Autumn Thorns

by Yasmine Galenorn

  Death Cab for Cutie: “I Will Possess Your Heart”

  Dizzi: “Dizzi Jig,” “Dance of the Unicorns”

  Donovan: “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” “Season of the Witch”

  Eastern Sun: “Beautiful Being (Original Edit)”

  Eels: “Souljacker, Part I”

  Fatboy Slim: “Praise You”

  Faun: “Tanz mit mir,” “The Market Song,” “Hymn to Pan”

  The Feeling: “Sewn”

  Flight of the Hawk: “Bones”

  Garbage: “#1 Crush,” “Queer,” “Only Happy When It Rains,” “Push It,” “Not Your Kind of People,” “Bleed Like Me,” “I Think I’m Paranoid”

  Gary Numan: “Dead Heaven,” “Splinter,” “Here in the Black,” “When the Sky Bleeds,” “He Will Come,” “Petals,” “The Angel Wars,” “Down in the Park”

  Godsmack: “Voodoo”

  Gotye: “Somebody That I Used to Know”

  Heathen Kings: “Rambling Sailor,” “Rolling of the Stones”

  Huldrelokkk: “Trolldans”

  In Strict Confidence: “Silver Bullets,” “Snow White,” “Tiefer”

  Jessica Bates: “The Hanging Tree”

  Lady Gaga: “Teeth,” “I Like It Rough”

  Ladytron: “Black Cat,” “I’m Not Scared,” “Ghosts”

  Lenny Kravitz: “American Woman”

  Lord of the Lost: “Sex on Legs”

  Loreena McKennitt: “All Souls Night,” “The Mummer’s Dance,” “The Mystic’s Dream”

  Low: “Half-Light”

  Mark Lanegan: “Phantasmagoria Blues,” “Gray Goes Black,” “Wedding Dress,” “Riot in My House,” “The Gravedigger’s Song,” “Methamphetamine Blues”

  Matt Corby: “Breathe”

  M.I.A.: “Bad Girls”

  Morcheeba: “Even Though (Acoustic)”

  Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: “Red Right Hand”

  Nirvana: “Plateau,” “Lake of Fire,” “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” “Heart-Shaped Box”

  Opeth: “Death Whispered a Lullaby,” “Hope Leaves,” “To Rid the Disease”

  The Pierces: “Secret”

  P. J. Harvey: “In the Dark Places,” “The Words That Maketh Murder,” “Good Fortune,” “The Colour of the Earth,” “Let England Shake,” “Bitter Branches”

  Rachel Diggs: “Hands of Time”

  The Screaming Trees: “Where the Twain Shall Meet,” “All I Know,” “Dime Western”

  Sweet Talk Radio: “We All Fall Down”

  Syntax: “Pride”

  Tamaryn: “While You’re Sleeping,” “I’m Dreaming”

  Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”

  The Verve: “Bittersweet Symphony”

  Voltaire: “Brains!”

  Voxhaul Broadcast: “You Are the Wilderness”

  Warchild: “Ash”

  Zero 7: “In the Waiting Line”

  Turn the page for a preview of the next novel in Yasmine Galenorn’s New York Times bestselling Otherworld series

  DARKNESS RAGING

  Coming soon from Berkley Books

  Any calls so far?” Nerissa hustled through the kitchen door over to where Camille, Delilah, and I were sitting around the table. We were all staring at our phones, waiting for the call we knew would come.

  Dropping into the chair next to me, she used the towel hanging around her neck to wipe the sweat off her brow. She had just come from her workout with Jason Binds, a mechanic-cum–marital arts instructor. He was attempting to turn her into a lean, mean shredding machine. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, her workout top was soaked through with perspiration, and her tawny mane was pulled back in a tight ponytail, although a few wisps of hair had escaped to straggle out. But to me, my wife was the most beautiful sight in the world.

  “No, but it’s only a matter of time. We haven’t had a quiet night in several weeks.” I set down my bottle of blood, delicately wiped my lips on a napkin, and reached for her hand.

  Camille and Delilah had been awake since around five P.M. I, of course, rose at sunset, which was running closer to eight thirty, given the time of year. I preferred autumn and winter, when the nights were longer and I could rise earlier and stay up longer.

