Autumn's Bane Read online

  I stumbled back, looking around frantically for a bush or tree to hide behind. My opponent took the opportunity to grab hold of my leather jacket. He flailed, trying to catch hold of my arm, but I quickly darted back before he could get a good grip on me. I slammed him with the flat of my blade, knocking him back.

  “Run for cover,” Herne was yelling.

  Cover? From what? was my first thought, but the next moment, a trail of fire blazed down, strafing the graveyard. I dove out of the way, dodging the flames as they raked the ground like a Gatling gun. The next moment, every one of the vrykos froze, pulling back and turning tail.

  What the hell?

  They shifted direction and headed toward the back of the cemetery, where I caught a glimpse of a large van near the sidewalk at the opposite gate. The cops had pulled back, and now I saw why. The back doors of the van were open and two tall men jumped out, shoving the vrykos inside as they stumbled toward it. I recognized the men—they were also dragons, Aso and Variance, twins who were on Typhon’s side.

  Then who was that? I thought, glancing up to where the long dragon had been. It couldn’t have been Typhon—could it?

  But the dragon who had flamed the ground was gone. There was no sign of him. Crap, and double crap. Where had he gone? As I turned back to the van, Aso and Variance closed the doors and vanished, disappearing down the street with the rest of the vrykos.

  I slowly leaned on my sword, unable to fathom what had just happened. A moment later, Herne was by my side. “Are you all right?”

  I nodded. “That van…Aso and Variance were there loading in the surviving vrykos. But who the fuck was the dragon overhead? It couldn’t have been Typhon, could it?”

  He shook his head. “If that had been Typhon, we would all be dead. But I can tell you that it was a shadow dragon and they’re among the most dangerous of all. Any dragon can be problematic, but shadow dragons are particularly deadly.” He glanced down at me. “It looks like they cleared the park of the creatures. How many were destroyed?”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea. I waded through the sea of flesh without counting. I think I’m shell-shocked.”

  “You have every right to be.” He slowly put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him. “Come on, let’s regroup and see what’s happened and who’s hurt.”

  Leaning into his embrace, I allowed him to lead me back to the front gate. I was exhausted and all I wanted was a hot shower and something to forget that tonight ever happened. We passed a group of officers milling around, instructing clean-up crews to go in and wipe up the carnage we had left behind.

  “What if the dragons decide to strafe Seattle—randomly destroy it?”

  “I don’t think they will,” Herne said, leading me over to where Angel was packing up her supplies. She looked dazed as well, but where I was covered in dirt and mud and liquids that I really didn’t want to think about, she was clean. Wet from the rain, but clean.

  “Why wouldn’t they?”

  “They want to regain the world, not just randomly destroy us. To do that requires strategy. No, Typhon has some plan in mind. Otherwise, the dragons would have already started to destroy the cities. But he’s holding back and I’m not sure what his scheme is. I know we have a committee working on figuring it out in Annwn.” He paused, then motioned to Angel. “Can you drive? Ember’s exhausted and I don’t trust her behind a wheel.”

  “I’m perfectly capable of driving,” I protested, though I felt like a limp noodle.

  “I’ll drive. Just let me finish up here. I’ll be back in a moment.” Angel turned back to help out with the last of the victims.

  I watched her for a moment, then said, “You know what scares me? How rough this fight was, and all we did was fight back a band of vrykos. What happens when they really hit hard? What do we do then?”

  “That’s why it’s so important to bring in the Fae and shifter militias,” Herne said. “We need them for backup. They’re used to taking orders and fighting on the front lines.” He paused. “I happen to know that a number of officers in the Fae militia were brought over from Annwn when Saílle and Névé first started up the militia. There, the Fae wars are real, not petty hissy fits. When Saílle and Névé decided to call a truce last year and pull together a militia, they didn’t just recruit from their cities here. They called in reinforcements from the older city-states.”

  Something about his tone of voice sent shivers down my back. I mostly knew the Fae as petty and vindictive. But whenever Herne talked about TirNaNog and Navane in Annwn, I could feel the massive energy that surrounded the ancient cities, and their equally ancient wars. Some of the soldiers had to be walking weapons in their own right.

