Prince of Blood and Thunder_An Urban Fantasy Novel

by J. A. Cipriano

  He didn’t wait for a response as he strode toward the gathered wolves, and with each step he took, lightning struck, over and over again until my eyes hurt from the glare.

  “I come before you as King of Blood and Thunder and as King of Wolves.” He raised his hands and as he did, blood fell from the sky above and lightning flashed. It was the same blood and lightning I’d felt when we’d gone to see the God of Wolves. Had he inherited it directly from the wolf god instead of from his father? Was that why the oracle had said his powers would be different from his father’s?

  Fortunately, it seemed to be a moot point as the assembled wolves knelt before him.

  “If there are any who would not have me as King, come forth,” Justin said, and as he spoke, the dome opened and the horde of werewolves gathered outside tumbled into Atlantis. It was a weird sight to see, reminding me of the time I’d pulled the lid off the oregano jar and accidentally dumped half the bottle in my pasta sauce instead of a pinch.

  There were more than I’d expected, more than I had ever seen ever combined.

  And none of them rose to confront Justin.

  It was the craziest thing I have ever seen.

  “Then as King, I proclaim this war over. No one shall harm a mage again, even an Animator,” his gaze flitted over me as he spoke, but it didn’t linger. Still that momentary contact sent gooseflesh rippling up and down my arms and legs. “Do you all understand? Blood will not have blood.”

  When no one responded, Justin nodded and turned toward Merlin. “Lord Mage, would you please send them all home?” He glanced at Alabaster, but said nothing. It was weird because I half expected him to do something to the albino, but he didn’t. That would probably wind up being a bad call, but who was I to say. Maybe he could heal the divide? I mean, at the end of the day much of Alabaster’s rage had come from seeing his friends and family massacred by my brother’s ritual.

  Merlin smiled like a kid in a candy store and nodded. Then he turned toward the assembled wolves and began to usher them off somewhere, presumably to take them home, which made me wonder how the hell they’d gotten here in the first place. I mean, I was sure it was magic, but who had the power to teleport that many wolves to Atlantis?

  As the wolves began to walk away under the watchful eye of Merlin, Justin reverted back to his human form and walked toward me. The way he moved suggested he was more than he was, and I couldn’t help but blush a little as I looked him over.

  “Hey, Annie,” he said, and I forced my eyes to his face as he spoke. He seemed so angry it surprised me.

  “Thanks for stopping the war,” I said, trying to smile at him, but the way he looked at me made me feel cold and unclean.

  “Thanks for killing my dad. I know why you did it, but fuck, Annie, how am I supposed to forgive you for that?” The words struck me like a slap to the face because I’d hoped, probably stupidly, that he’d see past it, and I wouldn’t lose him. But as I stood there stunned, he knelt down beside Alabaster and put one hand on the man’s shoulder. Then a bolt of lightning exploded from the heavens and struck them both.

  I blinked, trying to see past the glare in my suddenly blurry eyes as they vanished from my sight in a flare of light.

  26

  It’d been two weeks, and I’d still not seen hide nor hair of Justin “I’m too good to hang out with Animators” Bailey. That said, the war did really seem to be over, and while I still didn’t quite buy it, I was fairly happy to not have the sword of Damocles hanging over my head.

  “Hax!” Badger cried, throwing down his controller in frustration as the game demanded my brother finish him in the most violent way possible.

  I smirked at the two of them from my spot on the couch next to Blair who was busy reading a book about a guy who had gotten sucked into a virtual reality world and now was forced to find eight ancient treasures to return home. I’ll admit, it kind of wasn’t my bag, but to each their own.

  It was a bit weird to see her reading it though because I’d long since given up on getting Blair to actually participate in our video game escapades. I mean, she’d always been our GM, but she’d never wanted to play, so it struck me as a bit odd that she’d read a book about being trapped in a game, but there it was.

  I stretched out on the couch as my brother made Scorpion tear off his mask to reveal the skull beneath and breathe flame onto Badger’s avatar, reducing him to ash in a way that gave me flashbacks of the battle we’d gone through.

  Truth be told, the flashbacks had been happening a lot more than I’d have liked. I’d be doing something innocuous and find myself remembering Justin’s charred body or Madisyn tucked in her hospital bed. She still hadn’t woken from her coma, which pissed me off because Merlin gallivanted along like the crazy person he was and there was nothing anyone could do.

