Hecate was adjusting the drapes to let in the early morning light. The temple was long and narrow so that the gods could have windows to let in the natural light, given that the only other choice was lamplight or magical charms.
“Fury, how are you?” She turned, and I noted that she was wearing her long indigo-colored dress. Sometimes the Elder Gods dressed like we did, but now they seemed to have returned to a different time for their clothing and they no longer assimilated into our culture quite so thoroughly. I privately thought that was a good thing. People didn’t take them for granted now.
“I’m fine. I’m heading to Seattle with a raiding party. We’re taking guards so it should be safe enough.” I slid into a chair opposite her desk. “Is there anything you want me to look for, for you? To bring back?”
She thought for a moment. “We could always use training jackets and clothes for the new recruits that are coming in. We actually have fifteen signed up—three of them from Verdanya. So our first class will be a busy one. Oh—and mats. If there’s any way you can bring back training mats so nobody breaks their skull, it would be a good thing.”
“I think Thor is coming along with Hans and Greta, so maybe he can fit them in his chariot. Anything else?”
She furrowed her brow, then shook her head. “I’m actually happy with the way things are.” As she took a seat behind her desk, she laughed. “I never thought I’d say that, not six months ago, but honestly, Lyon may have done this world a big favor. Though the cost was great, and too many lives were lost.”
“It’s an adjustment, all right, but I think I’m finally starting to find the rhythm.”
She caught my eye. “Do you think, given what you know now, that you would have changed your mind when I offered you the chance for a different life?”
I thought over her question carefully. Even though my first inclination was a resounding “No,” I wanted to know in my heart that I meant it. I didn’t expect a do-over, but I just wanted to hear the truth of what my heart was telling me.
Would I have changed? We had had a rough six months, and lost Jason. I lost Shevron when Jason vanished. Leonard wasn’t talking to me much, either. But we had stopped the Order of the Black Mist. We had closed the portal to the realm of Chaos. We were building a village where people relied on and trusted each other. I was learning what I would need to know to be a queen. And I was about to start teaching others how to destroy the Abominations that still infiltrated the world. And all of those things mattered more than any loss I could imagine.
“No, I’d make the same choice again.” I smiled. “I’m a minor goddess, and so often, I forget that. But it comes with responsibility. It comes with a price. And it comes with rewards. I’d never choose a life in which I wouldn’t make the difference in the world that I already have, and that I expect to continue making.”
“Good. I’m glad. I want you to be happy, Fury. I take my responsibility for my Theosians seriously, and who knows how many of those will come along from now on, with the destruction of so many cities? The Sandspit is still there, and the patches of rogue magic elsewhere, but the population dynamic has shifted, and I have a feeling there will be far fewer Theosians born than there were the past few hundred years.”
“I’m part of a dying breed, you mean?”
“You were always part of a rare breed, Fury. Remember that. Now, you’d better go so you can leave before noontide hits. The nights are coming quicker, and autumn is marching steadily toward us.” Hecate stood, crossing to her window, which overlooked a lovely patch of freshly tilled ground. The kitchen garden was one of hundreds that had been planted.
Lettuce and carrots were growing, and cucumbers, and other foods that were quick to harvest. In other patches near Willow Wood the potatoes and turnips and squashes were fat and ripening on the vine, and scouts were looking for fruit to harvest, and young fruit trees to transplant.
“I’ll see you when I get back. I’ll try to bring the mats and clothes.” As I left, I wondered again at how things had changed. Hecate seemed more like an old friend rather than the goddess who held my yoke now. And that was priceless.
THE RAIDING PARTY traveled in Thor’s chariot to the north side of Wild Wave Inlet, and from there, Laren met us with his boat and ferried us across the water to Old Seattle. I hadn’t been in this area since before the zombies invaded.
