Prince of Blood and Thunder: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Spell Slinger Chronicles Book 2)

by J. A. Cipriano

  “You have been gone a long time,” Sheev replied as Tina’s hand appeared on the frame of the window. She slowly hauled herself inside, and as she did, she shot me a look.

  “Can you come help? I just Spider-Man’d my way back up here, and I don’t have the strength to haul Gordon inside by myself. He’s too heavy,” she said, glaring at me as she spun and pointed to the window she’d gone out a moment before. Her skin was covered by cuts and scrapes, but she seemed otherwise okay.

  I took a deep breath trying to wrap my head around what she’d said. I’d had no doubt that both her and my brother had survived because, well, magic, but had she really just climbed up the sheer hospital wall with her bare hands? Man, what was it, bizarro world?

  “Yeah,” I said, walking numbly toward her. Part of me was glad she was okay and that my brother was okay too but I also wasn’t sure what the fuck Sheev had done. I needed to find out, and I knew the old coot wouldn’t tell me. Gordon would, though. Assuming he knew. I gave it fifty-fifty odds.

  When I reached the window, a smile played across my lips. Gordon was hanging from a thin strand of webbing attached to a flagpole on the corner of the hospital high above. As he dangled there by a fistful of webbing, I nearly laughed.

  “Why didn’t you just swing to safety?” I called as Tina leaned out the window and grabbed the line so we could begin to haul him in.

  “I only have one web-shooter, and wouldn’t you know it, the damned thing ran out of webbing,” He shook his head as he dangled a story below us. “Stupid Spider-man always runs out at the wrong times.”

  I smirked as I helped Tina haul him in. She was right, my brother definitely needed to go on a diet stat. But not a fun one like Paleo or whatever. No, one of those sucky ones where you ate nothing but kale.

  Still, as we pulled him up, something irked me. My powers were barely starting to recover, but his had worked well enough to keep him from getting dead, and how the fuck had Tina gotten in here? I still wasn’t even sure what kind of mage she was. I’d thought illusionist originally, but that wouldn’t explain her flaming hands.

  “So, what kind of mage are you, Tina?” I asked as we continued to haul him in. Man, when this was over, I was going to have him stuffed and mounted on a plaque I could put above my mantle.

  She looked at me dead on, and something dark passed across her features like she was steeling herself for something.

  “I’m a siphon. Get over it.” Her words came out in an emotionless whisper, but they hit me so hard, I almost lost my grip on the webbing. As it was, I gasped, sucking in a gulp of cold air. “And that’s pretty much exactly how I expected you to take it.” She turned her attention back to hauling up Gordon.

  “It’s not that…” I mumbled even though I was suddenly very scared of her. Siphons had the ability to suck the magic right out of you and leave you in a coma for the rest of your life. Sure, the power usually ran out eventually, but depending on how much they took, it could last the siphon for a long, long time.

  They were like Rogue from X-men, only you know, they could control when they pulled the magic out of you. Most of them went insane with power lust and went on hunting sprees that made Sylar from Heroes look like a swell guy. The fact that she’d made it this long was a testament to her control or her ability to keep on the down low. I wasn’t sure which, but I was really hoping it was the first one and not the second.

  “This is where you ask me how many people I’ve stolen power from,” Tina said, letting out a breath through her clenched teeth. “A lot, and no, not all of them deserved it. Most, but not all.” She looked down at her shoes like they were way more interesting than the task at hand. “I sucked the power out of one guy because he was a healer and refused to heal my partner because my partner was a horrible killer.” She shrugged. “But he was my partner, and I’d promised to protect him.” She touched her thumb with her chest. “I always keep my promises. No one would hire me otherwise.”

  “Okay,” I said, shaking my head as I tried to figure out what to do with that information. She wasn’t exactly repentant about it, but then again, everyone did bad shit.

  After all, my brother had killed a metric ton of werewolves, and as I looked at him dangling below us, despite everything he’d done, I knew I’d forgive him. Why? Partially because he was my brother, but more because I knew where he’d come from, sure. I knew what made him do it, but mostly? Mostly because at the end of the day, I wanted him to turn his humanity back on. The memory of my sweet, innocent brother shutting off that whole part of himself forever was something I couldn’t live with, at least, not when I had the power to try and get him to get over his rage and hurt.

