White peacocks suddenly erupted into turquoise flashes, and flowers bloomed with all the colors of the rainbow. The ocean pulsed a bluish green, and storm clouds began to roll in on the horizon out of a clear sky.
Great, big, black storm clouds, spinning with red flashes of light, and low, ominous, grumbling thunder – like the roars of some ancient beast awoken from an eternal slumber.
The ocean immediately began rolling over the grass, eating the island around us. I turned back to Matthias, shouting, and even though he couldn’t hear me, he nodded, rushing up to stand beside me. We locked forearms, and I closed my eyes, leaving this crumbling prison before it was too late.
The very room collapsed, and we began to fall.
Chapter 44
We opened our eyes, panting loudly in a large, silent room. Astonished, startled faces stared back at us. Chateau Falco. My office. The house began to growl a warning, the walls shaking at the sudden intruder, even though he was the previous Master of the place. That held no sway for Falco, though.
“Easy, old girl,” he murmured in response. Then he turned to me. He squeezed my shoulders, a tear falling from his eye, and his beard quivering with emotion. “We’ll see each other soon, my boy.”
Then Matthias disappeared.
I sat down in my chair, clutching the cane in my lap, still breathing deeply.
The book was a pile of ashes before me. Gray, I noticed absently. With flecks of black and white like someone had mixed it with salt and pepper. I shivered, turning to look at the other inhabitants of the room.
Their confusion barely concealed their fury.
Gunnar, specifically. He stormed over to me, chest heaving, cuts and scrapes on his face. I looked him in the eye, and felt the territorial snarl of Wylde looking through me. Gunnar hesitated, and backed down, shaking his head as if at a fly. Then he frowned at me, not speaking, but his lips were a barely-seen compressed line beneath a gnarly, dirty beard. Ashley approached him from behind, placed a palm on his shoulder, and he shivered. He gave me one last look, and then turned away, resuming his place in one of the chairs.
“Any other questions?” I asked calmly.
Everyone stared in disbelief from me to Gunnar, who was now staring off at nothing.
Ashley stood behind him, massaging his shoulders, murmuring into his ears. Mallory sat well back, near the fire, watching everyone. Dean stood beside him, staring at me. Only me. He looked relieved, washing his hands together nervously. I nodded at him. I might have smiled. Maybe.
Tory had the Reds on her lap, stroking their backs, but not smiling. As an evil villain would stroke a pet cat. The Reds had faraway looks in their eyes. As if they had seen too much lately, and that it hadn’t broken them, but it had changed them.
Alucard stood behind her, studying those who had entered the Fae Realm with deep, thoughtful looks, as if wondering what had happened to make each of us so cold, so hard, so uncaring. To be honest, he looked a little envious.
I grunted at that. Like a cub staring at the adult lions, telling himself he was old enough to join them rather than staying with the pride. Even though he had no mane. Had never hunted. Had never killed. I shivered, pressing Wylde down. That was his thought, not mine. And Alucard didn’t know that any of us would have gladly traded spots with him if we had known what would await us there.
The Huntress stood well apart from the rest, and Alex stood beside her, face entirely blank and mysterious. Occasionally, eyes would drift his way, wanting to ask the obvious, but he would address each look with a vacant stare, directly, face as open as a newborn babe.
And let me tell you, seeing a teenager stare at you with that level of calm was more than unsettling. The Reds would glance at him occasionally, interested, but not wanting to approach.
Or to earn one of his looks.
Perfect.
No one needed to know about him. He was a Regular who had seen too much. This wasn’t his war. I mentally reached out to the house. The boy is my family, guard him as thy own, Falco…
Alex’s head cocked slightly, as if hearing something, and he glanced up at the rafters thoughtfully. This was noticed by almost everyone, only adding to the mystery. He nodded, and said, “Thank you, Falco,” in a calm voice. The house purred back.
Even my skin tingled at that.
Every other person stiffened in their seats.
I outwardly showed no interest. “What’s happened in my absence?”
