Autumn Thorns

by Yasmine Galenorn

  Delilah let out a long sigh. “That makes . . . ” She stopped to calculate for a moment. “Over two hundred goblins, three hundred bone-walkers, forty-five ogres, and two trolls since this started. A drop in the bucket compared to the thousands Telazhar commands, according to Trenyth. And do we even know if he’s opened up rogue portals to other countries over here? Are there goblins overrunning small towns in Norway or Russia, and we haven’t heard about it simply because they’re cut off? Camille’s right. We have to kill him.”

  Trillian stared somberly at the carnage. “Telazhar is bearing heavily on Ceredream. His armies are pounding at the gates. The City of the East is beleaguered, but luckily their gates haven’t fallen. Not yet. The best we can hope for right now is that his resources are tied up in fighting over in Otherworld.”

  “Maybe.” I stared at the bleak remains of the goblins, and the twitching parts of the bone-walkers. A hand skittered past me on the ground—finger bones clutching at the grass to pull itself along. Without thinking, I stomped on it, hard, crushing the bones. “Why do you think he only sends his recruits during the night?”

  “Perhaps he thinks maybe it’s the best way to get one up on us.” Shade wiped his blade on the grass. The half-dragon had adjusted to the lack of his Stradolan powers remarkably well, but then, none of us had been given much of a choice in how we reacted to changes in our lives. It had become adapt or die, and we were all feeling the strain of too much change, too much chaos, lately.

  Camille sucked in a deep breath. “I think it’s time for me to call on the dragons for help. They’ve pledged to work on our side during the war. We can set them after Telazhar, over in Otherworld. That might be enough to give us a respite.” Her expression was grave, sweeping across her face like a dark cloud. She had paid dearly for the promise of help from the Dragonkin. Their offer had been given as reparations for a wound that she would never be able to leave behind her.

  “I think you’re right, my wife. It’s time.” Smoky smiled faintly. “We need help in Otherworld, and so does every free country over there. We’ll talk to my people in the morning.”

  As Morio and Vanzir poked among the dead for any information that might help us, my sisters and I headed over to a nearby bench to wait. We were all covered with blood—except for Smoky, who was his usual pristine self. It occurred to me that Shade didn’t share the same trait. Maybe it was because he was only half-dragon. But the good news was, we had managed to avoid any damage to ourselves except for a few bruises here and there.

  “You really think it’s time for the dragons?” Delilah’s eyes were wide. She had lost her naivety over the past years, but she still could look the part of our little Kitten.

  “You’re marrying a half-dragon and I’m married to a prince of the realm. Don’t sound so surprised.” Camille laughed, breaking the tension. “It’s not like we don’t know any.”

  I chimed in. “Cut her some slack.” But I was smiling. “After all, we are talking about dragons, and anybody in their right mind knows better than to be blasé about Dragonkin.”

  Delilah wrinkled her nose. “I just mean . . . are we at that point? Has it really come to this?”

  “Yeah, I think we’re really all in.” Camille smiled grimly. “It came sooner than I expected, but right now, I’d say we’re beyond the point of no return. There will be no more demon generals . . . no more Mr. Nice Guy. Shadow Wing is on the move, and Telazhar is his angel of death, leading the brigade. I feel it in my bones.” She shivered, crossing her arms. Then, softly, she added, “Let’s face it—life is changing all around us. We can’t avoid the future.”

  “Destiny’s a bitch.” I let out a short grunt.

  Camille glanced over at us. “You know that Aeval wants me to move out to Talamh Lonrach Oll after my coronation on Samhain. Nothing will ever be the same after that. Unless you two come with me, this will be the first time in our lives we’ve lived apart.” Her eyes were misty and I could tell she was afraid. “I’m going to be a queen . . . and I’m not sure I know how.”

  Delilah hung her head. Her words came out in a whisper, but then she steeled herself and straightened her shoulders. “We were waiting to tell you guys, but Shade and I have decided that we want to get married now. We don’t want to wait any longer. I don’t want to wait any longer.”

  Camille forced a smile and kissed her on the cheek. “Yay, another wedding to plan! I love weddings.”

  I wrapped an arm around Delilah’s shoulder. “Whenever you want, love. Tell us and we’ll make it happen.” With a pause to stare at the darkening sky, I thought about everything that was happening. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, I said, “It’s time to call the dragons. Will you and Smoky go there tomorrow?”

  Camille stared up at the stars, then slowly nodded. “So it’s finally come to this.”

