“We’ll be there with bells on. Or, corn tassels. Marilee has done wonders for you, and for Angel.” Herne gave me a quick peck on the forehead. “I’ve got to run. Will I see you tonight?”
I shook my head. “No, Angel and I decided we need a girls’ night. It’s been too long since we’ve just climbed into our PJs and binge-watched some of our favorite shows with a big bowl of popcorn and a tub of ice cream.”
Snickering, he merely nodded. “I get it. No boys allowed.”
“Right.” And because I wanted to set him somewhat at ease, I added, “You know before too long I won’t have that option. Not if you and I are…” I paused, biting my lip. Was I really ready to say yes? But then I caught a glimpse of Viktor over at the refrigerator. This was his night and I didn’t want to spoil it for him.
Herne leaned in and gazed into my eyes. “Are you saying…”
“Not yet.” I gave a covert nod toward Viktor. “But soon. I promise you, before the week is up, I’ll have an answer for you. I just have a couple more things to decide.” I kept my voice low, not wanting Viktor to overhear. “Meanwhile, why don’t you take Viktor out tonight, to celebrate his engagement? Get Yutani to go as well, although he doesn’t drink much.”
Yutani, our IT guy and a coyote shifter whose father was the Great Coyote himself, was a borderline alcoholic. He kept himself sober and when he did drink, he never had more than one or two drinks. He was tightly wound, and a Dom, and altogether, a good man who walked on the freaky side of life. But then again, weren’t we all a little freaky?
“Good idea. We don’t have to go to a bar. I think I could persuade Yutani to go bowling.” He glanced over at Viktor. “Hey, want to go bowling to celebrate your engagement? We can take Yutani and Rafé with us as well.”
At that moment, my phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID. It was Angel. Frowning, I answered. “Hey, what’s up? How are you? When are you getting your butt back up here?”
She didn’t bother to answer. “Ember, turn on the TV. Channel 8 KPOZ. Hurry.”
I grabbed the remote from the counter and pointed it toward the break room television and switched it on to channel 8.
“This just in,” the newscaster said from behind the desk. “The town of Klarkson, on Highway 2, has been overrun by creatures that no one has yet been able to identify. They’re attacking the townsfolk. Several people have been seriously injured, including five children. Right now, police are swarming the graveyard from where the creatures are believed to have originated, but officers have been forced to fall back twice. Bullets are proving useless, and the creatures are inhumanly strong and appear entirely uncommunicative. Mayor Willis of Klarkson has appealed to the National Guard for help, and there’s so much chaos that no one seems to know what course of action to follow.”
The news anchor held her hand to her ear, pausing, then looked bleakly at the camera. “I have a report from the Klarkson Hospital. They are reporting the admittance of four adults in critical condition, along with three children who are also critical. If you are in Klarkson, police ask that you please stay in your houses and lock your doors and windows.”
I turned down the volume, looking at Herne. “What the hell?”
He was staring at the screen, a solemn look on his face. “This started in the graveyard? You know what I’m thinking.”
“Yeah, me too. Typhon.” I returned to my phone call with Angel. “How did you find out about this?”
“Urgent care has a TV in the waiting room and I’m waiting to pay my bill. You think it’s Typhon?” She paused, then added, “I have a feeling in my stomach, Ember—it’s not good.”
When Angel had a gut reaction to something, we paid attention. She was human, mostly—and I say mostly because we suspected that she had some degree of magic-born blood in her system—and she was an empath. She was also my best friend and had been since we were eight years old and got in a mud-wrestling battle that netted us both a trip to the principal’s office. After that less-than-auspicious start to our friendship, we bonded instantly.
“Not good, how? Not good as in, gee this sounds nasty, or not good as in, we’d better get ready or get our asses kicked?” I wasn’t sure where Klarkson was, but I knew that I didn’t want to go there.
“Not good as in, we’d better get prepared because there’s something much bigger on the horizon.” Her voice drifted off and after a moment she said, “I’ll be up shortly.”