As we scrambled off the boat, I caught my breath. North Shore—the richest area in Seattle a year ago—was now a wasteland of rubble and ruin. The vast skyscrapers had mostly toppled into dust and debris. The roads were broken, though we could still follow the general trail that had been a major highway. Foliage had begun to creep in again, and Wandering Ivy was growing rampant over the blocks of stone that littered the landscape. Everywhere, there was a feeling of watchfulness, and I couldn’t get away from the sensation that we were being observed as we began to make our way south, into the heart of what had been North Shore and Uptown.
Our raiding party was fifteen strong—starting with Hans, Greta, Kendall, me, and Tipton and Journey—two of Willow Wood’s best trackers and scouts. Nine guards chosen for not only their skill with the sword and bow, but their strength and ability to haul the goods for which we were searching. Since the roads were a mess of cracks and stones, there was no way we could commandeer a car, so Thor’s chariot would ferry our loot back to the boat, where Laren and his crew waited to stow away the goods.
The smell of Seattle now was fetid and sickly, a toxic combination of mold and maggots. One hundred thousand dead had been trapped in the city, and while some of the bodies had already decomposed, others were still in the process. Everywhere we looked there seemed to be a living, thriving ecosystem of bugs and vermin. I thought about plague and disease, and decided that this would be the last time I’d return until the bones of the dead were bleached and nature had cleansed the city streets.
We headed out, picking through the rubble, looking for shops and buildings that had survived the flood and the quakes and everything else that had beset the city. Row after row of buildings had managed to stay intact, mostly the ones that were single or double story, but whether we would find anything of use in them was hard to tell. All had been swamped by the tsunami and chances were, whatever treasures they held were unusable. But there were some on the higher hills that had gone untouched, and we struggled up one of the steep slopes, fighting off the smells and the heat as we went.
Thor finally took mercy on us. “Come, get in the chariot. I’ll take you up to the top of the street. Honestly, humans and Fae and…” He shook his head, but a twinkle in his eye told me he was enjoying himself.
We arrived at the top of the street to find several shops that hadn’t been touched by either the waters or looters. As we headed toward what had been a drugstore and, next to it, a general department store, a noise sounded from between the buildings.
I slapped my thigh, bringing my whip to bear, and put enough distance between me and the group so I could use it. The guards immediately armed themselves, as did Greta, Hans, and Kendall. Thor hoisted his hammer. Mjölnir let out a loud zing as he swept it overhead.
Four zombies stumbled out from between the buildings. They were so ripe they were gooey, and I grimaced, not wanting to get close to them. Thor sent Mjölnir singing through the air and it struck all four, and they all went down, flat as pancakes before the hammer flew back to the thunder god. The guards dove in, hacking away until there was nothing but slime and tissue left on the sidewalk. I cringed, but slowly put away my whip, realizing that this wasn’t my battle. In fact, unless an Abom came along, I probably wasn’t going to end up in a fight any time soon. Feeling both oddly useless, and yet relieved, I turned toward the drugstore.
“Wait, milady. Let us make certain that everything is safe.” The guards pushed in and again, I moved to the side.
I turned to Hans. “I feel…”
“Like royalty?” Hans laughed. “The look on your face, Fury
—it’s almost like a puppy dog that lost its chew toy.”
I rolled my eyes. “And I’m going to whimper about it. Speaking of dogs, how’s Geekly doing?”
“Geekly is quite happy and healthy, thank you. He loves being out in the woods, and he’s turning into quite a happy hunting dog.” Hans winked. “Thank you, by the way, for letting me take him. I’ve never thought much about Geemo dogs, but they’re handy.”
Geekly was a Geemo dog—genetically modified—that had belonged to my neighbor. We found him hanging out with her corpse when we fled Seattle, and Hans had taken him on. They had rapidly become inseparable.
“I wish we could have found her cat.” Fursia had been nowhere in sight when we picked up Geekly, so we had emptied the bag of cat food on the counter so she could get to it.
“You want a cat?” Greta said. “How about this one?” She had been poking around in the bushes near the drugstore and now turned around with an armful of kittens.
