Fury Rising (Fury Unbound Book 1) (12 page)

Jason’s car was a spiffy low-rider wonder, a self-driving model with a manual override option. When the gas and oil crises got too bad, the manufacturers had finally moved beyond electric models, which had proven untenable for the long run, and instead developed a sustainable form of fuel and non-toxic batteries.

Unfortunately, even though agroline was affordable, the government stacked on so many taxes that it was difficult for the average commuter to own a car. Add to that, parking costs were at such a premium that most people just gave up and used mass transit. The Monotrain was the easiest and swiftest way to get around the city.

As we sped along the freeway, I tried to think of something to say. I wasn’t sure if Jason even wanted to talk. I glanced over him, trying to gauge his expression, but hawk-shifters were cagey and hard to read. Finally, I decided that he could start the conversation when he was ready. I leaned back in my seat and stared out the window. I thought about trying to pinpoint the Abom on my inner Trace, but we were rapidly moving away from Seattle and he’d be out of range entirely soon.

Seattle sat on the edge of the Pacific Sound. Bend was about an hour inland, southeast of the city, deep into the Wild Wood. In the distant past, the suburbs had sprawled for miles outside of the cities, but eventually both small towns and big cities had became localized, and the natural world was allowed to reclaim the space between metropolis areas.

Lining both sides of the freeway was a thick wall of fir and cedar, interspersed with oak and birch and aspen. The undergrowth was made up of vast copses of fern and huckleberry, stinging nettle and skunk cabbage and all manner of wildflowers and shrubs. Small streams trickled through the foliage, reinforced from the glaciers that rose, icy and sparkling in the western Cascades and their foothills. The water moistened the forest floor, creating ravines and gullies and meadows in the resurgence of the natural world that had taken hold since the World Shift.

The ravines were deep and dangerous, filled with wildlife. Most of the animals would run if you came at them, but the cougars and bears usually held their ground. Hunting was illegal, save for in certain areas that were strictly bordered. Given all the Weres who had appeared when the doors on the World Tree opened, hunting had to be regulated. As a result, the ecosystem had a thriving array of predators and prey.

Dusk was falling. Outside the city, the air cooled quickly, given the absence of concrete, and before long, the evening mist would rise thick and soupy, to drift over the roads.

It’d been a while since I’ve been away from Seattle and I found myself sinking into a state of relaxation that I seldom was able to manage in the city.

“My family comes out to the woods every week or so, so we can fly.” Jason’s voice startled me, I had been so wrapped up in watching the miles pass by. “Eileen never could wait, though. She had to fly every day or she was unhappy.”

I lazily rolled my head to look at him. He had switched over to manual driving and was focused on the road, but he looked calmer. Cities weren’t a natural element for most shifters.

“When was the first time you took wing? I don’t think I ever asked you.” I figured that if I overstepped my boundaries, he would tell me.

“I was five years old when I learned to fly. I first shifted when I was four. Most hawk-shifters take wing between five and six years old. It’s a scary time, and even more frightening for the parents. So much can go wrong when a shifter first learns to transform. That’s pretty much across the board for all Weres and shifters.”

“I thought puberty was the trouble-time.”

“Oh, it’s also a bad time. The same hormones that drive human teenagers nuts are even more problematic when you add in shifter DNA. There have been cases when a shifter or a Were went into a hormonal crisis in the middle of transformation and got stuck.”

I had never even thought of such a thing happening. “What do you do?”

“It’s an incredibly painful situation, and the majority of cases end in death. Usually, the Alpha Mother of the Cast or Pack ends up putting the victim down. No matter how it ends, it’s traumatic for the entire extended family unit. The few who survive never forget, and some of them are so traumatized they lose their ability to shift.”

“What happens to them?”

He didn’t answer for a moment, then said, “They’re exiled from the Cast. They wouldn’t be able to handle life among those who make the transition successfully. They’re usually sent to work among humans who live in the Wild Wood. We place them in low-risk, low-stress occupations.”

“Never seeing their family again? Harsh.”

“Sometimes being harsh is the best love you can give someone.”

“Given how much can go wrong, I must have been easy to handle then, when I showed up on your doorstep.” I gave him a sideways glance.

Jason snorted. “Are you kidding? A Theosian yoked to Hecate? I was constantly terrified I’d do something wrong and have the Dark One on my back. Or that the government would come hunting for you.”

“Well, Tam took care of the latter, at least. Though I wouldn’t take a chance on trying to live outside of Darktown, Portside, or the Trips, even though I’m off-grid. It’s too easy to draw attention from the sky-eyes when I’m out on the hunt.”

The government not only insisted on chipping all the Theosians to keep tabs on us, they also restricted where we could live. Croix, North Shore, and Uptown were off limits, reserved for human and Were inhabitation only, though allowances were made for the Theosians who rose to stardom because of their powers. Briarwood was mostly inhabited by the Fae. Theosians
could
live out on the Tremble, but that was just asking for trouble. The NW Quarters gangs hated us, though technically, the Corp-Rats didn’t care if we lived there. So we mainly congregated in Darktown, the Trips, and Portside.

Occasionally, a Theosian would turn up missing, and nobody would ever find out what happened to them, but we all knew what happened. If the Conglomerate found out that one of us had any strong bent for telepathy or bilocation, the potential for spying on other countries was too great of a temptation. More than one of my kind had disappeared when their powers grew too noticeable. When Tam helped me go off-grid, Hecate applauded the move. I just had to watch myself when I was hunting, and stay away from the sky-eyes when I wasn’t in the thick of a crowd.