I shoved my phone back in my pocket and turned to Herne. Both Viktor and he were watching the footage out of Klarkson. There wasn’t much yet, and they were running the same clips over and over, along with video taken by the townsfolk using their cell phones. A lot of it was fuzzy and indistinct, but after a few moments, a clip came on that was clear as a bell.
The creature looked a lot like a zombie in many ways, but there was a brightness to the eyes that whispered “cunning” to me. But zombies weren’t cunning. They had some form of sentience, but they weren’t the brightest bulbs in the socket. These creatures were corpses in varying stages of decay, but they crouched low, skulking along, and there was a malevolence to them that felt like more than the feeding frenzy of zombies. Nor were they ghouls. Given I’d spent most of my adult life cleaning up messes with sub-Fae and the undead, I could spot the differences.
“What do you think they are?” I asked Herne.
He shook his head, his gaze fixed on the screen. “I don’t know, but we’d better find out.”
“Angel thinks we’re in for something big.”
As we watched the report spinning out, I could feel the hair standing up on my arms. Angel was right. Typhon was sending something new at us and, whatever it was, we weren’t going up against a mere batch of skeletal warriors.
I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. All the joy that I had felt over Viktor’s announcement had drained away. We were truly entering the war against the Father of Dragons, and life wasn’t going to let us forget what we were facing. After a moment, I turned and headed down the hall, poking my head into Yutani and Talia’s office. Yutani glanced up and I saw that he was watching the news on his tablet.
“You saw?”
He nodded. “Yeah. But it’s worse than that. The local channel just came out with a report. Something similar is happening in the Worchester District. We’d better get ready to rumble.”
As he stood, I cursed under my breath. Just what we needed right now. Angry that we couldn’t have one day to celebrate—just one day to breathe—I gave him an abrupt nod and headed for my office. It was time to get suited up and ready to go.
Chapter Two
So I guess here’s a good place to introduce myself. My name in Ember Kearney, and I’m what’s known as a tralaeth. I’m half Dark Fae, half Light Fae, and according to my respective heritages, I shouldn’t exist. I live in Seattle, where I spent most of my adult life working by myself as a private investigator and troubleshooter. Goblin problem? I put an end to them. Someone rifling your chicken coop? Call me and you’d be back in eggs in no time.
But then a little over a year ago, my best friend—Angel Jackson—and I ran into a situation and we almost lost her little brother. With that, Herne appeared in our lives. The Lord of the Hunt, Herne is the son of Cernunnos—the Lord of the Forest—and Morgana, a goddess of Fae and of the Sea.
Herne swept us up in his net, recruiting us to work for the Wild Hunt Agency. The Wild Hunt’s primary focus is to prevent the collateral damage that happens due to the frequent and petty wars between the Courts of Light and Dark Fae. But unfortunately, we’ve had to evolve over the past few months. Now, we’re facing a far greater danger, one that threatens the entire world. Typhon, the Father of Dragons, has returned. And with his rise out of stasis, the monstrous son of Tartarus and Gaia is bringing with him hordes of the undead, thanks to his paternal lineage. He’s also managed to open the portal for his children to return to this world. The dragons are coming home, so to speak.
Meanwhile, Herne and
I clicked, and now he’s proposed. I love him, more than I could ever imagine loving anybody. But there’s one problem. If I accept, I must become a goddess like his mother did. And that means my entire life will change.
I put the proposal on hold for a while in order to think things through. But I can’t wait much longer, and meanwhile, our enemies keep lining up at the door. Sometimes, it feels like there’s no place left to hide.
“Hell and high water,” Herne said, coming out of his office as I was sitting by Angel’s desk. He looked downright dour. “Everybody back in the break room.”
Angel and I immediately followed him. He poked his head around the corner and shouted for Viktor and Yutani before opening the break room door. Angel and I seated ourselves at the table. When Yutani and Viktor came in, Herne motioned for them to sit down.
