Fury Rising (Fury Unbound Book 1)

by Yasmine Galenorn

  Jason stood there for another beat, then turned. “Let’s get out of here. We can’t jeopardize their operations.” He headed toward the front of the shop, with Tam and me on his heels.

  “How far are they, Fury?”

  “Not far, but they probably won’t be able to see us yet if we get out of here now. We could hide and ambush them.” I peeked out the door. No one in sight. As I darted toward the opposite wall, I spied an alcove a few yards to the right. “We can hide there.”

  “Question: Do we kill Lyon?” Tam asked it as offhandedly as if he had asked, “Do you want eggs for breakfast?”

  “If we can. But our primary goal is to retrieve the Thunderstrike. They can still cause a massive amount of trouble, but at least this will prevent the Greenlings from advising Gaia to force another World Shift.”

  We reached the alcove. Whatever this place had been, it was about the size of a study booth at the library without a desk or holoscreen. It would barely fit the three of us if we snuggled in together.

  “Let me be in front,” I said. “I need to jump clear in case I have to use my whip.” And with that, I slapped my thigh, the whip springing to life in my hands. It tingled in my fingers, singing as it woke to life. The energy was solid as leather, solid as wood, and felt comforting as it thrummed in my hands. With my left hand, I unsheathed my dagger.

  As we slipped inside the niche, I was shivering. Again, the thought of going up against actual humans frightened me—there was a fine line between fighting someone who really was a villain—like the Carver—and fighting someone you arbitrarily decided was your enemy.

  The Trace grew louder in my head. I quickly used whisper-speak to ask Tam and Jason, “So, should we attack to the front, or after they pass? He’ll be passing right in front of us.”

  “Rear attack would give us an advantage,” Tam said.

  “But only if they don’t notice us. If they see us here, we’re stuck. I say go in as soon as they get close enough,” Jason countered.

  “That makes sense. I don’t want to be lodged in here if there are enough of them to surround us. Front attack it is, then.” And with that, we fell silent, waiting.

  It wasn’t long before we heard the sound of voices echoing down the passage. I tried to place how many people were speaking, but only managed to distinguish three separate voices. Of course, that didn’t mean there weren’t more. I wanted to peek out, but they weren’t close enough yet to engage and the danger that they would see us, too great. It was times like this where I really missed Queet being around.

  And then, the Trace began to flash in my mind, a beacon on high alert. I glanced over my shoulder at Tam and Jason, giving them a warning nod toward the corridor. As I tensed, the voices came closer. I tried to pick out what they were saying.

  “What do you mean, you’re having second thoughts?” The irritation came through the man’s voice. “You really think you have a choice at this point? We agreed on a course of action, and we’re sticking to it.”

  “I just think… I heard there were a number of people hurt in the Trips.”

  “Lowlifes, riffraff, and crazies. Just baggage and the city is better off without them. Now shut up or I’ll send you to Weaver.”

  There was a muffled protest, then silence again.

  I froze, waiting. They weren’t quite close enough. Another few yards. I held my breath and tensed, then, trusting Tam and Jason to be at my back, I leaped out of the alcove, landing in front of three men and two bog-dogs.

  “What—?” The center man was tall, with wavy blond hair. He was wearing a long indigo robe, but his eyes struck me the most. They were cruel—glittering, brilliant blue, icy cold with no hint of compassion behind them.

  The bog-dogs immediately bristled and one lunged forward. Without a second thought, I brought my whip down against its side. The creatures were deadly predators, and they were so feral that he must have had them under a charm in order to keep them at his side.

  The bog-dog, four feet high at the shoulder, met my whip without blinking as it sliced into its skin. Tam and Jason were in the fray now, Tam taking on one of Lyon’s buddies while Jason tackled the other bog-dog.

  The bog-dog lunged for my throat and I flipped over its head, grateful for every second I had poured into training at the gym. As I landed, I realized I was in front of Lyon, who was holding the disk. I glanced at it, calculating my chances for a snatch-and-run. My split second of hesitation cost me. He brought up one hand and sent flames pouring out of his fingertips toward me. I began to dodge to the side, only to find myself being launched through the air as the bog-dog turned and bowled into me from behind.

