I snuggled under the covers with Tam. As he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to his chest, I whispered, “Does Jason seem tense to you?”
“Aren’t we all tense?”
“No. I mean—he seems more tense than I’d expect under the circumstances. He was short with me every time I spoke to him today.” In fact, when I thought about it, Jason seemed troubled about something. “Do you think Elan told him she wasn’t interested after all?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you quit worrying about them? What does or doesn’t happen between them isn’t our business. Now, close your eyes and try to sleep, love. We have a long day’s walk tomorrow, and we both need our rest.” With that gentle chiding, Tam closed his eyes and was soon snoring lightly.
I tried to drop off, but as tired as I was, I couldn’t fall asleep. After thirty minutes of tossing and turning, I finally got up and drew the covers up over Tam’s shoulders. I slipped into the clothes Elan had lent me and quietly crossed to the door of the cabin.
As I stepped out into the dark night, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had stopped snowing. I gazed up at the sky. Brilliant stars sparkled like ice chips through the wispy clouds that trailed across the horizon. Shivering, I gathered the cloak tighter around my shoulders and crossed to a nearby bench. It was covered with a dusting of snow. I brushed it off and sat down.
As I let my mind wander, trying to relax enough to return to bed, a Frostling glided by. She stopped to stare at me. I gave her a soft nod, remembering the rules about not speaking to anybody. But instead of passing by, the gleaming frost spirit joined me on the bench. She was beautiful—in an ice queen sort of way—and a mist of frost trailed her.
“You are one of the strangers,” she said after a few minutes.
“Yes.” If she spoke to me first, it was probably safe to answer. It seemed rude not to. “My name is Fury.”
She seemed to mull this over for a moment, then asked, “You are one of the Theosians, correct?”
Again, a nod. “Yes. How did you know?”
This time her response came faster. “We were told several of your kind were in the party. May I ask you a question?”
I wasn’t sure of the etiquette involved, so I finally said, “Of course. I’ll answer if I can. If I don’t know, then I’ll tell you.”
“Very good. Tell me, if you can, why do your cities seek to destroy us?”
That was the last question I had expected. I blinked. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. To be honest, I’d barely heard of the Frostlings before. What cities are trying to destroy you and how are they doing this?”
She took her time digesting my answer. “The bright warriors. They have come through the Wild Wood twice before in the past year. During the spring and summer, we meld into the icy realm, but during winter, they seek us out. They bring fire and flame to use against us, but we’ve always managed to blur our existence so they cannot see us.”
She had to mean the Devani. I tried to think through some sort of an answer.
Finally, I opted for, “I didn’t know they were doing this. I doubt if many of us who live in the cities know. You must understand how little control we have over what our government does. I’m sorry—what they’re doing is wrong.”
She seemed to accept my answer at face value. She stood, then departed silently without another word. I let out a long sigh, staring around me at the beauty of the frozen village. So the government was trying to wipe out the Frostlings. That seemed par for the course, but why?
An hour later, thoroughly chilled but tired, I slid back into bed with Tam and managed to fall asleep, but my dreams were uneasy, with visions of the Devani marching forward, armed with flame guns and torches, and the nightmares lasted till I woke up the next morning.
Come morning, I managed to corner Tam and Jason with the information the Frostling had given me the night before. We didn’t have time to discuss it, however, because the Guardian once again paid us a visit. His people brought breakfast, and the Guardian brought with him two Frostlings who would serve as guides as we made our way to Eleveanor.
“Naia and Derra will guide you to your destination. Do not stray from the path or the group. Break your fast now, and be off. You should never tarry too long in the woodland.”
I wondered if I should approach the Guardian about what I’d been told. I whispered as much to Tam, but he shook his head and pulled me aside. “We don’t know if she was supposed to say anything to you. I’d rather not get her in trouble in case she spoke out of turn.”
“Good point.” I hadn’t thought of that.
The Guardian left shortly after introducing our guides, who stood by the wall, arms behind their backs, legs slightly spread in a watchful, alert stance. They neither spoke nor seemed interested in our conversation except to open the door when a Frostling brought our horses around. The horses had been fed, groomed, and watered. We packed up as soon as we were done eating, and set out.
The morning sky was pale blue with thin cirrus clouds that stretched across overhead in a wide band. The break in the storm had held and as beams of lemon sun splashed over the crisp layer of new snow, the carpet of white glistened like diamonds, reflecting prisms of light. The air was crisp and cool, and the crust so hard that the rest of us could walk atop it like the Fae. We only sank a few inches instead of to our knees, which made the going easier.
The forest was alive with activity. Birds fluttered around, searching for any stray bits of food they might have missed. Here and there, tracks marked an animal trail. Elan pointed out the various prints as we passed. Fox here, rabbit there, wolf over there. Once she mentioned cougar and I pulled closer to the group. The big cats were beautiful, but deadly.
Thanks to the World Shift opening the door to the shifters, hunting restrictions were strictly enforced. Hunting was illegal except for certain areas that were kept strictly guarded, and as a result, most of the big carnivores had a healthy, growing population.
A thought struck me. I turned to Elan. “How do you hunt for food if hunting is illegal?”