  Morgan was dead. At least that’s what Gordon had told me. I believed him because I had no reason not to believe him, and while I’d be the first to admit having him live with me was a bit strange since I was ten kinds of messy, it worked out because he was totally not used to my level of grunge nor the lack of food in my fridge.

  Let’s just say dirty dishes were now a thing of the past. Now, if I could just get him to do my laundry, we’d be good. Then again, the thought of him handling my unmentionables made me cringe, and I didn’t have it in me to keep them separate.

  Justin, however, still hadn’t come to see me, and all the times I’d tried to find him, I’d either been made to wait for hours and hours or dismissed. There hadn’t been a middle ground, and I didn’t really like waiting. After my first two four hour stints at his hotel, I’d given up, and not just because I didn’t like all the dirty looks the wolves gave me.

  They were under control, but barely. I could see the need for vengeance written all over them. The mages, like me, were just glad to be left alone. In a way, it sort of reminded me of the last two Matrix movies. See, in the first one it was all about defeating the machines, while in the end it had been enough for the machines to agree not to eradicate humanity.

  That’s where we were with the werewolves, and at the end of the day, machines were infinitely more logical than creatures fueled by rage and anger. Still, you take what you can get. If this bought us a minute of peace or a millennia, it was still peace, and that was to be cherished and nourished either way.

  “Come on, Annie, why don’t you play a round?” Gordon asked as the character select screen popped up. My brother mimed reaching out to me and pulling me toward him. “Get over here!”

  “Are you that ready to lose?” I asked, pushing off the threadbare couch in my small living room and moving toward him. Badger offered me the controller like he was happy to stop getting trounced.

  “Anyone want anything. I’ve got the munchies. I’m thinking Taco Bell,” Badger announced as he got to his feet and walked toward the door. He probably was going to Taco Bell, but once he got back here, he’d light up in his car downstairs. He tended to make trips throughout the day proclaiming the need for Doritos or Snickers bars or whatever and come back higher than a kite. Still, he was my stoner, and I loved him for it.

  “I’ll take one of those tacos where the shell is made from chicken,” Gordon called as I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn’t really hungry. I hadn’t been since I’d been in Atlantis, which probably was less than healthy, but the only thing that had sounded good was ice cream and French fries, and I’m sorry, but I didn’t have the money to buy new clothes once that eating binge subsided. Besides, I was fairly sure the sweets were just so I could have those happy chemicals in my brain get released and you know what? My brain could just go ahead and orient itself to my new sucky reality.

  Actually, that wasn’t true. My reality wasn’t sucky. I may have lost Justin, but I’d gained a brother, granted one who’d murdered a thousand wolves without batting an eye, but I was working on getting both of us past that. It’d probably take a while, but I think being around me, and not Sheev, was helping.

  B
etter still, I’d gotten my old job back with Blair, and I was reigning Mortal Kombat champion.

  “You’re going down,” I murmured, selecting Sub Zero to meet my brother’s Scorpion. “You cannot beat the Queen of Cold.”

  “You guys are stupid, but not retarded because that word is hurtful, and I’ve learned the error of my ways,” Badger said, and then he must have felt like we were mocking him because he got serious. “Seriously. My cousin is autistic.” Then he turned and opened the door. “Justin?”

  Shocked, I glanced at him to see Justin standing in the doorway and my heart nearly exploded in my chest. Only, something about him was off. Instead of holding flowers, chocolates, or a chocolate flower cake of forgiveness, he had an ammo belt slung over his shoulder and was holding a fucking bazooka in one hand.

  “Annie, are you there?” he asked, stepping past Badger and searching for me. “You’ve got to come quick. You’re never going to believe this!”

  “What?” I asked, swallowing hard as I tried to figure out just what the flying fuck was going on.

  “Whatever it is, I believe it,” Gordon said, getting to his feet. The controller stayed on the ground in a way that suggested he was trying to get out of the flawless pounding he’d been about to receive.

  “You do?” I asked, allowing my brother to help me to my feet as Justin held out his hand to me.

  “Yeah,” Gordon said, smirking. “After everything that’s happened, don’t you?”

  “I guess,” I said, turning my eyes back to Justin. “So, where the fuck have you been?”

  “I’ll gladly tell you after we figure out how to stop the Beastmaster.” Justin took my hand, and as he did, I felt electricity spark across my skin and the whole of the world fell into oblivion.

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