Winter Rising: an Urban Fantasy Novel (Coldharbour Chronicles Book 1)

by Richard Amos

  There was an odd tingling in my hands.

  I scanned my surroundings. Nothing more than a set of stairs and a lift with its doors closed, as well as a closed window. Using the lift was not possible. I didn’t have the time to press the button and wait for it to show, running up the stairs could cause problems if I fell, and the window was out of the question.

  “She will reward me with power and glory!”

  The argument continued.

  “I will be the one rewarded!”

  “You will do as you are bid and stand aside!”

  “I will not!”

  “You will obey!”

  The stairs it was. All I needed was to keep a steady balance and maintain a good speed to stand a chance.

  Mental countdown … After three … One, two …

  The first creature moved quickly to block the stairs just as I was about to set off. I jolted and almost lost my balance as I slammed on the brakes.

  “You will not outsmart us,” the creature said.

  “Us?” I couldn’t help saying. “Are you both unified now? A few seconds ago you looked like you were gonna start disemboweling each other. Er, if you have bowels. I’m guessing you must with all the shit you’re chatting.”

  I wasn’t gonna faint, I wasn’t going to be intimidated. There was a rage in me to combat the fear, a fuck you attitude flaring up, killing the butterflies and the need to vomit, as if a switch was flipped.

  My hands still went on tingling.

  The second creature growled, but was looking at the stairs, not me.

  “What is it?” said the first creature.

  The second creature sniffed the air. “A problem.”

  The first creature joined in the sniffing, and its yellow eyes brightened with a deadly glint.

  A man appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in black. I didn’t linger on him too long, preferring my eyes to be on the creatures.

  “Well, well, well,” he said, his voice husky and deep.

  The creatures hissed, but I could sense their unease.

  “The weapon is ours.”

  There was that weapon thing again. I’d been called worse.

  The man shook his head and wagged his finger.

  With that, the first creature threw itself up the stairs on all fours, straight for the man.

  “We will be rewarded!” the second abomination shrieked, its eyes filled with obscene lust. It fell to all fours and lowered its body, getting ready to charge. I went to turn and run, but I couldn’t put my back to the creature. No way.

  Shit. The fuck you attitude was fading.

  The creature charged.

  I wanted to slap myself into action, but my legs weren’t listening. I was glued firmly to the spot, my body filling with an odd sensation, sparks of electricity, a charge of power that hurt, but felt extraordinary all the same.

  My body become light. Just as the creature was about to make contact with me, my hands went up of their own volition. Dark blue energy erupted from my skin, swirling around me, forming a cocoon, cold and wet. A bubble? It hurt like crazy. The inside of my head vibrated like a dentist drill. The creature hit the energy shield and was sent hurtling down the corridor. The blue rippled on contact as a rock meeting a lake, ripples coming with powerful vibrations. I fell to my knees as the energy dissipated.

  The creature screamed in outrage, scrambling and writhing around at the other end of the corridor.

  What the bloody hell was that?

  There was a commotion at the top of the stairs—grunting, bones breaking.

  A split second more and the creature that’d rebounded off me had regained its composure, flipping back up onto its feet. I was up myself.

  The tingling in my hands gave birth to an explosion of white sparks. Instinctively, I flapped my hands in a panic. But they didn’t hurt me, only tingled in a nice way. I stopped flapping. The sparks crackled, sparking as electricity would, white particles spitting and hissing in outrage. It was kind of beautiful.

  Active … The voice was feminine, creepy. And it came from inside my head!

  “What the fuck?” I said out loud.

  Movement got me back to attention too late.

  Shit! I’d taken my eye off the ball. The creature slammed into me.

  We fell together, my head cracking on the floor as the creature pinned me with its weight. That fall should’ve knocked me out cold. Instead, it simply hurt like a bastard. Orange drool fell from the creature’s jaws and splashed my cheek, talons dug into my chest. Orange drool on Greg’s lips? The stench of its breath, sulfur and shit, washed over me. I was really gonna puke soon if it didn’t get off or at least pulled out a twenty-million breath mints.

  “You will be my key to greater things. I will be rewarded, wrapped in the glories that I so deserve.” It swayed from side to side as it spoke before lowering its snout, opening its jaws wide and showcasing nasty, stained fangs. “No sleep for you, only death.”

  Squirming underneath the weight, trying to free my arms with the white sparks still blazing was tough, but the thing was too busy being cocky and chatting bollocks. I managed to get my right arm free just as the creature’s jaws started to close around my throat. I grabbed its head.

  The creature roared and there was an explosion of white light.

  Everything was drowned in white fog, as if it had just rolled in from sea with the kind of density that could deliver ships to rocks and offer them to the water. In the distance, not cutting through the fog, but merely glowing within it, was a golden beacon, a lighthouse calling me forward.

  “Now what?” There was nobody there to answer me.

  I walked toward that beacon, as if compelled. There was silence, cold and empty silence in this place. I wanted to stop and consider my actions, but knew there was no time. Reaching that golden light was imperative.

  The light grew with each step, and with each step the fog lost its grip on it until finally I stepped into a clearing, the fog a ring at the fringes.

