Queen of Storms

by C. N. Crawford

  But it seemed that wasn’t where we were going, because the Nathair was heading for a black door inset into another ancient stone building.

  The Nathair knocked on the door. A moment later, a man in a black suit opened it. At the sight of the Nathair, his face went pale, and his jaw dropped. He stared up at the dragon-blood looming above him.

  “Right, you’re here for the…” said the man. “To help with the problem. I didn’t think it would be you in person, I thought … I heard about the, the shredding….”

  The man didn’t seem to be able to get a full sentence out, and the Nathair simply breezed on past him into the hall.

  I stepped in after him, into a long corridor with dim red lights along the walls. Already, I could hear the sound of soft music playing. The smoky smell of cigars tickled my nose.

  “I will be leaving you as soon as we make it to that door,” said the Nathair. “All you need to know is that when you hear the number twenty-six, your trial shall begin. Understood?”

  Twenty-six? “Got it,” I said. “And I’m supposed to help those on my team, so that everyone from House Dorcha remains. Right?”

  A line formed between his eyebrows. “Yes, but it’s not always that simple. Those from the same house may decide to gang up on one of their own members.”

  “Why?”

  “The weakest member of the losing house is sent home. Or, in your case, killed.”

  “At your hands.”

  He ignored that comment and went on. “They may wish to demonstrate they’re not the weakest. And on top of that, if someone dies in a trial, no one from that team is sent home until after the next trial.”

  “So, they’d get a free pass.”

  “Precisely.”

  So not only would Tarvis and his Leus friends be trying to kill me, Letha might as well.

  Given everything he just told me, I should be a bundle of nerves right now. But with the dress and the atmosphere, I felt like I was in a movie. I felt like an actress dressed to the nines, about to enter a scene where men played high-stakes poker over glasses of scotch and money moved around by the millions.

  As I stepped though the doorway, I saw that I was partially right. In the dimly lit club, people sat around circular tables. Men in expensive suits smoked cigars and drank cocktails. The women between them wore fine silk gowns and glittered beautifully with jewels.

  Except they weren’t playing poker.

  “Three and two, thirty-two, buckle my shoe,” called a man sitting at the head table. Beside him was a huge wire sphere filled with plastic bingo balls. He pulled out a pink one. “Sixty-nine, favorite of mine!”

  Laughter erupted around us.

  They were playing bingo.

  So that’s where the number twenty-six came in. I’d just have to wait till someone called it.

  As I looked around some more, I spotted some of the unsworn from House Leus lurking like gargoyles in the corners, their expressions made of stone. Dressed in gray velvet, Tarvis stood in the shadows, his eyes scanning the crowd. A delicate platinum crown gleamed from his head of wild blond curls.

  The unsworn kept to the edges of the room, but they weren’t exactly blending in. They probably had no idea how to act around humans. For just a moment, I caught a glimpse of Letha, her rosy hair cascading over a cream gown.

  “Twenty-five, duck and dive!” the bingo man called out.

  Hungry eyes followed me as I snaked my way around the tables and toward the bar, and a man with a silver beard winked at me.

  A portly bartender with a mustache was cleaning off the oak bar. “Can I get you a drink, miss?”

  I didn’t have any money, but that wasn’t going to stop me. “Bourbon. On the rocks.”

  He nodded and pulled a bottle of amber spirits off the shelf. When he told me how much I’d have to pay—I couldn’t believe whiskey was so cheap here—I waved at the silver-bearded man. He smiled and waved back. “On my friend’s tab.”

  I took a sip of my drink and tried to tune into any sense of ephemerals. There would be one in here somewhere, and it was my job to trap it. I had a feeling that as soon as the bingo caller announced twenty-six, all hells was gonna break loose. Speed was what I needed here.

  Speed and subtlety.

  I watched Ree step through the doors, looking magnificent in a figure-hugging silver dress with blue feathered earrings, her dark eyes sparkling. Helgar loomed over her, gnawing on a chicken bone like some sort of feral beast, a festive Christmas sweater under his cloak. Glowering, he turned abruptly and left Ree to her own devices. She started walking over to me as soon as she saw me, and a few other unsworn streamed in behind her.

