Trampled shopping bags were scattered all over the yard, and I scanned the area, trying to locate everyone. I finally spotted Nerissa, in her werepuma form, and Delilah, who was still in panther form. They’d treed something, and both big cats were standing up against the trunk staring at whatever it was they’d managed to trap in the branches.
Menolly was up on top of the roof. She was after—what the hell? It looked like some sort of gremlin. She was climbing along the shingles, but the creature scampered over the tiles as if it were running on flat ground.
Rozurial was nowhere in sight, and Iris and Chase had taken off for Iris’s house. Vanzir was struggling with a figure beneath a cedar. They were rolling around on the ground, locked in a wrestling match, and I heard Vanzir utter a string of curses. Shade was chasing another glimmer around toward the backyard.
Motherfucking son of a bitch, what the hell was going on?
Just then, one of the Fae guards who patrolled our land ran over to my side, panting. “Camille—we’re overrun. Four of the men are out back fighting a group of barbegazi. And two of the men are chasing a couple of ice wolves.”
“Barbegazi? Ice wolves? What the hell are they?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but then again, there was a lot I’d learned the hard way that I wished I didn’t have to know about.
“Barbegazi are creatures from the Northlands—very much like dwarves only smaller and, in a way, hardier. Usually they’re kindly natured but this batch appears to be a particularly surly lot. As for the ice wolves—they are also known as amaroks, at least to one Earthside tribal group. They’re wolf demons, dangerous and hungry for human flesh.” The guard glanced around, shaking his head. “I don’t know what happened, or where all of these creatures came from. The wards suddenly went off and we were swarming with them.”
“The rogue portal out back? Could they have come through there?” I motioned toward the porch steps, which were surprisingly clear. “I need to get dressed and get back out here.”
He followed me up the stairs. “No, the portal hasn’t been active at all. I—”
As we entered the house, he fell silent. First of all, the foyer was filled with snow. White, cold, sticky, wet snow. And it was snowing up a storm. Inside the house. Second, a loud humming emanated from the living room.
“Well . . . this is new.” I stared at snow on the floor, all twelve to fourteen inches of it. My feet were beginning to freeze.
“Wait here, Lady Camille.” The guard plowed his way into the living room, then within moments returned. “There’s a portal in your living room. The snow’s coming through there. Ten to one, that’s where all of these creatures came from, too.”
A portal? In the living room?
“Okay, then, well. I don’t know what to say to that. But come with me. I need to change and I don’t know what else might be rampaging through the house. I’d rather not be surprised while I’m getting dressed.” I darted through the snow, wincing as the sting of the frozen water hit my feet. The guard—whose name was Dez—followed me, sword out and ready.
The living room was, indeed, filled with snow, and it was beginning to drift up the walls, and out into the foyer and the parlor. The room was also decked out in the most garish holiday décor I had ever seen. In one corner stood a ten-foot-tall tree, blazing with neon flashing blue and green lights that made my eyes hurt. The lights ran the length of the room, following the ceiling around to form a terrifyingly bright border. Huge acrylic ornaments bedecked the tree, catching and reflecting the lights like crazed prisms.
“What the fuck . . . it looks like Crack Santa and his methed-out elves descended on our living room.”
“I don’t know, Lady Camille—I thought perhaps you decorated before you left for your shopping trip.”
“Oh, hell no. This mess? I have better taste than that. And you know Iris . . . yeah . . .”
The thought of Iris allowing such a gaudy show in our living room almost made me laugh. Thoroughly confused, I turned to the portal, which was shimmering in the opposite corner near the window. It was swirling with icy blue sparkles. I had no clue to where it led, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to dive through to find out.
“Okay, upstairs, to my rooms.”
As we headed up to the second story, the chill followed. It was still snowing when we reached my suite of rooms, and by the time we reached my bedroom, I could see my breath and my toes were numb.
Dez made a quick survey around the room and ascertained that nothing was amok—or at least, nothing was running amok.
I stripped down as he kept watch. The Fae—including half-Fae like myself—generally weren’t modest or embarrassed by nudity, and he stood by the door, guarding me, without so much as blinking an eye.
Slipping into my ready-to-rumble cat suit, which I wore when I knew we had a fight on our hands, I zipped it up and slid on a pair of kitten-heel granny boots. Then, slinging a belt around my hips, I fastened on the sheath containing my silver dagger.
After dressing, I made certain my unicorn horn was still safely hidden away in the secret compartment in my closet. For what we seemed to be facing, I didn’t think we’d need to use it. I wasn’t about to deplete its power this far from the new moon unless it was absolutely necessary.
Once I was finished, I slipped a capelet over my shoulders for extra warmth and quickly mopped the streaked makeup off my face. My eyeliner and mascara had survived—they were waterproof—but everything else was a lost cause. Less than ten minutes after we hit my bedroom, I was finished and ready to rock.
“Okay, back down to the first floor.”
But as we reached the landing, I paused. Someone was coming up the steps. I pulled out my dagger as Dez held his sword at the ready.
As the sound of footsteps rounded the turn, I held my breath, but then let it out in one big exhale as I saw it was Smoky, looking grim.
“Maggie’s all right,” he said before I could ask. “I left her hidden down in Menolly’s lair with Hanna to watch her. But that portal in the living room? I know where it goes. I hopped through to find out what the hell was going on.”
“Where does it lead? And can you close it?” We followed him as he turned, heading back down the stairs.
Smoky shook his head, glancing over his shoulder. “No, I can’t close it. The gate was opened by powerful magic, and I can’t do anything about it. But as I said, I crossed over to see where it led. I’m not sure who the hell did this, but the portal? It leads into the Northlands, as far as I can tell.”
My heart began to beat faster. The Northlands could be reached via Otherworld, and through perilous routes up in the higher reaches over here, Earthside. I had a lot of bad associations with the lands at the top of the world. And there were a lot of harsh, volatile creatures who made their homes there, including dragons like Smoky’s father, who had imprisoned and tortured me.
“So the question is, who opened this portal, and why?”
“Right now, I think the more important question is: Just what all has come through so far? And what else can we expect before we manage to close it down?” Smoky’s grim smile deepened. “Let’s get back outside, woman. We need to do something to stop that yeti from trampling the yard.”
I turned to the guard. “Dez, stay here, please, and guard the portal. Don’t put your life in danger, but if something else comes through, try to stop it if you can. And if you can’t, get the hell outside so we know what we’re facing next.”
With that, Smoky and I headed back outside, into the fray.
New York Times best-selling author Yasmine Galenorn writes urban fantasy, mystery, and metaphysical nonfiction, including the New York Times best-selling Otherworld series. A graduate of Evergreen State College, she majored in theater and creative writing. Yasmine has been in the Craft for more than thirty years and is a shamanic witch. She describes her life as a blend of teacups an
d tattoos, and lives in the Seattle area with her husband, Samwise, and their cats.
Flight from Hell Page 13