Playing With Fury

by Annabel Chase

  “You’re quiet tonight, Rosalie,” a vampire said, as he passed by on his way to the bar. “Not interested in stoking the flames?”

  Rosalie smirked in my direction. “I’m enjoying myself far too much to interrupt tonight.”

  “I’m the badass witch. Thank you and goodnight.” Grandma bowed with a flourish before vacating the stage. She walked straight to Rosalie’s table wearing a deep frown.

  “Nice work tonight,” Rosalie said.

  “You look like the zombie that ate all the brains,” Grandma said. “What’s with the Cheshire grin.”

  “You should’ve told me it was family night. I would’ve invited my mother and Corinne.”

  Grandma narrowed her eyes.

  “It’s me, Grandma,” I said.

  “I’ll leave the two of you to dissect the set.” Rosalie slithered out of the chair and sauntered to the bar.

  Grandma sat in Rosalie’s chair. “I figured someone would get wind of this sooner or later, although I have to be honest, I thought it would be your mother.”

  “I was following Rosalie,” I said. “I didn’t know you’d be here or that you’d be…performing. How could you?”

  “How could I what? Tell jokes? I’m not allowed to be funny?”

  “Grandma, you know why I’m upset. You’re airing our dirty laundry to anyone with a bar tab.”

  Grandma signaled for a drink. “Listen, special snowflakes go to therapy to complain about their family and I come here. The difference is, I get paid instead of having to pay.” She pointed at her temple. “Smart, right?”

  “Why not complain to Shirley over a game of gin rummy?”

  Grandma grimaced. “You know why. Shirley’s human. I can complain, but I have to watch everything I say. I’m an old woman and it’s exhausting.”

  “Are you worried you’ll slip and say something offensive?”

  Grandma cackled. “When have you ever known me to worry about a thing like that?”

  “Shirley is religious,” I said. “Maybe you’re worried you’ll lose her friendship.”

  “No, I mean I worry I’ll slip and say something about magic or demons. Anyway, I like getting on stage and I like that this club is for supernaturals only.”

  “It’s also operating without a license,” I said.

  Grandma’s lips puckered. “I figured you’d zero in on that.”

  “I can’t let it continue.”

  The waitress brought a drink from the bar and set it front of her without a word. “Why do you think I didn’t want you to know?”

  “I think it’s more to do with the fact that you’re kvetching about me and everyone else in the family,” I said.

  “Fair enough.” Grandma pointed a finger at me. “But also because of your job. I knew this fell under your jurisdiction and you’re too much of a stickler to let anything slide.”

  “They could just apply for a license,” I said.

  “So you can turn it down? Why waste the energy?”

  She was right. A supernaturals-only club violated multiple regulations. I couldn’t look the other way on this one.

  “I should’ve known Rosalie would find a way to ruin it. We had a good thing going, too. Everyone enjoyed our punch-ups at the end of the night.”

  I shook my head. “I’ll never understand you, Grandma.”

  Grandma raised her glass. “Right back at you, toots.”

  My phone vibrated and I groaned when Hugh’s name flashed on the screen. Because tonight wasn’t weird enough.

  The text contained a single word.

  Incoming.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I bolted from the club without a backward glance and took to the air in search of the werewolves. Grandma’s comedy act and the illegal speakeasy would have to wait.

  The pack was easy to spot, traveling across town in a tight formation. The wolves were an impressive sight as they streamed toward the north end of town. They moved as a unit, keeping pace with each other in a way that suggested they’d done this one hundred times before. I felt an unexpected pang of longing. Those werewolves understood exactly what they were and where they belonged. I could be the greatest FBM agent in the world and still not have that. I was an anomaly; I would always be an anomaly. Sure, I had a family, but I wasn’t like them. I wasn’t a witch or a vengeance demon. My moral compass pointed in a different direction.

  I simply didn’t fit.

  I shook off the mantle of negativity. If I didn’t find a way to undo the invisibility spell, none of it would matter anyway.

