Blazing Moon: An Adult Urban Fantasy (The Tynder Crown Chronicles Book 2)

by Wendy Owens

  I fight the urge to deliver a snarky reply.

  We’re walking as fast as we can in the direction of the lobby. I know it’s likely we will see more people this way, but it’s also the quickest and easiest way I can deliver a warning to Piper and Nash. It’s time to get them the hell out of here. As we move, I can feel with my bare hands a number of broken bones in Peter’s body; I wonder how he’s not crying out in agony.

  “We’re going to make it,” I say, more for myself than for his benefit. Up ahead I can see the oversized staircase that is in the main foyer. “Almost there.”

  No sooner than I say the words do I hear footsteps running behind me. I don’t stop, and I don’t turn around to look. I quicken my pace; time is running out. I have to find Nash, and now. I move so swiftly, Peter is having trouble keeping up, so I tighten my grip on him, trying to compensate for his stumbles. We round the corner, and I expect people to start shouting, or for that witch of a secretary to cry out. But there is nothing. I take a few steps forward and freeze.

  It feels like my stomach drops out of me when I look up to find Lord Ardack standing in front of the exit, waiting to greet me with a huge grin on his face. On either side of him are my friends, bound and held captive by guards.

  “Miss Crown,” he says in a calm and calculated voice. “So nice of you to join us.”

  I look behind me, where two additional guards are standing.

  “I knew it wasn’t just Blake,” I declare as if this somehow vindicates me. Peter’s weight goes limp, pulling me down with him. My head jerks to Peter. “Are you okay?” I whisper helping him to the ground.

  His body slumps to the ground, his head resting on an outstretched arm. Peter doesn’t answer me.

  “And your grandfather would have known before the Blazing Moon ritual ever began,” he scoffs.

  My mind goes blank, and then is suddenly flooded by the image of Joe’s body turned to ash. “You killed Joe.”

  Lord Ardack begins bellowing a deep belly laugh as I check Peter for a pulse. He’s still breathing, for now. I stand upright and ball my hands into tight fists.

  “Me? That’s what you’ve deduced?” Lord Ardack answers my accusation. “You know the old fool was always getting in my way, but even I respected him far too much to take him out like that.”

  “Then who?” I toss out the question desperately.

  Several more guards, including Ian Blake, filter in behind us. My heart sinks. Sizing up the situation, I know there is no way I can take on the eight to nine men, who are standing behind me.

  “You hear that boys? Now she wants me to do her job for her,” he says, the room erupting in a forced laughter.

  “Look, just let us go,” I warn him.

  “And why would I do that?” Ardack asks.

  “It’s going to be much harder on you if the boy dies,” I remind him, stalling as I try to come up with a plan. A plan, I think. It was this ridiculous plan of mine that got us into this mess.

  “Oh no, I don’t see the boy’s death as a problem at all. After all, he lives under Grimlore house law; unsanctioned kills fall under my jurisdiction.”

  I shift from side to side, trying to keep an eye on the men behind me as well as in front of me. My heart is racing. “You can’t think the queen will believe you if you try to pin those murders on him.”

  He ignores my threat and continues, “Mr. Blake, can you please take Miss Crown into custody.”

  I leap forward, pulling my arm away and lift a hand between myself and Ian Blake. “I’m a Royal Magistrate. If you act against me, it’s an act against the Queen herself,” I inform.

  Ardack mocks me, “Oh no, not the Queen.” Taking a step forward, he lowers his brow. “I’m afraid that doesn’t matter here. And I simply can’t let you go. I’m sure you understand.”

  I turn around just in time to see the swarm of Lycans closing in on me. They’re larger and stronger, and let’s face it, they weren’t too stubborn to be taught how to fight. I raise my hands defensively. “I mean it, don’t come any closer.”

  Ian Blake tilts back his head and lets out a cackle before lunging in my direction. My heart is pounding in my chest, and I can taste bile in my mouth. A surge of energy rushes up from the pit of my stomach in a tidal wave of thermal power, lashing out from my fingertips. I blink a couple of times, waiting for his fingers to close around my arm, but nothing happens—nothing at all—because Ian Blake and all the men around me are frozen, peering up at me with blank stares.

