Stolen Chaos: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Cardkeeper Chronicles Book 1)

by A. C. Nicholls

  “Tell me what you know,” she said, folding her arms and leaning with her back to the wall, “and I may just let you live. Even if it is just to die another day.”

  A quick glance at Jason spoke volumes – he remained silent, stood at his master’s side and looked my way with interest. I hadn’t yet seen him keep still, but if he was finally able to put his claws away, there must have been something bigger than him present – something too big to challenge. It suddenly became obvious: he was afraid of her.

  I locked eyes with Lena. “The killer was a mage, but not one of our own. The power he used was from a stolen card, one I fully intend to retrieve.”

  Lena stood up straight, took two steps toward me. “How?”

  “With help from some of your own.”

  For a moment, Lena stared down at me with humored fascination. Then, she broke into a loud and shrill fit of laughter. “Let me make sure I understand,” she said, trying to keep a straight face. “You want me to let you just walk out of here with some of my wolves, so you can track down a mage and steal our vengeance?”

  I stretched my hand out behind my back, loosening the stiff joints. If I needed to use my magic, I would. But if I could walk out of here with a partnership and still have my head attached to my neck, I was going to do my damndest to choose option two. “There’s more.”

  Lena grunted, turning her back on me. “Go on.”

  “The mage’s wife spoke of an assault against the vampires.”

  The statement was met with silence. I was well aware of the rivalry between the wolves and the vampires – I was even in the middle of it – so if I could exploit that, I might be on to something. I continued. “If you would only point me in the direction of a vampire lair, I could try to get some inside information. Worst-case scenario: I get nothing and I’m a dead woman anyway. The vampires will have done your job for you.”

  Lena turned to face me, studying me, looking at me like I could be friend, foe or food. “Let’s say I agree to this, and you go waltzing into the lair. What would I get from your conversation with those fanged freaks? How would I benefit?”

  “You get Victor Kronin – the mage who murdered your pack.”

  “When?”

  “Eventually.”

  “Hmm.” Lena rubbed her perfect chin. “And what of the assault?”

  I shrugged, a smile creeping onto my lips. “If it’s already happened, then I’ll know I’m on the right path. They would still be licking their wounds and you can sleep soundly, knowing that they’ve been hurt.”

  “And if it’s yet to occur?”

  I shrugged. “You can stand by and watch. You’d have lost nothing more.”

  Lena grinned at that, and shot a look over at Jason. It was one that said: It’s a win-win situation. Tossing a tail of beautiful auburn hair over her shoulder, she stepped up to me, her nose nearly touching mine. “I’ll point you in the right direction, but on one condition…”

  My knees knocked together, but I tried to hang tough. If this wolf-woman was going to trust me to do a good job, she had to believe that I was capable – that I wasn’t going to run into the trees while screaming for my life. “Which is?”

  “If you stop this mage of yours, we get to take him.”

  I looked to Jason, who smiled awkwardly in the corner, but not at me. He must have loved the idea of vengeance – of getting back at Victor for his brother’s murder. My eyes then met with Lena’s, and I held my breath.

  Steeling myself, I nodded, and spoke in my most confident tone.

  “It’s a deal.”

  Chapter 12

  I inhaled the cool refreshment of the outside air and exhaled the putrid stench of sewage, revenge and fear on every breath. The sewage plant was behind me, and I had no intention of returning. Even if I did manage to stop Victor, the wolves would have to collect him some other way.

  “You’ve got balls,” Jason said as we trudged through the moist gravel.

  “I don’t have balls,” I told him, smiling at the double meaning. “That might be the most terrified I’ve ever been. How you return to her each day and kiss her ass is beyond me.”

  Jason stopped suddenly, driving a finger into my shoulder. “I don’t kiss ass, okay? There’s a system – a code of honor. Lena is stronger than any of us. That form you saw her in back there? She can grow four times that big.”