  The air around me crackled with energy as another tremor rattled the town. This one was powerful enough to disturb the wolves’ cadence and shake leaves from the trees. It didn’t bode well that the tremors seemed to be increasing in frequency and intensity. It didn’t fit with historical records.

  The pack raced across Davenport Park and streaked past the mound. It was then that I realized where were they headed.

  The vortex.

  But how? Neville and I had checked the portal and the vortex on previous occasions and they were fine. One of us would’ve noticed if anything was amiss.

  As I flew closer, I saw that the wolves weren’t alone at the vortex. A tall silhouette stood in the center of a stone circle drenched in candlelight. The figure wore a dark purple cloak and the blade of a dagger glinted in the light.

  The wolves surrounded the circle, their growls rumbling like thunder.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” the figure demanded. “Be gone. You have no business here.”

  I landed between the wolves and the circle, my wings spread wide. For a moment, I felt as though I commanded a small army, like Snow White leading the forest animals into battle. My breathing hitched when I realized the cloaked figure wasn’t alone. A second silhouette was on the ground at his feet.

  The magic circle on the vortex. The dagger. The unconscious figure.

  This was a ritual.

  The figure lowered the cloak of his hood to reveal a face painted like a skeleton. As striking as the design was, it wasn’t enough to disguise his cloud-like beard.

  “Nice makeup, Otto,” I said. “Looks like you went a little heavy on the eyeliner, though. You might want to dial it down next time.”

  The wizard squinted into the darkness. “Is that you, Eden? I didn’t realize you traveled with an entourage.”

  “You’ve got digger demons. I’ve got wolves. I know which one I’d choose in a fight.”

  His lips peeled into a malevolent smile. “You don’t know much about digger demons, do you, Eden?”

  The ground trembled again and the still figure’s head lolled to the side. My heart seized when I saw Wilfrieda’s face bathed in candlelight. Of course! Otto had mentioned a coffee date with her. She must’ve liked him enough to agree to go out with him again.

  Big mistake. Huge.

  “The name is Agent Fury,” I said. “And if you’ve harmed a hair on that woman’s head, you’re going to find yourself on your knees begging for mercy from The Kindly One.”

  Otto stifled a laugh. “The Kindly One? I would think you could drum up a more intimidating moniker than that.”

  I bristled with annoyance. “It’s a euphemism.”

  “Still, you might want to consider a nickname with a bit more pizzazz.” He snapped his finger. “Perhaps the Avenger.”

  “Avenger is taken.”

  “The Angry One?” he proposed.

  “Sounds like the Hulk.”

  He released a weary sigh. “I suppose we’re back to Eden then.”

  “Let her go, Otto,” I demanded.

  He motioned to Wilfrieda. “You misunderstand. I’m trying to help her. I think the poor woman may have overexerted herself, trying to squeeze too much into her visit. She seems to have passed out and I’m hoping this spell revives her.”

  “Nice try, Skeletor. Do you know what my T-shirt says?”

  “Hard to tell given that you’re invisible. Why don’t you ma
ke yourself visible again so I can read it?”

  “I’m happy to enlighten you. It says Underestimate Me. That’ll Be Fun.”

  His brow lifted. “Have I underestimated you, Eden? I think that remains to be seen.”

  “The name is Agent Fury,” I said firmly. “What did you do to her?”

  “Call off your hounds and I’ll tell you.”

  “They’re not my hounds,” I said. “They act independently. I asked them to track the source of the tremor and here we are, right on schedule for whatever party you have planned. I just assumed we were all invited.”

  The wizard craned his neck. “Which one is Hugh Phelps? He’s the leader of this canine cooperative, I gather.”

  I cast a glance over my shoulder at Hugh’s wolf form. “How do you know Hugh?”

  “I’m a businessman, Eden. I made a point of meeting him at the mayor’s party. I always do my research before I lay bricks in a town.”