  I swirl around, puzzled by what has happened. “I see you’ve gotten some of your powers,” Lord Ardack growls. “No matter, you do as I say, or your friends die.”

  I push myself forward, raw energy still coursing through my veins. I have no idea what I just did, but I wish I could do it again. “Let them go unless you want me to do the same to you.”

  “I’ve had enough of these games. I won’t fight you, but I will kill them. If you don’t want them to die, stop talking and get on your knees!” he demands. My eyes shift from the guards to Lord Ardack, to Nash, and then to Piper. Fear tingles like electricity in my fingertips. I am leaving here with my friends, or I will die.

  Thirteen

  That’s One Big Puppy

  Raising my hands again, I try to figure out how in the hell I just froze those guards without breaking a sweat. Nothing. Whatever I’d done to them, it was something I couldn’t control. I glare at Lord Ardack.

  “I don’t think you should be making any demands,” I say confidently.

  He laughs, glancing at the guards to his side. “Oh yeah, and why is that?”

  “Because that isn’t the only trick I’ve managed to master,” I claim boldly, also lying through my teeth.

  “I’ll take my chances,” he snarls.

  Damn it!

  “Fine, but it’s just not a smart move if you ask me,” I add, stalling for time.

  “Well, I didn’t,” he grits out.

  This guy just won’t take the bait. “Everyone in the Fae realm knows what you’ve been up to, even Queen Boru. If you kill us, it won’t matter,” I continue.

  “Maybe, maybe not, but your friends will still be dead.” He is starting to get on my nerves. Wait, my friends?

  “What did you mean when you said you wouldn’t fight me?” I ask, not shielding my confusion.

  From the corner of my eye, I can see Nash shifting slightly from side to side. His guard doesn’t seem to notice that he’s slipping out from his ropes. Instead, he is too enamored with the confrontation unfolding before him. Lord Ardack begins to turn his head in Nash’s direction. I panic.

  “I will never let you get away with this!” I shout bringing his attention back to me. “Doesn’t that make you want to kill me?”

  “He is going to have a hell of a time breaking you, isn’t he?” Ardack grumbles.

  “What? Who is?”

  “Kill them,” Ardack says, ignoring my questions.

  “No, wait!” I exclaim, raising my hands in the air and waving them wildly. He motions to his guards to pause. “Can you just answer one thing that I can’t seem to figure out?”

  He nods in the affirmative, and I sigh a breath of relief. “Oh, very well, I suppose I can grant the last request on behalf of your soon to be fallen, comrades.”

  I can’t help but roll my eyes. The arrogance of this guy. I hope when we deliver him to Queen Boru, she tortures him for an extra-long time.

  “Why?” I continue inching closer. “I mean, you’re already one of the most powerful men in the realm, so is this so that you can have a shot at the throne? What’s the point in taking a throne by such brute force when half your subjects will be dead, and the other half will only serve you in fear?”

  “Is that what you think is going on?” He chuckles again. “Wow, I don’t see what he sees in you.” His constant mention of this mystery character is making me want to strangle him, which I might just do once I figure out how to get him into custody. “The army isn’t for me, s
illy girl,” he answers matter-of-factly.

  My stomach drops at his words. He’s not running the show!

  “Then who?” The words slip from my lips.

  “Someone who sees how weak we’ve become. Someone who is as disgusted as I am that we hide in our cloaked realm, we blend into human society, when they’re the ones who are inferior. They’re the ones who should be bowing down to us, but instead we weave our existence around them,” he boasts his views proudly.

  “Then who is behind this?” I ask again.

  “How about I ask you a question? Why do you think it is that you’re not dead yet?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I could have already snapped your neck if I wanted to,” he continues, as I try to conceal my bewilderment. “You’re just as much a part of this as I am so don’t claim to be so innocent.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re important to our new leader. He’ll probably make you into royalty when the time comes. Hell, you should be joining me, not fighting me,” Lord Ardack explains.