  The light was diamond in shape, about the size of a vase, rotating in mid-air. I circled it, examining all sides. It was stunning. I reached out to touch it, making the white sparks on my skin go wild with a crazy kind of hunger. The golden object spun quicker and quicker as if in panic. That didn’t stop me. I touched it and it cracked. The white sparks poured over it, an army of tiny ants. I pulled my hand away, and the object came with it, snapping off its invisible perch. It fell apart, shards of gold in my hand, and the fog vanished.

  It was almost in an instant, once that jewel had been broken. I was back in the hospital hallway, a shower of golden shards falling off me, evaporating before they hit the ground.

  The white sparks continued to crackle.

  The creature was gone. Had I just … killed it?

  My stomach clenched violently, and I doubled over and threw up. There it was. Finally had to come out, fuck you attitude or not. Acid burned my throat. I wiped away the snot and tears. I gagged, spewing forth more filth.

  Not fun.

  Finally spent, I looked up the stairs. The man in black had the other creature’s head squashed against the ground, its front legs crushed and its hind legs kicking wildly. It was whimpering pathetically.

  “You’ve seen him,” the man said. “You’ve seen what he’s done with your own eyes. Now tell the rest of them to back off, or you’ll all meet the same fate.”

  The creature whined.

  The man faced me. He was athletic with oriental features, dark eyes and longish jet-black hair swept back artfully in a quiff. He kind of looked like the model Godfrey Gao, who was all sorts of yum. He radiated power and sex; a dark and dangerous vibe, a kick-arse character from an action film, a warrior dressed in black leather, complete with a pair of silver knuckle dusters.

  “You okay?” he called down to me.

  “I—”

  “I don’t think so.”

  A woman rushed at the man and swung something, catching him on the back of the hea
d. He fell into a heap, out cold.

  “Meddling idiot.”

  She was short and plump, her face friendly if it weren’t for the crowbar in her hands. Her curly, purple hair was pushed back by a red hair band, and she was clad in purple everywhere else.

  “Good evening,” she addressed me.

  “No, it ain’t.”

  The creature got to its all fours, head lowered. “Master, I apologize for—”

  “You will not speak, lesser. Look at what’s happened. One of your own has already fallen to the weapon, and he’s only just been born!”

  Born?

  “I would have—”

  The woman swung the crowbar down onto the creature’s skull. It swayed and whimpered, but did not collapse.

  “I told you not to speak. You were ready to kill him for yourself. Glory? You thought that was what you would have received? Lessers have no right to make such kills. He is mine to slay.”

  The creature cowered. “I love my master. Forgive me, though I am not worthy.”

  The woman rolled her eyes. “Oh, do be quiet.”

  I went to move. With a wicked grin to compliment her action, she pointed the crowbar at me. “Stay right where you are.”

  Yeah right. I launched myself down the corridor, crashing through a door and into an office.

  “Shit!”

  Wrong turns were a bitch.

  There was a window. Probably bloody locked …

  It was.

  Bollocks!

  The snarl of that creature came from the other side of the door.

  The white sparks still consumed my hands, lapping at my skin in painless, angry flickers.

  Think, think, think! That thing and the crazy woman would burst in here any second. I had to get out.

  The paperweight was the first thing I could find on the desk. Those sparks did not react to it. I slammed it into the glass. It went straight through, slicing my arm with it. Losing the paperweight, I grabbed the office chair and threw it with all my might—which was a lot more might than I actually thought I had. My body was somehow charged up beyond what it used to be. The sparks didn’t react to the chair either.

  The glass exploded outward, leaving some jagged remnants I could easily avoid.

  This office was on the ground floor. Could’ve been interesting if it were higher up. I swung a leg out, avoiding the shards of glass, made the other one join it, and got both feet dangling over the edge. Freezing wind tickled my chest.

  I threw a glance over my shoulder. The creature sniffed, loudly, and did not make any other move to break the door down. Why hadn’t it? A thing of that size could leave the wood in splinters with a barely a few swipes.

  “What part of staying where you were did you not understand?”

  With a yelp, I slipped and fell into a dead rose bed, thorns digging into my skin. A hand grabbed my hair and dragged me over wet grass, dumping me hard on my back.

  The purple woman placed a heavy purple boot on my chest, crushing my rib cage.

  “Now, then,” she said, “let’s get down to killing you.”

  I reached for her leg with sparking hands. She darted out of the way with unexpected grace.

  “Silly me. I thought you might have been too scared to do anything but lay there.”

  “Assuming anything is pretty thick.”

  She kicked me in the face, my nose exploding under her boot.

  Blood gushed across my lips. Bitch!

  “The fact of the matter is this,” she said. “You are going to die right here, on the cold ground. Dead and gone, history made on this night by my bite.”

  “Ger awa fom me.”

  “One moment.” She raised the crowbar above her head. “I think I want to do it this way. Has kind of a pathetic quality to it, much like the pathetic man it will snuff out. This is to be my glory.”

  No way was I gonna let her crack me open. But she was quick, the metal bearing down and—

  It stopped, just above my face, inches away as if time had frozen. There was a hand on it, a rough and hairy hand. It pulled the crowbar away and it was gone, clanging on concrete somewhere close by.