  My heart beat faster. This wasn’t a random demon attack or a vampire kegger or an illegal club. This was a carefully calculated plan by a wizard with an agenda. A wizard who now had Wilfrieda in a very vulnerable position.

  “What did you do to her?” I asked again.

  Otto exhaled, his nostrils flaring in annoyance. “A simple potion. It acts as a sedative.”

  “Why bother to sedate her?”

  Otto glanced at his unconscious date. “She’s a bright spark of a woman. I suppose I didn’t want to see the fear in her eyes when she realized she was about to die. I’m not a complete monster.”

  “I beg to differ.” I inched closer to the circle. “Why involve her at all? She’s innocent.”

  “Exactly the point. This spell is powerful and requires a human sacrifice,” Otto said. “Believe me, there are a few werewolves in town I would’ve happily chosen, but they wouldn’t have activated the spell.”

  The wolves behind me snarled and snapped their powerful jaws in response.

  “What’s so important that it’s worth an innocent woman’s life?” I asked.

  “Haven’t you figured it out yet?” He clucked his tongue. “How very disappointing. You made it here in time with your kennel of puppies and still no idea.”

  I tried to piece together what I knew. The tremors. The digger demons. The motels.

  “Mount Sinabung,” I said. My legs grew weak at the mention of the formerly dormant volcano. “This is about the portal.”

  Otto clapped his hands together. “There you go, Eden. Smarter than you look.”

  The digger demons weren’t only for building motels. They were also working underground all this time, trying to trigger the reopening of the dormant portal.

  My gaze flicked to the mound. “Why would you want to open this portal when there are plenty of open portals already?”

  “Because those locations are too mature. There’s simply no room for expansion there. I needed somewhere I could be first to market. It’s purely a business decision, you see. Nothing personal. That’s why Chipping Cheddar is the ideal setting for my motels. Demons will be lining up to stay at my facilities while they figure out their next steps in a new realm.”

  Otto wanted to reopen a dormant portal to make a buck.

  “The paperwork you showed me…” I began.

  “Completely legitimate. Of course, I didn’t share the side project the demons would be working on. They’re well-compensated for the extra work, I can assure you.”

  A breeze blew through the circle, causing his cloak to billow.

  His dark purple cloak.

  I closed my eyes for a second as the realization settled. “You knew it was my job to keep an eye on the portal.”

  “Naturally. All part of my due diligence. I took my time deciding how to handle you, but once I learned you were a fury who was reluctant to embrace your true nature…” Otto shrugged. “A glass of spelled wine at the mayor’s party and the rest was easy. I made it slow-acting, of course, so you would assume it was your own fury trait at work rather than a spell.”

  I let him use my own insecurities against me. What a fool I’d been. I walked straight into his trap and fell down the wrong rabbit hole. While I was stumbling around town more preoccupied with fury glitches than the unexplained tremors, Otto was carrying out his plan to open the portal.

  “You really should do a better job of hiding your weaknesses or some unscrupulous supernatural might exploit them,” Otto continued with a sneer.

  “How did you expect to get away with this?”

  “Obviously I didn’t expect to be discovered,” Otto said. “I assumed once the portal opened, it would keep law enforcement occupied and the underlying trigger would be forgotten.”

  “Then you might’ve chosen a different sacrifice. Do you really think Chief Fox will care about demons running amok when his aunt is dead?”

  “He’ll have no choice but to care. Besides, as far as he knows, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time when the portal opened and was simply overrun by demons embracing their freedom in a new world. No one would trace it back to me. The evidence would be trampled away by hooves and paws and sweeping tails.”

  “He’s a smart man and he loves his aunt. He would figure it out.”

  Unlike Wilfrieda, Otto had no idea that I was romantically involved with the chief of police and that I would do whatever it took to find his aunt’s killer.

  Otto glanced at Wilfrieda. “I’d like to get back to my spell if it’s all the same to you.”

  “You’re joking, right?”

  “Why would I be joking? You don’t think I’m going to stop now, when I’m this close to reaching my goal.”

