“What did he want, if he wasn’t invited?” Tam asked.
“Lyon was trying to drum up support for the Order of the Black Mist which, at the time, we knew nothing about. Since it wasn’t authorized by the Conglomerate, we told him to leave. He laughed and said we’d rue the day we ever cast our lots in with the Corp-Rats. His whole viewpoint is based on human supremacy. He believes that most of the gods have outlived their purpose, and that Chaos is the only answer. Basically, he’s an anarchist who wants to tear down the governments.”
“In other words, he’s out to topple one regime and set up another. Like we surmised—he wants to form a meteocramancy.” I sucked in a deep breath. “How effective do you think he is at luring in other magicians?”
Jason shook his head. “Too good. He’s riveting, and has charisma out the yin-yang. He’s a born orator, and trust me, he wields an incredible amount of power. But he was cast out of the city several years ago for inciting riots. Apparently, he found his way back in.”
“Apparently so. And now, he has the Thunderstrike. Do you think he’ll use it?” I was thinking of the tornado in Bend.
“He’s not stupid, but arrogant? Most definitely. I think he truly believes that he can go up against Gaia, which is insane, at best. But nobody ever said smart people had to be sane, and nobody ever said that intelligence has to be paired with wisdom. It’s all too possible for one to exist without the other.”
“Too bad he’s smart and crazy instead of not-so-bright but wise.” I frowned. “Do you think we should go hunting through the Tunnels for him?”
“He’ll know we’re coming. The man has a following of ultra-fanatical groupies. I don’t know why I didn’t put two and two together when Hecate told you about the Order of the Black Mist, but it all makes sense now.” Jason started to pace—a habit that drove me batty, but seemed to give him comfort.
There was nothing I could add. I was supposed to recover the Thunderstrike. If I couldn’t go down into the Tunnels, I wasn’t sure just how I was supposed to do that. My phone rang, breaking the silence. I glanced at the caller ID. Hecate.
Frowning, I answered. “Yes? What’s up?”
“Are you all right?” She was blunt as usual, right on point.
“I’m okay, but what’s wrong? You sound frazzled.”
“An hour ago there was a major earthquake on the California Plateau, along the edge of the ocean where the Andreas Fault System is. It wasn’t natural, Fury. Lightning Strikes sent out a team. Nobody lives in the area, but there’s magical energy all over the signature, and astrigators are pouring out of the cracks. Lightning Strikes will try to contain them, but it’s likely some will get through and breed.”
“But that’s two territories away. And I happen to know who took the disk. It should still be in our area. Surely it can’t reach out that far?”
“Don’t be so sure. But remember, there are also still three magical grimoires missing. The Thunderstrike isn’t the only thing that can disrupt the balance.” She paused. “That’s not all. A hurricane’s formed over on the East Coast. It’s heading for the Texicana Gulf. It’s a monster, and if it jogs east, it will go right over the capital.” Her voice was grim. “Lucky for us, it’s so big it’s moving slowly. But we have to disrupt whatever is spawning it.”
I let out a long breath. “I’d better tell you what I found out tonight. Do you want me to come over to the temple?”
“No, just tell me now.”
As I laid out what I had learned, and added in what Jason told me about Lyon, Hecate let out a sigh that sounded about as exasperated as a goddess can get.
“The Fates say that the next few days bring the possibility of world-shaking events. They told me tonight that no matter what we do, we won’t be able to catch all the loose threads. Some strands will still break, and there will be long-term repercussions.”
I sighed. “For once, can’t they just come out and tell us what’s going on? I get so tired of the riddles. Seriously, would it be so bad if they said—Order of the Black Mist, bad. Kill them all. You can find them at the top of a bell tower. Or, Lightning Strikes? Needs to move in faster. Something concrete we could work with.”
That made her laugh. “Oh, I wish it were that simple. But you know very well that the Fates can’t alter the course of destiny, and are limited to speaking in riddles and generalities. They are allowed that much leeway, and no more. The Norns are bound by the same rules, according to Freya.”
