“To seek your help,” Justin said, and his voice was a lot more confident than I felt because to be frank I was ready to get out of here. I mean, seriously? Hadn’t he heard of that Japanese shadow wolf that ate people who tripped? This thing seemed way too much like that for comfort.
Besides, I wasn’t even sure it was who we’d come to see. I hadn’t studied the wolf god before, let alone seen him. Maybe this was like a servant come to tell us to get our happy asses back home before shit got real? Worse, what if it was a bad guy? I really hoped not because I’d had my fill of evil wolves for the day. Just saying.
“Then you should leave.” The wolf stood and began pacing back and forth across the narrow path in front of us. It blew out the light, and with every step it took, the sound of its paws on the rocky ground grated harder against my brain.
“I cannot leave,” Justin replied, taking a step toward the wolf because he clearly hadn’t read any of the stories about wolves. They all ended with the hero getting eaten. “I need to gain my Hands of Power so I can take control of the pack.”
The wolf stopped and looked at him, cocking its head to the side and allowing its shadowy black tongue to hang out of its jaws.
“Are you fucking with me, Prince?” it asked and the way it spoke reminded me of Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction daring us to say what again. “Only the strongest wolf in a pack gains such a gift. It is how each pack knows who is Alpha. Through their magic, they show their strength. It is why magical Hands of Power are reserved only for the strongest.”
“So what?” Justin replied, obviously thrown off his game as the wolf sauntered toward us. As it moved closer, more details in its coat and face became apparent, which was weird because it grew darker, like it was a black hole destined to swallow the sun.
“Your alpha is not dead. You cannot have Hands of Power until he dies.” The wolf shook his head and sat down right in front of Justin. “If you crave power, wolf, you must take it in the way of the wolf. With blood and death and the gnashing of teeth.” It shrugged and moved past him, fixing its black as soot eyes upon me.
“As for you, Animator, let me be the first to say what a pleasure it is to meet you.” It smiled, which was altogether fucked up on a wolf. It was like seeing a storm cloud smile at you right before lightning exploded from its silver lining and struck you in the face.
“What?” I asked, and as I said it, the wolf smirked. An image of Samuel L. Jackson filled my brain, and I got the distinct impression the wolf could read my mind and was fucking with me. Holy fuck that was fucked.
“Wait, you have to help me,” Justin said, and as he spun toward the wolf, time stopped. Like actually stopped. The drops of blood rain hung suspended in the air around us and the dust motes stirred beneath Justin’s feet neglected to move.
“We have finished speaking, you prat,” the wolf god said, not bothering to look at Justin. “I’m not sure how much clearer I can be. If you want the power you seek, kill your father. Simple.”
“I think he’d rather another way,” I said, coming to Justin’s defense even though I was already mentally trying to decide what to do about that information. If I told anyone, Justin’s father would take a short walk off a high cliff. Something told me Justin wasn’t the type of guy who would make that happen.
“Yeah, and if the Queen of England was a man, she’d be king.” The wolf shrugged and came close to me, nuzzling my hand with its head. It was strangely warm and plush so it almost felt like petting a tribble. And no, I’d never brought one of those to life, but I could dream…
“So, uh, what now?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at the wolf god as it continued to nuzzle against me. It reminded me way more of a cat than a wolf, and that was weird because, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really an animal person. I mean, I’d never even had a goldfish before. Okay, that wasn’t true. I’d won a goldfish at the fair once, and it’d died before I made it home. Evidently, they do not like funnel cake.
“Now you make a decision, Annie.” The wolf god smiled, and it made me shiver down to my bones. I knew, just knew, that the next time I saw that smile, it’d cause me to wake up screaming in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. “You need to choose who you value more.” It began to dissipate then, its smoky body dissolving before my eyes as the lightning, still frozen in mid-strike, caused his eyes to glow with supernatural intensity.
