Fury Rising (Fury Unbound Book 1) (5 page)

“Facing my mother’s murderer was harder than any Abomination I’ve had to kill.” I held his gaze, feeling both jaded and very young at the same time.

“I know, kiddo. I remember.”

Jason had taken me in from the time I was thirteen, after I had been forced to watch my mother die at the hands of a ruthless serial killer. He had given me a place to stay, fed me, sent me to school, and made sure I got my ass to my lessons with Hecate. Thirteen years later, when I was twenty-six, I tracked down my mother’s murderer and cursed him for life. I had wanted to kill him, but Hecate had other plans. That night, I took the name
Fury
. It fit.

And Jason? He had never turned his back on me, and I would never turn my back on him.

“I’m not a kid anymore and you know it,” I said softly. “I’m thirty now, and Hecate expects me to do what she asks. Failure is not an option, and there’s no getting out of the gig when you’re born one of the Theosians.”

He laughed as he pushed himself off the sofa and returned to his work. “Kae, I’m a hawk-shifter. I’m two hundred and twenty-four years old. Minor goddess or not, you’re still a kid to me. Get used to it.” But he hesitated, and I felt his gaze lingering on me for a moment. Then he went back to his work. “I have to finish making this spell powder. We’re out and people will be coming in today looking for it. Apparently, it’s Bonny Fae week.”

“Oh, crap.” The Bonny Fae came into Seattle from the Wild Wood twice a year. When they did, it seemed like every eligible man or woman in the city wanted to catch their attention. Dream Wardens sold a lot of love and lust spells during this time. The fact that potions and powders seldom worked on the Fae didn’t seem to harm business. People believed what they wanted to believe.

“That means everybody and their brother’s going to be walking around under a glamour spell, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, it gets better. Not only are the Bonny Fae in town, but the Portside Festival begins tomorrow afternoon. I can use the extra manpower if you want to put in a few hours for me.” He rolled his eyes, but I knew full well that Jason loved the pageants and festivals as much as the rest of us did. He just put on a good front of being world-weary.

“As long as I don’t have to simper over Tam.” I grinned at him. Tam O’Reilly was our techno-witch. He was as brilliant as they came, and he was one of the Bonny Fae. At the other end of the spectrum, we had Hans. The brawn of Dream Wardens, he was a Theosian like me, a motorcycle nut, and yoked to Thor. His girlfriend was in training to be a Valkyrie.

“Tam loves it and you know it. Anyway, don’t you want to catch yourself a gorgeous husband?” Now he was just goading me.

“When and
if
I look for a husband, my hunt won’t be cloaked under a spell or illusion. There’s only one reason to get married—if the couple can’t keep their hands off each other. And even then, I’d think twice. From what I have seen, most marriages aren’t destined to end well.” I didn’t add that I had noticed that while Jason was engaged, he and Eileen hadn’t set the date yet, and they seemed in no hurry to do so.

“Well, most marriages that actually work are usually based on some sort of economic incentive.” He glanced at the clock. “You should call Hecate. She’ll be waiting.”

“She said she’d call,” I muttered, but I pulled out my phone. I texted her that I was awake and up, but there had been no answer as of yet. “She knows I’m ready when she is. Until I hear from her, put me to work.”

Even as I was speaking, the shop door opened and three young women wandered in. They were giggling and dressed in Lamar’s—one of the trendiest designers, whose unmistakable style was cropping up all over town. That alone pegged them as outliers to Darktown. Almost nobody who lived south of Croix had the money to buy high-end

Jason was still tied up with finishing the spell powder, so I approached them, looking forward to helping them as much as a dentist’s appointment.

“May I help you find something?”

The center one—a blond bombshell—blushed. “We’re looking for…”

I
knew
what they were looking for. “Let me guess. You heard the Bonny Fae are in town and you’re looking for something to make yourself more attractive so you’ll catch their eye?”

Jason had just finished, and now he cleared his throat. As I glanced at him, he scowled. I let out a sigh and plastered on a smile.

“Perhaps you’ll allow me to show you something in a glamour spell?”

Inwardly, I cringed, but I was a pretty good actress when need be. I had no problem helping people who genuinely needed help. In fact, I was more than willing to go the extra mile, especially if they were looking for protection spells or healing magic. But dabblers annoyed me.

Jason and I had argued the point over and over. His stance was that he was here to serve, not to judge. But I knew damned well that he felt the same way I did. He was just better at hiding it.

The girl bit her lip. “Yes, if it’s not too much trouble.”

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “No trouble at all. Please excuse my churlishness. I had a late night and very little sleep.” I gave her a tired smile and she relaxed.

They followed me over to the other counter. I set out several options—all of which Jason had finished making the night before. He usually sold several thousand spells of one sort or another during Bonny Fae week.

“We have scrolls, but scrolls are better if you are already familiar with magic. Should I assume you aren’t?” I smiled to take the potential insult out of my voice.

The girls nodded. Their spokeswoman gave a little shrug. “We’re students at University Hall. I’m majoring in business, Cindy is studying home management, and Alisa studies social dynamics. We don’t have much time for extracurricular activities.”

I glanced over at Jason, who was obviously listening in. He cringed at the word “extracurricular” but merely gave me a nod of encouragement. As much as I wanted to tell them to go back to the university and find themselves husbands as quick as they could because they were probably going to need them, I restrained myself.

“This might work better.” I set out three little bottles of oil. They were decorative and looked like cut crystal, but were actually just glass. During Bonny Fae week, Jason could charge three times what he normally did for them, at half the cost.

“This is glamour oil. You dab a drop on your pulse points before you go out. We don’t guarantee it will attract the person you’re looking for, but it
will
add to your personal magnetism and charisma. Though I doubt if any of you need much help.”