  “That scares me almost as much as the dragons,” I said.

  “It should. While I don’t think any of the mortals can take on Typhon, the Fae and shifter militias shouldn’t have a hard time taking on his children. We also need to explore another avenue—Raven’s people. The Ante-Fae. Granted, they tend to be solitary, but the Morrígan has enlisted her Bean Sidhe in the fight, and they’re all Ante-Fae.”

  “Like Raven’s mother, Phasmoria,” I said. “She’s freakshow scary, and I’m sincerely grateful she’s on our side.”

  Phasmoria, Raven’s mother, was Queen of the Bean Sidhe, directly in service to the Morrígan. She was no-nonsense, kick-your-ass strong and she seemed fearless. That appealed to me. I didn’t like running scared.

  “I wish I could be more like Phasmoria,” I muttered.

  Herne stared at me. “What? Why?”

  “She’s not afraid of anything. Remember? She went against the Lykren with us and we saw how she fought. I wouldn’t ever want to be on her bad side.” I shrugged. “I just envy her sense of sureness and the way she dives into things without worrying about the end result.”

  Herne frowned, stepping back. He placed his hands on my shoulders and gazed into my eyes. “Ember, for one thing, Phasmoria’s a queen. Of the Bean Sidhe, no less. She’s practically one of the Immortals. For another, Raven takes after her and you’ve seen the mishaps that can happen. Raven tackles challenges with the same savoir-faire attitude that her mother possesses and she lands herself in hot water almost every time.”

  “True,” I said, feeling like I should stand up for my friend.

  “I really do like Raven and I’m grateful she works with us on occasion, but the girl’s managed to almost get herself killed a dozen times. She doesn’t have her mother’s experience. Phasmoria can get away with being fearless because she knows exactly what she’s doing. Raven can’t, and you can’t either. Not yet.”

  I didn’t want to admit that he was right, but the fact was he was right and I grudgingly acknowledged it. Like Raven, it was easy for me to get myself in scrapes I couldn’t resolve.

  “I suppose you’re right. It’s just that you and Viktor and Yutani…even Talia…you’re all so experienced and I feel like I need to catch up, to prove myself around you.”

  “You’re thirty-one years old. You’ve been with the Wild Hunt for about a year and a half. I’m a god, Viktor’s over two hundred, Talia’s close to a couple thousand years old. Yutani is over two hundred years old. Give yourself some leeway. You’ll catch up as you gain more experience and as you become accustomed to the work. Right now, you and Angel have barely scratched the surface of what we do here.” He paused, glancing over his shoulder to make sure she couldn’t hear. “But Angel’s human and that—”

  “Don’t say it. I don’t want to think about it.” I was all too aware that Angel was on a tight timeline because she was human. I was also determined to figure out a way to extend her life because the thought of losing my best friend when I had barely even begun to explore my own options hurt so much I could barely even acknowledge the feeling.

  “Someday you’re…” Herne stopped. “Never mind. Leave that for another time. Right now, you need to go home, take a bath, and eat cookies. Or something along those lines. I’d come with you, but I have to
wrap up business here.”

  I nodded, turning to Angel, who had just finished stowing her gear. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and joined us, taking one look at my face before turning to Herne.

  “What happened? Did you two have an argument?”

  He shook his head. “No, Ember’s just exhausted. As are we all. Tired, frazzled, and ready for bed.”

  At that moment, Viktor, Talia, Charlie, and Yutani joined us. Talia looked chipper, but then, she had been able to hide in her car. Viktor and Yutani looked about as banged up as I felt.

  “Raven and Kipa took off,” Viktor said. “She asked me to let you know they’re headed back to the Eastside.”

  “Thanks,” Herne said. “I wish Kipa could have stuck around but hey, given the spells I saw Raven throwing over by the mausoleum, she must be exhausted.”

  “I missed that,” I said. “I was so focused on my own little corner of the fight.”