I paused, blinking. “You talk to Freya?”
“Yes, why?”
“I didn’t know the Greeks and the Norse played footsie.”
“We don’t, but she and I happened to pass each other on the World Tree…and no, it’s not the same branch that’s down in the Sandspit. We talk.”
I thought for a moment. “What about going to the Conglomerate? We could tell them about the Order of the Black Mist and Lyon. Maybe they can uproot the Tunnels and drive them out? Isn’t it time to enlist some human help on this?” But even as I said it, I knew it was a fool’s cause. “Never mind. Ten to one, World Regency was holding that disk for some corporation that’s part of the Conglomerate. They probably already know about all this.” Thirsty, I stood. If I remembered right, there was some juice in the break room.
“Which is why…watch the sky-eyes, Fury. The Devani seem up in arms, and I gather they were massing on the north side of Croix. There’s something going down with the Conglomerate, and I’m not certain what they’re up to. None of the gods are. The governments tell us what they think we want to hear, in hopes that we’re as gullible as their people.”
That the Devani were massing was an issue. They pledged total allegiance to the government. I started to answer when the floor began to sway beneath my feet. Instantly, I was on my hands and knees. Tam and Jason dropped to the floor as well.
The Seattle Fault Complex was as dangerous as the Andreas Fault System. As the sound of thunder filled the room, the floor rippled beneath my hands and knees. From out in the streets, I could hear screaming, and the sound of concrete and brick hitting the ground. Darktown was made up of predominantly older buildings, many of which had already been through the World Shift. How well would they hold? How well would Dream Wardens hold?
The lights flickered once, twice, and then went out as the rumbling continued. The infrastructure wasn’t very stable down here in Darktown. I crawled beneath one of the display tables. The crashing of items around us as they rattled off the shelves was a grim reminder that we had too much glass in the shop. As the sound intensified, I pressed my hands to my ears. A moment later—it might have been sixty seconds, it might have been two minutes—the ground slowly ground to a halt.
“Kae? Are you all right?” Jason’s voice echoed eerily in the darkness from what sounded like the back of the shop. “Tam?”
“I’m okay, I think.” I crawled out from beneath the table, bracing myself for any aftershocks.
“I’m fine.” Tam’s voice echoed from near me. “Damn it. Be careful if you’re crawling—there’s glass all over the floor. Found a shard the hard way.”
Shaking, I slowly pulled myself to my feet, scraping my knee on some sharp metal object as I stood. I pulled out my phone, but the next moment, there was a light shining in the middle of the shop. Jason stood there, a scroll in hand, the light emanating directly in front of him. I knew it wasn’t one of his specialties, so I figured it had come from the scroll.
“How did you find that in the dark?”
“I always keep a couple of them in the emergency kit, and I know exactly where that kit is at all times. Let’s take stock. Are you sure you’re okay? Everybody to the sofa.”
“I just scraped my knee. I have no idea how bad it is, but it stings a little.” As I followed him—and the light—over to the seating area, Tam approached from the other side. A jagged piece of glass was sticking out of his hand, blood oozing down the sides.
“Damn, that look
s nasty. Jason, where’s the first-aid kit?” I turned toward the far side of the store where we normally kept the healing powders. It was impossible to tell what—if anything—was still on the shelves.
“Never mind, I brought the entire emergency kit. Tam, sit next to Kae. I have to hold the light, so she’ll have to bandage you up.”
That was one bad thing about some of the lower-echelon light spells. The caster had to keep contact with the scroll as long as he wanted the light to last. Which precluded the use of his hands for anything else.
“You couldn’t have picked a better scroll to tuck away for emergencies? Like a Light Up spell, or Daylight?” I didn’t mean for my words to come out so sharp, but they did, slicing the silence.
“Pardon me, but I didn’t expect an earthquake. I just…threw together some of the things that might come in handy. Now, help Tam.” Jason let out a low grumble, then added, “I’ll find a better one as soon as you get his hand fixed up. Then we’ll go outside and see what Darktown looks like.” He didn’t sound very hopeful, though.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. It’s been a tense evening already and now this… Anyway, Tam, this is going to hurt when I pull the glass out.”