“A decision?” I asked, which yes, was dumb, but it was all sorts of fucked up. I was an animator, and not a particularly awesome one at that. What the hell kind of decision could I make that would matter? I mean, Jesus, even my vote didn’t matter since I lived in California and we always swung Democrat.
“Yes,” the wolf faded into a thin wisp, and as it did, the thunder overhead boomed, and the rain began to fall. “You will know when the time comes.”
Then it was gone, leaving me standing there in the pouring blood rain as Justin whirled around and glared at where the wolf had stood. I met his eyes and tried to smile even though his face was covered in blood like we were extras from Carrie.
“So, we going to try to find another way?” I asked because there was no way he was going to kill his father, and if I told anyone, well, what little we had between us would go away. Yes, it was selfish, but maybe we could find another way. I mean, stranger things have happened right?
“I’m worried that won’t work,” Justin said, and as he met my eyes, he shivered. Then I was holding him, pulling him into my arms and trying to comfort him from the truth. There was no other way, and we both knew we were totally fucked. And yet, we were going to try anyway because you only live once.
“Well, we won’t know if we don’t try,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I mean at the end of the day, you don’t need to actually get Hands, you just need to beat Alabaster, right?” I offered, hoping it sounded better than I thought it did because I couldn’t stop myself from remembering Alabaster. I’d practically blown him in half and it’d barely slowed him down. I’m sure Justin was tough as far as werewolves went, but he couldn’t suck the air out of my lungs.
“I don’t think I can beat him,” Justin said, staring at me as the bloody rain dripped down his face. It made him look haunted and defeated. “Even if he didn’t burn me to ash with a thought.” He shrugged. “I’m strong for a werewolf, but Alabaster is a king and second to my dad.”
“Man the fuck up,” I said, stepping across the clearing and smacking him across the face. “There’s no way you’ll win with that attitude.” I grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him. He didn’t move much as the lightning cracked overhead, but that was fine because he made eye contact with me. Despair circled those eyes, and in it I saw the truth. He knew he couldn’t win. Worse, he was worried that even if he had his father’s power it wouldn’t be enough.
Jesus, what could I do for someone like this? I shut my eyes for a second and put my head against his chest as I channeled Misato from Evangelion. She’d gotten Shinji to fight. And man did that guy suck. He was this wimpy dude in the anime with the most powerful Eva. He could have crushed the angels but was always too wimpy to do it. Justin wasn’t that way. He was better because he really didn’t have the power to beat Alabaster, and we both knew that.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time for that shit, and I was done standing in the goddamned rain. Which, I guess was fine because the clouds overhead were starting to part, and I could feel magic in the air coming toward us. I knew what that felt like. It felt like when Morgan had sent me here, only less bitchy. We were going back. Empty handed.
“You can beat him, Justin,” I said, running my index finger down his chest as I leaned in so close I could feel his breath on my lips. “I believe in you.”
“Annie…” something in his voice changed, and as it did, he tried to step back. I stepped with him as the magic in the air swirled around us. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” I looked up at him as I spoke, and as he started to shake his head, I kissed him as hard as I cou
ld. I put everything into it as I reached around his neck and pulled his body into mine. His eyes widened in shock and then his arms encircled my body. For a moment, there was no rain. No blood and thunder.
There was just us and that one perfect kiss. Something inside him must have broken then because he grew emboldened, hungry, attacking my mouth with his own as his fingers dug into my back. If I let him, he’d tear my clothes off right here. Good.
I broke the kiss and took a step back, plastering a devious smile on my face that made my stomach tighten in horror. Evidently, this was who I was now. Awesome.
“What was that for?” he asked, breathless as his eyes roamed over me hungrily. Behind him, I could see the faintest outline of the shadow wolf. It bared its teeth and grinned at me in a way that roiled my stomach as I swallowed my last bit of pride and tore my gaze from the creature.
Power began to sweep around us, coming toward us on wind that smelled like oranges and pine trees.
“It was a sample.” I bit my lip and looked him up and down as the magic caught up around us. Our bodies began to fade like the last remnants of a forgotten dream. “We can do the rest when you win.”