  As I landed a few feet away, I realized that the bog-dog had unwittingly saved me from the flames. I leaped to my feet and charged toward Lyon, cracking my whip around to catch his wrist. It put a stop to another bout of flames coming my way as I yanked hard, throwing him off balance.

  Jason shouted, and I glanced over to see him slicing into his bog-dog with his blade. As the dog fell to the floor, he raised his hand and called out in a loud voice. The next moment, a vortex of air came swirling down the hall at Lyon. I pulled my whip back and dodged again, turning to see Tam bringing down one of Lyon’s compatriots.

  Lyon shouted as the vortex hit him, sweeping him off his feet. He dropped the Thunderstrike as he tried to keep himself from falling. I dashed toward it. The bog-dog I had been fighting was racing toward me and I slapped my whip back on my thigh and snatched up the disk in my right hand as I turned to meet the creature with my dagger, driving it deep into the skull of the bog-dog.

  I managed to hit it directly on the head, and the creature staggered back. At that moment, Tam appeared from behind, thrusting his sword deep into the back of the bog-dog. Confident he could finish it off, I turned just in time to see Lyon getting to his feet, the look on his face terrifying. He was full-on cracker-cat and crazy-eyed, and he raised his hands, aiming them toward me. This time, a ball of fire began to form between his fingers as a wicked grin spread across his face.

  “Oh crap,” I whispered, backing away. There was nothing to hide behind, nothing to protect me, and while I worked with fire, that didn’t make me immune to it. He was too far away for me to attack with my dagger, and I couldn’t let the Thunderstrike get away.

  I turned on one heel, breaking into a full-fledged run. Luckily, I could blur myself and speed up. I headed toward the nearest intersection where we had met Terrance. If I could get to the center, it would act as a crossroads and I could shift over.

  Lyon was moving after me, and I realized he was keeping pace. Double crap. There was something about him that seemed familiar and as I ran, it hit me—he was a Theosian, too.

  “Fury!” Tam’s voice echoed behind me.

  I didn’t have time to look back. Instead, I just kept running, trying to veer from side to side. I was coming to the intersection and as I skidded into the center, I brought my hands overhead, the disk between them.

  Lyon let out a shout, sending a ball of flame directly at me. As the world began to fade and I shifted to the Crossroads, I realized the ground was shaking beneath my feet. The Thunderstrike must have been set to trigger off a quake and somehow, my actions had activated it. I tried to stop my shift, but it was too late. As the fireball engulfed the area where I had been standing, everything blurred, and the Thunderstrike and I landed on the Crossroads.

  I blinked, shaking as I landed on my knees. I dropped the disk in front of me, staring at it in horror. I had no idea how bad the quake was that I had inadvertently triggered and could only hope that somehow, by shifting over, I might have negated some of the impact.

  Then I remembered Tam and Jason were stuck back there with a power-crazed magician and at least one of his toadies, in the middle of an earthquake, and the panic really did hit.

  As I slowly pushed myself to my feet and retrieved the disk, I prayed that Hecate was paying attention. She always knew when I shi
fted to the Crossroads, and I hoped this was one of the times when she’d come checking on me, given she knew what I had set out to do.

  I looked around. The Crossroads were active tonight. The spirits were running wild—I could feel them swirling past. Wondering if it had anything to do with the quake, I decided to wait for a bit before heading back. For one thing, if I crossed over right now, I’d wind up back in the Tunnels and I had no desire to face Lyon again. I wasn’t sure I could hold onto the Thunderstrike if he tried to get it back.

  I headed over to one of the rocks by the side of the Crossroads to wait. As I sat there, a familiar tap on the shoulder made me jump.

  “Hey, Fury.”

  “Queet! Oh thank gods you showed up. Did Jason find you?” I knew there hadn’t been enough time for Jason and Tam to get out of the Tunnels, but I couldn’t think of any other way he could have known.