  “Because I’m here now.” I made a sweeping gesture with my hand. “And I have a pack of werewolves at my disposal. At least one of us will survive to tell the tale.”

  The werewolves crept forward. Their desire to pounce was palpable.

  “Is that all?” Otto asked in a mocking tone.

  “No. There’s one more thing.” I pushed up my imaginary sleeves and fixed him with a hard stare, not exactly intimidating when he couldn’t see me.

  “What’s that, Eden?” The wizard emphasized the use of my first name, once again trying to undermine my authority.

  The muscle in my cheek pulsed. He was about to be very, very sorry.

  “It’s fury time,” I said.

  Otto released a shrill whistle. The ground trembled beneath our feet and digger demons burst from the earth like soda exploding from a can. I’d leave the wolves to deal with the demons. I had to stop the ritual. The main reason my job existed was to keep an eye on the dormant portal. As much as I resented working for the FBM, I had no interest in disappointing them. I was more than happy to be considered a failure by my family, but I wasn’t willing to fail the FBM or the residents of Chipping Cheddar. Even the humans were counting on me, although they didn’t know it.

  Once again, invisibility was a bonus in this fight. While I tossed digger demons left and right, Otto continued his ritual, his eyes darting around anxiously for any sign of me.

  I had to reach him before he could hurt Wilfrieda. The demons weren’t powerful individually, but there were so many of them that it didn’t matter. No wonder Otto was able to make such impressive progress on his motels. These demons behaved like beavers constructing a dam—working together and intent on a singular goal.

  I turned to see another horde of digger demons stampeding toward us. They kicked up so much dirt as they ran that they looked like a fast-moving cloud of dust. Employing underground demons had been a stroke of genius. It was the only way he managed to keep so many demons out of sight.

  Similar to my fight with the vampire frat pack, I let myself go. No one could see me. I let down my snake hair. Spread my wings. I indulged my inner fury for a change. It was liberating to fight in my natural form. I felt stronger.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” I yelled at the digger demons. They were the wizard’s tools of destruction, but they weren�
�t inherently bad.

  Otto hooked an arm around Wilfrieda’s neck and jerked her head up. A flash of metal caught my eye.

  “I’ll kill her if you come any closer,” he said. He pressed the blade of the dagger against her skin and I was relieved he couldn’t see the look of fear in my eyes.

  “What would be the point?” I asked, maintaining a calm demeanor. “If you kill her now, you won’t be able to complete the spell.” I paused, injecting steel into my voice. “And if you kill her, I’ll kill you and then your whole plan will be for nothing anyway.”

  Confusion marred his features. “You won’t kill me. I know that’s not your style. I told you I did my homework.”

  “It’s self-defense, Otto. At least that’s what I’ll tell everyone. If you did your homework, then you also know that I have a sterling reputation.” I took a step closer. “And, more importantly, I will do anything for the people I care about. And I do mean anything.”

  The wizard seemed to consider his options. “I think I’ll take those odds,” he finally said.

  It seemed I was out of time. I sprang forward and broke through the circle. His hubris must’ve kept him from warding it. If he didn’t anticipate getting caught, why bother with a protection spell, right?

  His arrogance would be his undoing.

  I knocked the wizard to the ground. The dagger flew out of the circle and skidded across the soft earth. I grabbed both his arms and focused on siphoning his magic.

  His face and shoulders grew slack. “What did you do to me?” he whimpered.

  “If you don’t know, you might want to consider improving your research skills, Otto.”

  His magic coursed through my veins and it felt as though a switch had been turned on. The absorption of his magic had broken the spell.

  The wizard’s eyes widened at the sight of me. “No,” he whispered.

  “If you think my hair looks bad now, you should’ve seen the snakes.”

  He tried to lift his arm, probably to hit me with a spell, but he was too weak. He collapsed on the ground with a grunt.

  I raced toward the digger demons, blazing with the wizard’s purple light.