“Jason? Where are you? It’s me, Fury!”
And then, slowly, as if rising from deep within the ground, I heard, “Kae? Is that you? Kae?”
My stomach clenched. He was out here. He was trapped somewhere and I didn’t know how to reach him. I began to cry.
Queet? Queet! I need you. Jason’s out here. I need your help. Damn it, Queet, where the hell are you? Get your ass here now!
Frustrated, I kicked the ground and stomped over to the cauldron. I had no choice. I needed to find Jason and free him. I held my hands over the cauldron and said, “Help me find Jason and bring him off the Crossroads, back where he belongs.”
The cauldron seemed to exhale a deep breath, and I heard a low laughter rise out of its cast-iron belly. Strike the flame, it whispered. Strike the flame and seal the deal. Make the deal and promise me bones and blood. Promise me a day of your life. Promise me your next-born child, your peace of mind, the heart of your dreams. Promise me anything. I’ll make a deal you can’t refuse. A drop of blood. A flicker of flame. That’s all you need to seal your claim.
Shivering, I stared at the empty vessel, and yet, I could not see the bottom. I couldn’t see how deep it was, or what was in it. A black void, whirling with stars, filled the center. The stars rippled as though they were waves, a pond of sparkles caught by a stiff breeze.
Something stayed my hand as I waited. I wanted to—it would be easy enough to prick my finger and drop my blood in the cauldron. To strike a small flame and add that. But something inside recoiled from making the deal, and as I stood there, trying to force myself to act, a soft swish behind me sounded. I whirled to find Hecate staring at me.
“Have you—” She nodded toward the cauldron.
“No, damn it. I wanted to. Jason’s out here and I need help to find him, but something—something is staying my hand. I don’t know what’s going on, Hecate. Why can’t I act to help my friend?”
I was near tears, ashamed of the fear that wove itself through my veins. It was as though the fear was a dam, keeping me from letting go and doing what I needed to do.
“Good,” she said, letting out a deep breath. “I will help you, but never like this. Never through the cauldron.”
“Why?” I asked. “It’s yours, isn’t it?”
“Yes. One of my aspects owns this cauldron.” She backed away. “You know me as your patron. As Hecate, the Elder Goddess who watches over you. But Fury, there are sides to me you haven’t seen.” She stepped back and raised her hands.
“Behold, Hecate the Crone Mother, the Mistress of Magic, the Keeper of the Cauldron of Change! Make a deal with me, and let me weave the threads of your web and your life!”
Standing there before me was an ancient crone, with hair as silver as the starlight, and her face a map of wrinkles so deep they were furrowed into her skin. Her eyes, though, were clear and brilliant and cruel, and she was dressed in a gown as black as the night with a silver belt and silver snakes that writhed around her arms.
I fell to my knees, afraid. I had never met this Hecate before, this ancient hag who embodied all the power of the night within her very essence. She was Queen of the Night, Queen of Nightmares and Dreams, Queen of the Dead, Queen of Phantoms, and around her, ghostly images flooded in, swirling like smoke rising from her hem. She caught hold of one and bit into it, draining the spirit dry as it screamed and fought against her.
“I am the Keeper of the Cauldron. Do you dare to make a deal with me? Or do you stay Fury, beloved of Hecate, the Goddess of the Crossroads?”
I hid my head as her voice thundered around me. “No—no—I don’t want to make a deal!”
“Then stand, my Fury, and let your fear go.” The thundering voice was gone, soft again and modulated. As I glanced up, she was back, the Hecate I knew and loved. “You do not have to make deals with me, Fury. You are my Chosen, my Theosian. You are mine already. Don’t bind yourself to the Cauldron Keeper when you don’t need to.”
I stumbled to my feet, feeling shell-shocked. Even though Hecate was back to herself—the her I knew—I would not forget the fear that had raced through me, and from now on, I thought, I’d be a damned sight more respectful. Maybe there was such a thing as being too comfortable around the gods.
“Hecate, I didn’t know.”