  My sisters had switched over to my nocturnal schedule, because so far, all of the attacks had come during the night. Everything had snowballed so quickly that we escalated from simply responding to going on the offensive. So now, at the first sign of dusk, the guys headed out on the hunt, looking for any signs of trouble as they scoured the city. My sisters and I waited at home for their call. If they found a problem before someone reported a skirmish to the Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigation Unit, they called us and we headed out to help put out the fire. If the FH-CSI got the call, they transferred it over to us. Either way, we were first on the line. So far, we had managed to keep this whole mess under wraps, but we were barely holding on. All it would take was one misstep, or overlooked incursion, and everything would blow sky high. Once news of what had been going on hit the papers, the ensuing panic would take over from there.

  Camille and Delilah were poring over a map spread out on the table, trying to figure out if there was a pattern to the attacks. Never mind that we’d already gone over it a dozen times—the activity kept them busy, and right now, busy was good, because waiting around like this was getting on all of our nerves.

  “I need to shower and change.” Nerissa pushed back her chair and stood.

  “Hurry up and I’ll have your dinner waiting.” Iris set a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches on the table in front of Camille and Delilah. She handed them mugs of hot tomato soup. “I’m not cooking anything extravagant because it takes too long and I want to make certain you all get food into you.”

  Nerissa nodded. “I won’t be long. I’m just sweaty from working out and I want to take advantage of the lull tonight.”

  I glanced up at her. “So, how did it go at Jason’s?”

  “Good. He says that I’m learning extremely fast. I’d better get moving. We really don’t have the luxury of just hanging out anymore, I guess.” Sounding sad, she leaned down to meet my lips.

  The proximity to her body and her hot breath on my cheek made me ache. I wanted nothing more than to go into the living room with her, to cuddle with her and Maggie, watch the Demon Twins play video games, and listen to Iris and Hanna argue over who made the best pie. Basically, I wanted to just go about my daily routine and forget that all of this was happening. But reality was biting us on the ass, hard and fast and with sharp teeth. As Chase was fond of saying, “If wishes were pennies, we’d all be rich.”

  “Don’t be too long. We haven’t had a call yet tonight, and you know it’s going to come.”

  As she headed toward the bath near the laundry room, a high-pitched note sounded from a ring of crystals sitting on an end table in the kitchen. She stopped as Camille ran over to the wards. Delilah and I immediately shifted into prep-for-battle mode. Nobody had broken through to our land lately, but with everything going on, we didn’t dare ignore the rogue portal out in the backyard. Even though it had been tuned to the realm of the Elder Fae, the fact that it was a portal still made our home a dangerous target. And not five miles away was Grandmother Coyote’s portal to Otherworld. Though, I thought with a silent grin, I would hate to see what she would do to anybody who tried to mess with her.

  Camille ran her hands over the crystals, which had calmed down. “Nothing to worry about. I think it’s just some ghost or something passing through. But, Delilah, can you run and ask the guards to make a sweep around the land? Just to be on the safe side.”

  “On it.” Kitten was up and out the door before Camille could say another word.

  “Okay, I’m getting my shower in.” Nerissa planted another
kiss on my lips. I lingered in her embrace, wanting to stay there forever. I loved her more than I thought I ever could love anybody.

  I slapped her on the ass. “Get moving, wife.”

  As she darted into the bathroom, I thought about how close I had come to losing her. Only a few months back, we were having serious problems. But I had finally quit being so pigheaded and listened to my sisters. Especially after Vanzir dragged me off to one side to inform me of what an ass I had become.

  I finally started talking to Nerissa instead of talking over her. But mostly, I started listening to her worries and complaints, and taking them seriously. Turns out, shutting up and paying attention? Actually works. Now, though we weren’t perfect and never would be, it felt like we were finally on the same page. And honest and clear was a whole lot better than the illusion of perfection.

  As the shower started up, I went back to my book, my thoughts still lingering over the dangers. We’d done our best to mitigate the hazards. Hanna and Maggie were sleeping in my lair during the night because we never knew when we’d be called out, and we didn’t want them in any sort of danger.