  Smiling, she reached me at the bar and pulled the whiskey out of my hand. She took a sip of my drink, nearly downing it. “Sorry. That was weird, wasn’t it? I’m a little nervous.”

  “It’s fine. This place is filling up fast.”

  “Good thing we’re working as a team. Got any strategies?”

  “Not really, just—”

  “Pick up sticks,” the man with all the balls called out. “Twenty-six.”

  It was like someone flipped a switch. Tarvis roared, extended his arms, and a field of lightning enveloped him, sparking around his blond hair. I’d expected the bingo players to run, or at least scream.

  Oddly, they kept playing.

  A phantom wind rushed into the room, forcing an old man’s hairpiece to take flight. He didn’t even notice. He was too busy waiting for the numbers to come so he could fill his card in.

  I stood rigid, trying to sense the ephemeral around me, but I didn’t have a read on him yet.

  Tarvis snapped his head to the side and glared at empty space. He brought his hands together, lightning crackling between his fingertips. He pulled back his arm, ready to throw a ball of magic across the room—at the ghost? I still wasn’t sure.

  But before he could throw it, an invisible force struck him in the chest and sent him flying.

  He slammed into a table, causing an explosion of glass and bits of wood. The bingo players just kept scribbling numbers on their cards, shifting their chairs a bit.

  Another unsworn—a male from the House Leus—stepped into the center of the hall, ghostly tendrils of purple magic curling from his hands and whipping around his body. One translucent tentacle shot across the room, but it was as if the magic had struck an invisible barrier. Sparks of light erupted in all directions, and the unsworn followed, suffering the same fate as Tarvis.

  Still, the players just kept cheering the numbers, writing them down. Either they couldn’t see the magical warfare, or they’d seen worse before. Maybe a poltergeist haunted this place?

  Whatever the case, the ephemeral was here, and it was incredibly powerful. It was also becoming clear that attacking the spirit wouldn’t work.

  I needed to come up with a new plan, fast.

  Chapter 15

  The chaos around us simmered down a little, but it felt like the eye of the storm. Some of the unsworn were looking at each other, puzzled, as if they’d lost sight of the entity. I concentrated, shutting my eyes and muttering a little chant to Taru under my breath. Slowly, an image started to form in my mind—just like it had done in training.

  The creature we hunted looked like a red aura, just mist and smoke. When I opened my eyes again, I was tracking it as it slithered around the bingo players, then clung to a rail-thin man sitting at a table a few feet away. I wasn’t sure why the other unsworn couldn’t seem to see it anymore, but their heads swiveled around as if searching for their mark.

  “Legs eleven!” called out the bingo man.

  The mist slid off the thin man’s bony shoulders and zipped across the room to land on a woman in a gold dress. I narrowed my eyes.

  “Fifty-nine, Brighton line!” said the bingo man.

  The mist whooshed across the room again, this time to an olive-skinned man smoking a cigarette.

  It was almost as if the ephemeral was responding to the bingo nu
mbers….

  “I have an idea,” I whispered to Ree, watching as it whooshed yet again. “It’s moving from table to table—from player to player.”

  “I can hardly see it, but if you say so.”

  “What if the spots on the tables are numbered?”

  “What do the numbers have to do with the spirit?”

  “It moves to whatever number is called out.”

  Ree narrowed her eyes. “So, you’re thinking that we could maybe get the ephemeral to come to us?”

  “If we join the game. Maybe.”

  “Worth a shot.”

  With Ree by my side, we moved closer to the tables. I had no idea where the ephemeral would move next, or how the tables were numbered. The unsworn around us were tensed, hands crackling with magic.

  “Three score and ten,” the bingo guy called out. “Number seventy!”

  The ephemeral shifted again. Letha seemed to home in on the movement. She locked her gaze on the red mist as it curled around another player.