  “Okay?” Tina asked, glancing at me, and confusion rippled across her face for a moment. “What’s that mean?”

  “It means as long as you don’t steal my power, we’re good. No one is the sum of their powers.” I quirked a smile at her. “I should know. I’m an animator remember. Barring one exception,” I nodded toward Justin, “I’m pretty much kill on sight for werewolves.”

  “You’re an interesting wench.” She laughed. Then she turned back toward the window, and we hauled Gordon the rest of the way up in silence.

  9

  “Annie, are you okay?” Justin asked, scaring me so much I nearly leapt out the window as we pulled Gordon inside.

  “I think I’m supposed to say that,” I replied, spinning around and staring at him wide-eyed. He sat up in the hospital bed and smiled dumbly at me. His perfect teeth flashed in the light of the room as he swung himself off the bed and padded barefoot across the floor toward me like he hadn’t just been unconscious for twelve hours. He was wearing a silly green hospital gown but the way it clung to his muscular body made me really want to play naughty nurse.

  “Nah.” He shook his head as my brother put his hand between my shoulder blades and pushed me forward. I was too stunned by the sight of Justin upright to really care a whole hell of a lot.

  “I can’t believe you’re okay,” I said, moving forward and wrapping my arms around him. His scent, like pine trees and campfires filled my nose, and as I inhaled, tears gathered in my eyes. He was okay. Thank any and all deities he was okay.

  “Why wouldn’t I be okay?” he asked, strong arms encircling me and pulling me against his body like I was a missing piece of his puzzle. His lips brushed against my forehead, and I had the sudden urge to do a lot more than hold him near me if you know what I mean.

  “You were unconscious and pale, and I thought you might die,” I said, letting my words out in a rush as I looked up into his cornflower blue eyes and tried to bite back my own tears. “I’m not sure what I’d have done if you hadn’t woken up.”

  “Annie, no matter what happens, I’ll always come back to you.” Justin smiled at me in a way that made everything inside me turn into a little puddle of goo. Now, it was more than that. In that moment, no one but Justin existed. “Always.”

  “I believe you,” I said, and as the words left my lips, I realized I believed it. No matter what happened, Justin would come back to me. Or at least, he thought he would which was pretty much the same thing since he’d been there when my brother killed a bazillion of his fellow werewolves. It was amazing to me that he could see past it and into the real me.

  “Good.” He buried his head in my hair, and for that one shining moment, I felt safe. Here, in Justin’s arms, nothing could hurt me.

  “That will be quite enough of that.” Sheev’s voice cut through my mood like a silver dagger through warm werewolf flesh. One of his gnarled, wrinkled hands settled on my shoulder and pulled me away from Justin like I was a cobweb.

  Sheev had always been a lot stronger than he looked, and as I came away from Justin, I hated him for it. My vision blurred as he smiled ruefully at me. It was the same smile I’d seen on his face right before he hit my knuckles with a ruler for insolence.

  “Who are you?” Justin asked, scowling at the man as his gaze flitted across the room. Re
cognition filled his eyes as he saw Tina and my brother, but he was too focused on Sheev’s sudden intrusion to care very much. “Do you know who I am?”

  “You may call me Sheev,” Sheev said, his smile shifting across his face like a spider beckoning a fly. “And yes, I know who you are, Prince. It is why I saved you.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, glaring at Sheev. “I thought you saved him for me?” My hands curled into fists as I tried to melt him into slag with my eyes. It didn’t work, but probably because I was too fucking calm. I could fix that in T-minus…

  “I saved the Prince so he could right the wrongs between our two peoples.” Sheev moved and put a hand on my shoulder. It was like being touched by an icy spider, but I didn’t flinch because that’d be letting him win.

  “What are you talking about?” Justin said, and his voice held that same cold, angry edge he’d used back when he’d tried to shoot my brother in the head.

