Fury Awakened (Fury Unbound Book 3), Page 2

  The lycanthrope let out a shriek and lurched back, dropping his club. I pressed in for another attack. I’d learned early never to give my opponent time to think. The moment I attacked, I kept on attacking.

  He covered his face with his hands as I hit him again, this time striking between his fingers to land on the chin. As he clumsily lurched toward me, I darted to the side, trying not to slip in the knee-deep snow. With my left hand, I drew Xan—my sword—from the scabbard hanging over my back. She was a magical blade, she was, ornate and engraved, and another gift from Hecate. The sword was bound to me, enhanced with magic so she aimed better and hit harder. Xan bit deep into flesh with a ruthlessly sharp edge.

  I slapped the whip back on my thigh and it instantly coiled back into place, once more simply a tattoo.

  The lycanthrope lunged. He was bleeding heavily, the blood dripping into his murderous eyes. I dodged to the right, twisting to bring Xan across his chest. He shrieked, howling long and deep as he stumbled forward, grabbing for his chest. By the light of the campfire, a stain of red saturated the snow, spreading as his life force pumped out through the wounds. He was bleeding so heavily that I found it hard to believe he hadn’t keeled over yet. He must be tougher than I thought.

  I swung again as he fell on his knees and this time, Xan cleaved into his back, lodging in his shoulder. Darting forward, I used my boot to shove his ass forward as I yanked on my sword. He lurched spread-eagle on the ground, and the sudden jolt as Xan came free sent me staggering back. I tried to steady myself, but I tripped over a root and went sprawling on my butt.

  Another one of the creatures leaped, landing atop of me, his long teeth snapping at my face. I thrust myself backward against the snow, trying to scramble out from beneath him.

  “Fury!”

  The next moment, blood splattered on my face and chest as the tip of a sword came thrusting through his skull from behind. I flinched as the lycanthrope went flying off of me, tossed to the side like a used tissue. Tam stood there, panting. He offered his hand, pulled me to my feet, and then we were back into the fray, both of our injuries shrugged off in the heat of the battle.

  My blood pulsed as the adrenaline rush thundered through my veins and I fell on the first creature who had attacked me, finishing him off as he crouched on the ground. As I jumped up, I saw that Greta and Hans were plowing through the beasts. There must have been twenty-five of the lycanthropes in the attack party, but Hans and Greta advanced, guarding each other’s sides as they acted like a two-person slice-and-dice team. They took down first one, then two, then yet a third creature as I watched.

  Jason dodged a hail of blows from one of the beasts, managing to throw him off guard with a feint to the right. When the lycanthrope aimed in the wrong direction, he left his side unguarded and Jason took advantage, driving his long dagger between the creature’s ribs, into his heart.

  Another quick check told me Montran and Tymbur were cooking up some sort of magic. The energy echoed through the clearing and I made sure to stay out of the way. They worked with the magic of death and decay, and I wasn’t about to interfere, even accidentally.

  Elan and Laren had backed up onto a slope behind us, firing arrows one after another. In another moment or two, they’d have to draw their blades. The lycanthropes were fully inside our camp. As I finished my cursory examination, a scream echoed behind me.

  I whirled. Shevron had pushed Leonard in back of her, trying to protect him from one of the creatures who had broken through the lines.

  “Fall back!” I rushed over, drawing my dagger in my right hand.

  Leonard was cursing up a blue streak, but Shevron shoved him out of the way as I slid between them and the lycanthrope, driving the blade deep into its throat. We were in too close of quarters for my whip or sword, so I jerked the dagger across as hard as I could, ripping his larynx and severing his jugular in the process. I yanked the blade away, jumping to the side to let him fall. As he landed on the snow, bleeding out, I stabbed him in the back to make certain he was dead.

  “Fury! Be care—” Shevron screamed, but before she could finish, a white-hot pain slashed through my back.

  I turned to find another of the beasts had taken advantage of my focus on his buddy to sneak up behind me. He had raked my shoulder from behind. Before I could stop him, he slashed his claws across my chest. I stifled a scream, thrusting my blade deep into his stomach. As I twisted the dagger, he struggled, impaled on the cold steel as the flames spread into his wound. I gave the blade another moment, then cleanly withdrew it, stepping aside as he fell forward.