  She channeled her magic, creating a swirling vortex of light around her, then pointed at the red cloud. It was still halfway across the room, but it seemed to stretch toward her. My heart swooped. She was on my team—which meant I wanted her to do well, but not too well. Only one person won this thing in the end, and it had to be me.

  She looked like she was trying to hold onto it with her mind, gritting her teeth. Sweat dappled her brow.

  Her power wasn’t enough.

  The ephemeral lashed out at her from a distance, vines of red smoke arcing through the air. Where they struck the side of her face, they left deep, bleeding gashes that had her screaming. Brutal.

  “Follow me,” I whispered.

  With Ree by my side, I rushed over to an empty table and sat. On the table, someone had laid out tiny bingo booklets and Sharpies to mark the numbers inside. I snatched a booklet and marker and waited for the next number to be called.

  Ree did the same, then pointed at the number on the table. Thirteen. Once Bingo Man called that number out, the ephemeral would swoop over to our table.

  The bingo guy plucked a ball, read it, then held it up. “Royal salute, twenty-one!”

  The ephemeral shifted again, hopping around the room and settling across the shoulders of an ancient man in a houndstooth suit, his face creased with age. One of the other unsworn made his move, racing toward the bingo player with his hands splayed, his green hair trailing behind him like seaweed. He was the one who’d first called me a pig when I was in the bath. Pretty sure his name was Affian.

  Affian grabbed the elderly man by the collar, red mist coiling around them. And this was as close as anyone had got to the ephemeral. Too bad Affian was from the House Leus. I was starting to wonder if my wait till he comes to me strategy was a bust and House Leus would win.

  Magic crackled down Affian’s arms. Then—fast as lightning—the human’s wrinkled hands shot out and grabbed Affian by the head. The elderly man bit him in the neck.

  Affian groaned with pain and let go. The old man calmly returned to his seat and picked up his bingo card, blood running from his mouth and over the houndstooth suit.

  How had an ancient human taken on Affian?

  “What in the seven hells is going on?” Ree asked. “A possession, maybe?”

  “Looks that way. We just need Bingo Man to call out number thirteen so we can trap him. Any idea how to hasten that along?”

  She nodded. “I might know a spell.” She rose and started across the room.

  If we wanted to trap this creature, we had to make it believe we were players. There was a reason why this trial had taken place in this arena, in this club. Head-on attacks simply weren’t working.

  Now, Ree was about halfway across the hall. That’s when Letha met my eyes. She stared, then pointed at me. Blood streaked her face, and she rushed over to where I sat.

  “You lazy little slut,” she hissed. “Why are you just sitting there? We’re losing. House Dorcha is losing. Affian from House Leus has come the closest so far, and you’re just resting there. Any second, he and Tarvis are going to win this. Do you want to die?”

  I drummed my fingernails. “Maybe I have a plan.”

  “If we lose, your head will be first on the execution block.”

  “Unlucky for some, number thirteen!”

  As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the red mist began barreling toward me. On its path, it morphed into the roaring face of a demon, its jaws opening as it hurtled across the room.

  The force of it hit me like a truck. It was like my entire nervous system went into overdrive and turned numb all at once. I couldn’t feel my fingers, just my legs shaking. My teeth chattered uncontrollably, and I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t hear myself think, but in my head, something else roared.

  Tarvis charged, running toward me like a bull, knocking down tables as he went. His hands started glowing with magic. The bastard wasn’t about to let House Dorcha get the advantage. But this was what I’d prepared for—holding up a shield while my mind worked on other magic.

  Though the ephemeral had seized my body, causing me to jerk and spasm uncontrollably, I found a way to quiet my mind enough to summon my magic. Taru’s power sizzled between my ribs. Then, a flash of white magic burst out from my chest, creating a shield around me strong enough to absorb Tarvis’s attack. Now, Affian was joining in, hurling fiery magic at me.

  Their lightning bounced off the shield, ricocheting to the ceiling and walls. Some of it even struck Affian, pushing him back. The scent of burnt flesh filled the air.