After they were settled, he said, “I just talked to the mayor. There’s trouble at several cemeteries in the Worchester District. Whatever those creatures are we saw on TV, they’re here, too. The cops tried to stop them, but bullets are useless. Three officers have been hurt, along with several people who were visiting their loved ones’ graves. They’re in the hospital right now.”
“Are these creatures trying to exit the graveyards?” I asked.
Herne nodded. “Yes, they’re definitely trying to break though the barricades. The cops are doing their best to pen them in, but at least a few of the creatures have made it past them. The police are trying to keep them at arm’s length while doing their best to avoid getting attacked. The mayor wants to know what we’re dealing with. She texted me several pictures of them. Yutani, I’m forwarding the pics to you. Find out what they are and what we can do to them.”
He pulled out his phone and tapped away. Yutani received his texts and opened his laptop, transferring the photos to the computer. He immediately buried his nose in the screen, searching for something that would tell us what we were dealing with.
Angel walked over to the TV and flipped it on. The local stations were all breaking news reports. She paused, then grabbed the remote and flipped to a cable news show.
“Um, guys?” she said.
I glanced up to see that a channel outside of New York was running a similar story, but they weren’t replaying our footage. “Oh shit. Is this taking place on the East Coast, too?”
Angel raised the volume.
“According to local police, in Gardenia, New York, dozens of bodies have risen in the graveyards and are on the loose. These are not the same as vampires. We repeat: these creatures are not vampires. Governor Kamar has been in touch with Regent Chambers of the Vampire Nation, East Coast Region. Regent Chambers had this to say.”
The film cut to what looked like an office with a pale man behind the desk, whose eyes were almost glowing. “We want to reassure the citizens of New York that these creatures, while they are undead, are not vampires. The Vampire Nation has no knowledge as to who brought them back to life or what danger they may pose.”
Herne paled. “Try another channel—nationwide.”
Angel flipped through till we came to another news story, this time out of Tampa, Florida. “Florida, too. And it looks like Denver as well.” She turned off the sound then, letting the horrific images become silent.
“Angel, call Talia and tell her we need her, headache or not. Also, call Rafé in.” Herne stared at the muted television. “If they absolutely cannot make it in, get them on Zone and we’ll conference them in. Also, conference Charlie in, if he’s not in class. I’ll be back in a moment.” He abruptly withdrew from the room.
Angel handed me the remote and headed back to her desk to make the calls.
Viktor and I stared at each other. It was bad enough when a problem this deadly was local, but nationwide? The Wild Hunt’s reach only extended so far, given our focus was on the Fae Courts, which were located in western Washington.
“What the hell are we going to do about this?” I asked, watching the live images on the television.
Officers were shooting at the walking dead, but to no avail. The keen, twisted smiles on the corpses’ faces were enough to unnerve anybody. And then, one of the officers tripped. Before his comrades could reach him, the nearest creature grabbed hold of him, dragged him to his feet and bit deep into his throat. The officer was screaming—that much I could tell from the picture. His buddies rushed in, trying to beat the thing off. They managed to separate the cop from his attacker and quickly carried him off.
“They remind me of ghouls,” I said. “Unlike zombies, ghouls have a sentience that’s twisted, but cunning. And there’s intelligence behind the eyes of those creatures. Hey, I bet Raven would know. She’s a bone witch and deals with the undead. Why don’t you call her?”
“Good idea,” Yutani murmured. “I’m not getting anywhere on my own. Not yet.” He pulled out his phone and moved away from the table.
I leaned forward, watching Viktor. The ogre looked somber. “I’m sorry.” I reached out and took his hand. “This was supposed to be your day to celebrate.”
He shrugged, smiling gently. “One thing I’ve learned over the years: No matter what your heart feels, reality will do as it will. There are very few days that are either completely wonderful or completely horrendous. Life’s always teetering on the balance beam, and we have to take joy when and where we can.”