“Hercules began light attacks a few weeks ago,” Raego said, appearing out of nowhere. No one else seemed surprised. Yahn stood beside him, and quickly released Raego’s shoulder at my look. So, Yahn had been making Raego invisible. Interesting. It meant he had been using his ability often to so casually use it now. “Peppering the gates. Fruitless attacks, but enough to put everyone on guard. My dragons scout from the skies, nesting on the Eastern front when not flying. They scout in shifts, and anyone getting too close gets free barbecue,” he added drily.
“And what has Yahn seen on his journeys across enemy lines?” I asked, staring at the once-cheerful young man. He didn’t flinch, merely returned my look. He didn’t suddenly look like a badass or anything, but he did look harder. A survivor. A resigned warrior.
“Much—” Raego began, but I held up a finger, silencing him. Then I turned to Yahn, and waited.
Yahn cleared his throat. “Hercules was upset about the picture you took going viral, that you ridiculed him. He gathered his men and began his attack against our gates. Achilles showed up with his Myrmidons as a second faction within the Greeks. I saw Asterion, a smattering of other monsters. Pegasus almost caught me once, but the rest wait. For… something. Callie has helped recharge your defenses at the gates in your absence.”
I blinked at that. Callie had… how? That was impressive. “Is it safe?” I asked him, remembering the Nemean Lion Cloak.
He smirked. “Yes. No one can find it. I swear.” The room didn’t like secret conversations, judging by the shared looks darting around.
“Which goddess?” I asked.
The room grew silent, no one wanting to answer. Finally, Mallory spoke up, in human form. “We don’t know.”
“I don’t think I heard you correctly,” I said, voice dropping into a low, angry tone. “We have an army at my gates, and we don’t know who leads them? Where is the woman? Or Ichabod?”
“We have seen no god. Indie and Ichabod are also absent.”
I frowned. What the hell was going on? “What about the Syndicate? Have we been in contact?”
Gunnar spoke up. “Yes. They’ve been helping us. What’s left of them, anyway.”
I turned to him, frowning. “What do you mean?”
“They refused to help or listen. Until a few weeks after you left. Then they appeared out of nowhere, at the gates, between the Greeks and our wall, begging for help. They had systematically been attacked, at the same time. Hunted, they said.”
I leaned back in my chair. “Where are they now? They can’t be trusted. Not entirely.”
Gunnar snorted. “Let me back up a minute for you, Oh Great Leader. You. Left. Us. To. Die.”
He lifted a hard eye to mine for a very brief moment, before lowering it again. He was still angry, furious even, but he couldn’t meet whatever he saw in my face. I nodded back, letting out a sigh. I cleared my throat, asserting more control over myself rather than letting Wylde do his thing.
“I… was Invited to go somewhere. Invited isn’t really the right word. Not to us, anyway. By Invited, I mean I was compelled to go. And whether anyone here believes it or not, it was so I – and those who followed me – would have the strength to help in this fight.” But… not to help in the way they wanted. I glanced at the table, looking for a drink, feeling suddenly parched. Dean flinched, dashing from the room with a shamed grunt.
I stood, and approached Gunnar. He tensed, as if expecting me to lash out at him.
I knelt before him, and grabbed his boots, which were torn, scarred
, and dirty with stained blood. Which told me that the fighting hadn’t remained beyond the wall, or that he had led attacks of his own outside the gates.
“I am sorry,” I said. I didn’t wait for him to react. “But I cannot win this war for you. I swear it on my power. The war is yours, alone. I have a part in the battle, but the war is yours. It is about more than your lives. It’s about your determination. This is a siege… against your resolve. This is your crucible. Even though it’s a result of what I have brought down upon us. The world is watching, and they’re not watching me. They’re watching you.” I lifted my eyes to address each person. “Each of you. All of you. I… wish it were not the case,” I added in a cracked voice.
They stared back in stunned silence, echoes of doubt filling their minds. I could feel it.
