Darkest Misery

by Tracey Martin

  Until Mitch called my name.

  I spun around because his voice hadn’t come from the other side of the door. Rather it sounded like he was on the other side of the wall with the shelves. I shoved a bag of onions aside and searched in vain for another door that I didn’t honestly believe would be there.

  I was right—there wasn’t one. “Mitch, are you okay?”

  “For the moment. You?”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “For the moment too. Do you know where you are?”

  A clunking noise came from behind the wall. “Some kind of closet, I think. The door’s locked, and there’s no light.”

  Shit. Well, that wasn’t helpful.

  My gaze landed on the giant boxes, and hope sprang to life in my chest. Lowering my voice just in case the addicts were nearby, I rested my forehead against the wall. “I have a window. I’m going to see if I can open it.”

  The boxes were sealed, and the first one I tried moving was ridiculously heavy. The second was no less so, and I resorted to pushing it with my back. I was certain I was banged up from the accident, but adrenaline prevented me from feeling much pain. If I got out of here though, I suspected I was going to be in a world of hurt soon.

  At last, I positioned the box beneath the window and crossed my fingers that whatever was inside could support my weight. Pushing aside the heavy black fabric, I discovered the window opened onto an alley. A Dumpster sat across the street with several bags of trash next to it.

  The window had an easy latch, the kind that popped the glass out, but the box didn’t provide me with quite enough height. Somehow, I’d have to pull myself up at an awkward angle with not much to use for grip.

  But first things first. Could I even open the window? My fingers trembled with anticipation as I went to work on the metal latches. They were sticky, but the glass came out easily once I defeated them.

  Setting the glass on the floor, I tensed. Assuming I could get through the window and run, I hated leaving Mitch. Of course, odds were I wouldn’t get far. I had nothing on me. Not my cell, not my ID, not even change for a pay phone, assuming such things existed around here.

  I patted my jeans pockets to affirm my hopelessness and discovered a small bulge. Thinking it was a hair tie, I reached in and discovered two curse grenades. Peachy. That was much better than a hair tie. The two weren’t the most useful items right now, but they were something. Vaguely, I wondered how airport security hadn’t caught them.

  “Jess? You still there?”

  I leaned up against the wall again. Curse grenade or not, Mitch still should have been the one with the window. This was his city, and although I’d wanted to go sightseeing, this was not what I’d had in mind. “Still here, but I got the window open. I think I can get out. If I can, I’ll get the Gryphons and be back soon.”

  “Okay. Good luck. Be careful.”

  “Thanks.” I started to add something else, but voices outside the door stopped me cold. People were coming. I had to move faster.

  Legs shaking, I climbed onto the box and pulled myself halfway into the alley. Hot grit dug into my hands, and I had to be careful to avoid broken glass. Across the street, a dragon poked its red nose out from between a couple trash bags and stared at me. I rested on my forearms and tried to will it away. Behind me, the voices grew louder.

  The window frame and the concrete scratched my stomach and thighs as I pushed through the rest of the way, and I scrambled to my feet. The dragon snorted smoke at me then scampered. Good idea.

  The building I’d crawled out of was a simple two-story, done up in the same muted color scheme as much of the city. But where was I, and where were all the people? It was hot as hell out here, sure, but why wasn’t I picking up on any negativity? I could really use an energy boost.

  Shadowtown. The answer came to me all at once, making my predicament even more precarious than I’d originally thought. Obviously, this wasn’t my familiar Shadowtown, but it had to be Phoenix’s neighborhood equivalent. Shit. The fury addicts had brought me to their masters’ turf. I wasn’t going to find friendly help around here.

  On cue, shouting emanated from the open window behind me. I’d been spotted.

  I put on a burst of speed, heading toward the street. Heavy air settled in my lungs. I had just enough time to catch part of the name over the restaurant’s door before the door itself burst open. Three of the addicts, including one of the ones I’d met earlier, spilled onto the street.

