Unleashed Fury (BloodRunes: Book 1)

by Cole, Laura R

  She lay frozen, unsure what to do when he spoke. “Layna,” he said softly turning his head to look at her. “Are you alright?” Layna nodded mutely and he started to move. “I'm sorry. I'll get out of here now. You were just so cold and you weren't warming up, I was afraid that if you didn't get warmed up soon...” he trailed off.

  She put a hand on his shoulder, halting his movement. “Stay,” she said, giving him a weak smile, “you're warm.”

  He settled back down awkwardly and they lay in silence for a minute. “I'm really sorry, Layna,” he said finally. “I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't think it would matter that I couldn't tell someone the whole truth. Lying to Jezebel and trying to find out what she was up to didn't matter. She's an evil person, I couldn't have cared less about betraying her. But I wanted to tell you so many times, I just didn't know how...” he trailed off again before repeating lamely, “I'm sorry.”

  Layna hesitated, wanting to yell at him, wanting to tell him how much he had hurt her, how much pain he had caused. But she didn't, she couldn't, because deep down she knew that the only reason it had hurt her so much was because she had cared about him. And she still cared about him. So she said nothing. Instead, she put her arms around him again, this time purposefully. He put a tentative hand on the small of her back.

  They lay there, taking comfort in the closeness of each other for some time. Layna sighed, and buried her face in the crook of his shoulder. He shifted and turned to face her. His hand on her back drew her closer, and his lips found hers. He kissed her gently, and a rush spread through Layna, every nerve tingling in a burst of excitement.

  She kissed him back, and he gave a small happy sigh. “I was so worried about you, beautiful.” Layna felt another rush at this nickname, and she snuggled farther into him.

  “Where's Charles?” she suddenly asked and Gryffon laughed.

  “That's nice pillow talk,” he teased. “He went to go see if he could get us some pheasant for dinner. We thought that some meat after your little swim would do you good.”

  “My little swim,” she repeated, and shivered, though not from cold anymore. “Thank you for saving me,” she said gratefully. “Again. I assume that was you who pulled me out.” Gryffon simply nodded and she settled back down. He held her close and they lay in silence.

  “Am I interruptin’ something?” a gruff voice asked from behind them. Gryffon grabbed for a knife that lay next to the bedroll, spinning around in the covers.

  He sighed. “Charles.”

  The man chuckled. “Aye. It is me.”

  “How went the hunting?”

  In answer, Charles held up a large pheasant dangling upside-down from his hand. He nodded at it. “Nice, yes?” He dropped the bird unceremoniously next to the fire pit, and turned his back to them saying, “I'm off to get some more firewood. I'll expect you two lollygaggers to be decent when I get back. I won't be doin' all the work whilst you two wrestle undercover.” He headed off without looking back, trudging along into the forest.

  Gryffon shook his head and looked at Layna who felt herself blushing. He leaned down and kissed her lightly once more. “You are beautiful you know,” he told her. He pulled their clothing off of the sticks he had propped them on to dry, and he handed her hers. She dressed quickly underneath the covers to stay as warm as possible, and then joined Gryffon by the fire where he had picked up the bird that Charles had abandoned and had proceeded to start dressing it out.

  “So tell me about what you've been doing,” Layna said after a pause.

  Gryffon looked up from his messy work and nodded. “Alright. What would you like to know?”

  “Anything,” she answered and then she amended, “Anything real.”

  Gryffon let out a short puff of air. “Um, okay. But you realize that what I'm about to tell you is highly classified information.” She raised her eyebrows impatiently at him and he went on. “I'm here as part of an extensive network of spies,” he held up a hand to stave off the angry response he must have seen coming from her and went on, “not because we're trying to do anything bad to you, but for our own protection. Our borders are closed to you for good reason, and we're not about to ignorantly stand by and let you repeat history all over again. Remember what we talked about before, about the Dark King?” At Layna's nod he went on. “Well, in our histories you see the enormous amount of lives that were lost or ruined because of one madman's rise to power and influence on your country – well, back then our country. We've been aware of a secret organization which has run rampant in your government since that time and we've been watching for any signs of covert activity that could indicate that they may be preparing to act out against us - Like I said, not because we're interested in taking you over or anything like that, but for our safety. It would be awfully easy to turn your people against ours since we have been separated for so long. And even though it’s commonly referred to as the other half of the country that became Treymayne, Gelendan is actually much bigger. Even with our greater talent and more widespread use of it, your sheer mass and population would likely give you the upper hand should it ever come to a dispute. There were rumors that we sent an envoy over and he was brutally rejected, but I am not high enough up in our government to know whether or not that is true. I do know, however, that your current King is acting suspiciously similar to the Dark King and could potentially cause us some real problems.”

  “How so?” Layna asked, beginning to be more worried now that her initial anger had worn off.

  “Well, he has said he wants to put together a lot of programs which could help your country like the research into talents and so forth, but that's also what you do when you're gearing up for war. If you were about to send a bunch of people off to battle wouldn't you want to conveniently gather them all together under the pretense of training them, and then have the added benefit of really training them to your own purposes? Plus there are the reports of ancient magical beasts being resurrected which, if the rumors are true, could mean that he is reinstating the blood rites and using them to create armies of magical beasts.”