She smiled. “Oh, my people know who the shifters are. We can tell. And in the Wild Wood, we have our own agreements with the shifter clans that make accidents a rarity. What the government doesn’t know, won’t hurt them.”
“How far do we have to go?” Jason asked.
Elan calculated on her fingers, then said, “We’ll be traveling into the evening and through tomorrow. We should reach Eleveanor by nightfall.”
I wasn’t thrilled to hear we had another two days of travel, but there was nothing for it. We could only go so fast on foot. As we walked, another question hit me.
“Are there vampires in the Wild Wood?”
She nodded. “Yes, so be cautious after dark because they have no regulations out here. There’s nothing to stop them except for the people who live here. They tend to be predatory and usually attack first. I won’t say they can’t be reasoned with, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
The vampires we had met on the Tremble were scary enough but they had, at least, been somewhat civilized. I had the feeling that wasn’t the case out here. I glanced behind us to make certain Leonard and Shevron were far enough away. I didn’t want Leonard hearing me.
“When we were out on the Tremble, remember when we met Kython?”
Elan cast a look over her shoulder as well. “Yes,” she said softly.
“He was a Theosian. If he could be turned, so can I. I don’t know if you were listening when he told me that vampires weren’t really engineered—that the government had attempted a eugenics program. The results are that what they try to sell us as actual vampires are just mutants. Could he be right?”
Elan let out a slow breath. “I’ve walked these woods for centuries. I’m not as old as Tam, but I’m far older than you would guess. Long before the World Shift, vampires lurked in the shadows and they weren’t created by the government. So yes, Kython was telling the truth.”
&
nbsp; I told her what the Frostling had said the night before. “She said the government is trying to wipe them out. Have you heard any reports of that nature?”
“Personally, no, but that accounts for nothing. I come and go through these woods on an infrequent basis. But the Fae of Eleveanor might know, though I’ll wager that the Frostlings haven’t reached out about it to anybody. They are far more cautious than the Fae.”
“They remind me of the Greenlings,” I said. “They have that same feral nature, so far from human that it wouldn’t surprise me if the Conglomerate really were trying to eradicate them. But that leads me to wonder what other power grabs the government’s making.”
“They’re up to no good, that I’ll tell you for free.” She stopped as Jason joined us. He glanced first at her, then at me.
“What are you two talking about?” Once again, he sounded strained.
“The government. Vampires. Frostlings.” At his surprised look, I realized that he thought we had been discussing him. I decided it was time to clear the air. “Look, can we quit pussyfooting around? Jason likes you, Elan. And I think you like him back or you wouldn’t have asked me about him yesterday. Will you two quit dancing around the subject and have a clear, open discussion?”
Both of them glared at me. Good, I’d given them a common ground to stand on. “I know you’re both ready to shove me in a snowbank but really, you need to talk. We don’t have time or energy to deal with strained feelings here.”
With that, I dropped back, not giving them a chance to yell. I made my way over to Tam, who was walking with Hans and Greta. Montran and Tymbur were back of us, and Laren was walking with Shevron and Leonard.
“You stirring up trouble again?” Tam’s eyes twinkled.
“Always. If I don’t, who will?”
“Good point.” He shaded his face as the sun slanted down to strike us full on. “We’re making good time.”
A thought struck me. I turned to Greta. “Didn’t you miss your flying-up ceremony?”
“Yes, I did.” She scuffed the snow. “I was supposed to become a full Valkyrie this week but then the shit hit the fan. I could have stayed at the temple when the Peninsula of the Gods closed their borders, but I didn’t want to leave Hans. And the ceremony… Well…it wouldn’t have felt right. Not with all of you out here. I’m not worried, though. I completed all my lessons and the only thing left is the actual ritual. Though it would have been handy to have my wings now.”
“Wings? You actually get wings?” I studied her face, trying to figure out if she was joking. But her expression stayed steady as a rock.
She laughed. “Feathers and all. Yes.”
I started to answer but at that moment, a shouting match erupted between Shevron and her son.
“I told you to shut your mouth, Leonard. You’re only fifteen and you don’t know half the crap you think you do.” Shevron’s hands were on her hips. She was far more pale than Jason, who looked like he should be right out of Bifrost. She was a platinum blonde with gleaming blue eyes. She usually wore dark eye makeup and a rich blackberry lipstick, but for the past few days she’d gone without, and she looked as pale as the backdrop of snow.
Leonard was sulking, scuffing the ground. He was at that age where everything was a challenge. He kicked a pile of snow as Jason headed over to them. I forced myself to stay out of things, even though I was an honorary member of the family. They were blood and if Shevron wanted Jason to back off, she would tell him.
“Are you backtalking your mother again?” Jason towered over his nephew, who was still lean, lanky and short. Crossing his arms, Jason glared him down. “Well, are you?”
“You’re not my father,” Leonard mumbled just loud enough for everybody to hear.
“Apologize to your uncle.” Shevron leaned in, hands on her hips. “And then you apologize to me.”
Leonard was struggling. He crossed his arms against what they were saying and for a moment, refused to answer. Another moment and he mumbled something that sounded like an apology, then stalked off to the side of the trail, where he continued to walk alone.
