Forging Day (Crucible of Change Book 1)

by Noelle Alladania Meade

  The phone didn’t ring until we pulled into the driveway. I didn’t recognize the number, so I was sure it was Colby.

  “Get out of the car. Open that bag you took to the bank and make sure the money is visible. Hold it up. Don’t talk. Just do what I say.”

  We both got out and Mikah handed me the satchel. I opened it, tilted it, and turned in a circle.

  “Very good. Don’t say another word unless I tell you to. Leave any weapons you might have on the ground. Drive yourself and the money to the address I’m going to give you. Just get in your car and leave. Nod if you understand.”

  I nodded.

  “Good. Here’s where you’re headed. You have fifteen minutes. I hope you don’t run into traffic. My associate will meet you there.”

  I pressed my lips closed and gave Mikah a tiny shake of my head. He looked alarmed. I opened the door, throwing my purse and the satchel into the passenger seat. As I got in, I aimed low at the ground and focused my will. I scrawled the address onto the gravel with a spray of dark gray ink, staring at the spot for a moment before pulling the door closed. All I could do was hope Mikah checked where I was looking, and that everyone else was ready to go.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Everyone Has a Stupid Plan

  Colby spoke again. “You can put the phone down and put it on speaker. I wouldn’t want you to get pulled over. I’ll tell you when to pick it up.”

  I drove, white-knuckled, trying to ignore the sounds from the phone. Someone was crying and it sounded like Cordie. Two people were moaning, but only one sounded like he was enjoying himself. I kept telling myself, we have a plan, but that didn’t stop the tears. My only solace was the ghostly pterodactyl I caught a glimpse of in my rearview mirror.

  I was just coming up on a small park when Colby barked, “Pull over! Right here at the park.”

  I nearly got rear-ended by an SUV as I lunged across two lanes of traffic to follow his orders. A ghostly compy pivoted and sped away. At least Razaini and May knew what was going on.

  “I changed my mind,” he said. “Take the phone with you, along with the bag. Don’t hang up. Leave your purse in the car. You can even lock it if you want. Walk to the fountain and take a left. Follow the path until I tell you to stop.”

  My legs were shaking and I felt like I was going to be sick. In my head, I heard Leo telling me, “No plan has ever survived engagement with the enemy.” That had become painfully clear.

  Colby couldn’t stop gloating. “I can’t wait until you get here. I’ve been waiting much too long for this.”

  I reached the fountain and turned. A landscaping truck was parked up ahead on the access road, and a man in coveralls stood near the truck bed. Maybe a heroic gardener was going to interrupt our little melodrama.

  Nope. As I got closer to the truck, the man in coveralls turned and leered at me. He tapped the earbud he was wearing. “She’s here.”

  “Good job, Olivia. You can be taught. Do everything my little droogie tells you to do, and you’ll soon get to save your sister and your friend. If I hear anything I shouldn’t, somebody here is going to start losing body parts. Tell me you understand.”

  “I understand.”

  “Good. Now hang up the phone. I’ll be seeing you soon enough.”

  His droogie held out his hand. The tag on his overalls read Evans.

  I turned off the phone and handed it to him. He dropped it on the ground and smashed it under his boot heel. This was so surreal, and all I could think was, “You know the damn warranty isn’t going to cover this.”

  “Boss says you liked watching cop shows and might get stupid ideas. Hand me the bag, and you start stripping.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. Don’t make me tell the boss you weren’t cooperating. ‘No weapons, no wires’ he told me. Strip. Boss says if clothes don’t start hitting the ground, sis is going to lose a finger.”

  My hands shook, but I tore off my clothes as quickly as I could and dropped them on the ground. He gestured for me to bend over and then to turn. “Don’t see no wires, boss. Are you sure we have to come straight back?”

  He winced, so I’m guessing Colby didn’t feel like sharing. He glared at me. “You stand there and don’t move. When I say, you get in the truck.”

  I stood there second-guessing everything I’d done from the first day I met Colby, while his buddy took forever to check each bundle of bills before dropping it into a dirty burlap sack. When he finished, he left the satchel, my clothes, and the ruins of my phone in the middle of the path and tossed something slippery and purple in my direction.