  Without a clue where I was going, I took off.

  “Remember, don’t hurt her!” It sounded like the guy with the Spanish accent was yelling after his friends.

  Peachy. Don’t hurt me. That ought to give me some advantage, right? I would have no such qualms about hurting these men if it came to that.

  The street was mostly empty, strange for an evening in pred territory, but it was wicked hot. Every step I took felt like I was running into a wall of heat. That also meant I wasn’t going to be able to keep up this pace for long. Sweat had beaded on my skin the moment I crawled out of the building’s air conditioning, and it ran down my face and chest.

  The few preds out and about merely looked on in amusement—goblins, a harpy. No furies, thanks goodness, but that couldn’t last.

  Gasping for breath, I retrieved one of the curse grenades from my pocket. My pursuers were getting close. Their footsteps grew louder. Frantic, I scanned the area for ideas. Up the next block, a lust addict was getting out of a taxi. If I could only get to it before the cab pulled away…

  I smelled the guy behind me before I felt him. Fingers snagged my hair. I put on an extra burst of speed, drawing from reserves I didn’t think I had, and activated the curse grenade. They must have been in my pocket for ages, so I had no clue what kind of spells they’d been filled with.

  Hoping they were good ones, I spun on my heel and threw the sphere at the nearest guy. Soon as it touched him, it exploded in a bang of black powder.

  It was some kind of general anti-magic then. Not nearly as effective on a human or an addict as a disorientation curse would have been. Damn it. Nonetheless, the confusion the grenade caused was better than nothing. One of the three was down, at least temporarily.

  Another man swore, and I turned, waving frantically at the cab ahead. The lust addict was getting his belongings out of the backseat.

  More fingers reached for me, digging into my shoulder. I wasn’t going to make it. The remaining two men had overtaken me, and one of them darted ahead, tripping me up.

  I dodged, and he blocked my path, giving his partner a second chance to grab me. I could scream for help, but this was unfamiliar pred territory. Judging by the audience who was enjoying the show, I’d get no assistance. That left only one option.

  There was no time to consider how close I was to my targets. I slammed the curse at the guy in front of me, and it exploded with a bang and smoke. The force of the blast sent us both flying in opposite directions. I crashed into a lamppost, hitting my head, but I felt no magical effects other than the acrid air singeing my nose. The addicts, however, yelled as the anti-magic probably disrupted their bonds with their fury masters.

  Now the street seemed to erupt in chatter. People were yelling, and preds poured onto the sidewalk to see what was going on. I launched myself at the cab, pushing the stunned lust addict out of the way.

  Fortunately, the cabbie was human, which meant he didn’t want to be in his neighborhood either. “Drive. Please. Quickly.”

  He took in the chaos with wide eyes and did just that.

  Chapter Four

  The Phoenix Gryphon Office was just as quick and efficient in an emergency as the Boston Office. Within an hour of me stumbling through the doors and yelling for help, a team was on the move.

  Like Boston, they had a more-than-passing knowledge of their local pred neighborhood. Between my description of the buildi
ng, the little of the restaurant’s name I’d seen, and the fact that it was connected with the furies, they figured out where I’d been held.

  I was reunited with Tom almost immediately once I arrived too. He’d sustained a nasty hit on the head, one that was currently bandaged, and he had a thick scab on his lip. In order to begin a search for us, however, he’d waved off medical treatment when the EMTs had shown up at the accident scene.

  A quick scan from a Gryphon healer told me the attackers had used fire-scorpion venom on me. The local magical fauna produced a toxin that caused temporary paralysis, but it left no lasting harmful effects. Nonetheless, the Gryphon agent who was leading the rescue team wanted both Tom and me to stay behind, seeing as neither of us was in the best shape.

  Like that was happening. Some water and a pain-relief charm later, and I was ready to get the assholes who’d abducted me. No reason for me to sit on my butt while others had all the fun. To his credit, Tom felt the same way despite his own injuries. Of course, finding and protecting Mitch was his responsibility, so that wasn’t surprising.