  “No, actually. Hecate just contacted me and told me to meet you here. She’s on the way.”

  Breathing a sign of relief, I leaned forward, my shoulders slumping as I rested my elbows on my knees as I examined the disk. It wasn’t large—only about the size of a small dinner plate, but the damage it could do was stupefying. This disk had been used as a weapon of mass destruction during the Weather Wars, and now, at this moment, I was the only one standing between a reenactment of the disaster and the world.

  “Queet, can you…never mind. You can’t.” I wanted him to go check on Jason and Tam, but he couldn’t get into the Tunnels. Worry eating at me, I cautiously turned the disk over, looking for whatever had activated the quake, but it was smooth, with red lights running along the edge, and I couldn’t figure out how Lyon had managed to program it.

  “They’ll be okay, Fury. They’re strong and resourceful.”

  “How did you know what I was thinking?”

  “I know how you feel about them—both of them.”

  “Oh.”

  I tried to believe he was right. Tam and Jason were both strong, it was true. And Lyon only had one henchman left with him when I had shifted out. The bog-dogs were dead. Surely, they would manage to survive.

  “They have to,” I whispered to myself.

  The faint drone of a funeral march reached my ears. I shifted, struggling to see who was approaching. It wasn’t Hecate—she didn’t go in for processions, really.

  Another moment, and a funeral parade came through. I had seen them before, out on the Crossroads. They trailed past, ignoring me, a group of mourners whom I knew were spirits carrying a ghostly coffin to the center of the juncture. They were dressed in veils, wearing colorful clothes, and they sang and danced as they followed the coffin. Once in the middle of the Crossroads, they set it down at the center and placed a handful of coins on the lid, then stood back to wait.

  Oh hell, that meant somebody was coming for whomever was inside and I had a feeling I knew whom. I jumped over the rocks, hiding behind them. The last thing I needed was an encounter with another god of the Crossroads. Especially if it was—

  A movement cut my thoughts short.

  A tall—incredibly tall—man strode into the center. He was dark skinned, but his skin was almost translucent, and his long black hair, a swirl of tiny braids, fell to his shoulders. His eyes gleamed sparkling yellow, and he was wearing a black suit with a white shirt, and black and white shoes. Atop his head he wore a tall black top hat with a brilliant red rose on one side. His skull glistened from beneath the skin of his face.

  Papa Legba. One of the Crossroads guardians.

  As I watched, he squatted by the coffin and pocketed the coins that had been placed atop it. Slowly, he lifted the lid and waited. Another moment, and a vaporous form appeared from inside the coffin. Papa Legba stood, then laughed a deep belly laugh full of danger and delight, and held out one finger. He touched the spirit and it wound itself around him in a misty shroud.

  The crowd of people fell to their knees, bowing their heads. Papa Legba tipped his hat to them, laughed again, and turned back to the mists out of which he had stepped. As he entered the cloud, I thought I heard a faint shriek—probably the spirit attached to him—and then they were both gone. The mourners picked up the coffin and began to make their way back the way they had come. This time, they were quiet and somber. As they passed the rocks behind which I was hiding, I couldn’t help but wonder who the spirit was whom they had delivered, and what was going to happen to it. Another moment, and the mourners vanished.

  I was about to step out from behind the rocks when a familiar voice echoed from behind me.

  “I see you were watching the delivery of one of Papa Legba’s priests?”

  “Hecate!” A wave of gratitude sweeping over me, I turned. There she stood, in full robes and with a faint smile on her face. I held out the Thunderstrike. “I got it back. But I was separated from Tam and Jason. I’m worried about them.”

  She smiled. “One thing at a time, child. Jason and Tam are waiting for you. But first, please explain to me why you set off an earthquake in Seattle.”

  And right then, I realized that I hadn’t managed to shift over fast enough to stop the quake from happening. I could only hope it hadn’t been too strong.