Tam shrugged. “I can handle pain.” The offhand way in which he said it made me wonder whether he could negate his own shock and fear the way he could take care of ours.
I found a rag and wrapped it around the glass. No use me cutting myself as well. “Okay, are you ready?”
“Just do it, Fury. I’ll be fine,” he said softly, leaning in to smile at me. “I promise.”
“Okay, then…here goes.” I grimaced as I yanked the glass out of his hand. Blood spurted from his palm, but I was ready for it, slapping a thick mound of gauze over the wound. As I applied pressure, the blood oozed through the cloth and spread over my hand. I wasn’t squeamish, but it looked to me Tam was bleeding too quickly.
“Don’t worry,” he said, when I voiced my concern. “Head and hands always bleed profusely. Just apply some antibacterial ointment and then some syniskin to stop the bleeding. It will work on the Fae as well as humans and Theosians.”
“Get ready to hold the compress with your other hand while I go find the syniskin and ointment. But I should wash my hands first.”
But an aftershock put an end to the conversation, rolling the ground beneath our feet. While it wasn’t as big as the main quake, it wasn’t easy and light, either. As the room came to rest again without falling down around our necks, I headed for the back room, praying that I wouldn’t trip over anything. Jason was up and following me the moment he saw where I was going.
I turned on the faucet and water streamed out. At least we hadn’t lost running water as well as the electricity. I rinsed my hands as best as I could, and then, not wanting to wipe them so I wouldn’t get any possible contamination from the towels, I headed back to Tam. I quickly opened a can of antiseptic spray and sprayed the wound as he lifted up the sopping mass of gauze, then with my other hand, I sprayed on the syniskin right over the broken skin. He could wash it later, though I had no doubt the wound would start bleeding again.
As the spray hit his hand, it formed a barrier over the wound and the blood quickly stopped flowing. Little rivulets tried to find their way from beneath the coating, but it adhered so tightly, and contained a natural coagulant, that the blood had no choice but to ooze to a stop.
Once Tam was patched up, I wrapped his hand in fresh gauze to cushion it until we could get him to proper medical care. Then, with Jason’s help, we gathered our things from the back room and headed out into the streets of Darktown to assess the damage.
Chapter 17
The first indicator of how bad things were was the screaming coming from the direction of the Monotrain. There were flames coming from north Darktown, flickering into the night sky like an ugly beacon. People were running every which way, escaping into the streets. Some of the already fragile ruins had tumbled completely, but for the most part, to my amazement, Darktown was standing.
Jason motioned to Up-Cakes. “It looks like a total mess in there. But at least the windows are holding, and the building seems secure. I need to call Shevron and tell her not to come down here.”
“I believe this section of Darktown was built during a time when Seattle required earthquake retrofitting. While this quake gave us a good shaking, I doubt if it was more than a 6.5. Maybe a little larger than other recent ones, but definitely not one to destroy the city.” Tam glanced at his hand. The bandage was still holding. “We should get off the street, though. I imagine the sky-eyes will be out in droves to assess the damage, and if they even suspect that weather magic played a part in this, they’re going to be keeping an eye out for anybody with a strong magical signature. Like Theosians,” he said, pointedly looking at me. He held as little love for the Corp-Rats as I did.
My phone picked that moment to ring. I fished it out from my pocket and glanced at the caller ID. Hecate again. “Hello?”
“Are you all right? Where are you?” Hecate sounded shaken, and I wondered if anything had happened with the Greenlings, given this quake was most likely magically induced.
“I’m still down at Dream Wardens with Jason and Tam. I haven’t been home to find out what my place is like.”
“Send Queet. Meanwhile, I want the three of you to find a safe place to stay, ground level, sturdy building. I haven’t heard anything from Jerako, in case you were wondering. But Tigra—from Lightning Strikes—is heading out into the city to find the epicenter of the quake so she can figure out whether it was magical or not.”