  “I guess I could see how you might think that he’s getting ready for a war. I heard similar conclusions by the other nobles at Jezebel’s, but I’m not sure I can quite grasp the whole blood-magic part. I know there have been rumors and all, but there are always rumors about something. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s true. Blood-magic has been gone since the fires destroyed the knowledge, hasn’t it? And if that’s the case, why would your borders still be closed? Hasn’t enough time passed? And haven’t we stayed away from blood-magic here too? We disapproved of what the Dark King did just as much as you do. So why?” Layna asked curiously.

  “Well, look what you did to us,” Gryffon said defensively.

  “I didn't do anything,” countered Layna.

  “Alright. So perhaps we have been holding a grudge for too long,” admitted Gryffon. “Nevertheless, there are forces at work here that don't care about you or about me, only about power and they'll step on anyone they need to on their way to getting it.”

  Layna sat in silence and pondered this for a while, absently running the charm around her neck back and forth along its chain. A movement caught her eye, and she saw Gryffon wince as he brushed his arm across his front while he lifted a saddlebag off the branch it was laying on. “Come here,” she said in her best commanding voice and Gryffon looked at her, a tiny hint of an amused smile playing on his lips.

  He didn't comment on the tone, but simply set the bag down and came over to her. She motioned for him to sit beside her and he obliged, carefully lowering himself onto the log. She reached over before she lost her nerve and unbuttoned his shirt.

  Her fingers trembled slightly and she ran a finger down his chest. He watched her, his eyes lowering from hers to her finger as it touched the burned portion. Layna fished in her bag for more healing salve, and though the supply was running low, she dipped her hand in and brought out a generous amount. Gryffon opened his
mouth as if to protest that he was fine, but she ignored him and pressed it against the burn. He let out a hissing breath that slowly transformed into a relived sigh as it worked its magic on the wound. Layna whispered her own magic, willing him to heal.

  He closed his eyes, enjoying both sensations and Layna allowed her eyes to take in the sight of him. His toned muscles rippled underneath her touch, responding to the healing. Though still covered with now-greenish bruises and slightly disfigured by the horrible wound on his chest, he was a gorgeous man. The most gorgeous man that Layna could imagine and she enjoyed her own little shiver of pleasure at the closeness they had just shared.

  Gryffon opened his eyes and gave her an odd look. Layna had the embarrassing thought that perhaps she had put some of that emotion into her healing. She abruptly broke contact, but Gryffon continued to give her that penetrating stare for a moment longer before glancing down at his battered body. Several more of the bruises had speed-healed to a more normal color, and the burn had reduced its swelling substantially, becoming more of a recognizable shape. Recognizable as some sort of shape anyway. Layna had no idea what it was, and had no recollection of having ever seen the symbol before. It was a definitely defined something, grotesquely outlined in blackened flesh in the midst of the red burn around it.

  “Some new trick she learned,” Gryffon murmured, lifting his finger to prod at it mercilessly. Layna had to raise her own hand to bat away his. His relentless poking could not feel good, and certainly would not be good for the healing process. He caught her hand and held it. “Thanks again for the healing. You probably shouldn't touch the power much more, though. We don't want to call attention to ourselves by influencing it.”

  Charles came crashing through the woods just then, a wild look on his face. “We have trouble,” he told them shortly. He looked at Gryffon. “What is that?” he asked, staring at the mark on Gryffon's chest.

  Gryffon looked confused for a second, and then annoyed at Charles' alarming statement and following distraction. “It's a love token from Lady Jezebel,” he growled, “and you were saying,” he prompted.

  Charles gave Gryffon's chest another fearful look, but seemed to realize that whatever trouble he had just announced should take precedence. “We are being followed,” he stated, “and not, by any human.”

  CHAPTER 23

  Jonathan inhaled deeply, and wiped the white powder from his nose. He sat back against the chair, looking forlornly at the empty bed. He had tried to use one of the servant girls, but she had put up such an awful fuss, and even threatened to report him to the authorities, so he had given up. It just hadn't been the same anyway. He needed his little plaything back, without her he didn't know what to do with himself. And then there had been that incident with Jezebel.

  He knew he shouldn't have gotten so strung out on the Sparkle Dust before seeing her, but he was on a deadline. And he had gone and slipped to her about her number. Damn the stuff! He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe she didn't catch it, he thought hopefully. The little voice in the back of his mind wouldn’t let him off that easily though. You know she caught on, it admonished him, and now she will be sending her little lap dog Devon off trying to find out what it is.

  Master would be most displeased when he found out about his carelessness. If he finds out about it, Jonathan thought with a sudden revelation. I should have let the little rat, Devon, die in the first place. Seeing as how he's already hurt, however, perhaps I can arrange to have some more damage occur, seemingly naturally. That way, he can never find any information to report to Jezebel, and she will have nothing more than a meaningless number.