  “Put that on and get in the truck, girlie. Time to go.”

  The purple turned out to be a long silky nightgown. It had a plunging neckline and both sides were slit to the thigh, but at least it was something to wear. As I pulled it over my head, I caught a vaguely familiar scent. It took me a second to place it, but then I had it. It was Vivian’s perfume. I had to believe that Colby had stolen this from her, because the alternative was that she was in on the whole thing and he already knew our entire plan.

  The inside of the cab was sweltering on its own, but it was the sun-heated, cracked vinyl seat that seared my skin through the thin gown. It was all I could do not to scream. Whatever happens with Colby, this one dies, too, I promised myself.

  He looked over at me and adjusted himself. “Colby’ll share sooner or later, girlie. Be a good girl and I’ll be gentle.”

  I bit back the “fuck off” that sprang to my lips and said nothing.

  His eyes finally traveled up, and he noticed my holy symbol. “That too, girlie. Boss said no jewelry, unless of course you had your nipples pierced. That would be okay.” He grabbed it and yanked it off, breaking the silver chain. Sadly, it didn’t appear to bother his hand at all. “Bet I can get a few bucks for this,” he said, tucking it into his pocket.

  He stayed away from main roads, but I did manage to catch occasional glimpses of the mountains. The mountains are always to the west in Denver, so we were moving south east. That was a good sign. The house Korembi sighted last night was south and east. If everyone else followed the plan, Leo and the others should already be there by the time we arrived, as long as there weren’t any other surprises or detours.

  I was miserable, half-blind, and the asshole next to me smelled like manure. I was doing this for Cordie and Berto. And once they were safe, the bastards would pay.

  We turned off into a residential area. The further we drove, the older and more decrepit the houses looked. The occasional gang tag decorated the rotting fences we passed. I didn’t see any sign of a SWAT team or anyone I knew, but I suppose that was the idea. If I saw them, the bad guys would, too.

  Evans abruptly turned into an overgrown corner lot. The house was an indeterminate shade of gray, and one of the windows was boarded over. I saw Colby’s car under a rusted carport, along with four beat-up motorcycles. There were wooden privacy fences along the north and east edges of the place. There was something big behind the house, along the east fence, but I couldn’t tell what it was. The whole thing was covered with an assortment of paint-spattered tarps.

  Evans tapped his ear piece. “We’re here, boss. She didn’t try anything funny. I’m kinda disappointed.”

  I smiled at him, thinking to myself, I’m going to cut off your balls and feed them to you later. I hope you choke.

  His own smile wavered a bit. Maybe I was starting to get the hang of the Dark Elf Smile of Death and Destruction. About bloody time.

  A door opened in the side of the house, and Colby emerged from under the edge of the carport, still looking Human. I didn’t see the ravaged side of his face until he turned. “Bring her here.”

  Evans grabbed my arm and dragged me across the bench seat and out through the door on the driver’s side. I couldn’t stop myself from falling hard onto the gravel driveway. Fabric tore—the gown had caught itself on something, but I was still mostly clothed. I was already sore from be
ing dragged across the seat. The chaser of road rash added insult to injury.

  “That’s it!” I punched Evans in the balls as hard as I could.

  He howled in pain and tried to grab me, but I rolled out of the way. Hot gravel and broken glass were fresh shards of agony.

  Colby roared and we both froze, staring. I couldn’t believe how fast he shifted from man to wolf. The movies had it all wrong. “You said you’d follow the rules,” he snarled.

  “You said you’d produce Cordelia and Berto, unharmed. Nobody said anything about getting mauled by this asshole.”

  He threw back his head and laughed out loud. “You’re right. Nobody said this asshole got to maul you, including me.”

  He reached Evans in three massive steps, and yanked him into the air. “I told you not to touch her.”

  Evans was still stammering some kind of excuse when Colby swung him head first into the front grill of the truck. Blood ran down his face. “Please, man, I’m sorry.”