“Want to make a bet?”
Hecate laughed, her voice flat. “I never take a sucker bet. You should text Tigra once you find a place to stay. She’s going to want to talk to you about the Thunderstrike.”
I asked her to hold for a moment and summoned Queet. “I need you to find out what state my apartment is in.” He whisked away without a word, and I turned to Jason and Tam, telling them what Hecate had said. “We need a safe place to stay—she said ground level, in a sturdy building. I sent Queet to scope out my apartment. It’s a walkup, but we can stay there if need be.”
“We could stay over the shop in my apartment, but I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that, just in case of a bad aftershock. And let’s face it, Kae, your building is a million years old. Or at least, it’s old enough to be dangerous.” Jason glanced back at the building behind us, where his shop was, as if expecting it to keel over on our heads any moment.
“I know a place,” Tam said. “But it’s in the Sandspit, near the World Tree. You’re going to have to trust me, because it’s a dangerous path.”
I paused. Going into the Sandspit was dangerous to begin with. I almost never set foot inside the gated enclosure, not even when hunting Aboms. “Let’s wait till Queet—”
“I’m back.” Queet was in full whisper-speak mode, so both Jason and Tam could hear him. “Your apartment building is standing but they’ve got it flagged. I peeked inside and there are a lot of cracks in your ceiling. You’d better start looking for new dinnerware. I wouldn’t chance going there tonight, not even to get your things. However, I’ll bet Hecate could bring you your sword and probably a change of clothing. The Elder Gods are good at that sort of thing.”
Even with the sobering news, I stifled a snort. Queet was right. Hecate could do that, but asking her to run my errands? I’d have to think about that for a minute. But then, reality sank in. I couldn’t go back to my apartment, and that meant finding another place to stay. Since Dream Wardens didn’t seem all that safe, we might have to give Tam’s route a go.
Sighing, I returned to the phone. “Listen, my apartment’s a no-go. And Jason doesn’t trust Dream Wardens—”
“Good. Multi-story buildings aren’t a good idea right now.”
“Right, well, Tam said he knows a safe place in the Sandspit. Listen, can you nip into my apartment somehow and grab my swo
rd and some clothes? Thanks!” I hung up before she could say anything. For one thing, I knew that she wouldn’t be thrilled about us heading into the Sandspit. For another, I had just asked one of the Elder Gods to fetch my things for me and while I figured she would be a good sport and do it, she’d never let me forget it, either.
Jason and Tam were staring at me, mouths open.
“I’m sure she’ll understand. So, I guess we head out to your hiding place, Tam.” My phone rang again. As I cleared my throat and answered, Hecate came on the line loud and clear.
“Next time you want an errand girl, call one of the demi-goddesses.” Her voice sounded so loud I could have sworn she was behind me.
“I’m sorry. I just…” I paused. Tam and Jason were snickering. I shushed them but at that moment, a tap on the shoulder startled me and I spun around. Hecate was actually standing there, towering over me, carrying a tote bag and my sword.
“Here.” She dropped them at my feet. “Satisfied? Now, tell me why you are planning on going into the Sandspit?”
“Because I have a hidey-hole there.” Tam winked at her and I rubbed my forehead, groaning. It was bad enough I had acted the way I had, but to have one of my friends wink at the goddess who held my leash was just one step over the line.
But Hecate grinned at him. “Don’t you try to put a Come-Hither on me, young Fae. Even though you are a pretty sight, you are.” But then, she sobered. “You’d best get moving. This is going to be a long night, with looters out. Tomorrow morning, Fury, I want you to go back out to the Arbortariam. Beg leeway from Jerako. I could tell he liked you. Take Tam with you. We need to make certain the Greenlings don’t start tearing up the place until we have a chance to take this Lyon character down. Then, come see me. All of you.” Her expression grim, she stood back, crossing her arms over her chest. “Seriously, this could be the beginning of the end. The Fates say whatever happens, it’s going to change things around the planet. We’re just trying to negate as much of the damage as we can.”