  Because of their proximity to the rogue portal out back, Iris’s husband Bruce had taken the babies—including Chase’s daughter Astrid—and moved into Nerissa’s old condo. His mother had come to help out, along with a nanny and a guard. We needed Iris here with us at this point, so she spent her days with her family and her nights with us. And Tanne Baum, the woodland Fae from the Black Forest, was on twenty-four-hour call, only a speed-dial away.

  The doorbell rang. I answered it, surprised to see Chase there, a tray of drinks in his hand.

  “I stopped at Starbucks before I came over. I thought it might make a nice buffer for what I have to say.” He forced a pale smile, looking as stretched thin as we all felt.

  “Uh oh, that sounds bad.” I took the tray from him and led him into the kitchen.

  Camille and Delilah pushed away the maps as I passed out the drinks. The grande chai latte went to Delilah. Camille got the iced venti quad-shot mocha. And Chase, the venti black coffee with cream. I went back to my bottle of chocolate-flavored blood, grateful Morio still had the time to flavor it for me.

  Chase settled down at the table beside me, but before the detective could say a word, Camille’s phone rang. She stared at it, a dark wave steeling her gaze, then answered.

  “Yes? . . . How many? . . . We’re on the way. Text us the directions.” She punched the OFF button and stood, pulling the top off her mocha to gulp down as much as she could. “We have to book. That was Morio. A raiding party’s coming through a rogue portal in Vanderson Park. At least a dozen goblins and twice that many bone-walkers. There may be more—they just started pushing through the portal when Morio called me. He and Vanzir will hold them off as best as they can till everybody gets there.”

  “We’ll have to talk later, Chase. Wait here for us? When Nerissa gets out of the shower, tell her where we went, if you would.” I grabbed my keys, then jammed my wallet in the pocket of my jeans.

  He nodded. “I’ll call the Supe militia and put them on standby. One word from you and they’ll be on the way.” He pulled out his phone. “Text me directions the minute you get them. I’ll have Frank and the boys ready to roll if need be.”

  Without another word, we grabbed our jackets and headed into the cool, clear evening. I glanced up at the stars that hung over us like an icy canopy, wondering how long we could keep this up. But we couldn’t falter. If we did, Telazhar would win, and Earthside would turn into a vast battleground.

  * * *

  Vanderson Park was about fifteen minutes out from our house in the Belles-Faire district of Seattle. Thank the gods, traffic was scarce, so we made good time. I reached the parking lot first, but Camille and Delilah were close on my heels and they swerved into the parking lot behind me. As we slipped out of our cars, we could hear shouts coming from beyond a nearby copse of trees.

  “Fuck, let’s hope that there aren’t any joggers out here braving the chill for a late-night run. And speaking of weather, the calendar says it’s May, but it feels like March tonight. Where are the temps in the seventies that the weather guys promised us?” Camille shoved her dagger in the sheath strapped to her thigh, over the leg of her cat suit. She started jogging toward the shouts.

  “News report said the warm front is stalled off the coast, but should move in by tomorrow afternoon.” Delilah joined her.

  I caught up to them. We followed the curve of the sidewalk, twisting around the bend to see Morio and Vanzir in the middle of a copse of maple trees, caught in mid-battle.

  A host of bone-walkers swarmed around them, magically animated skeletons that were dangerous and hard to kill. Hack them to pieces and the bones would still skitter until the spell wore itself out. Goblins hung back, shouting encouragement to the bone-walkers. The freaks were using the skeletons as cannon fodder to take the brunt of the damage. Just then, a shout from the other direction told us Shade and Trillian had arrived. Smoky and Rozurial would be on the way.

  “We have to keep the goblins from getting out of the park.” I moved toward a pair of the ugly brutes as Camille headed toward Morio. They could do more damage working together with their death magic. Delilah unsheathed Lysanthra—her sentient dagger. The blade hummed with a shrill growl of hunger as it smelled goblin blood.

  I sped to a run, then launched myself into the fight, landing square in front of two of the goblins. Their eyes lit up until I smiled, my fangs descending. A sudden lack of enthusiasm flashed over their faces, and I smiled, satisfied.