  He thought about Devon’s injuries and how he might be able to worsen them without raising any suspicion. The man really shouldn't be back at his old games yet anyway, even if I wasn't thinking of planning something. Jezebel already had him out running her errands when he wasn't even fully healed. Even she should know that you can't trance-heal a body and expect it to be able to perform the same as before right away. Regardless of her disregard for human life, she still must see that Devon was the key to many of her sources of information. Without him, she would lose much of what she had worked for. Perhaps I won’t have to take any action at all, she may run him into the ground herself.

  A knock sounded at the door and Jonathan rose to meet the servant. “Yes?” The man stepped aside to reveal a brunette girl standing behind him who gave him a shy smile. Jonathan ran his eyes up and down the length of her, and took in her slender form. She was quite young, but dressed provocatively, and Jonathan could guess what she was here for.

  “Come in,” he said, smiling back. His mood lifted considerably. He dismissed the servant with a wave, and the man left them alone. He led her into the bedroom and she looked around in awe.

  “Gee whiz,” she said cutely, “this is some bedroom you have here.” He reached out to fondle her perk little bottom, but she batted his hand away playfully. Jonathan smiled tolerantly, soon she would learn proper manners in front of him, but he would relish teaching her. Slowly. First, however, he'd have to find out how she came to be here. Most of the brothels tended to be upset if their girls went missing, it was only by Master's intervention that he had been allowed to keep the last one.

  The girl had made her way over to the refreshment cart and looked coyly back over her shoulder at him. “Wine?” she asked. “They say it's an aphrodisiac you know.” She giggled and covered her mouth with the back of her hand.

  “My dear,” he answered, “one hardly needs an aphrodisiac with you here. But yes, please do.” She turned her back to him and poured two glasses.

  He moved closer, taking in her supple form showing through the lacy fabric of her dress. He pressed against her and she spun away, expertly swinging her arm around to put the wine under his nose while evading his embrace. He raised a hand and took the glass. He was getting quickly tired of her coyness. “Thank you,” he said and moved with her over to the couch where she had seated herself.

  This one certainly had more spunk, and he hoped he would be able to keep her. There were so many things he could do to her, and it would be so much fun to teach her her proper place. He took a sip of his wine, and she watched him as he swallowed. He licked his lips at her.

  She grinned broadly at him again and said, “Your Master wanted me to tell you that he had sent me.” Elation shot through Jonathan and his excitement grew. He would have to get rid of Devon right away before the little rat could ruin anything. Jonathan would want to please Master after this little gift. She was certainly different than the last one, but he knew she would be just as satisfying.

  Her voice suddenly took on a darker tone as he gulped down the rest of his wine and set down his glass to reach for her. “You must have done something really bad to make this ‘Master’ of yours so angry. He didn't even want the reward money we offered for the information.” The girl’s smile had disappeared. “He was almost as creepy as you.”

  Jonathan paused mid-reach at the sudden change and wondered what she meant. He found, however, that is was suddenly very hard to think straight. His head felt as though it had been filled with water and he swam through, trying to make sense of what was going on.

  “You know,” the girl was saying, “I was planning on showing you how it felt to be Carolyn instead of doing it this way, but she didn't think that I would be able to.”

  Jonathan moved his lips trying to speak, but they felt numb and heavy. He could hear his voice slur out, “Who's Carolyn?”

  The girl laughed humorlessly at him and shook her head in revolt. “I think I could have, you miserable piece of slime, you didn't even know her name?”

  Jonathan's vision blurred as the room spun away from him and understanding finally hit him the same time as his head smashed into the floor and his world disappeared into blackness.

  CHAPTER 24

  “Then what is it?” Layna asked, her voice breaking.

  “Looks like dogs,” Charles said with a shr
ug and noncommittal shake of his head, “but bigger than any dog I've seen, and they ain't no gormless things. They tracked us to the river we just crossed and it looks like there they split up, prolly looking for a way to cross safely. I'd bet my buttons, they're hellhounds.”

  A sudden eerie baying filled the air, and Layna felt goose bumps tingle into being all over her body. Hellhounds? No, that can’t be right. Hellhounds and blood-beasts are only fairy tales anymore, aren’t they?

  “I suggest we leave now,” Charles said urgently, already grabbing their supplies and hastily stuffing them into saddle bags. The horses were stamping the ground nervously, their nostrils flaring as they scented the wind, and their ears twitched with every howl. The sound took on an excited yipping quality, as though they had caught wind of their prey, and Gryffon and Layna both mounted hurriedly. Fly's eyes were starting to show whites as they rolled back in his head in terror, and Axe was stamping the ground, snorting huge columns of steam with every breath.

  As soon as they were mounted, they urged the horses to go and the frightened beasts needed no second request. The horses broke into gallops, threatening to unseat Layna as they wound through the forest. Luckily they had been following a somewhat cleared path, and the horses were able to run at full speed without much danger of a fall.

  The yipping and howling seemed to echo closer now, and Layna looked back over her shoulder with apprehension. Terror crept into her and made the hair on the back of her neck stand up as the surreal sounds seemed to vibrate her very being. She saw a blur of something large and black, moving in and out of the trees with a speed and grace that seemed unnatural.