  On the other side of the room, the bingo started to roll again. In seconds, this demon would jump out of me, and I’d lose the advantage. I turned my magic inward, imagining a cage made of lightning with a cloud of red mist inside of it.

  The ephemeral seemed to be struggling, heaving and groaning like an ancient ship. I could feel its rage vibrating like a cello string, and if I lost control, the demon would rip me to shreds. And House Leus would certainly kill me, too. After all, I was in the lead.

  The bingo set stopped turning, and the announcer opened the hatch, but I wasn’t ready yet.

  Then, from the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Ree kicking the wire bingo set. Tiny balls shot out everywhere, and silence filled the hall for just a moment.

  Then, all of the bingo players tilted back their heads. Each of the people around the tables opened their mouths and unleashed a cacophony of earsplitting screams.

  Ahead of me, Tarvis fired off another bolt of magic. This time, my body shook from the strain of keeping his lightning away. I could feel it in my chest—the pressure, the heat of his magic—but my shield held.

  Inside of me, the ephemeral screeched along with the bingo players, a sound that rattled the backs of my teeth. Mentally, I called on Taru’s help. The Nathair had told me not to count on the gods, but it had always worked for me in the past.

  With Taru’s electrical power building in me, my magic closed around the ephemeral with a psychic snap. My ears popped, and I exhaled a harsh rush of air. From my mouth, a small orb of crackling light zoomed out.

  Ree snatched the sphere in midair, a smile lighting her face. “Looks like we have a winning team—House Dorcha.”

  The other unsworn gaped at us, while the bingo players looked like they were waking from trances.

  Slowly, I let the shield fall around me.

  Ree tossed the trapped demon to me. “Sorry that you all are inadequate, House Leus.”

  Tarvis was staring at me, his head cocked, blond hair falling in his eyes.

  I held the orb of glowing, crackling magic up at him like it was a bingo ball. “Lucky for some,” I said. “Number thirteen.”

  Affian narrowed his eyes at me. Magic ignited his hand. “Is the trial really over, though? No one officially called it.”

  Oh, screw you. I scrambled to raise my shield.

  To my surprise, Tarvis stepped in front of him. “It’s over,” he barked.
“We lost.”

  Affian still held a crackling bolt of magic in his hand. But before he could argue back, he fell to his knees, grimacing, his body contorted with pain.

  The Nathair stepped out of the shadows, a strange smile on his face as he watched Affian twist in agony. As the Nathair approached, all the other unsworn stepped away.

  “Indeed,” he said in that disinterested tone, “the trial has ended, because the soul has been captured. You may return to the Institute on foot.”

  He held out his hand to me, and I dropped the ball of magic into his palm. He stared at it, then glanced at me, his face expressionless. “You’ll be walking up to the castle,” he said. “Follow the others. Oren will be guarding you all.”

  I nodded, suppressing a smile. I’d be annoyed at having to walk in heels if it weren’t for the fact that this would give me the perfect opportunity to snatch the bag of herbs.

  When I crossed out into the fresh air, I breathed in deeply, letting myself finally smile. I’d survived tonight. I’d proved that I wasn’t the weakest on the team, so I was increasing my chances of becoming a knight. Within a week or so, I could be navigating the fortress independently, searching for the prisoners before the execution.

  My feet ached as we walked up the hill, all of us quiet after the first trial. When we reached the entrance, I lingered at the back. I cloaked myself in a shadow spell for just a moment, giving myself cover, then quickly snatched the herbs from under the shrubs.

  I shoved them into my cleavage, then crossed into the tunnel with the others.

  But as we walked deeper into the tunnel, my mood was dampened when Affian turned to me, eyes shining in the darkness. He leaned in closely, his body smelling of salt, and he whispered, “You cost a spot to a noble fae who deserves it. You’ll be the first to go, animal. I’ll slaughter you like swine.”

  Ah. And that was a good reminder—as long as I was here, I could never let my guard down.

  Chapter 16