Shevron shared an exasperated look with Jason. Then, after a moment, she headed over to talk to Len. Jason returned to us.
“Damned kid. He knows better than treat his mother like that. If we were back in Seattle, the Cast would knock some sense into him.”
“He’s not a hawk-shifter, Jason. Remember that. He feels left out, like he doesn’t belong.” I had tried to reason with him before about his nephew, but Jason was stubborn.
He set his jaw and gave me one firm shake of the head. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Kae, but this isn’t your affair. You aren’t Cast.”
“That’s my point, you lughead. Neither is Leonard. Oh, you nominally give him membership because his mother belongs, but how do you think any of this makes him feel? He’s caught between two worlds—” I stopped. I could tell by Jason’s expression that I had taken this conversation about as far as I could. “Never mind. But I think you’re in for trouble.”
I rejoined Tam, leaving Greta and Hans to walk together, and Jason to stew in whatever funk he’d gotten himself into.
Next morning, and we were on the road again without incident. It seemed that being accompanied by Frostlings kept the lycanthropes and whatever else might be hunting our trail away from us. By late afternoon, the terrain started to change. We were headed upslope, which meant that walking had turned into hiking. I was in good shape, but my thigh muscles burned as we slipped and scrambled our way up the hill. My knees were raw from falling flat against the trail, the grade was so steep. I grunted when my back heel slipped on a chunk of ice and I landed facedown for the third time.
“Cripes, how long till we’re at the top?”
“Not much farther.” Tam, like Elan and Laren and the Frostlings, were walking as though neither grade nor snow were a factor. I wanted to hate them, but the best I could muster was a grunt.
“Hell,” Jason said from behind me. “We aren’t even into the foothills of the Cascades yet.”
“Don’t make me smack you.” I tried to kick a little snow in his face.
During the World Shift, most of the earthquake activity had centered around the fault zones. In our area, it meant that the land had lifted and buckled. What were once gently rolling slopes had become good-sized foothills and those foothills merged into what had been an already impressive mountain range.
“No worries. We don’t have that far to go. Hold on, we’re nearly to the top.” Laren’s amusement was apparent in his voice. The next moment, he vanished over the edge and I realized, as I looked up, that he was right. The edge of the trail was right above me.
As we eased over the edge of Sanzapar Slope, I whispered a thank-you to Gaia that we were back on flat land. I crawled over to a tree, sitting in the snow, not caring whether my butt was getting wet or I was cold. Letting out a long breath, I tried to muster the energy to stand.
Tam hauled me to my feet. “We should keep going. Only about half an hour now and we’ll be there.”
“You promise?” I didn’t care if he was lying. I just wanted to hear the words.
“I promise.” He took my hand and we started off again, this time thankfully on level ground.
But Tam was good to his word. By the time the sun was gone and snow had started to fall again, we stood on the slopes above a valley. Nestled at the bottom was a village, cloaked in white. The smell of wood smoke trailed up, tendrils beckoning us to follow.
“There it is,” Elan said softly. “Eleveanor.”
The Frostlings paused. “We take our leave here. We will stand watch till you safely enter the village,” Naia said.
“Are you sure you won’t come with us?” They had done so much for us and we hadn’t given them anything in return. I wanted to offer them something in the way of payback for their kindness.
But they just shook their heads and Derra motioned to the slope. “Hurry now. The wild animals come out
in the dark. And there are predators here that are far more dangerous than beasts of the woodland. They will not hurt us, but we cannot guarantee your safety should they choose to attack.”
“She’s right,” Laren said. “We’ll be off. Many thanks for your help. Call on us if you ever need any favors and we will gladly come to your aid.”
The Frostlings silently nodded, and without another word, Elan set off. We followed, slip-sliding our way down the mountain to the beckoning lights below.
Chapter 4
As we half walked, half slid down the hill into the clearing, the forest encircling the valley thinned, leaving us open to the snow that fell in huge, lacy flakes.
The village of Eleveanor was one of the most beautiful hamlets I’d ever encountered. Not that I had traveled widely, or seen many other towns. In fact, I had only ever been an hour or so away from Seattle, but the village looked exactly as I pictured a mountain hamlet would—covered in snow, cheerful lights filtering out through the windows, the scent of smoke spiraling into the air.
The houses in the village all seemed to be two story or under. Lamplights lined the walkways, candles encased within the steel lanterns affixed to the posts. The posts themselves were old, remnants of some ancient city that had been salvaged, with ivy trailing around their bases. I eyed it suspiciously. Wandering Ivy was dangerous, and it was difficult to tell the difference between it and its more benign cousins.
We couldn’t be more than thirty miles from Seattle, at least as far as the crow flew. We had definitely journeyed far longer than that, but it had been a circuitous route. Yet the hamlet felt a world away from the city. In fact, for the first time, I found myself thinking how precarious Seattle was. All the world’s bigger cities, actually—given the whims of Gaia and the vigor with which the wilds had rebounded after the World Shift.
Fury Awakened (Fury Unbound Book 3) Page 5