Jason was right. A smile went a long ways, and so did a compliment. In the end, not only did they each buy a bottle of the oil, but I was able to steer them to music and tarot cards and blank journals. In other words: anything they couldn’t screw up too much. As soon as they shuffled out the door, I groaned and dropped on the stool behind the counter. The shop was momentarily empty.

“I
really
hate Bonny Fae week. Portside Festival is bad enough, but at least the shoppers aren’t looking for ways to manipulate somebody into marrying them. Do these girls even realize
what
it’s like to marry outside their race? Humans do
not
live in the same world as the Fae, regardless of how glamorous the tabloids make it sound.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, sugar. But there’s not much I can do about it. And if
I
don’t sell it to them, somebody else is going to. I might as well make money
and
ensure they get quality products.” Jason paused as his phone rang.

As he moved away to answer it, I glanced over at Hans. He had come in while I was helping the girls. “What’s your opinion? Should we really be selling these girls love potions?”

Hans shrugged. “They’re adults. If they don’t know what they’re getting into, then it’s their own fault for not doing the proper research. And really, is it any of our business what they want to do with their lives? That’s one thing you need to learn, Fury. You can’t make life choices for everybody. When you think someone’s making a mistake, sometimes you just have to let them burn their fingers.”

“He’s right,” Tam said from behind me as he emerged from his computer cave—aka the break room.

“You’re Bonny Fae. What’s your take on this?”

Tam ran on a moral scale a lot more ambiguous than Jason’s. His kind had emerged out of the woodlands after the Weather Wars and after the World Shift. I had no idea if they had entered via the World Tree or if they had always been around, and I doubted if there was anybody alive who knew. Except, perhaps, the gods.

“The Bonny Fae come to town looking for mates to keep the bloodline from growing too inbred. Since Fae blood breeds true, and trumps human blood, it doesn’t matter whether the mother or father is human. As long as one parent carries the Bonny Fae genes, all children will carry them and breed true.”

“Do most of the marriages last?” I still had my doubts. Moving into a different culture was hard enough, but to marry into a people who weren’t even your species seemed an uphill battle.

“I’d say about a third of the marriages actually work out. If they don’t, the union is dissolved, but all children stay within our realm. We free those spouses who choose to leave and charm them so they won’t mourn the loss. Most of the failures are due to the human partner missing their old life. Life in Briarwood isn’t for everyone.”

“It’s very different, isn’t it?” I had no clue how the Fae actually lived, but I had a feeling it wasn’t anything like life in the city.

“Very. Also, just so you’re aware, we can see right through glamour spells so all the magic in the world isn’t going to do anybody any good if we don’t find them suitable. That’s a fact Jason better hope that nobody figures out. It would put a deep dent into business.” With a faint wink, Tam headed to the counter and handed Jason the invoice for his morning’s service call.

Jason scanned the paper, putting his phone away. As he scribbled his initials on the paper, he absently said, “Eileen can’t make it today, which is just as well. I don’t think I have time for lunch. So how did the session go?”

“About as good as you would hope. The woman has a number of
catchalls
attached to her. I removed as many as I could, but she’s going to need a couple more sessions, and then she’s going to have to learn how to ward against them. I don’t foresee that going well, given she lives in a nest of toxic people. Fury, you might cadge a job out of her by clearing her house. If you can clean out the energy there, she might have a chance to set up boundaries and wards.”

“Give me her number and I’ll call her,” I said as my phone signaled a text message. I pulled it out and glanced at the screen.
Hecate.

Get Your Ass Over Here Now.

I glanced over at Jason, grimacing. “I just got summoned. I think she’s pissed. I just hope I’m not the cause of it. I’d better get it over with.”

Jason nodded. “Let me know how it goes. If you have the time, I think I can book you a couple readings for this afternoon. And Kae—” He paused, then flashed me a smile. “Good luck.”

“Thanks. I think I’m going to need it. Something has her in a snit.” I headed out the door, suddenly wishing for a flurry of young women looking for husbands to give me an excuse to avoid the coming meeting.

Chapter 4

Seattle occupied a wide spot on the inlet, sprawling between the mountains and the Pacific Sound, which came in off the ocean. Unlike a number of cities around the world, Seattle had managed to stand during the Weather Wars. Even though it had taken a beating, over the centuries it had rebounded.

The city planners wanted to preserve the delicate balance that had evolved. Smooth metal and glass met marble and fresco in a mashup of futuristic and ancient design—at least in the upper-crust areas. Darktown was still filled with the rubble that had come in on Gaia’s wrath and had been written off, along with the Trips, the Sandspit, the Junk Yard, and the Bogs.

But even through the rubble, Seattle—like other world cities of its type: New London, Elder Moon, Bifrost, Paris, and Black Forest—had become a thriving center of culture and community.

When I needed to meet with Hecate, I headed toward the Peninsula of the Gods, better known as the
PotG
.

The Peninsula of the Gods was located near the southwestern edge of the inlet, primarily to assuage the priests who worshipped the water deities. The planners were smart. The placement also tended to keep any magical pyrotechnics away from the central city, should neighboring temples get into a skirmish. Pantheons were grouped to avoid conflict. As a proverb went,
When dealing with the gods, one deals with danger
. The Convocation of Gods had done their best to iron out treaties and codes of conduct among themselves.

The PotG occupied several miles of paved land rectangular in shape and tiered on all sides like rice paddies. Each temple had green space around it for gardens. The entire sector reminded me of a series of mini-parks surrounding gleaming structures. Or at least, most of the temples gleamed. Some were formed of marble, others carved from giant blocks of granite, others were chrome and glass, but they all housed the emissaries of the gods.