I groaned, staring at the armful of gray and white striped babies. “Is the mama there?”
“I don’t see her. But the kittens are crying for dear life.” She buried her face in their fur. “I want to take them home.”
Thor snorted and sorted through his chariot, popping back out with a large basket that had a lid. He poked a few holes in the lid and then opened it. “Into the basket. Then you sit by the chariot and keep an eye on it until we’re ready to head back to the boat.”
Greta laughed and deposited all ten kittens into the basket, carrying it over to the chariot. At that moment, a very loud and obviously lactating mama kitty came racing over, frantic. Greta snatched her up and slipped her into the basket with her babies. “We need cats around the village to stop any rodents from getting into the foodstuffs.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “All right, but I get my pick of the litter.”
We—sans Greta—entered the drugstore and began to search through the shelves. The guards had determined there were no zombies or bandits inside so we went hog wild, pulling a huge haul of bandages and medications and supplements. Most wouldn’t expire for a year or two and we had enough people in the village that they’d be used up by then. We stuffed sack after sack of goods into the chariot. Again I marveled at how it never seemed to fully fill up. I knew there was a finite amount of space in there, but it was deceptively massive.
After the drugstore, we hit the department store. I found athletic wear and confiscated a variety of styles and sizes for the training center. We also raided the housewares section for pots and pans and anything we could find that would help out in the village. There was a lot of tinned and jarred food that was still edible, and that went along with everything else.
“You need cows,” Thor said.
I happened to be standing next to him and I jerked around, staring out him. “What? Why do I need a cow?”
“I mean the village. You need livestock. Cows and pigs, goats and chickens. We can take care of that, as well, though not today.” He rubbed his chin through his beard, a gleam in his eye. “Come now, get a move on. We don’t want to be trapped in the city when it’s dark. The ghosts are thick here, and I doubt if you want to be fighting them.”
“Speaking of which.” I pulled up my Trace. No Aboms nearby, thank goodness. But Queet suddenly wafted around me.
He’s right, Fury. The city is laden with ghosts. So many died here and they’re trapped. I’m not sure what Lyon did, but most of the dead haven’t left and I’m not talking zombies. You don’t want to be here after dark, when they come out to play.
That gave me the shudders. I called for the guards to hustle, and we swept through the store. I found several exercise mats and Thor made room for them, taking everything back to the boat and returning for one more load. We finally had wiped out a lot of the shelves and were standing outside, staring at the rubble by then. I walked to the corner, staring down the street. It was broken and cracked from the quakes that had hammered the city, and Wandering Ivy and nettles and brambles were growing through the cracks to uproot more of the pavement. In another year, we wouldn’t be able to see the road through the tangle of undergrowth.
“It’s gone, isn’t it?” I breathed a soft sigh. “It’s well and truly gone.”
Greta joined me. “Yes, the city is decaying. It died, and now the flesh falls from its bones as sure as flesh falls from a corpse. Soon, only the skeleton will remain to remind the future that we once lived here.”
I thought about the remnants of the past we had encountered in the woods. Rubble and twisted metal from the past. Time was on a perpetual cycle, it seemed, with history returning again and again on itself.
“I wonder what will happen to the Tremble. Will it grow? Will the walls that kept it walled off come down? And Kython and his nest of vampires, what about them? Will they shed their civilized manners and spread out as the predators they really are? What will this all become in a year—five years?”
“I guess we’ll just have to wait to find out. Willow Wood is growing, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be returning here from time to time, looking for materials to build with, if nothing else.” Greta’s wings fluttered. “There are ghosts on the wind. Thor is right. They’re here even now, thousands who perished.” She paused, then shuddered. “I think Lyon somehow managed to bind them to the city. This is truly a ghost town, Fury—waiting to pounce. And they’re hungry. The spirits want to feed. We should leave before they grow too restless. The living are no longer welcome here. I doubt if there are many who could survive long in this area.”
The look on her face was enough to make me turn tail. We returned to Thor’s chariot and I was about to step in when the ground reeled beneath my feet.