“Remember this: Always come to me, always be patient enough to wait for me. Don’t make decisions lightly. Now, you said Jason is out here?”
“I heard him, yes.” I told her what had happened. “Can you help me? How could he have gotten out on the Crossroads from the realm of Chaos?”
“Every realm has a connection to the Crossroads. Jason must have managed to find it. Let’s hope Lyon hasn’t.” She held out her hand. “Come, Fury. Let’s go find Jason and bring him home.”
As I touched her fingers, we were off, racing into the fields, and my fear was forgotten as I raced through the Crossroads with my goddess.
Chapter 14
WE WERE IN the middle of a barren field when I heard Jason again. He sounded lonely and desperate. Hecate motioned for me to be quiet, and she cupped her ear to the wind, listening. After a moment, she relaxed.
“He’s trapped in the stream that flows between the different realms. He didn’t quite make it over to the Crossroads, but he’s no longer in the realm of Chaos. You might say he’s in Limbo.”
“What can we do to help him?” I was ready to jump through any portal to help him the moment she gave me the order.
“We go over and bring him back. You need to be there because he’ll respond to your voice. Chances are he’s confused and dazed from being lost in Chaos. The moment we get out of Limbo, I’ll take him back to the village because he’ll need a lot of help. I’ll bounce you back with your friends so they don’t worry.” She held out her hand. “Don’t be frightened. Limbo’s overwhelming, but if you keep hold of my hand, you should do fine. Don’t let go, though. It’s too easy to get lost. Close your eyes.”
I did as she asked. As we shifted, my stomach lurched and I felt like I was dropping from a great height. I almost let go, trying to steady myself, but she held tight to my hand and I tried to stop fighting. We dropped, dropped, dropped a long way and I wanted to open my eyes but was afraid of what I might see. I fought back the impulse to scream, clenching my teeth. After what seemed like a long while, we slowed, and then—we were settling in on what felt like an uneven surface, and Hecate let out a long sigh.
“Open your eyes, but keep tight on my hand.” Her voice whistled by, then vanished as if it had been snatched away by an angry wind.
I slowly opened my eyes. We were standing on a mist-shrouded plain, and everywhere there seemed to be a gray boiling fog racing along across the ground. I looked up, but immediately shifted my eyes back down to the ground again. Overhead, stars wheeled, turning as though we were in a kaleidoscope, shifting positions with no thought to any pattern.
I paused and, in that moment, realized that it felt like we were whipping around and around on some carnival ride. Oh, we were standing still, but whatever plain we were on felt like it was moving and taking us along with it at a tremendous speed. I wasn’t sure I trusted myself to take a step forward without lurching to the ground.
“What is Limbo?” My words tumbled out of my mouth and—like Hecate’s—echoed for a brief second and then were gone, ricocheting away from me, yanked out of my lips by some unseen force. The faintest hint of an echo reverberated behind them.
“Limbo is a place where everything waits in stagnation, and yet nothing is still. It’s a contradiction, a paradoxical realm where nothing moves and everything changes.”
Her words whipped by so quickly I had the impulse to duck.
“How do we find Jason in this? I don’t know if I can even move.”
She cocked her head, looking around. I still kept my sights on the ground—it helped me feel less queasy. I hadn’t felt this nauseated in a long while. It made traveling on a boat seem l
ike the steadiest motion in the world.
“Call him by name. Tell him who you are. With a little luck, he’ll hear you and follow your voice.”
I tried to catch my breath and realized I wasn’t really breathing. Or it didn’t feel that way. Panicking, I gasped for air and Hecate’s firm grip on my hand tightened even more.
“Stop. You’re breathing. It just doesn’t feel the same here. Close your eyes again and steady yourself. Search for that inner fire but don’t summon it. The glow will warm you and help you feel more like yourself.”
I did as she suggested, closing my eyes and summoning the fire within. There, I felt a soft glow. It strengthened as I centered my attention on it, and after a while, it grew to life, warming my body and core, and I felt stronger. I opened my eyes, strong enough to focus on what I needed to do. I ignored the feeling that I couldn’t take a deep breath and, instead, thought about Jason.