  Chapter 25

  “I didn’t mean to. Really. I grabbed the disk from Lyon. I was trying to get away from his damned fireballs, and I decided the only way to escape with the Thunderstrike was to jump over to the Crossroads. The quake happened just as I shifted. I figure Lyon must have—” I stopped as she held up her hand, her smile crinkling into laughter.

  “I shouldn’t tease you. I know what happened, Fury. I was just attempting a little levity.”

  Irritated, I scuffed my foot. Her idea of a joke had thrown me into a panic. “Ha-ha. Very funny.”

  She sobered. “You’re right, it’s not. But we need any break we can get from the damage and destruction that this device has wrought. You must take it to the Greenlings. They will destroy it. All artifacts from the Weather Wars must go through them first. They log it in, and then consign it into history.”

  I stared at her. “All the artifacts? There are more like this?”

  Hecate gave me a faint nod. “Many. The magicians were skilled, the nations rich and wanting to grow more so. They poured their money into their magical weapons because they had grown far more powerful than the technological ones.”

  “Are they all weather related?” I really didn’t want to go through this again.

  “Some. Others not. Some are worse—magical weapons of death and destruction. Gaia destroyed a number of them in her wrath during the World Shift, but there are still quite a few unaccounted for, buried deep below the shifting sands.” Hecate let out a long sigh. “We do what we can. I will take you to the ferry so you can take this over to the Greenlings immediately. I am forbidden from setting foot on the Arbortariam, as are any of the gods.”

  “I don’t want to go over there alone! And what about Jason and Tam? I have no idea if they’re okay.” I seldom put up a fuss, but right now, I needed to hear that they were alive and unhurt. Or at least, relatively unscathed.

  Hecate let out an exasperated sigh. “Fury, we have to get this device under guard. If I transport you to go look for your friends, there’s always the chance that Lyon will manage to steal it back from you.”

  “What if you take it for me? Let me go help them, and then I’ll meet you at the temple and you can whisk me away to the Arbortariam.” I held it out to her, pleading.

  “Think with your brain rather than your heart, girl. If you go back to the Tunnels, there’s the chance Lyon will be waiting. I can’t afford to risk your life at this stage of the game.” Hecate was starting to look put out and I recognized the fine line between her “Will you please listen to reason” and her “Get the hell in line and do what I say” mode.

  “Can you bring them over to the Crossroads for me?” I finally asked.

  “No.” The finality in her voice put an end to the conversatio
n.

  I paused, then decided to tell her what I suspected. The gods needed to know. “Hecate, I think Lyon’s a Theosian. I can’t be positive but—”

  She looked to one side, as though she didn’t want to answer. Finally, she gave me an abrupt nod. “I know. We know. He’s rogue, Fury. He’s gone off-leash.”

  “But who was he pledged to?” For a Theosian to go off-leash was almost unheard of, but when it happened, punishment always followed. That Lyon was running around free didn’t bode well.

  “I can’t tell you more, not right now. But yes, he is Theosian. Which means, we aren’t done with him yet. But that will have to be for another day. And don’t tell anyone—not even Jason or Tam—until I give you leave.”

  I wanted to press her for more information but she had that look on her face that said, “Don’t push it,” and I didn’t. Abruptly, she vanished without another word.

  Queet misted up by my side. “Did you make her angry?”

  “Maybe. No. Yes, a little, I guess. I’m good at that, I think. I don’t want her angry with me—it never pays to have one of the Elder Gods pissed at you, especially if they hold your leash. But I don’t know what to do about Jason and Tam—”

  Before I could finish my sentence, I felt myself fading from the Crossroads. A dizzying rush hit me as the fog rushed in waves and swallowed me up.

  I blinked as I once again staggered, then fell to my knees. I was off the Crossroads and in Hecate’s office in the temple. She was sitting behind her desk, dressed in a black leather pencil skirt and a green V-neck sweater.

  “Call your friends. See if they’re okay.”

  I pulled out my phone as soon as I dragged myself onto the sofa. Leaning back, my body ached from both the fight and the jump to and from the Crossroads. Luckily, I hadn’t fought an Abom over there, or I’d be passed out on Hecate’s floor by now.