  I watched him explain himself, talking to me as if I knew nothing about werewolves. But the more he said, the more I realized that he was right. As for Lena, the very thought that she could grow any bigger – any stronger – made me want to throw up. “Fine, whatever,” I said, and we continued our walk to the vampires’ lair.

  Afternoon slowly faded into evening allowing darkness to settle. The sun slipped behind the horizon, leaving a stunning orange glow over the otherwise dull streets of Chicago. It made me think of my old life. The one from thirty years ago, when I was still mortal but no less lonely. I thought I’d come a long way since then, but I was still here in the big fight, just trying to make my way through the day.

  “So, do you really think you can do it?” Jason said from a few paces ahead of me.

  “Do what?”

  “Stop Victor. What he did to my brother’s pack was incredible.”

  “You sound impressed.”

  “Impressed?” Jason stopped again, turned to face me. “No, not impressed. But power like that has to be respected. And no offense, but even I gave you a run for your money. This guy wiped out more than ten wolves, each of which were far stronger than myself. If I were you, I’d start thinking about a way to beat him.”

  I hated to admit it, but he was right. I looked down at my hand, an orange light pulsing through it. Fire seemed to be useful against wolves, but would it stand up to Victor Kronin and the power of Chaos? I doubted it. I would have to switch out my magicard at some point. But not until after finding the vampires - those nocturnal bastards hated fire - so for now I intended to keep it. “Come on.”

  Jason stood still, staring blankly into the distance.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, following his line of sight. I saw nothing.

  Before I knew it, he sniffed at the air like a curious dog. His eyebrows furrowed as he grabbed me, and threw me onto the ground far behind him. “Get down!” he yelled, as if I had any say in the matter. It was a strange form of protection, but I didn’t know what danger awaited us.

  Grazing my arm on some loose stones, I slid thirty feet across the ground. I heard a roar, but it hadn’t come from Jason. It was too deep, too aggressive. Too feral. My skin burned from the stony grind, as I looked up to see Jason surrounded by three other wolves.

  “You would just as soon betray your own brother, then?” a black wolf said, traipsing slowly around Jason, teeth bared and eyes alive with the thirst for blood. “Who next, traitor? Will it be me you stab in the back to save a Cardkeeper?”

  I couldn’t take this. Sure, Jason had attacked me twice before, but I believed he had been doing it for his own reasons. Good reasons really, no matter how misinformed he’d been. I couldn’t stand by and watch him get torn apart by three of his own. I didn’t hesitate – I summoned a ball of flames into my palm, and dashed to Jason’s side.

  “What’s this?” said a hazel-colored wolf from my left. “The mage wants to die, too?”

  “She isn’t a part of this,” Jason snarled. His voice deepened as he readied his claws. “Go now, Keira. I don’t want you to get involved.”

  Is he serious? “No way.”

  He shot a look at me, as if he’d already given up. “Don’t argue with me. If you don’t get the hell out of here, then you’re dying for no good reason.”

  “But I–”

  “You’ll find your vampires at Dante’s Nightclub on West Loop. Now get out of here, and make damn sure you find something worthwhile.” Before I could make a protest, his face ripped into that of a wolf’s, and he leapt toward one of his assailants.

  Jason could take hi
s warning and shove it, because I’m not a coward. I don’t shy away from fights. I would take his advice about escaping the area, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t give him a bit of a head start. I whistled at the hazel-colored wolf, and when he looked at me, my heart began to hammer inside my chest.

  “Follow me, little doggy. I’ll find you a good rug to piss on,” I taunted.

  The snarl blew my way with furious intent.

  I turned and ran as fast as I could, but it didn’t feel fast enough. I could hear the werewolf’s paws pounding into the gravel as it flew toward me at an insane speed. It was what I had wanted – for him to come at me and leave Jason with less to deal with – but I still felt guilty abandoning him. If we both survived this, I would be sure to explain myself.