“Jason! Jason! It’s Kaeleen. Follow my voice. We’re here to help you! Jason!”
My words echoed around us, skipping off like stones across the river. Another moment and I repeated the call, and then a third time. We waited for a time, and Hecate urged me to try again. She seemed confident, so I called for him a fourth time, and a fifth.
I was about to lose heart when—on the sixth call—I heard his voice, faint but sure.
“Kae, I’m coming. Keep calling, please!”
“Jason. We’re here. Follow my voice! Jason, listen to me and focus on the sound of my words. Come here, Jason—we’ll get you out of here and home! Elan is waiting for you! She loves you!” I kept up a string of chatter, wrestling to control my voice as the wind tried to snatch it away before the words were fully out of my mouth.
“Keep talking. He’s on the run. I can sense him. He’ll be here soon. I’m going to have to let go of your hand when he arrives in order to catch him because otherwise, he’ll overshoot the mark. Do not fall, do not move, stay completely still and you’ll be all right. Do you understand?” Hecate whispered fiercely, her grip starting to lessen.
I nodded, continuing to call Jason our way. I could sense him now, too—he was running toward us at full tilt, as though he were being chased by some creature. He was wild-eyed and terrified, and I realized that Hecate was right. He wouldn’t be able to stop himself in time. I closed my eyes to make the transition easier, and then, as he neared, Hecate let go of my hand.
I lurched, but managed to keep myself upright as the world began to spin at a dizzying rate. I tried to ignore the sensation, to focus on the soft glow of the fire within. I whispered to it, asking it to keep me grounded. Without Hecate’s hand holding on to mine, the power of the realm fully enveloped me and I understood why Jason seemed so frantic. There was nothing here to hold onto, nothing to offer a sense of stability. Everything was moving and shifting, and yet, there seemed to be no end to the realm, and nowhere to go.
It reminded me of the Tremble, only far worse, and I had a sudden thought that perhaps some of the energy from the realm of Limbo was seeping into the Tremble. Or perhaps from the realm of Chaos? But if that was so, why didn’t Lyon go up to the Tremble to try his plan from there? I focused on the thought, narrowing my attention and suddenly realized that I wasn’t quite so afraid. But I wasn’t feeling secure enough to open my eyes.
A few moments later—I actually had no frame of reference for time but it seemed like it might be that—Hecate took hold of my hand again and we hurtled through space. Before I could catch my breath, we were standing back at the Crossroads.
“Where’s Jason? Did you get him?” I stumbled to my knees, all the oomph knocked out of me.
“Yes, I did, and I took him back to the village. I need to go there now, so that we can care for him. He’s alive, that’s all I can tell you, and he’s unhurt physically. We’ll have to see what we can do to repair his mind. Now, go—you’ve been out here too long, and the realm of Limbo saps your energy so no trying any magic for a while. I’ll see you back at the village. Be safe.”
Before I could say another word, she waved her hand and I found myself back in the intersection, on my knees, groaning as I realized I’d landed right in the middle of a fight.
THOR WAS KICKING ass on a group of zombies to my left. To my right, Vis and Hans were fighting more of the same. Greta was fighting something with her sword that I couldn’t see. Dizzy, I staggered to my feet, shaking my head as I stared at the brawl.
Greta motioned to me. “I need help. Ghosts—a big bunch of them. Fury, do something!”
It was then that I saw the misty forms writhing in the dusk that had fallen. I must have been away for the better part of an hour. I started to summon up my fire but it wouldn’t come—wouldn’t spark and I remembered what Hecate had said. No using magic for a while.
I slapped my thigh, bringing my whip to bear and Greta fell back. The fire of the whip wasn’t something I had to summon, and it could affect creatures of all types, including the incorporeal. I brought it crackling down on the form that was trying to choke Greta and there was a hiss as the spirit backed away, turning toward me instead.