  The white eye guy grabbed the purple woman by the throat and lifted her off her feet. She squealed and choked under his grip, kicking her stumpy legs.

  “He isn’t for you,” he said.

  All I could do was watch.

  The purple woman tried to speak, but it looked impossible for her to get a word past that mega grip.

  “What’s that?” the man taunted. “Oh, is that some bullshit you want to impart, you tacky freak? Afraid I can’t be bothered to listen to it. You and your little bitches can stay away from him, you hear me? Go pass that on. He’s not yours to play with.”

  He dropped her and she landed on her knees, gagging.

  A growl. The hyena creature slinked around the corner of the building into view. Yellow eyes blazed, locking onto me.

  “He likes you,” the white eye guy said.

  I sat up, spitting blood. “Y-you—”

  “Don’t even bother.” He chuckled. “Heard some stuff then, eh? Bet you’re one confused git. All in good time.” He turned his attention to the creature. “Be gone, right now.”

  The purple woman was on her feet, rubbing at her red, raw throat. “You’ll answer for this.”

  “Whatever.”

  “You’ll suffer forever, never knowing a moment of—”

  “Boring.”

  The woman’s expression could melt the ice caps.

  Get up and run! I was too fuzzy upstairs; needing a moment when taking a moment was wildly ill-timed.

  “Call this one a loss,” the white eye guy said.

  The purple woman walked away. The hyena creature hissed and followed her into darkness.

  The murdering bastard turned to me. “I’ll leave this mess for you. See you soon.” He was quick. The air shimmered orange for a moment, just where the man took to the pathway leading to the main road.

  And he was gone.

  “What the hell?”

  My mind was a hive of activity. The white sparks had faded away. There was a pounding in my skull, so much bloody pounding.

  Running footsteps …

  A vibration went through my legs, across my buttocks and up my spine, followed by green light … lots of green light. I’d gone radioactive, and the pain in my nose was fading. It was like a hit of coke or a shot of adrenaline. Every inch of me was renewed; no pain, no broken nose, leaving me feeling ready to run a marathon.

  The hot man who’d got knocked out came into view.

  “Didn’t get to finish earlier.” He rubbed his head. “Are you all right?”

  “Are you all right?”

  “Nothing a beer won’t cure.”

  I nodded, mesmerized by that voice. My stomach tightened. “This is real, right?”

  “Yeah, it’s real. I’m Dean. Dean Tseng”

  “Jake Winter.”

  The man came over and offered me a hand up. I took it and was immediately intoxicated by his cologne. A delicious smell of some unnamed spice, something musky and alluring. It mingled with the smell of sick on my own breath, and the lingering taste of blood from the previous nose bleed.

  “What the hell is going on? We about to go at it?” I cocked my head. Fine, I was up for a fight if that’s how this was gonna go. The white eye bastard had me all fired up.

  “No,” Dean said. “What’s going down is something major that only one person can best explain. I’m here to help get you to that person.”

  “Is Greg involved?”

  “Yeah, but indisposed right now. You see, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Greg and Naomi were supposed to watch you, then take you in once you were on your feet. Whole thing has been a balls up.”

  I was about to throw up again. “What the actual fuck? Naomi the woman with the blue hair?”

  Dean frowned. “Yes, she is. Sorry, this part isn’t really my job—the big explain. Right, I know this is
asking a lot, but trust me. We have to work together to sort this mess.”

  “And what is this mess?”

  “One that can get a lot worse if we don’t clean it up. Come on, we need to get back inside.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t stand there and spout off this shit and then expect me to follow you. What the hell were those things? What’s happening to me? Who is that crazy, purple bitch?”

  Dean stepped closer. “Listen, if we don’t get to the basement right now, more of them will be born. There’s a whole crowd outside—police helicopters, the works.”

  I couldn’t see anything but the dark streets. “There’s no one there.”

  “Yes, there is.”

  What? “There was an orange shimmer …”

  “The passing through the shield. Only they can do that.”

  “They?”

  “The enemy.”

  “How come you’re not asleep?”

  “I was late to the party.”

  How convenient.

  “If we do this, everyone will wake up again, and we can get down to filling you in properly. You’re not dreaming and you’re important. And I’m not trying to kill you.”

  “So, we need to move, then?” There’d been so much crazy as it was. What was a little more to add to the mix?

  “Yeah. Those things slipped in and got busy. We have to shut down their queen before she pops out some more. Then the shield will come down, and we can stroll out of here.”

  Just go with it, just go with it.

  Chapter 7

  I followed Dean down some stairs leading to the basement level. There was no sign of a hyena creature, but the air was thick with sulfur down in the dimly lit area. Worse than before.

  “A shower and some shoes would be awesome,” I said.

  “First things first.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Nice tatts by the way.”

  He was referring to the ink down my right arm. “Thanks.”

  Dean stopped by a metal door, orange ooze leaking from every crack, leaving a puddle I did not want to step in.

  “Here we are,” Dean said.

  My hands were alight with sparks again. “Care to explain these?”