“You’re right about that.” I squeezed his hand, then leaned back in my chair. “If we can find out what these creatures are, then we have a better chance of putting a stop to them. So I hope Raven has the answer.”
“As it so happens, Raven did give me an answer,” Yutani said, returning to the table. “She looked them up in her copy of Beltan’s Bestiary. Apparently, the undead are called vrykos and they’re a Greek form of ghoul.” His brow furrowed, he quickly returned to his computer. “Now that I’ve got a name, I have something to go off of.”
I carried our mugs and plates to the sink and poured soap on them, leaving them to soak. At that moment, Angel returned.
“Talia’s on her way, and so is Rafé. Charlie’s waiting on Zone. I’ll just set up the connection on the break room laptop.” She crossed to the rolling cart that had a laptop on it, booting it up before setting up the video meeting with Charlie.
College agreed with the young vampire. Charlie had been turned a couple years ago, when he was barely nineteen. We met him when we needed to interview him on a case, but he had quickly become friends with first Viktor, then Herne. Now, he worked for the Wild Hunt and Herne was putting him through college to finish his degree. When he graduated, Charlie would take over as the accountant for the business. Currently, he did data entry for us and sometimes came into the office in the evening hours to polish and service the weaponry.
He appeared on the screen. A far cry from the scruffy, self-conscious vampire we had first known, he was neat and tidy, and had his hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail. There was something appealing about him, in a boyish way. His vampire glamour was beginning to shine through.
“I’ve been watching the news,” he said, as soon as the feed was clear. “Do we know what they are? I saw that the Vampire Nation, the East Coast rep at least, says they’re not vamps.”
“We just found out—” Yutani started to say, stopping as Herne entered the room. Behind him was Rafé. He silently took a seat next to Angel, first holding her chair for her. They were dating, and while he was Dark Fae, Rafé wasn’t particularly welcome in TirNaNog, the Court of the Dark Fae. He had always been a black sheep in his family.
“Talia will be here in a few moments,” Angel said. “She was getting ready to come in, anyway. Apparently, her apartment is right next to a new construction zone and it’s only making her headache worse.”
“We’ll wait till she gets here so we don’t have to repeat anything.” Herne looked at me. “You guys have any luck figuring out what we’re dealing with?”
Yutani nodded. “Yep, we called Raven and she tracked it down. Like you, though, I’d rathe
r wait till we’re all together before discussing it.”
Angel turned the volume back up and we continued watching the news reports that were coming in from all areas of the country now. The vrykos seemed to be everywhere, or at least, all of the major cities. Via the laptop, Herne waved to Charlie, who waved back. Five minutes later, Talia entered the room.
“All right, I’m here. Somebody get me a cup of Head-Eze.” She slid into the chair opposite me, grimacing. She glanced over at the laptop. “Hey, Charles. Good to see you.”
He waved at her. The old myth about vampires not being able to be seen in the mirror or on camera was just that—a myth.
Angel jumped up to fix the tea—she was a tea snob and didn’t like it when anybody else thought they knew the proper way to brew tea. Even herbal tea.
“Hangover?” Yutani asked, giving Talia a sideways grin.
Talia bared her teeth at him. “Be nice. I may look human but I’m still a harpy, even if I don’t have most of my powers. I could gnash that pretty face of yours before you had time to shriek, pretty boy.”
Yutani snorted. “Good luck on that. But I take it booze is not at the bottom of your condition?”
“No. I’m not sure what caused it. Maybe change in air pressure, maybe a strained neck or something. But I woke up in a fog and with a headache the size of Mount Rainier.” She rubbed her temples.
I glanced out the window. The weather was bright—too bright for my liking. We had had a bit of a heat wave in May, then pleasant weather in June. Now, at the end of July, we were experiencing another heat wave and the weather was gearing up to be hot and muggy. But I could feel some moisture in the air and I knew that a thunderstorm was likely within the next week.
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