  “Apology accepted,” said Colby, and twisted the man’s head sharply to the left before dropping the limp body to the ground. “You always were a putz, Evans, and the worst gardener ever. This place is a dump.” He turned back to me. “Now, where were we?”

  “You promised to release Cordelia and Berto, unharmed. I’m here, as promised, and Evans dumped the cash into the sack on the floor in front.”

  “This was never about the cash, Olivia, but I’m glad your friend’s little butt buddy was able to come through for you.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, marching me around the truck toward the back of the house.

  Two more men stood at either end of the thing covered in canvas. It had to be the dog run that Gracie told us about. “Show time, my little droogies,” he said.

  They grabbed the heavy canvas and pulled it off to the side. It took a minute to make sense of what I was seeing. Inside the dilapidated dog run, two forms lay on the ground. “Let’s have a closer look, shall we?” growled Colby.

  Cordie and Berto were dripping with sweat, sprawled on the weed-covered dirt. They wore heavy leather dog collars and nothing else. Each was chained to a solid metal ring driven into the ground. There were two cracked dog bowls on the ground between them. I couldn’t see if anything was in them.

  My blood ran cold, looking at them just lying there. “Cordie! Berto! Please say something.”

  “There they are, alive and relatively unharmed. They do look hot though, don’t they?” taunted Colby. “Help them out, my droogies.”

  One of the men picked up the end of a hose from the ground. He aimed it at Cordie and pulled the trigger. She flinched and moaned when the jet of water hit her. Berto was next, and he, too, jerked back and groaned.

  “See, they’re fine.

  “I kept up my side of the agreement. Let them go.”

  “You’re too funny, Olivia. I never promised to let them go. I said they’d be alive and unhurt when you got here. They are.” He ran a claw down my back, parting the soft fabric and leaving a line of blood. “Besides, if I let them go, how would I get you to behave? I don’t think you thought this through.”

  I flinched and bit back a gasp of pain, but I couldn’t stop the tears. One way or the other, this was going to end today. I thought I heard a muffled oomph from over near the dog run, but I never took my eyes off of Colby. “You’d be surprised.” I gritted out through clenched teeth.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll have my droogies keep your pets watered and fed. It’s time to go inside now,” he said, “or we can stay out here and your sister can watch.”

  I looked back over at the enclosure. The hose was on the ground, with no sign of Colby’s two buddies. Cordie and Berto were huddled together in the middle of the cage with their backs to us, but their guards were gone. It looked like some scraps of fabric were stuck to the fence.

  Colby finally noticed the lack of guards for his hostages. “Bill! JT! Where the hell are you?”

  Whatever Cordie and Berto knew, they weren’t volunteering anything. I thought I heard a scuffling noise from the other side of the fence, but evidently Colby didn’t. Nobody commented on the white cat sitting quietly on top of the dog run.

  Colby thought he was so clever with his dog run. Maybe I couldn’t get to them in there, but he couldn’t reach them very easily, either. I dug in my heels. “The only thing my sister’s going to watch is me kicking your furry murdering rapist ass. You’re going to regret the day you ever crossed my path.”

  “You ruined my life, bitch. I’m just returning the favor.”

  I gathered my will, but he must have sensed something. He kicked me hard in the knee, sending me to the ground. It was two heartbeats before the pain went screaming through my brain. “Try your trick again, bitch. I’ll break something else for you.”

  He didn’t see the winged demon coming up behind him, but I did. “You have sinned,” said Tessa. “It’s time for you to atone.”

  He spun around and grabbed her by the throat, snagging her out of the air. “Your tricks won’t work on me, demon, but we can fuck later if you’d like.” He laughed, and threw her against the wall of the house. Her wings made a sickening noise when she hit, like the snapping of brittle sticks. She struggled to get to her feet, and then collapsed to the ground.

  I pushed the pain deep, and focused my will. Silver grey fluid jetted from my hands into the coarse fur of his back. Skin bubbled under fur and an oily smoke filled the air. He roared, and turned away from Tessa. “You’ll pay for that! You’ll all pay!”