  “What? Did you think I saved you out of the kindness of my heart?” Sheev asked, derision filling his voice. “Your kind just broke into Atlantis and murdered untold numbers of people to capture you and Annie.” He gestured lamely at the two of us, but I almost didn’t see it because tears were filling my eyes. Even though he’d helped Justin, he’d done it as part of his own selfish ambitions. I wasn’t sure why it bothered me, since that was who he was, but it did.

  “Those werewolves wouldn’t have come if Gordon hadn’t dropped a magical A-bomb into their bloodlines…” I whispered, trying to swallow the fear and pain welling up inside me. “If he hadn’t done that, no one here would have been hurt.”

  “What’s going on, Annie? Did something else happen while I was unconscious?” Justin said, turning to look at me, and the look on his face left me shattered. Physical pain exploded from within my chest, and I staggered backward, my throat closing off as I tried desperately to breathe. God, why was it so hard to breathe?

  “The werewolves broke into the city and killed people while trying to capture you. They believe you helped Annie and Gordon with their ritual.” Sheev grinned at me. “But you can fix this. You can fix it all. Don’t you want to do that?”

  He smiled broadly at Justin as my heart broke, and I sank to my knees, traitorous tears streaming down my cheeks. “Don’t listen to him… Whatever he says is a trap,” I muttered, and the words raked out of my throat like a handful of broken glass because I knew they wouldn’t matter.

  Justin looked at me for a long moment, and I could see the gears in his mind turning. He was trying to figure out what was going on, but at the same time he wanted to come to me, to agree with me. Only he didn’t come to me. He was looking past us and seeing the big picture. Only he wasn’t because Sheev was involved, and his methods had a way of blowing up in your face and causing you to do things you’d not normally do.

  “Look, if you want to go down as a traitor, its fine by me.” Sheev smirked at me and patted my head like I was a good puppy. “Or you can stand up and be the hero you’re supposed to be, prince. Which will it be?” He shrugged. “If you won’t help, there’s always plan B.”

  “What’s plan B? Kill more of my people?” Justin asked, stepping between me and my master. The entire room seemed to tense, but if Sheev felt threatened, it didn’t show on his face.

  “Yes.” Sheev smiled, and I realized the trap had been set. Now it was about to spring.

  “He’s lying. Don’t listen to him, Justin—”

  Sheev cut me off with a wave of his hand. “Now you have to make a choice, Justin. Will you take the throne and use your power as ruler to end the war between the animators and the werewolves?” He gestured to the city burning outside the windows. “Or will you allow this to continue because while the werewolves are strong, I will be able to use this attack to bring the mages together under a banner of vengeance. It won’t matter that we started it. Now it only matters that everywhere people have lost loved ones.”

  “You won’t win,” Justin said, glaring at the old man. His hands were curled into white-knuckled fists and an angry vein throbbed in his forehead.

  “Maybe, maybe not, but either way many people would die.” Sheev sidled closer until he was almost chest to chest with Justin. “But you could save them. All of them. On both sides. You could be a hero.”

  I watched in horror as the bear trap Sheev had laid sprang shut around Justin. Delusions of grandeur swam through his eyes as the idea burrowed into his brain and took hold. It was too much for him to resist. He’d always been the privileged son, the prince, the actor not quite good enough to make it into the major leagues.

  This was his chance not only to do something on his own, but to save everyone. Justin had been wanting a princess to save. To step forth and be the white knight, and this? This was too much for him to resist, and I was stupid and naïve to think it would end in any way other than with him joining the dark side. After all, Anakin never started out trying to become Darth Vader. No, he started off trying to save Padme.

  “Tell me the plan,” Justin said, and those words broke something off inside me I wasn’t sure I could ever fix. As that small, sensitive part of me crumbled to dust, I turned my eyes upon Justin and saw him, really saw him. I’d known he was a man, not some white knight, not some prince who could save me from a high tower. It was obvious from the beginning but never more so than when he’d tried to shoot my brother.