Until Mallory spoke up. “He speaks the truth. He has a part to play, but the war itself is about you making a statement to the world. Letting the monsters know that Nate isn’t the one holding you together, but that you are allies. They already know he’s scary.” His eyes turned hard, glinting with a hungry rage. Like I had seen in Oberon. “Now it’s time for them to see how scary you are. Without your precious Temple to keep you safe. Nate knew this, and was forbidden to share the information. To guarantee that he didn’t join in, and to arm him for his own personal battle, an Invitation was… offered to him. One that hasn’t been offered in hundreds of years.”
That was kind of news to me, that my Invitation had been purposely scheduled to keep me out of the war. I hadn’t thought it a coincidence, but it was still unsettling to hear Mallory admit it.
“And now, much like myself and the other gods, Nate must not participate in this war. He has his own tasks to attend,” Mallory finished, folding his beefy arms. The unspoken message was loud and clear to me. Mallory couldn’t get involved in the war, either. Or Ganesh. They could only watch. Which was kind of humbling to hear my name tossed in with them. With the gods.
Part of me wondered if the gods didn’t want to step on the field with a Godkiller running wild.
Me. It was kind of a compliment.
Alucard spoke up. “Sounds about as shitty as things usually go around here. But why does he get free vacation tickets while we are forced to die?”
I felt myself growling, and stopped. Instead, I began to laugh.
I stood to my feet, and grinned at the vampire. “You think you know sunlight, Alucard? Let me show you how wrong you are,” and I raised my arms. Beams of light from the open windows suddenly spun in my fingers, where I had taken them away was no longer illuminated, as if I very literally was picking up the beams of light, making the room incrementally darker.
I wove it before him, visible for all to see, and continued to laugh.
Then I made a crown of thorns – made of light.
I shot a look at Gunnar. “Or darkness, if you prefer, Wulfric,” I said.
And I snatched a shadow off the ground, cast by the remaining beams of light hitting the chair. I picked it up, and it was suddenly no longer on the floor. Gunnar gasped in disbelief. I snapped it out like I was straightening a towel from the dryer, and then tied it into a knot around my shoulders, making a cape. Gunnar scooted back in his chair, but Ashley began to growl at him to remain seated. Gunnar glanced back at her, his lone eye wide, and saw that she was smiling in amusement. He slowly turned back to me, face ashen.
I stood before him, laughing, wearing a crown of sunlight and a cloak of shadows. The crown began to spin above my head, until it was hovering like a halo, and then I grabbed the folds of my shadow cloak, and flung them up in the air, where they stayed, resembling great big wings of darkness.
Alucard wasn’t breathing. Then again, he didn’t have to.
“My absence was no… vacation, Daywalker,” I snarled, and then snapped my fingers.
The halo and wings winked out, snapping back to their original locations. That was pretty much the extent of my power after breaking out Matthias. I was still surprised not to find myself exhausted after such a display. Something of that magnitude with my regular magic would have left me crying on the floor.
I cleared my throat. “But I’m still sorry I hurt your trust,” I added in a softer tone. “And you have no idea how much it means to me to see you all safe…” I turned my back on them, walking past my chair, hiding a tear as I stared out the large window at the masses of camps. They looked smaller, belying that even though none of my close friends had died…
Some people had definitely not survived my… vacation.
Mallory spoke to the room. “Not many survive the Invitation. And if you have any doubts, ask his travelling companions how pleasant it was.” I finally turned back to the group. Tory and Ashley nodded distantly, but didn’t speak. Which made Gunnar and Alucard all sorts of concerned. “I will say this. Although this isn’t Nate’s war, he does have a battle, and that battle is vital. And… he never would have survived that battle without surviving his Invitation.” I nodded agreement, clutching the cane on my desk. Mallory noticed. But no one else seemed to.
But I wasn’t entirely sure anymore what had been so vital about my trip. Was it to get Wylde’s help in order to free the Hatter and retrieve the cane? So that I could make good on my promise and have my full wizard’s power back?
Or was it simply to meet Wylde… because I needed to use his strange magic in order to win… whatever battle I had ahead of me.
I was pretty sure I knew one thing. Well, maybe three things, but the second and third thing would be a personal fulfillment.