  Massive talons scooped me up from the ground, and I was airborne. My flight came to an abrupt and painful end when I slammed into the side of the dog run. I gasped, trying to breathe. I heard the ping of popping metal fasteners and the fence sagged under me. I finally sucked in a lungful of air as Colby stalked toward me. Gunfire and shouts came from the far side of the house. I really hoped the good guys were winning this one.

  “Crom!” I screamed, and held out my hand. The leather-wrapped handle of the silver-chased hammer was solid in my grasp. “Come on Colby! You owe me, you son of a bitch!”

  He leaped at me, claws extended. I launched myself to the side. His claws scored deep across my shoulder, missing my throat. I lunged upward with the hammer. It greeted his exposed scrotum with a satisfying crunch.

  He screamed and leaped over me, onto the dog run. Metal shrieked and tore. He launched himself at me again. Words like enraged and berserk took on a grim new meaning.

  I swung with everything I had. The hammer caught him across the muzzle with a crack of bone. This time it vanished from my hand in a burst of silver flames.

  He roared, spraying me with spittle and blood, and his arm drew back to tear out my throat. I knew I couldn’t evade his claws.

  I gathered my will again with laser focus. “Hey Colby! Swallow this, bitch!” I sprayed the silver grey fluid into his open mouth. His scream turned into wet gurgles. Finally, there was nothing but the hiss of silver eating flesh.

  I heard a bamf, and my sheathed dagger dropped to the ground next to me. I drew it and stared at Colby’s body. Hatred burned my soul. I drove the blade into his exposed belly, again and again. “Tell me you like it!” I screamed. “Tell me how much you like it!”

  Someone grabbed my wrist. For a wild minute I didn’t recognize Cordie. “Shhh, sis. He’s dead. You can stop now. He won’t hurt you again.” I let her pry the dagger from my nerveless fingers.

  Sharon stood there, staring at me, and then she was talking into her radio, but I couldn’t make sense of the words.

  I fell back to the ground, suddenly hurting in a thousand places. Cordie cried while she cradled my head in her lap. From my vantage point, I could see Imhotep under the truck, and Evans on the ground just beyond him.

  “Nearly done here,” I heard in my head. “I’ll see you at home.”

  I held out my hand, and called to my holy symbol. “Come!” I mentally commanded it. Something silver glinted as it crawled its way out of E
vans’ front pocket. The tiny anvil and hammer flew into my waiting hand. I wasn’t going to lose this again.

  The back door of the house burst open. A man ran out, wearing jeans and glasses. He stared at Colby’s remains, and then at us, and still went for one of the bikes.

  Sharon yelled, “Halt!” just as a shot rang out.

  He screamed and grabbed his leg, and then screamed a lot more when the bike overbalanced and fell, pinning him to the ground. Two SWAT officers rushed into the yard. One stood over the guy on the ground while the other nodded at Sharon and kept scanning for more hostiles.

  “This one’s Human,” I heard. “And he’s still alive. I told you it was worth a shot. You owe me ten bucks, Dave.”

  The shooting and yelling from the far side of the house had mostly died away, and I could see Berto kneeling next to Tessa. Cordie pressed something against my shoulder. I was exhausted and numb when I finally heard the sirens.

  Leo ran around the corner of the house, followed by Mikah and Korembi. Mikah rushed over to Berto and pulled him into his arms. “I thought my heart was lost to me.” Tears rolled down his face as he hugged Berto and tenderly kissed him.

  “I’ll never leave you. You know that.” Berto smiled and stroked Mikah’s face. “There’s no one but you. I love you.”

  Leo ran over to us. He carefully hugged Cordie and gently took my hand. “I suppose I’m going to have to teach you how to duck, kid. You look like hell.”

  I tried to smile at him, but couldn’t quite manage. “About usual, then?”

  The street was filled with ambulance rigs, and I’m pretty sure I saw a fire truck and fire rescue too.

  The EMTs had blankets for Cordie and Berto as they were led over to one of the ambulances so they could be checked out. I could hear them trying to get Tessa onto a stretcher. “Mind the wings,” said one of them.

  I was dreading getting loaded onto my own stretcher. The ground seemed more comfortable by the minute, because I knew it was going to hurt like hell as soon as they tried to move me.