  For once, luck seemed to aid me and I made it to a nearby alley. I leapt to the fire escape with one single push of my legs. Being immortal had its advantages. Magic was, of course, among them, but I didn’t want to overdo it. I needed to play this right, and be patient.

  The wolf followed me, its claws slashing through my hair as it missed my head by inches. I reached for the cold, metal railing of the fire escape and hauled myself over and into safety. I knew the wolf could jump up here too, but that was exactly what I wanted.

  “Ahh, you bad little puppy,” I said, aggravating him.

  The wolf growled in a way that resembled a roar, and I saw it lean on its back haunches, ready to leap at me with its claws out. I waited, giving it my best screw-you face and praying that I got this dead right.

  And then it came.

  It happened faster than I’d expected, but I countered it exactly right. The fireball exploded from my palm, just as the wolf was three feet from it. The blast shot the beast backward, its fur catching fire as it whined and fell back toward the solid ground.

  I caught my breath, heart racing, and peered over at the mess I’d left behind. Far below, a dumpster had a massive dent from where the werewolf had landed, and beside it, a skinny, naked man lay sprawled out and wheezing.

  “Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?” I tried not to spit at his charred body. Surely that werewolf would recover, but there was no way he would get up in time to go back after Jason. I tried to remember that as I hightailed it out of there, and hoped that it would help ease my conscience for having left him alone, fighting for his life.

  Chapter 13

  After a day of mages and werewolves and kneeling down in a sewage plant, a bath in a vat of Lysol wouldn’t be enough. I wanted to disinfect my entire body. A change of clothes couldn’t hurt, either.

  I climbed the winding steps to my apartment, careful not to wake the neighbors with my heavy footfalls. I knew how thin these walls were – I had been roused enough times by the less-than-polite hillbillies from room 112.

  “Home, sweet home,” I said under my breath as I entered my humble abode. As soon as the front door shut behind me, I stopped and stared across the single room, blowing out an exhausted breath. I wanted a nice, long sleep in a warm and comfy bed, but my springy fold-out couch would have to do. I didn’t have a job – not one that made money, anyway – so I was living off what little finances my parents had left me. After I’d become mortal (and officially declared as deceased by the state of Illinois), I could no longer access their accounts, so I was down to what had been left in the family safe. At this rate, it was enough to keep me going for just a few more years.

  “Oh, you’re home.”

  I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of the voice. I let out a weak sound, like I’d been punched in the stomach, wide eyes scanning the room. Where in the hell was that little scaredy-cat? My eyes narrowed on the small table by the window, where Link sat in my napkin-lined fruit bowl and gazed out at the street below.

  “I just about wet my pants, traitor,” I said, slipping off my jacket and throwing it onto the floor beside the door. I made a mental note to buy a coatrack and went to the farthest wall of my apartment, taking the magicard from my pocket and placing it on the top shelf. After the aggression I’d been experiencing lately, I needed to gain some distance from it. When I stepped away from the shelf, I immediately felt lighter.

  “Sorry,” said Link.

  I stopped and looked across at him. He hadn’t moved an inch since I’d entered the room. The empty fruit bowl had seemed like a comfortable makeshift bed, but it didn’t look so inviting that it would make you want to sit there all day. Something was wrong.

  Quietly, I pulled out a chair beside the window, and watched with him. A soft drizzle floated through the sky, turning the streets gray. The people below were throwing up their hoods and walking faster. I’d always liked to watch people, imagining that I was one of them, living a simple life. I guessed Link did, too. “What’s up?”

  Link sighed and sat back, covering his face under the silky red napkin that he used as a bed sheet. The outline of his body curled up into a fetal position. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  “You’re my friend,” I said, pulling off the sheet and exposing his tiny body. “If you’re upset, I’m going to worry about it. Now come on, tell me what’s wrong.”

  After looking at me like I’d run over his cat, Link sat up and folded his arms, staring straight down at the huge toes on his bare feet. “I ran away today.”

  “And?”

  “And I left you in trouble.”

