards the coffee machine.
“Don’t be silly, you don’t need to apologise.” She grabbed two mugs and set about pouring us both coffee. “If anything, it’s me that owes you an apology.” I looked over at her in confusion. “Gates gave me a thorough chewing out the other day after your talk.” Panic settled into my gut.
“Oh no! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to go behind your back. I was….”
“No, no, no. I don’t think anything of the sort. I’m sorry. My attitude recently has been absolutely foul. The guys are used to it when I get into a mood and just ignore me. I forgot that you wouldn’t be and I should have had more control.” I passed her the milk for my coffee, staring at her in mild shock. I don’t know what I had expected when this conversation started, but this wasn’t it.
“It’s ok.” She shook her head.
“No, it’s not. I will be your alpha soon, and am your sister-in-law, you should always be able to feel that you can come to me with any questions about the crazy insanity that you have landed in. And you didn’t. That’s not ok, and I’m sorry.” I stayed quiet, focusing on the omelette in front of me, not really knowing how to respond. Danger took the mugs of coffee back to the table and grabbing some cutlery on the way. I folded the omelette in half and slipped it out of the pan onto a plate, before pouring the next one into the pan. I sprinkled cheese across it, before grabbing the plate and turning to face Danger.
“How about we agree to put it behind us and move on?” I offered, setting the plate down in front of her. A tired smile graced her face.
“Deal.” I headed back to finish cooking my breakfast, joining her at the table a few moments later. Danger ran a hand over her face and took a bite of her food. I frowned. She looked tired. That wasn’t usual.
“Are you ok? You seem tired. I don’t mean to pry, but it seemed like you and Leif were having a pretty serious conversation just now.”
“You’re not prying. I’ve been more on edge than usual since the Manticore attack, I don’t like not knowing where a threat has come from, especially when it lands on my doorstep. And then to top it off, my mother has decided to stir up drama.” I froze, a piece of omelette falling off my fork halfway to my mouth. Danger laughed as I slowly put my fork down.
“I didn’t think you were in touch with your Mom.” I said slowly, feeling out the uncertain ground.
“I’m not. I would happily never think about her again if I could help it.” I frowned, confused. Danger sighed and took a sip of her coffee. “Syn told me that he had told you about my heritage when he was giving me an earful the other day, but he wouldn’t have gone into much depth about Shadow Wights I imagine.” I shook my head. “Right. As I’m sure he said, Shadow Wights are quite secretive, they tend to keep to themselves, sticking to family lines or Clans. Each Clan mostly looks after themselves with a gođi settling disputes and such.” She must have seen the confusion on my face at the unfamiliar word. “That’s basically like a chief. They keep everything in line day to day and only answer to the Shadowmage – if there is one.”
“And that’s you.”
“Yes, I’m the first Shadowmage in about 5 centuries. Leif is the gođi of my Clan. If you want to put a human analogy on it, he would be my distant cousin or something like that. Anyway, my mother broke with the Clan decades ago and chose to wander Faerie causing shit and being a cunt instead. A couple of days ago, she decided to put in an appearance at a sacred site, covered in blood, during an important Clan gathering and caused a scene that culminated in her diving headfirst off a cliff.” I nearly dropped my cup of coffee.
“What the FUCK?!” Danger gestured at me to calm down.
“Calm down, she thinks far too much of herself to actually kill herself. Leif and the others have been looking for her but can’t find a trace of her and he swears that she didn’t use shadow magic to disappear. She’s not strong enough to mask her magic from him, so the mystery is what the fuck she’s up to now. As much as I would like to say fuck it and let her fuck off into her mystery until she gets bored, family is incredibly important to Shadow Wights and even though it’s well known that we are happily estranged, I would face backlash that I can’t be fucked to deal with if I didn’t at least put up a show of looking for her.” She sighed and took another sip of her coffee. “I hate fucking politics.”
“That is …” I trailed off, not knowing how to describe the situation.
“Ain’t it just? Anyway, I was going to come looking for you today. I know you’ve been back in the gym training this week, but I’ve been told that you need to take today off.” Confusion set in, I thought things had been going well. I had actually been able to do a whole work out without running out of breath or feeling like I was about to collapse yesterday.
“What? Why?” Danger smiled.
“Because Val and Leana want to take you out on a shopping spree. Something about a girls night out.” I was stunned, I’d only seen Val a few times since my change and only met Leana – Jimmy’s mate – once, I didn’t think that I’d made enough of an impression on either of them to want to take me out shopping. Danger seemed to understand what I’d been thinking. “Believe me, we are all ecstatic to have another girl around to balance out the testosterone and Val can’t wait to get to know you better.” I smiled at that, then a realisation dawned on me.
“Wait, you mean I get to go out? Like out? And Zacky didn’t freak out about it?” Danger laughed, rocking back on her chair.
“Yes. There’s a local mall that stays open all night once a week, it’s not far, but it’s definitely a change of scenery. Zacky didn’t exactly get much of a choice once Val cornered him. Besides, you’re a dhampire now. You’re an adult. He doesn’t get to tell you what you can or can’t do. You make your own choices.” She stuffed the last of her omelette into her mouth and stood. “Val wants you to meet her and Leana at the car in about and hour or so. I’ve got some stuff to get sorted over at Home, but I should be meeting you a bit later too.” She dumped her plate in the dishwasher and walked back out onto the patio. “See you later Little Wolf.”
Well then. What exactly did one wear for a girls night out shopping?

Notes