  I pursed my lips. “We’re at war. It’s sneaked in to land on our doorstep, and there’s no way to turn back the clock. It would be a good idea if we could establish whether Telazhar is filtering his recruits through other places. Delilah, can you ask the Supe Community Council to contact others around the world and find out if there’s been an increase in activity? And I’ll ask Roman to check through the Vampire Nation.”

  Camille let out a long sigh. “I can ask Aeval and Titania to send out feelers through the Earthside Fae. We’ll figure out just how wide the swath is that Telazhar is trying to cut.”

  And with that, we saw Chase’s cleanup crew heading over to the carnage. They would clear up any sign that anything had happened here. And behind them, Iris and Tanne Baum came striding up the sidewalk. Shelving further discussion, we wearily met the pair and led them to the portal.

  “We’re getting all too much practice at this.” Iris stared at the shimmering energy. “It’s so beautiful, and so deadly.”

  Tanne said nothing, simply waited for Iris to get set up. She cast a spell and a layer of ice began to form across the surface of the crackling vortex. As soon as it had frozen solid, Tanne began to sing, his voice resonating deeply through the air. He placed his hands on one side of the ice and Iris placed her hands on the other, joining him in song, weaving a contra-beat with her voice as they drove their magic through the portal, fracturing it from within its core.

  We knew enough to stand clear as cracks began to race through the ice that covered the opening. Iris and Tanne held their song steady. It undulated through the portal like an earthquake rippling through the ground. Nearby trees began to shake as a shrill hum filled the air. The cracks widened, light pouring between them. Iris dropped the beat, then found a single alto note and held it, her voice trilling with a rich wave of power. Tanne followed suit, and the vibrations of the notes blended together to force their way through the fractures. Another moment, and the vortex began to blink in and out of phase, rapidly rotating through a whirl of colors.

  Then, with one last groan, the frozen web of lightning shattered, the ice breaking into a shower of hailstones, destroying the magic as it did so. Fragments of ice pelted everything in the area, including us, the rock-hard pellets striking like sharp pebbles.

  Iris glanced at Tanne, a tight smile on her milkmaid-pretty face. Together, they had destroyed five new portals over the past two weeks, and each one was a strain. The magic required to rip apart a vortex that joined two worlds was immense, and it was taking a toll on both of them.

  “You okay?” She held out her hand to Tanne, who allowed her to lead him over to another bench. They both looked bone-weary.

  “Yeah, but this is getting old. I’ve got the clan looking out for more activity, by the way. We’ve taken out three groups of psy-demons lately. They are Earthside-based, but rare, so I figure something must be riling them up.” He paused. “Would you like to meet the Hunters Glen clan? I’d be happy to introduce you.” Demon hunters from the Black Forest, they were a group of Woodland Fae who had sent a select faction of their
members to establish a new colony over here in the United States.

  I glanced at Delilah and Camille, then nodded. “I think that would be good. We need as many allies as we can get. We’ll call you and set up a time. Meanwhile, we had better get back home and clean up before another call comes through. You want to come with us, Tanne?”

  He shook his head. “I’m all right. I’ll go hunting with the guys—they can always use another hand.”

  And so, after a brief discussion, we split up again, the men heading back out on reconnaissance, and the four of us women back to the house. As I sped through the silent night, my jeans covered with goblin blood, I wondered just how long we could hold out under this schedule.

  * * *

  Chase was still there when we got home. He had fixed a plate of sandwiches and a big potato salad, with Hanna’s help. As we trailed in, he began serving up plates for Camille, Delilah, and Iris. We were all weary. The continual fighting from the past couple of weeks felt like it was seeping into my bones. As Chase carried the tray into the living room, complete with another bottle of blood for me, he seemed even more sober than when we had left.

  “Nerissa went downstairs to sleep. She’s going to need it for tomorrow. A situation has cropped up and I’m afraid of the ramifications. Maybe we’ll luck out and nothing will come of it, but I’m not hedging any bets on that outcome.”

  “What’s going on?” Kitten settled onto the sofa with her plate.

  Chase let out a long breath. “This afternoon I got a call from a friend of mine. John’s an investigator with Scotland Yard, over in England. He told me that early this morning there was some unauthorized activity within Stonehenge. He was sent out to check on it. He said a great host of creatures were pouring out of the center of the ring. Now, he’s well aware of what the Fae are, and he said they looked like no Fae he’d ever encountered. Instead, they were large, burly men with massive weapons, along with a group of creatures that, when he described them, I can pretty much guarantee were bloatworgles.”