One, I was going to kill a god.
Two and three, I was going to kill Indie and Ichabod.
Which was not likely to make his daddy very happy.
The daddy I had just returned to my world.
Yeah, I definitely had a steaming pile of stuff on my plate.
Chapter 45
Gunnar stared at me, stroking his beard. “If all it takes is a beard and some blueberries to do that, I have a sudden urge for blueberries,” he said, the beginning of a smile finally coming to his face.
I felt a relieved smile split my cheeks. “It’s not blueberries. It’s fairy blood. And it won’t wash off.”
“Oh…” he said, sighing.
I glanced at the lack of monitors on my desk, and a wave of anxiety rolled over me. “Where is Othello?”
Gunnar held up a calming hand. “We sent her to safety. She doesn’t need to be here to do her part. Just an internet connection.” I let out a breath of relief, nodding.
“Why did the others have to go with you?” Gunnar asked.
Alucard was nodding, wondering the same thing.
I turned to Ashley, wondering if she had picked up on the answer. She finally sighed, and was suddenly Wulfra, complete with her dreadlocks and arm bands. Gunnar jumped to his feet, staring in stunned disbelief.
“That… is hot as hell!” he shouted, suddenly wrapping her up in a loving hug. She instantly shifted back, and I knew why. Wulfra wasn’t the affectionate type. Gunnar frowned in confusion.
“I… don’t think she would like that,” she said, frowning to herself. “Or, maybe it’s safer to say, she wouldn’t know what it meant.” Gunnar blinked at her. “But I can let her out later tonight if you want. She would like that,” she said, grinning suggestively.
Raego burst out laughing, clapping his knees. “Hot damn!”
Gunnar looked to be fighting a grin and a frown at the same time, eager for the experience, but confused by her words. “She?” he finally asked.
Ashley nodded. “It’s… like another part of me. A primitive part. I think we all have it…” she shivered. “But that place slams you together with it, face to face, and the test is to find a way to merge with it, or not. If I hadn’t succeeded, I either would have died as Ashley, or… become a merciless, bloodthirsty monster. Wulfra,” she answered, shaking.
Gunnar gripped her shoulders harder, squeezing them. “I would really like to meet Wulfra, Ashley. But
I think I know her already. We all have our monsters,” he added with an accepting smile. Then he scooped her up, plopped down in the chair, and set her in his lap, pinching her rear playfully.
Everyone turned to Tory, and the Huntress was suddenly grinning, although no one else noticed it. She sighed, and shifted into her other form – a furkini-clad barbarian, no longer short, and veins of golden light shining through her skin. The Reds stared at her in awe. She flipped back the hood of her saber-toothed gorilla cloak, staring at everyone with hard eyes.
She turned to Raego and said, “Beg for my affection.”
And he was suddenly at her feet, begging without an ounce of shame.
The Obsidian Son, king of all dragons, and the most powerful and feared of all colors – black – and he was begging.
Tory grimaced, suddenly shifting back. Raego jumped to his feet, looking very confused.
“It was all I could think to do. You were obviously the strongest shifter here, and I think Gunnar has been through enough.”
Raego nodded very slowly. “I need to go check on my people,” he said, eyes troubled. Then he left the room. Yahn, not knowing what else to do, followed him.
The room was silent for a full minute until Alucard piped up. “What about the filthy feli—”
“Say it again and die crying in the eternal pits of woe, Glampire,” Talon purred from the open doorway. Everyone spun to face him. A five-foot tall Thundercat with an axe-spear stood in the doorway, longer white fur spilling down from his lips to look like a beard. He had a white stain on his chest armor that he was trying to hide. “Talon the Devourer requests a presence with Wylde,” he said in a formal tone, glancing at me expectantly. Not Nate. Wylde. He was asking me to prove myself.
I pulled deep, drawing on Wylde. I made a quick flurry of gestures with my hands, followed by a series of grunts. What we had learned in the Fae.
“He speaks ape now?” Gunnar asked the room.
Wild Side: A Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Book 7 (The Temple Chronicles) Page 25