  “You sure you’re ready for this?” Tom asked as the SUV swerved to the curb.

  “I’m fine.” I tapped my fingers against Misery’s hilt impatiently. I’d been reunited with my belongings at Gryphon Headquarters. Thank dragons someone had found my phone, which I’d dropped in the crash, and my knife had been in my duffel. I’d have sorely missed both if they’d been taken along with me, particularly after I’d been so excited that Tom had gotten me some kind of special clearance so I could carry Misery on the plane with me.

  Although I wanted to be on the scene and was eager to charge ahead, I held back like instructed while Phoenix Gryphons swarmed the place. I had no training for this sort of mission, and I didn’t want to do anything that could endanger Mitch.

  In the end, that turned out not to be a concern. I jogged into the restaurant after Tom, listening to the Gryphons yell “All clear.” The place was empty. No addicts. No furies. No Mitch.

  I pounded the door to the room where I’d been locked up not even two hours ago. “Damn it. I told Mitch I’d come back for him.”

  I hit the door again because I could feel frustration pressing against my skull, the result of a hundred insecurities. Was I wrong to have left him? Should I have tried to take him with me somehow? And why? That question plagued me most of all, and it was soon followed by another question that turned my stomach—who had told the fury addicts about what we were doing?

  I held all the questions in while the Gryphons searched the restaurant for clues. Then I held them in longer while a Gryphon agent gathered all the information I could share, including a description of the addicts.

  While I waited for Tom to get off the phone, I paced incessantly, and my thoughts wandered to Lucen and what he was doing tonight. A hollowness opened in my chest, and out of it poured sadness and longing. I missed him, and more. I craved his company. How dumb was that? I’d been gone for what—twelve hours? Eighteen? Surely I could live without him for that long.

  But my hands trembled, and when I closed my eyes, when my memory played back the spinning car and the rush of fear when the addicts grabbed me, it was an entirely different sort of terror that chilled my veins. The thought of never seeing him again, or touching him, or hearing him call me “little siren”. I couldn’t lose that.

  Damn. I wanted to go home. I wanted to crawl into his bed and pretend I was safe because his muscular arms were locked around me. Yet even if I were in his bed right now, I knew better. Safety was an illusion. Whatever happened to me and Mitch was proof. I couldn’t know for certain if our abduction was related to the prophecy, but it was too big a coincidence to assume it wasn’t.

  Pain-relief charm or not, if I kept up with this line of thought, I’d have a headache soon.

  Speaking of headaches, on cue, Tom finished his call. “The car that hit us had been reported stolen about an hour before the accident, and none of the people who witnessed the accident were able to get a plate number on the van that grabbed you.”

  “Fabulous.”

  “It could be worse. Knowing they took you to that restaurant should help narrow things down considerably. The Phoenix Office is going to coordinate with the local PD in the search. They’ll find Johnson.”

  I finally quit pacing and plopped into a chair across from Tom. “I shouldn’t have left him.”

  “You did the right thing, Jessica. You got an opening and you took it, and now we have a better chance of finding Johnson.”

  “Do we?” I rested my head in my hands, my unasked questions seeming to slither around in my gut like worms.

  “We do.” Tom pressed his lips firmly together as he assessed me. “What are you thinking?”

  I asked the less problematic of my questions first. “Why? The Boston furies have been interested in keeping me alive for some reason. They have had plenty of opportunities to grab me there. I don’t understand why they tried it now. Here.”

  “Perhaps they’re trying to discover if Johnson shares your abilities.” Tom sounded like he was guessing. “Perhaps they’ve always intended to grab you and were waiting for a convenient time.”

  “A very convenient time.” I sat up straighter, finally getting to the question that was bothering me the most. “How did they know? This was supposed to be kept quiet. So how did furies on the other side of the country know to set up a kidnapping? Or that they could grab both me and Mitch?”