  “I think we were all focused on saving our own skins while taking out the vrykos,” Viktor said with a faint grin. “Raven put on quite a show. She must have got three of them with fireballs and this time, the creatures didn’t walk out of the flames.”

  “What about the van that sped off with the rest of the vrykos?” Yutani asked. “Was that Aso and Variance I saw?”

  “One of the cops caught the license plate. There’s an APB out on them, though we’ve instructed anybody who sees the van to follow at a distance and not make themselves known. We just want to know where they’re going. Right now, anybody who tried to stop that van would get mowed down.” Herne let out a sigh. “All right. Tomorrow morning, I mediate a truce between Saílle and Névé. Then I’ll be at the mayor’s office for a press conference at nine.”

  “Do you need us at the office?” Talia glanced at the calendar on her phone.

  I yawned, suddenly so tired I could barely remember my name. “Please don’t ask us to come in at eight. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the breakfast table by then.”

  “Sleep in. But we have a lot of work to do so yes, tomorrow’s another work day. Everyone, meet at the office around eleven. But watch the press conference at home. That way I won’t have to go over it again. And Happy Lughnasadh. I’m sorry it wasn’t the evening we had planned.” Herne glanced around at everyone. “All right, get moving.” He pulled me to him and pressed his lips against mine.

  I melted into his kiss, feeling ready to pass out in his arms. His lips were warm against mine, taking the chill off the rain that streamed down around us. A crash of lightning split the sky, followed by a low roll of thunder almost directly on top of it, and I reluctantly pulled away.

  “We should get moving. Lightning is too close and might decide to hit one of the trees here in the park,” I whispered.

  “I’ll take my chances,” Herne murmured, kissing me again.

  I wanted nothing more than to just drift along with him, letting the world spin on by. But after a few seconds, he let go.

  “Go home, my love. Bathe and sleep. Rest easy. We’ll manage through this. Though the world seems like it’s on fire, we’ll navigate through the flames. I promise you that.” His voice was soothing, and I took a deep breath, letting it filter out between my teeth.

  “I love you, so very much,” I whispered.

  “I love you, too.” He patted me on the ass. “Go home now. Angel, drive safely. The roads are probably slick due to the hail.”

  “What hail?” she asked as we began to walk toward our car.

  At that moment, the skies opened up and a sheet of hail descended, pounding the pavement around us, bouncing like pebbles on the rain-soaked surface.

  “That hail!” Herne called back, heading to his car with a laugh.

  “Smart ass,” I said, but I was too tired to say anything else.

  Angel made sure I was bundled in the car and that my seat belt was properly fastened before sliding into the driver’s seat and locking the doors. She turned on the ignition and, as the car idled for a moment, she fumbled in the glovebox in front of me. She came out with two Caramel-Crunch bars, handing one to me.

  “A night like tonight calls for chocolate,” she said.

  Laughing, I took the candy and bit into it. “I think that’s an understatement,” I said as we pulled out onto the street and headed for home.

  We barely managed to drag our asses up the stairs and into our respective showers. By the time I was clean, I felt like I had been pummeled black and blue. I had more bruises on me than I had managed in a long while, even with the workouts I was putting in at the gym. Yutani was training me in martial arts, and he didn’t pull his punches.

  When I slipped into my robe, I smelled some sort of wonderful aroma from downstairs. Amazed that Angel had the strength to even work a microwave at this point, I padded down the stairs to the kitchen, my stomach rumbling.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” I asked as I popped into the kitchen.

  Angel grinned. She was sitting on one of the stools by the island counter with two plates in front of her. They were heaped with corn bread and smoked salmon, and artichoke dip and the rest of the peach pie also sat on the table.

  “Oh my gods, how on earth did you find the strength to make all of that?”

  “Grab a plate and sit down.” She handed me one of the plates, and—carrying the other—joined me at the table.

  My stomach suddenly realized it was famished and began protesting with a vengeance. It rumbled so loud that Angel started to laugh.