  I shake my head. “What are you talking about? I barely know any Fae, so I’m certainly not important to any—”

  Just then, Nash leaped to his feet, slamming his head into the Lycans behind him. He uses the moment of confusion to dash out the front door.

  Ardack cackles. “Poor Tynder. Your supposed friends aren’t even sticking around to help you.”

  Nash won’t leave me. I know he won’t. He must have a plan. “Will you just shut up already? Queen Boru wants you dead, but I think the Fae people deserve to put you on trial. I’m bringing you in. The Council can sort out your ridiculous story from there.”

  “You are naive, aren’t you? You think it’s just me? That there aren’t other members of the Council who believe that this change in power isn’t long overdue? This is bigger than both of us, my dear, but I just happen to already know who the winning side will be.”

  “Then tell me, who is really behind this?”

  He growls in frustration. “Enough! I’ve grown tired of your questions.” He huffs, then cracks his neck to one side and then the other.

  “I thought you couldn’t hurt me,” I remind him anxiously.

  “I can’t kill you. That doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you,” he warns. Terror fills me as I watch his transformation begin. I pull the silver knife from its hiding place, but as I see the claws and teeth emerge, I feel incredibly unprepared.

  “Talk about bringing a knife to a gun show,” I joke, but it falls flat.

  “Tynder, run!” Piper shouts at me, but I know I can’t. If I leave her, she and Peter are both dead. Nash is gone. I either figure out how to use my damn powers, or we’re all dead.

  I push my hands into the air in the direction of Lord Ardack, hoping to duplicate my earlier results—but nothing. Damn it! What am I doing wrong?

  Laughing at me, he rises, now completely transformed. His eyes are pale and not human; the six-foot muscular wolf’s teeth are bared. His white coat is streaked with grays and blacks along his back. I hear screaming and look around me only to realize it’s me crying out in terror.

  Get it together, Tynder.

  Deliberately, I widen my stance and twist the handle of the blade in my fingers. Without knowing how to use my powers, and unwilling to abandon Piper, I’m left with one option. Fight. Oh hell. I’m about to fight a six-foot Alpha wolf in hand-to-hand combat. I am so dead.

  Lord Ardack repeatedly pats one massive paw into the floor. It’s clear he is going to enjoy maiming me. So much for sanctioned hunts.

  I squint, squatting low to the ground. If I’m going to die, I’m going to hurt him as badly as I can on my way out. The least I can do is give Piper a fighting chance.

  The ground underneath me starts to shake as the wolf sprints toward me. I don’t close my eyes, but instead, watch as those enormous jaws open wide and Ardack leaps in my direction. I raise my small weapon and hold my breath, awaiting the impact. He barrels into me, causing me to fall to the floor. I wince, grabbing my arm and pulling my hand away to reveal crimson red. I hiss as I examine the deep scratch.

  Ardack is propped on the stairs now, watching me. I have never seen a wolf smile, but I swear the bastard is grinning at me. I stumble backward, struggling to get to my feet. Looking up at Ardack there is a fire in his wolf eyes that tells me he’s grappling with the fact that he can’t kill me.

  What I wouldn’t give for a silver bullet right about now. Or maybe a hundred. I’m not even sure if they would work, but this silver knife isn’t getting me anywhere. I drop the useless weapon.

  I push through the pain and warn Ardack, “I’m going to kill you for that!”

  The wolf pauses, eyeing me, toying with me as if I were his plaything. I got Piper and Peter into this mess, and now I need to figure out how to get them out of it.

  Ardack prepares to charge again. He doesn’t look as though he will be as restrained this time. I close my eyes and concentrate. If I can’t figure out how to make my hands ignite as they did before, I am not sure there will be a way out of this for any of us. I feel my blood draining from the wound on my arm, Ardack’s claws clacking against the stairs as he prepares to leap through the air again.

  My stomach is hot, and my head is spinning. I don’t dare open my eyes, trying to focus the last ounce of energy on my now open hands. My hands go numb, and I open my eyes, half expecting them to be torn from my frame by Ardack. Instead, I see two bright balls of fire.