  Delilah paled. “Tregarts. The men. You know they have to be Tregarts.”

  Tregarts were human-like demons who were incredibly strong and brutish. They often paired with other lower-level demons as the brawn. We had fought them more than once, and Chase had nearly lost his life to them. Only the Nectar of Life had saved him, extending his life to well over a thousand years if he wasn’t murdered or met with an accident before then.

  “Demons at Stonehenge? But are they coming from the Sub-Realms? Or were they sent from Otherworld? And if so, how did they get into Otherworld to begin with? The vortex at Stonehenge hasn’t been opened in hundreds of years.” Camille frowned. “You’re right—a serious problem.”

  “Yes, and possibly worse. The papers caught wind of it. London—all of the UK—is buzzing with the news. And thanks to the Internet, you know the news has reached our shores. You can’t do anything without it being instantly broadcast worldwide.” Chase looked a little green around the gills. “If the governments find out about this and actually give it credibility?”

  “That would be bad. Very bad.” I shuddered to think about what could all too easily happen.

  The governments of the world liked their nuclear bombs. What they did not realize—because they didn’t know about the demons yet—was that uranium and radioactivity only made Demonkin stronger. If the president got it into his head to go on the attack, chances were he was going to make things so much worse that you’d have to look up to see bottom.

  “Bad doesn’t begin to encompass the danger.” Chase shifted in his chair. “I’ve got a call in to a few of the guys I know. They’re higher up in the Department of Defense. In fact, I worked directly with them when we were creating the FH-CSI. I’ll try to explain it to them. How they’ll take it, I can’t even begin to guess. But I’ll do my best to make them understand that we absolutely have to keep this under wraps, that we cannot let the politicians take control of this situation, and above all—no nukes.”

  He let out a long sigh. “The day we feared was coming has arrived, girls. The world is about to know that the demons exist. Given the hate groups that sprang up against you, I dread to think what’s going to happen.”

  I closed my eyes, envisioning the potential for disaster.

  Human supremacist groups had already sprung up to go on the rampage. And we all knew they wouldn’t differentiate between the demons and any other Supe. This was just the fuel they needed to blow their hate campaigns sky high, a wild fire into a massive movement.

  “What can we do?” Delilah’s voice was hushed, almost reverently afraid.

  “Stop Telazhar. That’s the only way. Take him down, wipe him out, drink his blood. I don’t care what the method is, but he has to be destroyed. Then, we worry about Shadow Wing.” And with that, Chase stood. “I need to get back to the office. I’ve been working eighteen-hour days the past few weeks.” He turned to Iris. “Thank you for watching Astrid while I’m there. I haven’t heard from Sharah in a few weeks. Sometimes I feel like taking my daughter and heading over to Otherworld to be with Sharah and leaving all of this behind.”

  Iris nodded, her eyes wet with tears. “I understand. Bruce was talking about heading back to Ireland, but as I told him—it doesn’t matter where we go. Shadow Wing is determined to burn everything to the ground, and no matter what country . . . or even what world . . . we’re all in danger until he’s destroyed.”

  With that, we saw Chase to the door.

  Camille turned to us as we returned to the living room. “I’ll head out to Talamh Lonrach Oll. I’m tired, but I think I should ask the Merlin to go to the UK. He might be able to quash the mess over there.”

  Delilah nodded, her expression fading from worried to dark and beautiful. She had changed a lot since her last round of training with the Death Maidens. Now, she routinely saw ghosts and spirits, but they couldn’t touch her unless she chose to allow it. And she was transforming even still.

  “I’ll talk to the Supe Community Action Council.” She stretched, yawning. “We have the militia here, but it’s time to call up reinforcements everywhere.”

  I let out a long sigh. “I’ve got time before sunrise to talk to Roman. We’ll marshal the vampires. It’s time we all came together and walked into the fires of war united.”

  And with that, we were off, doing what needed to be done even as the clock seemed to tick away all too fast.

  New York Times bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes urban fantasy, mystery, and metaphysical nonfiction. A graduate of Evergreen State College, she majored in theater and creative writing. Yasmine has been in the Craft for more than thirty-four years and is a shamanic witch. She describes her life as a blend of teacups and tattoos, and she lives in the Seattle area with her husband, Samwise, and their cats. Yasmine can be reached at her website at galenorn.com, via Twitter at twitter.com/yasminegalenorn, and via her publisher. If you send her snail mail, please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want a reply.

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