  “For heaven’s sake, eat. These were my contributions to the Lughnasadh potluck. I was going to take the artichoke dip and the cornbread. We just happened to have some smoked salmon in the fridge, so all I had to do was pull everything out and fix us a couple plates. The peach pie is left over from last night, remember?”

  “Well, I appreciate it. I’m so tired I’d probably just stick my head in the fridge and scarf down the first thing I laid my hands on.” I slumped forward. “It was rough, Angel. It was more than rough. I’m really afraid what things will be like in a few months if the dragons keep this crap up. And it’s not just here—it’s all over.”

  Angel stared at her plate, picking over her salmon. “I want to warn Cooper. I don’t want DJ in danger. I’m going to ask Herne if I can tell him everything that’s going on.”

  “Well, you can bet tomorrow morning the news will be full of what happened. And if anybody managed to catch a glimpse of that dragon except us, you know that’s going to be hitting the air waves. They can’t keep things like this quiet.” I spread the dip on my cornbread and added smoked salmon.

  “What do you really think’s going to happen?” Angel asked after a moment. “Do you think… Will we lose the world to Typhon?”

  I wanted to tell her no, that everything would be fine. But I didn’t know. I had no idea what was going to happen over the next few months. If the gods could get their act together and figure it out, we had hope. If not, then I had no clue what we’d be facing.

  “I don’t know, I really don’t. I want to say yes, because I really want to believe that we’ll be okay. But so many things depend on whether the gods can figure out his weaknesses and how to drive him back into stasis.” I paused to eat for a moment.

  Angel sliced the remainder of the pie and handed me a plate. “Ember, if the world falls to Typhon, you’ll be moving to Annwn, won’t you? With Herne?”

  I looked at her, frowning. That thought hadn’t even occurred to me. “I have no idea. I guess…that might happen, but I would think we’d be needed more than ever over here. If we do go to Annwn to live, you and DJ are coming with us. That’s just a given.”

  She smiled, a look of relief sliding over her face. “Thank you. I wondered, but I felt awkward asking. If things get really bad, I want to bring DJ up here to live with us. I can find my own place, if need be—I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.”

  “DJ could stay here. We have a third bedroom. I don’t have a problem with that.” I po
lished off the cornbread and started in on the pie. “But don’t you think he’d be safer down at Cooper’s? The dragons will probably focus on the bigger cities where the population is larger.”

  “I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” She finished her pie and leaned back in her chair. “It’s two a.m. I’m beat and you look totally exhausted.”

  “I am, and I’m covered with bruises, thanks to that fight. Herne wants us to watch the press conference at nine, but we can watch from bed. Why don’t you come in my room in the morning? We’ll curl up under the blankets and watch from there.” I helped her carry the dishes over to the sink.

  “That sounds like fun. Like when we were in college.”

  “Those days seem so long ago,” I said, thinking back to the days when we roomed together in school. Angel had left college early to help her mother. I had lived with Mama J. and Angel from the time I was fifteen, when my parents were murdered, until both Angel and I left for college.

  “They do, but you know what? I’ll bet when we’re fifty, this time will seem just as far away to us.” She slipped her arm through mine and we headed toward the stairs, waking Mr. Rumblebutt up from where he was sleeping on the bottom stair. He followed us up the rest of the way. As I peeled off toward my room and Angel headed into hers, Mr. Rumblebutt joined me, jumping on the bed and kneading the blankets as I pulled off my robe and crawled beneath the light sheet.

  Outside, the thunder and lightning continued. We didn’t often get massive thunderstorms, but when we did it electrified the air, charging it like a battery. I slipped back out of bed to open my window a crack. There was a screen on the outside so that Mr. Rumblebutt couldn’t get loose. As I watched the rain pour down, beating a tattoo against the side of the house, another fork of lightning split the sky, lighting up the night with a brilliant pink flash. A white flash followed, and thunder rolled through the air, shaking the house.

  Mr. Rumblebutt meowed anxiously, so I returned to bed where he curled up in my arms, burrowing his head into my armpit to hide from the storm. I petted him gently, trying to soothe him.