  It wasn’t anything that hadn’t happened before, but I chose not to voice that thought. “It’s no biggie. Trust me, I took care of it. At least you’re safe.”

  “That’s just it. If I’m always safe – always running – I’m never going to… you know.”

  I looked at him quizzically. For a moment, I had no idea what he was talking about, but then I realized: he wanted to earn his wings. That, of course, wasn’t going to happen until he performed a heroic and selfless feat. The fae lords had told him that much. I thought back to when I’d first met him, having saved him from a group of imps who were mere seconds from tearing him apart. That was five years ago, and he’d been attached to me ever since. During that time, I had never seen even the faintest glimmer of courage from him. “There’s plenty of time,” I told him, guilt-ridden that I’d teased him before. I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Is there, though? I’m knocking on the door of forty, and I’m still a coward.”

  “You’re not a coward.”

  “Yes I am, Keira!” He shot up and stood in front of the window, trying to hide his sparkling, moist eyes. Little did he know, I could see them in his reflection. “Back there, when wolf-boy came at you, the first thing I thought of was to stand and fight. To help you. But what did I do? I turned and ran like a little girl, not even looking back to make sure you were okay. What kind of friend does that?”

  Even though he’d just spit the facts, I couldn’t agree with him. He was already having a hard enough time. “Listen to me,” I said, turning his body to face me. “I know that when it really counts, you’ll come through for me. Those wings will come, okay? You just need to hang in there and remember why we’re doing this. And if you decide to run away again, I would totally understand. Half the time, I want to run, too.”

  “That’s what makes you… I don’t know.” Link rubbed his eye on a ragged sleeve and looked up at me. “What happened with Cujo, anyway? Did you kill him?”

  I stared into his eyes, looking for a sign of shame. It still lingered there, but it seemed like he wanted to just change the subject and move on. “No, I didn’t.”

  “Well, he obviously didn’t kill you. So what happened?”

  I explained the recent events to Link, catching him up on the insanity. I sugar-coated the details so his guilt wouldn’t escalate. By the time I was done explaining, I was exhausted.

  Link frowned at the story, biting his lip. “You made a deal with them?”

  “It helped, didn’t it?”

  A silence hovered in the air. I knew exactly what he was thinking, and he might have been r
ight. I was hoping he wouldn’t say it aloud, so when he did, I felt a little embarrassed. “You like him, don’t you?”

  “Who?”

  “Fur-balls.”

  “You mean Jason?” Did I blush? “He’s okay.”

  “No.” Link stepped onto my arm that rested on the table, and stood with his face in mine, examining my reaction. “You like him. I can tell. That’s twice you’ve gone up against him now, and he’s still alive. That wouldn’t have happened if you’d wanted to hurt him.”

  I lowered my head. “Fine. He’s not… unattractive.”

  “Ha! I knew it!” Link smacked his hands together, rubbing them like he’d just hit the Powerball. Finally, he smiled again, dancing around like a goof. “Just be careful, okay? Not only are wolves dangerous, but you don’t want to wake up with hair in your mouth. My father did that for years.”

  “Your father mated with a wolf?”

  “What? No. Mother was just a hairy woman. Looked like Bob Marley on a bad day.”

  Problem solved, I laughed aloud, getting out from my chair before heading for the bathroom – the only room separate from this small, dusty space. “I need a shower,” I called through to Link, running the hot water and attaching the hose to the faucet. “We have somewhere to be tonight.”

  “Oh yeah? Where’s that?”

  The water sprayed into the tub, and I began to peel off my clothes, feeling weak and dirty, not to mention frustrated. “Dante’s Nightclub – our local vampire hotspot.”

  Link didn’t say anything after that. He didn’t have to – I knew that my latest plan would unsettle him, but I tried to remember that everything we did to push the boundaries of his cowardice – every time we did something that made him uncomfortable – he would come a little closer to his act of valor.

  I just hoped we would live long enough to see it happen.