  Tom rubbed his chin, his eyes wide and annoyingly innocent. “It’s a good question.”

  “It’s a damn good question. How many people knew what we were planning?”

  “A handful of us in the Brotherhood are working on this mission. Unless you told people.”

  I crossed my arms. The only person I’d told where I was going and why was Lucen, and he would never betray me to the furies. “No, this wasn’t leaked on my end. This was a Gryphon. One of your people.”

  “Not possible.”

  “Not even as an accident? Somebody let something slip?”

  Tom’s expression was as disdainful as his tone was curt. “We do not let classified information slip. I’ll look into it when we get back to Boston.” He stood to make it clear this discussion was over.

  Feeling defensive, were we? I didn’t sense any deception from him, which didn’t mean much, but I didn’t suspect Tom would have let the information slip deliberately or otherwise. From everything I’d learned about him, he was the perfect Gryphon warrior—dedicated, competent and a true believer. But those traits would also blind him to the possibility that one of his own could have betrayed us.

  My jaw clenched with thoughts of the future. If the furies hadn’t found out via an accidental slip, then we had a big problem. And if Tom wasn’t willing to consider that the Brotherhood might have a mole, then it was going to be up to me to find out the truth. As today had proven, it was my ass on the line.

  Mine and Mitch’s.

  “So now what?” I said, giving up the argument for the time being.

  “Now we get on a flight back to Boston.”

  “What about Chicago?”

  Tom stretched. “I’m not taking chances and waiting another day to reach our last recruit. I notified the Chicago office while you were giving your official statement, and Ms. Park is being taken into protective custody as we speak. Once they have her, she’ll be escorted to Boston.”

  It made sense, but I couldn’t see it going over well. “I hope she takes Gryphons at her door better than Mitch did.”

  “It doesn’t matter. If this is related to the prophecy, then there’s no room for niceties or arguments. We’re at war.”

  “No, you’re not zealous at all.”

  “You might want to take this more seriously, Jessica.”

  I jumped up and just managed to keep my voice low. “Take this seriously? How m
uch more serious do you expect me to take things? I am the one in Olef’s damn visions, and it’s my friends who have already suffered for whatever twisted end-of-the-world mumbo-jumbo you and yours are going on about. I do not want a single other person to become a victim, but I don’t have any idea what you actually expect me to do, and you don’t have very many details on what needs to be done. Plus, now I have to worry that you have a leak in your super-secret organization. So forgive me if—given how many unknowns we’re dealing with—I’m not taking all this nothingness seriously enough.”

  I stood practically nose to nose with Tom in my effort to vent. All I needed to do was reach out one finger, poke him in the chest, and he’d probably fall over. His entire posture was so rigid it was amazing the force of my breath alone couldn’t knock him down.

  Tom stared at me for another moment. Then he placed a surprisingly gentle hand on my arm. “We do not have a leak, but I will look into what happened later. Meantime, you need to calm down. We’re both shaken up from everything. It’s normal.”

  Right. Normal. I took a deep breath and nodded.

  Tom’s penetrating blue eyes fixed on my face for a few more seconds while I attempted to project calm, then he let go of me. “Good. So let’s figure out what we have to do to get out of here so you can go home and rest.”

  I swallowed, trying to shake off my fear of the future. “What about home for you?”

  “Until I get word from my superiors that we’re moving this operation back to World, Boston is my new home.”

  “Sorry about that.”

  He shrugged. “It’s part of the job, and this is the job I wanted.”

  Dully, I clomped along the brightly lit corridor with him, wishing I could say the same. But all I could think was that I didn’t sign up for this shit.

  Chapter Five

  I must have been more exhausted than I thought because I somehow managed to drift off to sleep on the flight to Boston. I woke as the plane began its descent and early-morning sunshine pierced the window and fell on my lap.