“The Corp-Rats are always looking for how they can make use of my kind. At least they tend to leave the Weres and shifters alone.”

“That’s because they haven’t found effective ways of taking us down. Theosians tend to be much more pliable than Weres and the Fae, because you began life as human while first in the womb. But back to your question, do you
really
think you were easy to handle? If it hadn’t been for Shevron, I would have gone crazy trying to figure out what to do with you. I’m just glad I found you before some bogey did.”

I nodded solemnly. “I’m not sure why I ended up on your doorstep. I think I knew my mother trusted you. I had no idea that I could transport myself like that—I’ve never been able to do it again without help from Hecate.”

“Your sense of self-preservation kicked in. You had just witnessed one of the most horrific things I can think of and you knew you were next. My theory is that you used every ounce of magical energy you had to propel yourself out of the situation. And since your subconscious knew that your mother trusted me, that’s probably why you ended up on my doorstep.”

I stared out into the approaching dusk. “Do you ever regret taking me in?” It was a question I had never asked, but sometimes wondered.

“Honestly? I do it again in a heartbeat. Kae,
never
feel that you have ever been—or ever are—a burden. I wish the circumstances had been different, but I’m glad you’re in my life. Really, when I think about it, you’re one of my best friends.” He was silent for a moment. “I can’t believe she’s gone, Kae.”

“I know. I want to promise that it’s going to be okay, but I don’t make promises lightly.”

Jason let out a sigh. “I know. I’ll be all right, but this wasn’t in the plan. This wasn’t supposed to happen.” After a moment he added, “I
did
love her, you know that, right?

Wondering why he felt he had to ask me, I gave him a confused nod.

“Even though our marriage was arranged when we were children, I really
liked
Eileen. And I would have done the best I could as her husband. Even though I wasn’t ready to get married, I would have tried to make her happy.”

And right then, I realized that what I had thought was a great love hadn’t been quite the match I had believed.

Chapter 8

If I had ever been to Bend, it was when I was little, when my father was still alive and we could afford an occasional vacation to the Wild Wood. All I knew was that it was one of those towns that, if you blinked twice on your way through, you’d miss it. I leaned forward, staring at the lights ahead as we approached the outskirts.

“What’s Bend like?”

Jason eased off the freeway, onto the short exit ramp leading into town. “It’s a pit stop, really, on the way to Spokane.”

Spokane was the other large city on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountain Range. The range divided the region into two distinct climates. The western side, where Seattle sat on the ocean’s edge, was temperate with lush forest growth, though winters were snow-shrouded. The eastern side, where Spokane watched over the land, was sun scorched in summer and a blowing frozen wasteland in winter. Spokane was a lot more dilapidated than Seattle. It had been hit harder during the World Shift and never fully recovered. It had mostly turned into an agricultural hub, far more agrarian in nature.

The Cascades were volcanic, providing rich growing soil on both sides. Mount St. Helens had erupted a number of times since the beginning of the Weather Wars, as had Mount Rainier. Where thriving communities had once nestled at the base of the latter, the Wilds spread, thriving woodlands growing over the pyroclastic flows that had covered the towns once living there.

Several passes offered travel through the range, winding through the towering mountains, though during the winter months they were usually closed because of the rolling avalanches that thundered down to cover the roads and anything that happened to be on them.

“I’ve never been to Spokane. I’ve never been any place other than Seattle, really.” The world was huge, but my personal world suddenly felt provincial.

Jason hushed me. “You have lived through things that would have turned some people into hermits. You belong to Hecate. I wouldn’t call that sheltered.”

With a shrug, I continued to stare out into the night. “I suppose...but I think sometimes that I’m at a disadvantage. I envy you shifters and Weres and the Fae. You can go where you want. Even humans can. You have the chance to see the world as you decide. I don’t. Theosians are forever chained to the Elder Gods.”

“What do you want, Kae? What do you want out of life? I don’t know that I’ve ever heard you talk about any goals or dreams.”

I frowned. What did I want? My job was set from the day I was born and offered up to Hecate. I couldn’t come and go at will, unless I vanished into the Wild Wood where the Corp-Rats couldn’t chase me. So what did I want? A husband? A family?

“I think…I want to have a little house somewhere out of the city, where I can practice magic, and do what Hecate wills, and maybe…maybe someday the man of my dreams will appear on the doorstep to complete the picture.” It was as clear of a goal as I could make, and as I said the words aloud, I realized that yes, I did want something of this nature.

“Really? No life as a priestess in the temple for you?”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t like being cooped up anywhere. I guess what I want is what anybody wants. Happiness. Maybe a little freedom, although I do love Hecate. She’s always treated me right. Sounds like I might as well be a human, right?” I forced a laugh to cover the sudden hiccup in my heart that told me I really did feel alone most of the time.

“You
were
human once…before you were born.” He adjusted the tint of the windshield, turning it up against the sun that was still several hours away from setting. Then, changing the subject, he said, “We’re almost there. Where are we supposed to meet Tigra?”

I pushed aside my shifting mood. “At the Casa Café Shop.” I checked my phone, glancing at the message Hecate had sent me with the directions to the diner. “It’s not far from here, I think. The west side of town, near the freeway exit, on 70
^th
Street. Remember, be cautious. There’s going to be debris all over.”

“Right.” Jason plugged the directions into the GPS and we took the next exit. But as we entered the center of Bend, he eased the car over to the curb and coasted to a stop. The cheerful exterior of the town had vanished, awash in a vast sprawl of devastation.