  Shevron stared at me, her eyes wide. She was shaking, but still she held firm to Leonard’s arm. Len, on the other hand, was struggling against her hold. But Shevron was a hawk-shifter, and Leonard had inherited his father’s human nature. Which meant Mama Bird was far stronger than her chick.

  Leonard thrashed. “Let me go. I can fight!”

  “Shut up.” I leaned in, glaring at him.

  Len quickly shut his mouth. He had always been a little afraid of me.

  “Mind your mother. We don’t have time to protect you from yourself. Do as you’re told.”

  Before he could sputter a word, I turned and raced back to the fight.

  We had them on the run. Elan and Laren were back to shooting arrows and the survivors struggled toward the tree line. I tried to count how many still stood. At least eight, but they had apparently had enough. Jason made ready to chase after them.

  “Leave them,” Elan barked out, her voice sharp.

  As the last of the lycanthropes vanished into the undergrowth, we regrouped by the main fire. Shevron let go of Leonard and he sullenly moved to the side, but stayed within the encampment. I ladled more snow into the pot of water hanging over the fire. I was hurt, and it looked like Jason and Tam had taken a couple hits. We’d need to clean our wounds.

  Tymbur gently took the pan I was using as a scoop out of my hands. “Go sit. You’re injured. I received a few superficial cuts, but I’m fine. Let me take care of this.”

  Wearily, I nodded, too shell-shocked to protest. I knew there were dangers in the Wild Wood, but I hadn’t been prepared for a pack of ferocious lycanthropes to leap out of the woodwork. I winced as I moved my shoulder.

  Tam was making the rounds, checking everybody’s status. He hurried over to me. “Are you all right?” He stroked my cheek.

  “I need to clean these scratches. As long as they don’t get infected, they’ll heal up.” As a Theosian, I healed faster than ordinary humans. I was also tougher. But that didn’t make me immortal, invulnerable, or immune to infections, wounds, broken bones, and pain. I knew that all too well from experience.

  I rested my hand on his arm. “Anybody else hurt?”

  “Jason took a knife wound, but it didn’t hit anything vital and while it will sting, it should heal without incident. Montran managed to hit four of them with a death spell, but apparently lycanthropes have a natural immunity, and it sent them into a frenzy instead. They attacked each other, but in doing so, one managed to clobber Montran with her club. He has a knot on his forehead, but again, nothing life-threatening as far as I can tell.”

  He paused, then added, “Fury, we have to move and we should leave soon. If they come from a tribe somewhere near, we can’t chance staying. We’re going to have to travel in the dark, as quickly as we can get packed up. I’ll work on an illusion to mask our scent—a glamour of sorts. As soon as Tymbur binds your wounds, please help break down the camp.” With that, he planted a quick kiss on my lips and headed over to where Elan and Laren were standing.

  I watched as Shevron marched through the camp, dragging Leonard with her. He was bitching—all too loudly—and she stopped in front of Jason, who was holding his side where the lycanthrope’s blade had nicked him.

  “Jason, tell your nephew to stop trying to play hero.” Shevron shoved Leonard in front of her, holding him by the shoulders. “He won’t listen to his mother anymore.”

&
nbsp; Jason stared at Leonard for a moment, then slowly opened his jacket. In the glow of the campfire, I could see the oozing wound. On someone who was human, it could easily have put them out of commission, but Jason was still standing. Hawk-shifters were fierce.

  “Look at this wound. Look close.” He grabbed Leonard by the head and forced him close to the angry gash. “Take a really good look.”

  Leonard grimaced, trying to look away.

  “You don’t want to look? I don’t blame you. If you had taken the blade, you’d be dead. We’ll teach you how to fight, son, but until we get to our destination, you need to chill out. Get it?” Jason planted Len’s hand against the bleeding gash. “Feel that? It’s slippery. Smell it.”

  That seemed a bit harsh, but then I stopped myself from interfering. This was a family affair, and Leonard had been testing the boundaries all too much lately.