“Quake!” I went down on my hands and knees, holding on as the road buckled beneath us. The rolling felt like it would never stop, but then—abruptly—it did. The roof of the drugstore rumbled and then imploded, crashing in on itself.
“Thank gods we’re out of there,” I whispered as Vis held out his hand, helping me to my feet. “Is everybody all right?” But as I steadied myself, I heard Jason’s voice, echoing around me.
“Kae…Kae…can you hear me, Kae?”
“Jason?” I whirled, looking for him. “Jason, where are you?”
“What are you talking about, lass?” Thor said.
“I heard Jason, clear as day. I know it wasn’t my imagination. I heard him! I know it.” I quickly began to scan every direction, squinting as I tried to figure out where the voice had come from. “Jason? Where are you? Say something!”
Fury, stop. Queet was beside me, misting around me like a cloud of smoke. Jason’s not in the city. He’s trapped between worlds. He’s out on the Crossroads, running through the mist.
I had to help him! Frantic, I headed for the middle of the intersection nearest us. “Queet says Jason’s on the Crossroads. I need to head over there and see if I can find him.”
“We have to leave soon. We don’t want to be here after sundown,” Vis said. “The zombies come out then and so will the ghosts.”
“I don’t care. I’m not leaving without trying to save him.” I glared at the guard. “You just sit your ass down and wait for me.”
Thor coughed. “Hurry, then. The guard is right. This is a dangerous place for all of you when the sun sets, and we don’t have long.”
Queet, I need you to rush back to Hecate and tell her I’m looking for Jason on the Crossroads. Tell her that I’ll need a token for him in order to bring him out of there. I can’t bring him over myself—or maybe I can, but I’d rather be sure than to take chances.
I’m on it, but Fury…it’s dangerous, and he’s been in the realm of Chaos. You don’t know what you’re going to be facing.
Maybe so, but how can I live with myself if I don’t find out? And with that, I stepped into the middle of the intersection, clasped my hands above my head, and vanished onto the Crossroads.
I WAS BY the cauldron agai
n—that’s where my landing point was—and it took me a moment to register that a funeral procession was making its way through. Papa Legba was at the front—it seemed most of the funeral processions that came through here were under his guidance—and I slipped back away from the road as the train of mourners and attendants carried the coffin through. I wasn’t sure how all of these people made it to the Crossroads, but every one of the Elder Gods had Theosians with differing powers. Come to think of it, I wondered where the Elder Gods of Santeria, Voudou, Chinese, and Japanese pantheons were going to make their new homes. But right now, that wasn’t my concern.
I wanted them to pass so I could be free to start hunting for Jason. I could go running off now, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew full well I needed to try to contact him first. If I couldn’t, then there was another way I could make a deal to find him, but I was hesitant to try that. Hecate’s cauldron wasn’t exactly the safest route to take, even for one of her own.
Finally, the procession was gone and I was free to come out into the center of the juncture. The mist was rolling along. It was hard to see the plains that stretched down the roads to the left. The Y-juncture was a triple meeting place, and I had never been far from the center of the fork. I was hesitant about the road to the right because every time I had seen one of Papa Legba’s processions, it led in that direction.
I closed my eyes, listening to the eerie calm that descended around me. Finally, when the last strains of the jazzy march had faded, I called out in a loud voice, “Jason? Jason!”
My voice bounced through the air, reverberating off the trees and through the mist like a dizzying echo. As it faded, I listened.
Nothing.
“Jason? Where are you? I know you’re out here!”
Again, the echo and then, stillness. The Crossroads were eerie in their desolation. They were full of emptiness, connected to the Void in ways I didn’t understand. They were a hop and a skip from the center of the wheel around which our lives revolved. Even those who couldn’t land on the Crossroads in-body like I did had to face them at some point. Every person who ever lived had a moment when their energy took over and forced them to ask, “Should I do this—or should I do that?”
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