18
I reappeared inside the fish house or whatever the hell it was called, by myself. I must have been gone a while because all the lights were out and the place was totally empty. As I grabbed a nearby table to pull myself to my feet, my fingers touched something warm and sticky. I took a deep breath, resisting the urge to freak out as I stood, glanced at my ketchup-covered fingers, and looked around for Justin.
There was nothing here beyond my fondest dreams, which was sort of good. Part of me was glad he wasn’t here, and we didn’t have to have an awkward conversation. It’d be like that weird moment after a one night stand where the other person forgot they were supposed to be gone in the morning, or worse, you were in a fraternity and had to walk past all the other rooms in the morning. Hey, don’t judge.
Heat flushed across my cheeks as I rubbed my face with my hand. I wasn’t sure if what I’d tried to do with Justin had even worked or been sufficiently motivating, but I’d like to think I made my saving throw. If not, well, I guess it didn’t matter because he was going to have to man up no matter what. I mean, he was a freaking werewolf prince.
Either way, I couldn’t think about that now. First thing first. I needed to find everyone before I could put together a plan to help Justin beat down a nigh-invincible werewolf king. Hopefully that happened before we all died at his hands. No pressure.
The smell of old grease hung in the air, twisting my stomach as I walked toward the large glass doors. It was always weird to smell the aftermath of frying for me because while I loved all things fried, I didn’t really like the smell of old grease.
Thankfully, the exit wasn’t far way and was relatively easy to find because the exit sign above the door was the only source of light within the place. To be honest, it sort of pissed me off because shouldn’t someone have been waiting for me? Like, didn’t they expect me to come back? Or had this been meant as a two people go in, one comes out sort of thing?
My footsteps echoed across the cheap tile as I made my way toward the exit. As I reached out toward the push bar on the doors, hoping it was one of those deals that always opened from the inside, something pinged off my senses. A surge of magic unlike anything I’d ever felt before exploded from overhead.
Without thinking, I pushed through the door, glad it opened when I shoved against the push bar, but once I was outside, I almost wished I’d stayed inside. No, scratch that. I wanted to go back to Los Angeles, right freaking now.
The dome overhead cracked like it was made of safety glass and energy spit from those cracks like arcs of electricity. Arcs of fire leapt across the outside of the dome causing the water on the other side to evaporate into steam, which in turn caused more water to fill in the empty space and slam against the dome.
It was happening all across the dome, and every time it happened, the magical pylons powering up the dome crackled and spit. Magic leapt from the runes emblazoned on the stones, and the multicolored gemstones arrayed across their surface glowed like they were overheating.
“Get inside!” someone to my left called, and as I turned toward the high-pitched cry, my eyes widened in shock. A fucking tornado had sprang to life in the center of the square, and worse, it was heading toward the capitol building. I wasn’t sure what sort of defenses lay upon it, nor what sort of power Morgan Le Fay and the other mages could bring to bear, but I knew that such a clash would not be good for property values.
A staccato crack erupted from overhead, and I glanced heavenward to see the dome glow red like shields failing in every science fiction movie ever. The steam hammer crashed against the spot again, and as it did, I felt the spray of water on my face as a billion pinpricks opened in the surface.
I stood there, nearly incapacitated because I had no idea what to do. I mean, I was a billion miles underwater and something had cast tornado inside the city while someone else tried to shatter the dome. Only, that shouldn’t have been possible because while I could buy someone attacking the dome from the outside, you’d definitely have to be inside to do the tornado thing.
That meant someone was in here and that someone was a goddamned traitor. The only question was where were they and how could I stop them. I was sort of out of objects at this point, but that was fine, I never let a thing like not having any fucking clue what I was doing stop me. Actually, scratch that. I should be running away. Only I was in an underwater city and there was nowhere to go!