  “The oh-shit-it’s-a-vampire look works for you, boys.” I darted in, ignoring their blades. Unless they clipped me in the heart, they couldn’t do anything to me that couldn’t be repaired.

  One of them managed to dance out of my way, but the other was within easy reach. I barreled into him, knocking him down and landing on his chest. Throwing my head back, I bared my fangs and lunged at his throat, savagely tearing into the flesh. As his neck ripped, muscle severing from muscle, veins ripping, the blood stained my lips, sending me into a frenzy. I’d been doing a lot of this lately, and each time, it seemed to get easier. I caught a mouthful of the fountaining liquid, hot and coppery and fresh on my tongue. Ignoring the aftertaste—goblin blood was not the best—I pushed away the desire to stay and drink deep. I rolled to the side and came to my feet. The goblin gurgled one last burbling noise and collapsed.

  His buddy took one glance at his dead comrade and raised his sword. I recognized the look in his eye. Vengeance mixed with a little too much stupidity for his own good. He tossed the sword from hand to hand, showing off.

  “Oh, sugar, you really don’t want to waste your last minutes trying to impress me.” I sauntered toward him. “I’ve taken down creatures far bigger and badder than you. And maybe you should remember what just happened to your buddy. After all, a vampire’s gotta do what a vampire’s gotta do.”

  I bent my knees slightly and launched myself into the air, flipping over his head to land in back of him, very Bruce Lee style. As he let out a surprised grunt and struggled to turn around, I slammed against his back, knocking him forward onto his own sword. He shouted “Oh crap!” in Calouk—the common tongue of Otherworld, but I cut him off as I grabbed his head and wrenched his neck to the side, the resounding crack putting a stop to anything else he might have to say.

  On my feet again, I turned, staring at the host of creatures surrounding us.

  Camille and Morio had joined hands and taken down a circle of bone-walkers with their death magic. The purple lightning from the circle of power surrounding them crackled, destroying every skeleton it touched as they walked forward, driving the magic in front of them. Delilah was slashing her way through the goblins, her blade singing every time it bit deep into the flesh of one of the creatures.

  A glance toward the parking lot announced the arrival of S
moky and Roz. They asked no questions, just joined Shade and Trillian, who were knee-deep in battle, driving their swords through the chaos that spilled out from the portal.

  Vanzir was watching the vortex, attacking as more goblins poured through the opening. He couldn’t stop them from coming, but he was making a dent in the incoming tide. At least only a handful of goblins could come through at a time. We were lucky in that regard.

  The energy vortex spread between two of the tallest trees like a brilliant spiderweb, overshadowing the brilliant green of early summer leaves. It fluctuated enough to tell me it was a rogue portal—not one that had been opened and stabilized when Otherworld decided to reconnect with Earthside. That alone was cause for concern.

  I grabbed my phone and put in a conference call to Iris and to Tanne Baum. The woodland Fae from the Black Forest had been working hand in hand with us over the past few weeks. In December, we had discovered that—working in tandem—Iris and Tanne could shut down rogue portals.

  “We’ve got another one.” I gave them directions. Tanne said he would swing by, pick up Iris, and they’d be here in fifteen minutes.

  As I returned to the sight of the battle, the others were just finishing up the last of the bone-walkers. The goblins were all dead. And Smoky had taken Vanzir’s place, guarding against anything else that might take a notion to emerge from the portal.

  “Iris and Tanne are on the way.” I stared at the blood saturating the ground, and the field of broken bones. “Anybody call the FH-CSI to send out a cleanup crew?”

  “I did.” Delilah shook her head. “How many this time?” She pulled out a notebook and pen.

  “Twenty-four goblins and forty-two bone-walkers. The raiding parties are getting bigger.” Camille shed a dark look at the portal. “Either Telazhar has managed to figure out how to find rogue portals or he’s creating new ones. I have no idea how he might be able to do that, but we have to take him out. Eventually he’s going to figure out how to rip open the portals from the Sub-Realms and then we’re going to have demons coming through instead of goblins.”