  Even though I knew why he was doing it, my heart still ached. Sure, he might join Sheev under the banner of saving lives, but at the end of the day, Sheev was evil and his plan was evil. I know the saying sometimes you need a crook to catch a crook and sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, but at the end of the day fighting evil with evil was still evil. Only Sheev had a way of making his brand of evil seem like the best course of action. It was why I’d entrusted Justin to his care even though I’d known better. Now, as I saw Sheev’s plan come to fruition, I wished I’d never gotten in Tina’s car.

  “Don’t. If you do, something really bad will happen,” I whispered, and even though the words were loud in my head, they failed to reach Justin. I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of the Werewolf Ninja sweatshirt he’d given me and wanted to cry. I wouldn’t. But damn did I want to because I knew Justin couldn’t refuse, and I hated that more than anything.

  “More horrible than the mages and werewolves locked in all-out war?” Justin asked, raising an eyebrow at me. The look on his face was full of emotion I couldn’t discern. I could literally see the ideas bouncing around inside his skull, all twisted together like a ball of string so every conclusion and question led to each other.

  “He’s evil!” I snarled, pointing a shaking finger at Sheev. “He set us up. He murdered your kind! You cannot trust him.”

  “I broke a few eggs.” Sheev nodded to me. “But in the last century how many have died? How many more will be saved when you sit rightfully upon the throne?” Sheev folded his spindly arms across his robed chest. “I will not force you. Refuse me and leave. No one will harm you.” His empty gaze settled on me, and I shivered beneath it. “That goes for both of you.”

  “Are you really trying to justify the murder of tons of people?” It came out as a shout even though I didn’t want it to. “That’s never right!”

  “Believe what you want, Annie.” Sheev turned his gaze back to Justin. I’d been dismissed, and I knew it. “You know I’m right, Prince.”

  “How would you seat me on the throne?” Justin asked, only he didn’t look at me as he spoke. It wouldn’t have bothered me normally, but this time it did because it felt pointed. He was pointedly not looking at me, the fucker.

  “Easily enough,” Sheev said, a wry smile settling across his face as my hands tightened into fists. He’d won, like always, and he knew it. At the end of the day Sheev was a fucking velociraptor, and even if you were Chris Pratt, you had to know deep down that one day Blue would fucking eat you.

  “That’s where I come in,” Gordon said from behind me. His voice was crisp a
nd empty thanks to his flipped switch. It made me want to shake him until he turned it back on. Let’s see him be so calm then.

  “Neither of those are answers,” Justin replied. His face had settled into an empty mask, and that made me want to go to him, to comfort him. It meant he was hurting and trying to hide it.

  “Justin, just leave. Just come away with me. We can figure this out on our own,” I whispered, but no one, least of all Justin, seemed to hear me.

  “You’re right,” Sheev said, putting his hand on Justin’s shoulder and leading him away from me where I sat slumped on the floor of the hospital room. A chill flitted across my flesh, causing goosebumps to spring in its wake. “You need to challenge Alabaster for his right to rule.”

  “I can’t beat him.” Justin said it so calmly the truth of it rang in the air. I might have cared if I could have mustered the energy.

  “You can because he is not the ruler. Your father is. While your father lives, he cannot assume the crown of King of the Wolves.” Sheev smiled like the viper he was.

  “Great, so if we fought, we could both theoretically use magic, but in case you’ve forgotten, I have no powers, so that just means he’s free to unload on me while I stand there and take it with no way to defend myself.” Justin held out his hands in front of himself as if to say “see Exhibit A.”

  “But I have magic,” Gordon said, stepping over to me and putting a hand on my shoulder. It was strangely comforting even though I didn’t think I could be comforted. I knew I should have run away the second I saw Justin in Blair’s shop what felt like forever ago. If I had, maybe none of this would have happened. Or, more likely, everyone would still be dead. But I wouldn’t have to deal with them.

  “What good does that do me?” Justin replied, but before anyone could answer a buzzer went off in the room.

  “Damn,” Tina said, fishing out a cellphone unlike any I had ever seen. Runes glowed so bright, they seemed to hover over the screen. “Alabaster’s men are in the King’s hospital.”