Still, even if I could have run, I wouldn’t have. I wasn’t sure why my first inclination had been to help when I didn’t owe these people anything, and Morgan had been very clear about being willing to sacrifice me to save everyone else. Hell, even in the grand chaos of things, I could probably find a way out of here, hop over to Jamaica, find a nice beach, and forget about it all. You know, assuming no one tracked me down. Still, I could do it… It might not be easy, but I could do it.
The closest pillar to me exploded, spraying superheated shrapnel out across the city. I threw myself to the side, trying to burrow beneath the heavy metal dumpster in the alley as fragments of magically enchanted debris slammed into the buildings around me and carved furrows into the street.
As the wall of the fish house buckled, and the roof came caving down inside the building, the shriek of steel filled my ears. Another blast of magic hit the dumpster, flinging it away from me as I scrabbled backward. The dome overhead shattered, and while there might have been bits of broken magic falling, I was suddenly much more concerned by the thousand gallons of high pressure water that poured inside.
The remaining pylons lit up like stars as a patchwork of magic struggled to fill in the hole in the dome. That, however, didn’t stop the water from crashing down to the street next to where I was huddled like a rabbit and surging toward me like a raging river. It scooped me up and threw me into the ground repeatedly. My lungs struggled for breath as I tried to grab onto something to keep me from being carried away.
The surge threw me into something hard and pointy, and I screamed involuntarily. Bubbles burst from my lips as my vision went dark and fractured. Then the water was gone, and I was lying on my back in a sodden mass.
Above me the sky crackled, and the sea kept pounding at the dome. Still, I could breathe, so I took advantage of that and sucked in a lungful of air. Then because it felt so good, I did it again. That accomplished, I pushed myself to my hands and knees.
My heavy, sodden clothes stuck to my skin as I climbed slowly to my feet. I tried to ignore it, but it was so hard to move I stripped off my destroyed sweatshirt and tossed it to the ground. I grumbled, noting how my shirt stuck to my bra, but at least it was dark. Besides, if someone wanted to look at my non-chest, I guess they could. You know, as long as I didn’t catch them doing it.
“Annie? Is that you?” Madisyn’s teeny tiny voice called from somewhere behind me, and as
I turned in a slow circle, I saw her huddled beneath a park bench. She had one of those goats next to her, and I was guessing the creature had blocked most of the water because she seemed remarkably dry compared to the creature.
“Maddy?” I called, my feet clomping and squishing on the grass as I moved toward her. I could see the flashing of the dome in my periphery, but I couldn’t focus on that right now. Not when there was a scared little girl right in front of me because that little girl needed help, and I could help her. I was going to do that.
“Annie!” she cried, scrambling out from beneath the bench and moving toward me. If the goat cared, it didn’t show. That was fine, I didn’t particularly like it either. Still, it had saved Madisyn, so I’d eat it last.
She hit me around the waist and pulled me into a hug I was way too awkward to return. So I just stood there like an idiot, my body tensing because I was way too broken to deal with human touch. Sigh.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” I said, smiling at her. I’ll be honest, I’d sort of forgotten about her with everything that’d happened.
“Me too.” She shook her head as she gripped my left hand in her right hand. “I like being safe.” She looked up at me and her eyes were huge in the reflected light of the dome. “But I don’t think it’s safe here anymore.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” I said because that’s what you were supposed to tell kids. It was a lie in that I had no idea how to keep her safe if that dome went down, but at the same time it wasn’t a lie because I would protect her. Maybe not to the point of “die trying” but definitely right up until then.
“Yeah, grownups always say that.” She squeezed my hand.
“It’s our job,” I replied, shaking my head. “And you know way too much for how old you are.”
She didn’t respond as a shadow swam behind her eyes and sadness sprang up in me. I’d had that same look when I was her age. Hell, I was willing to bet she’d never really felt safe because I knew what it was like to be this little girl. No. That wasn’t true. She hadn’t had another couple decades to break her yet. With any luck, that wouldn’t happen.
Prince of Blood and Thunder: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Spell Slinger Chronicles Book 2) Page 13