  The teen looked sick to his stomach, but he obeyed, slowly bringing his hand to his face where he sniffed his fingers. “It smells coppery.”

  “That’s blood. Blood keeps us all alive. Do you know how much this hurts? Like a razor-sharp son of a bitch. I’m bleeding, which weakens me. But I don’t have time to slow down. Every life in this camp depends on each of us doing our part. Every breath we take depends on each one of us doing what we’re asked to. We can’t afford to have you go running off half-cocked. If you do, I guarantee you’re going to put somebody’s life in danger. Because all the enthusiasm in the world won’t matter and you’ll end up being the one who needs rescuing. When we get to Verdanya, I’ll teach you to fight—”

  “Jason—” Shevron didn’t look happy at all.

  “Quiet, Shevron. Things have changed. They weren’t easy to begin with, but Seattle’s fighting a horde of zombies right now and we’re stuck out in the middle of the wilderness. We have to adapt. Len should know how to defend himself.” Jason turned back to his nephew. “And one more thing: don’t let me ever hear you talking back to your mother again. I can argue with her because I’m her brother and we’re both adults. You, on the other hand, have to keep your nose clean. Do you understand me?”

  Leonard let out a long sigh, but finally nodded. He was caught in the throes of growing up. Jason and Shevron had inherited their parents’ pale complexion and light hair, but Len was golden brown, the color of his father, and his eyes were dark and rich. His hair was blond thanks to a bottle, but he was his father’s child in many ways, including the human nature that had come through rather than the hawk-shifter. And except for the fact that his father had abandoned both Shevron and his unborn child long before Len had entered the world. Regardless of his arguments with Shevron, Leonard was devoted to her and his uncle.

  “I’ll play by the rules, Uncle J.”

  “See that you do. Now apologize to your mother.” Jason pointed toward Shevron, a stern look on his face.

  Leonard turned to his mother and sheepishly said, “I’m sorry, Mom.”

  “Sorry, what?” Shevron asked.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. I’ll behave.” He reminded me of the five-year-old who had played in my room years ago, getting into my makeup and crying when I yelled at him for eating my lipstick.

  Shevron held his gaze for a moment, then nodded. She turned back to Jason. “What should we do?”

  “Break down camp. We need to get out of here now.”

  As we fell to dressing wounds, taking down tents, and gathering embers for our next camp, I wondered if we’d make it away before the lycanthropes returned. And if they didn’t return, just what else was waiting for us in the Wild Wood?

  I’m Kaeleen Donovan, but I rarely go by that name. Most folks call me Fury, though Jason calls me Kae, but then he’s allowed to. He gave me a home after my mother was brutally murdered.

  Speaking of my mother, Marlene and Terry, my father, were both human. But during her pregnancy, my mother took a shortcut through the Sandspit and wandered into a patch of rogue magic. Boom, bang, and hoorah. My life-to-be changed forever.

  The rogue magic altered my DNA, turning me into a Theosian—a minor goddess. As was the custom, I was presented to the Seers, who declared that I belonged to Hecate. And so I was bound to her. Hecate taught me to use my fire, at least to some degree. And she taught me how to seek out and destroy the Abominations that come in off the World Tree. We have a good relationship. At least, I think so. She makes sure I have work when I need it, and I make sure to play by the rules.

  When I’m not chasing down Abominations, I run the Crossroads Cleaning Company, which is set up in Jason’s magical store—Dream Wardens. In other words, I clean up psychic messes, hauntings, perform exorcisms, offer tarot and rune readings, and anything else that I can think of. I make a living, but it’s not a get-rich-quick profession.

  As I said, my mother was murdered and I was there to witness it. I escaped, though it’s never been clear how. We think the trauma triggered something deep within my magic. Whatever the case, I landed on Jason’s doorstep that night, and he took me in. How he managed with a thirteen-year-old girl, I’m not sure. He was single, over two hundred (but didn’t look a day over thirty), yet he made a home for me. Together, he and Shevron looked after me.

