City In Embers Read online

  “I’m impressed. That never happens.” Garrett clapped his hands slowly. His form now fully faced our way. We had captured his complete attention.

  The sky flashed again, and lightning zigzagged across the dark, furious sky. Lightning storms were nothing new to Seattle, but everything about this one tickled at my seer senses. Its energy prickled the back of my neck, triggering my intuition.

  “Not here for your amusement.” Daniel’s voice broke through my fixed scrutiny of the storm. “Let’s all leave here unharmed.” My neck craned to look at him. He was motioning with his head for me to move toward the exit.

  Garrett laughed and took a step toward us. My mind tried to evaluate the scene and figure out how we could escape. Running seemed to be our only option. It was a feeble plan, as we would have to run like hell and hope they stayed behind with Ryker and his girlfriend.

  My hand quaked only slightly as I held my handgun on Garrett. “Don’t get any closer.” Sometimes I sounded like a cop drama. “The bullets are fae-made. I will shoot to kill.”

  His eyebrow curved up. “The human has come to play, huh?” His accent again was so thick it was like walking through mud trying to make out what he was saying.

  Daniel pushed his gun forward, the muzzle never wavering. “If you move one more step, I will show you how much we like to play.”

  The Irishman’s smile curled the side of his mouth. “I love when your kind thinks they are on the same level as us.” He winked at me.

  It was my fault. I should have noticed Garrett was trying to distract me. If I had been doing my job, watching Daniel’s back, I would have seen Maxen was not actually unconscious.

  The body lying on the ground lurched up, his outline hazy with speed, and moved behind Daniel. It was a split second, but it felt more like years passed, because my brain suddenly understood what was happening.

  “Daniel!” I took a step toward him. “Noooooo...”

  The man’s hands snatched Daniel’s neck and twisted. The sound of a spine snapping echoed in my ears, each vertebrae popping like bubble wrap. Daniel’s eyes widened with realization before his life fled from him. His body fell in a heap.

  A blood-curling scream rang in the air—the sound of my heart being sliced in half. As if the storm felt my pain, a bolt of lightning hit the building next to us. The roof ignited with fire. Heat swept down on our group, but none of them seemed to notice.

  My body was paralyzed; my eyes locked on Daniel. My mentor, the man I loved, my partner. Dead.

  Chaos broke out around me in an indistinct blur. Yelling and movement circled me, but nothing mattered. I found myself on my knees beside Daniel, screaming at him to wake up. Irrationality took over. He’d be mad at me for letting my guard down. For not taking my chance and running. I was going to die. These men would kill me. But without him, I no longer cared. He had been my whole world.

  Lexie. You have Lexie. I could hear him respond. The dream of him and me taking Lexie away and starting our family far away from this life had been the reason I kept getting up in the morning. Now the dream was gone.

  A body landed next to me as the Viking tried to get to his girlfriend. “Ryker, get out of here,” the girl repeated over and over. His answer was to growl and dive deeper into the throng of men. There were more of them than him. He was fighting a losing battle. The dozen men finally halted him with guns and knives pointed at his head and chest.

  “Ryker, give us what we want, and you can go.” Garrett strode to him, ignoring me. I was clearly little threat to Garrett, but I also knew he would not let me walk away from here. My gaze darted around the alley. My only escape was behind me, and I was sure I wouldn’t get far. “You have my word.”

  “Your word is what I wipe my ass with each morning, Garrett.” Ryker’s lip hitched up in a snarl.

  Garrett’s eyes glinted in amusement. “You don’t trust me? I am so hurt.” He took a methodical step closer to Ryker. “Where is the stone?”

  Ryker’s expression gave nothing away. He kept staring back like Garrett was a brick wall.

  The reality of Daniel’s death and my situation was sinking in. My fingers shook as I touched his face, lowering his lids. “I love you,” I whispered. I never told him in words. I knew he knew, but the regret of never actually telling him sat heavy on my heart.

  As the fae continued to argue, I assessed my escape options. I had been trained for situations like this, but if Garrett wanted me, I had no chance. If I must join Daniel, I would go down fighting. I gripped the butt of my gun tighter. I was a collector, not a killer, but if I had to shoot every person in this alley to get Daniel’s body out. I would do it.

  My legs straightened to bring me to full height. I drew and aimed at Garrett’s heart, using the huge Viking as a shield, my finger ready to pull the trigger. The special bullets were designed to kill fae. Eventually. Going straight into their blood stream, ultimately poisoning them.

  Lightning continued to flare across the sky. Sirens blazed over the wind, the air crackling with energy. The top of the Space Needle peeked over the roofs of the alley we were in. The air was suffocating with a force and power I’d never felt. As I looked up, a rod burning with flames of blue and green ripped across the sky, slamming into the iconic monument.

  A roar deafened me as the electricity hit the metal and reflected off the tower, directly for us. The bolt fixated on Ryker, slamming into the middle of his chest and throwing him back. It burrowed through him, exiting his back, and found its new target. Me.

