RELEASE Excerpt

 

1.0

Laec

Trouble.

Like bad fish, sometimes you can just smell it coming.

On this particular day, it’s coming in the form of a summons. As we speed toward the junkyard, I’m wondering what exactly we’re heading into.

“He didn’t say anything else?” I ask my brother, who swerves around a slow moving truck as he maneuvers onto the old coast road south of the city. Alex grabs hold of the grip above the door to keep from sliding across the backseat.

“Nope,” Darrius replies. “Just that someone came through the gateway and we should get there as soon as possible.”

“I guess it was too much to ask to get a whole week without some disaster raining down on us,” I mutter.

“Maybe it’s something good,” Alex offers.

I snort; she doesn’t actually believe that, does she? “If it was good, he would’ve told us.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Darrius says.

I look at him. “What could possibly have come through the gateway that wouldn’t warrant full-scale panic?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. But it couldn’t have been too bad if Kellen was able to call us.”

I’ll give him that, but it doesn’t change the fact that someone is here who doesn’t belong, and that never adds up to anything good. The fae can make their own portals; only humans, lower angels, and demons need a gateway to travel to our realm. And since I doubt it’s a human or an angel, that just leaves demons, and they’re never good news.

“Maybe we should’ve closed that gateway like we did the one in Oscar’s shop,” I say.

“Maybe we should,” Darrius agrees. “But it’s open right now.”

We pass the railyard where said gateway is located, then a half mile later he eases the old Honda onto the junkyard lot. The door to the office/house opens as we get out of the car, and Kellen appears, accompanied by a tall, blond, uniformed elf. I recognize him as the one who was waiting for us at the monument in Tír na nÓg the day we left Tartarus after they rescued me from the Box in Hell.

Darrius steps forward and extends an arm toward the elf. “Alston. It’s good to see you.”

“And you as well,” the elf replies, gripping Darrius’s arm in their customary salute. “I wish it was under better circumstances.”

Darrius looks between the elf and Kellen. “What’s going on?”

“Let’s go in the house to talk,” Kellen says, leading us through the door. I glance at Alex and motion for her to precede me. As usual, Zack is busy in the kitchen with some concoction that teases my taste buds and causes my stomach to growl. He looks up as we enter and I can see from his expression that what the elf is about to tell us will probably ruin my appetite. It must be serious when Kellen doesn’t even offer us a cold drink. Alston waits while we seat ourselves around the large table, pacing the floor restlessly.

“As I know you are aware,” he begins, “Ciar is now in possession of two of the Four Treasures. Since she returned with them, she has been gathering her forces around her, for what purpose I do not know.”

“I thought you were in her inner circle,” Darrius says.

“I was, but after Aubrey’s betrayal, she is even more selective in who she trusts.”

“What happened to ol’ Aubrey?” I ask because, well, I’m curious and I figure Kellen probably is too.

“He has been remanded to Garrvey Prison in Svartálfaheimr. It will not be a pleasant existence for him, especially since many he is incarcerated with were put there by Aubrey himself.”

I can imagine the bad blood in that reunion. I look at Kellen. “That good enough for you?”

He shrugs. “It’ll have to do. At least he won’t be coming to this realm again.”

Alston sighs impatiently. “May I continue?” I nod at him. “There have been many closed door meetings in the last three weeks between Ciar and Nyx, along with a man I had not seen before. I made some discreet enquiries and learned this one is a god. Do you know of one called Ahura Mazda?”

Just the mention of his name sends shudders up my spine. “Yeah, we know him. He was actually there?”

The elf nods. “Several times, always with Nyx.”

Darrius looks at me. “How could he be in Tartarus?”

“Remember I told you he was brought through a portal in Hell when Nyx tried to use me to open the Lock. If they’re meeting with Ciar, that must mean they’ve discovered something about the Lock.”

Alston nods. “Yes. One of my spies overheard them talking. He did not know what it meant, but the Lock was mentioned several times. They were very excited about it.”

I sigh, a sinking feeling in my gut. “They’ve figured it out.”

“You don’t know that,” Darrius counters.

“Like I said,” Alston replies, “Ciar has been amassing her troops. They are preparing for something big.”

“How long has it been since she returned with the Treasures?” I ask Alston.

“Nearly two months.”

“It’s been barely a week here,” Darrius says.

I hate the weird time thing between realms. Two months is more than enough time for them to plan an invasion. And right now there’s just seven of us, if you count Zack and White Eagle, against a horde of fae and demons. We’re good, but not that good. I look around the room.

“We’re going to need a lot more fighters.”

Everyone starts talking at once. I listen for a couple of minutes, then pick up a spoon on the table and bang it against the empty pot sitting next to it. “We’re not solving anything this way,” I say when I have their attention.

“Laec’s right,” Darrius agrees. “We can’t fight this war alone. We need allies.”

“Where will you find enough bodies to stand up to the combined armies of Nyx and Ciar?” Alston asks.

“We do have a rather vast military in this country,” Darrius replies.

I snort. “Yeah, good luck getting them to believe we’re about to be attacked by demons and elves. They’d lock us up and throw away the key.”

He turns to me. “Then what would you suggest we do?”

“We go to the hunters first. There’s a lot of them, aren’t there?”

Kellen nods. “There’s a whole network around the country. Whether that would be enough remains to be seen.”

“Then we’ll have to pull in the Magick users,” I say.

“You mean–?” Darrius starts to ask.

“Yes,” I finish. “The Circle.”

“But Laec, they’re looking for Darrius,” Alex says.

“I know, but they’re the most powerful people in this realm. Hopefully once they know what’s at stake, they’ll put aside whatever grudge they have against him.”

“And how do you propose we contact them?” Darrius asks.

I grin. “Well, we just so happen to have the name and address of one of the Powers.”

“You can’t be serious?”

“I don’t like it any more than you do, but have you got another idea?”

“Laec, this is almost as crazy as going to the Black Library,” Alex says.

“We don’t have the luxury of being rational right now,” I reply. “This is war, and anything goes. Maybe once the fighting gets bad, our official channels will see what’s going on and join in. In the meantime, we need to keep as many people alive as we can.”

“I’ll call Dupree and alert him to what’s going on,” Kellen says. “They might start seeing demon activity pick up there.”

“Good idea,” Darrius says. “Reach out to any other contacts you have–all of you. Hopefully Alston’s warning got to us in time.”

“I hope so,” the elf replies.

“Is the urisk still guarding the gateway?” Darrius asks him.

“Yes. No one can get past him he does not deem worthy.”

“You’re sure about that?” I ask.

He nods. “I am. Urisk do not look intimidating, but they wield powerful Magick. To defy one is to flirt with your own demise.”

“That’s good to know,” I say.

“Speaking of the gateway,” Alston says, “I had better be getting back. As you said, time passes differently between our realms, and I cannot afford to have Ciar get suspicious.”

“No, of course not,” Kellen agrees. “I’ll give you a ride over to the railyard.” He turns to us. “In the meantime, if you want to address the hunters, give me a call. I know most of them.”

“Best place would be at the Barnacle,” I suggest. “I’ll call Red, see if she can spread the word to get as many of them there as possible.”

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