  I was fed, clothed, and cared for. They shepherded me through school, and made sure I attended every lesson Hecate scheduled. As I grew up, they became my friends rather than guardians. Now, as I have reached thirty, my aging process is starting to slow. Theosians are long-lived. We can make it to six hundred or sometimes longer, as long as we aren’t killed or fall victim to an accident.

  Until recently, everything was hunky-dory—at least, as much as it could be, given the corrupt government and the ruthless Devani who patrol the streets.

  But when the Order of the Black Mist stole an ancient artifact and threatened to rain down chaos on the planet, everything in my world shifted. We managed to steal back the Thunderstrike, but the Order retaliated in an even more deadly fashion, turning Seattle over to a horde of zombies. Not quite the apocalypse, but not that far off, either.

  Now, we’re on the run—my friends and me. And we’re not sure just when we’re going to be able to go home again. Or if there will be a home to return to.

  “Everything ready?” Elan took another look around the campsite.

  All the tents were down, the fires were out, and we were ready to move again. I desperately wanted to go to bed, but Elan was right. We couldn’t chance the lycanthropes returning, fortified by reinforcements.

  “Everything’s packed and on the horses.” I glanced over at the animals. We hadn’t been able to scare up enough horses to ride through the Wild Wood, but we had three and they were carrying most of the gear.

  “All right,” she said, waving for us to move. “Onward. We’ll journey for two or three hours and then, if we see no sign that the lycanthropes are in pursuit, we’ll set up camp again. I know you’re all tired, but we risk our lives if we stay here.” With that, she motioned for us to move out. With Elan leading, and her brother taking the rear to make certain nobody stumbled off the path, we started our slow slog through the snow again. As the heavy snow continued to fall, we headed into the darkness, cutting cross-country.

  Chapter 2

  Three hours later, with no sign that we were being followed, Elan gave us the go-ahead to settle down again. This time, we were by the bank of a stream. I wasn’t sure how far we had traveled, though it couldn’t have been more than five miles. Hiking through the snow and the dense undergrowth was exhausting and slow, but at least anybody following us would be going through the same conditions.

  As we set up the tents again and built a big fire, my body was screaming for sleep. I tried to ease my aching muscles with the promise that I’d be crawling into bed soon, as hard and rough as it was.

  “Hard to believe that at one time, this land was wall-to-wall city. Miles of houses and stores and roads.” Jason took the kettle from me—I had packed it full of snow—and carried it over to hang over the flames so we co
uld have hot water.

  I looked around. In the dark, all I could see were the silhouettes of trees and shrubs covered with white. “I suppose Gaia didn’t approve of all that development, given the effects of the World Shift.” Shivering, I moved closer to the fire.

  Jason nodded, adjusting the kettle so it was directly over the flames. “You can still find remnants of the highways, if you look close enough. Asphalt and concrete, covered with moss and debris. Once in a while, somebody finds the shell of a building—usually a twisted heap of metal covered with vegetation.” He straightened, arching his back. “You’re thinking about home, aren’t you?”

  I nodded. “I’m wondering how many are dead. How many have the zombies turned? But more than that, I’m wondering what Lyon’s up to. He won this battle, you know. Even if the Regent of Seattle manages to secure the city, Lyon and the Order of the Black Mist managed to turn things upside down.” I paused. “Do you think the rest of your family got away?”

  Jason shrugged, but his voice was gruff when he spoke, belying his worry. “Hope so. I called them before we left and told them to get out. Luckily, a sizable percentage of the Cast live out toward Bend. We’re, at heart, a rural people. I think we should eventually head there.”

  I gave a nod toward Elan and Laren. “They feel we should stay in the Wild Wood, down in Verdanya with the Woodland Fae. Even though the thought of staying out here spooks the hell out of me, I agree. Bend is too open. It’s a prime target for Lyon, if the Seattle Regent doesn’t appropriate it first. You know they have that authority.”

  With a shrug, Jason pulled out two purification tablets and tossed them in the pot of rapidly melting snow. “If there’s anybody alive to wield it. Kae, you do realize we may not have a city to go home to? This could be the end of Seattle.”