  My head jerks up and my eyes meet with Ardack. “Come here puppy,” I snarl.

  He launches into the air in my direction. He’ll likely bite my head off when he lands but not before I light his furry ass on fire, hopefully giving Piper enough time to break free and get Peter the hell out of here.

  A bright flash of silver crosses my vision, and a stream of red, hot fluid splashes my face. My heart stops for a split second when I see Ardack’s body fall to the floor. Nash is on one knee in front of me, his shirtless chest covered in fresh blood.

  I’m frozen, staring in disbelief. By the front door, I see the guards who had been watching Piper crumpled in a lifeless pile. Ardack’s bloodied, beheaded corpse is lying on the floor in front of me, the head is in Nash’s hand, his other one holding a sword that is dripping with blood. He is Bimtok, a death dealer, so this is what he was made to do, but until this moment I never truly thought of him as a killer. A murderer who saved me.

  I feel a hand on my arm, but I can’t look away from Nash. Instead, all I can do is listen as I flex my fingers, trying to extinguish the flames.

  “We have to get you out of here.” It’s Piper’s voice I hear.

  I wait for Nash to look at me. He keeps staring at that damn head in his hands.

  “Tynder,” Piper urges. “We don’t have much time. Blake and the others won’t stay frozen forever. We need to get help.”

  Alarms begin to sound all around us. I cover my ears. “What is that?” I cry.

  “Oh God,” she gulps. “He’s a council member, don’t you get it?”

  “Get what? He tried to kill me.”

  “He has a protection ward on him. The Heralds are immediately notified if his heart stops beating.”

  I pull my arm away and allow my eyes to briefly connect with hers. “So? He’s the villain.”

  She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. He’s a Council member. You can’t just go around killing them without a trial.”

  “He…tried…to…kill…us!” I remind her in an exaggerated way.

  Chaos erupts around us. A glimmering portal opens, and a dozen Heralds come flooding out. They swarm around Nash and are commanding him to drop his weapon. They’re going to kill him.

  “No!” I cry out, reaching toward him. “He didn’t do anything. It was Lord Ardack.”

  Without warning, a Herald swipes a staff under my feet, and I fall to the ground with a thud.

  “Leave her alone,” are the first words I hear from Nash a
fter the slaying.

  A foot is now pressed against my chest, and I can barely breathe, let alone move. In the sudden terror of it, my eyes shift to Nash, who’s looking at me now with two round orbs filled with helplessness. I want to reach out and wrap my hand around his arm, let him know everything is going to be okay, but I can’t, he’s too far away.

  “Let her go!” he shouts again, and I think I feel the room shake with his thunderous voice.

  “Don’t worry, they’re coming too,” the Herald near him says flatly.

  “They didn’t do anything. This was all me. I killed Lord Ardack. Leave them alone.”

  “Did you hear that?” A Herald bellows. “He just confessed! Now get on your knees,” another Herald cries.

  “Let her go and I will,” Nash offers. “She had no part in this.”

  The Herald with his foot on my chest complies.

  Nash immediately falls to his knees, never taking his eyes off me as he places his arms straight out to his sides.

  As quickly as the team of men came from the transportation pool, they leave with Nash in custody. I scramble to my feet, prepared to leap through the portal behind them, but Piper has a hand on my arm, not letting me go.

  The Herald towering above me hesitates. “And them?”

  “Leave them. We were dispatched to retrieve Ardack’s killer. We’ve done that,” The obvious Herald in charge barks in response.

  “Let me go! I have to go after him,” I shout.

  “They won’t hurt him, right now we have to get Peter out of here. That is unless you want to take on a dozen pissed off Lycans when your freeze attack wears off.” Piper argues, releasing me and rushing to Peter’s side. I have no argument. She motions me over, and I take Peter’s other arm. I pick up Nash’s sword as we pull Peter outside of the bloody room, just in front of the Grimlore house. Piper drops a vial and a moment later; we’re home.

  Fourteen

  Fae Have Union Reps?