“Crap—there are too many! And on top of zombies—we can’t fight all of them.”
Nobody paid attention to what I said, which wasn’t surprising given everybody seemed to be caught up in the massive brawl. No matter what Hecate had said, I had no choice. I had to use what magic I could manage to give us the chance to escape. I didn’t have the time nor my tools to summon a Psychofágos demon, which could have helped corral the ghosts.
So I searched for my flame, searched for the inner core of the fire, and then, when I found it, I whispered to it, asking it to ride me hard and wild, to take control given I couldn’t nurture it with my own energy. At that moment, an elemental rose up with a deep laugh, and dove toward me. I screamed as the sheer force and flame overcame me, burning every nerve raw.
Then, as the flame entwined with my muscle and bone, I rose up, a living pillar of fire, the fury of the flame incarnate. I could see through the haze of white-hot tongues and I realized that the elemental and I had merged into one. Its hunger and desire to feed threatened to overcome my control, and I battled back. The elemental didn’t care who its targets were, only that it found sustenance. I focused on the zombies and ghosts and, by sheer willpower, forced the creature of fire to turn in their direction. As I walked toward the guards who were fighting the creatures, they fell back, leaving the zombies and spirits open to me.
I held out my hands and a spray of fire came shooting out, like ten thousand sparklers. The zombies fell, consumed by the flames the moment they hit, and then the ghosts backed away as they, too, begin to explode in a vapor of smoke. I raged on, burning the stone rubble in front of me, driving the fires toward whatever could take flame and burn.
Burn. The hunger to burn brightly, to see the world alight in a crackling blaze…
I couldn’t fight the impulse much longer as I attempted to wrest control from the elemental and keep it from turning on my friends. I let out a scream, loud and primal and the sound of a thousand wildfires converging. As I turned my fire spray toward Greta and Hans, my consciousness fading, a crack of thunder split the sky and rain began to pour down in a deluge. The water washed through the flames from the elemental, extinguishing them on impact.
I clenched my teeth, holding on to the last shreds of awareness as the water began to wash away the hold the elemental had on me. It struggled, trying to hold on, but as the flames died back, the creature of fire slowly withdrew. Then, with a last spark and hiss, it vanished, and I collapsed. Everything went black as the cool rain soothed my body and my soul, and I allowed myself to slip into a chasm churning with ocean waves and the howl of the storm.
WHEN I WOKE, my head was resting on Greta’s lap, and Thor was kneeling by my side, holding my head, whispering my name. I blinked, feeling charred and yet drenched to the bone.
“What happened? The zombies?”
“Gone.
You destroyed them. The ghosts fled too. And now that you’re awake, we need to leave this place.” Thor lifted me up, carrying me as if I weighed no more than a feather.
I leaned against him, smelling ozone and beer and the musky scent of goat. It was an oddly comforting mix, and I murmured something, pressing my lips to his chest as I closed my eyes.
“Shush, young goddess. Let sleep take you.”
The swaying of his walk lulled me into a light sleep, but the next moment, I jarred awake again as I found myself deposited on a fluffy cape inside the chariot. The others crowded around me and Greta stroked the hair out of my eyes. Then the motion began again as we took off. I closed my eyes once more, and the next thing I knew, they were transferring me to Laren’s boat, and we were setting sail across the inlet, away from Seattle.
Even in the midst of my confusion and exhaustion, my last waking thoughts were that I would never again walk the streets of Seattle. It was a skeleton of a city, belonging to only the walking dead and the ghosts, and it was truly time to leave it behind.
Chapter 15
Three months later…Winter Solstice
I STOOD IN my bedroom—or what had been my bedroom and what would now become Elan and Jason’s room—staring at myself in the mirror. Patrice was fluttering around me, talking up a storm as she tucked a handkerchief in my hand and then moved around to fasten the laces on my corset. I sucked in my stomach.
“Are you excited, milady?” She gritted her teeth as she pulled the laces taut, then let them out just a little before tying them off.
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