  My body was thrown in the air. Screams of agony wiggled in my throat, but never made it out. Pain so unreal shredded every nerve, every fiber of my being. White blinding light took over my eyesight. Something slammed into me and flung me to the ground. The sensation felt far off. Everything did.

  I could not see or feel, but my hearing recovered enough to catch the shrill sound of metal tearing, bending, and twisting against itself. The whining torment of the structure went silent for a brief second before screams and frantic footsteps vibrated my eardrums.

  “The Needle is coming down!”

  “Run.”

  These were the only things I could hear before my body felt the ground move underneath. In the distance, I could make out a hazy outline of Seattle’s Space Needle crashing in large chunks, heading for the earth below.

  There were no words to explain the sound or the violence as the world shook and Seattle’s icon made contact with the ground. The only thing I knew with certainty was I was going to die here.

  I closed my eyes and waited for the end.

  FIVE

  A faraway flap of consciousness tickled at my brain. Gradually it sharpened as pain rippled through my sleep, searing and throbbing. Every muscle burned and ached. My stomach felt as if I had been shot with a machine gun, like rounds and rounds had been torn into my lining, leaving my guts on the ground next to me. My entire body was locked with trauma, unable to move.

  My lids slowly blinked, taking several times to commit to staying open. It was pitch black. I could not see anything except for a vague outline.

  Shit! I was blind.

  Then I noticed warm breath fluttering over my cheek. My brain started to understand the object obscuring my vision was a body. I squinted at the form on me. I was not blind or paralyzed but had a six-three solid man with a Mohawk on top of me. I tried to shift, but he didn’t budge, still out cold. His torso curled protectively over mine. Wreckage laid in heavy clumps around us and on his back. I was sure he had crashed into me facing the other way. When had he turned around? Sheltering my body with his?

  “Hey. Wake up.” My voice came out weak and cracked. I choked and coughed on the dirty debris thick in the air. With all my might, I rolled him off me. He groaned when his back met with a pile of rubble. Air ballooned in my lungs as I took greedy gulps, but I cringed instantly, pain erupting through my chest and stomach. I lay locked in agony, staring at the brightly lit sky. Red and orange reflected off the clouds, declaring fir
e was burning hot in the city.

  The man, Ryker, stirred beside me. His lids fluttered open, and he stared silently above. His expression was severe, etched with an underlying fury. We lay next to each other in silence, edging back into reality. Distant sirens, cries for help, and the steady roar of flames consuming its prey reached us.

  Ryker sat up, an animal-like cry launching from his throat. He clutched at his chest, feeling around frantically. Rising hysteria showed in his movements, and he vaulted to his feet. Blood dripped from his back where pieces of metal, rock, and cement had landed. The axe hanging across his back protected him a little, but from his head to his ankles he was cut and bloody. Given the circumstances he could have been worse. And fae healed quickly.

  “No,” his deep voice muttered. His unsettling white eyes moved around with desperation, which sent a lump of ice to form in my lungs. He had been terrifying before, and now he was even more so. He looked like a cornered animal, ready to strike.

  I sat up. Fear wrapped my gut, prompting me to find a way to escape. My instincts channeled all thoughts to nothing else than getting away from him.

  “What happened? Where did they go?” The Viking’s actions were more and more agitated.

  Night consumed the demolished passage and rendered it nearly impossible to grasp a way out. Clouds of dirt billowed in the air, settling on us. I squinted and searched for an exit. Climbing to my feet, I noticed the entire alleyway was filled with at least two feet of wreckage, except for where we had been. It was as if a force field encased us, defending us from most of the falling fragments. Another thing I noticed was we were alone in the alley. All the other fae either ran or were buried.

  My heart stopped beating.

  “Daniel!” I screamed, forgetting about everything else, including my self-preservation. I tripped and fell on my knees as I climbed over the piles of rubble, trying to get to the spot where Daniel’s body had fallen. I felt no pain as my fingers dug into the rubble, the skin tearing from the tips of my fingers.

  “Daniel.” A choked sob clogged my throat. Fragments rolled down the mound. Like a dog searching for bone, I dug at the pile. I knew he was dead, but it didn’t stop me. The desperate desire to see him, to touch him, to not leave him buried under the debris by himself pushed me through my pain. My eyes blurred with smoke and tears. Even against all logic, I still held hope I was wrong, and if I reached him, he would be alive.

  Hope could be an unforgivable bitch.

  I pulled a block away and gasped. A hand. His hand. My bloody fingers stretched to touch his cold, dead ones. My heart seized in my chest and a lump crawled into my throat.

  Then I was off the ground and being pulled back. One muscular arm clamped around my waist, the other slithered up to my throat, locking at the base of my jaw. “How did this happen? How do you have them?” Ryker growled into my ear. My shock kept me mute. He shook me, compressing down harder on my vocals. “Tell me, human!”

  “I-I... don’t... know... what... you’re... talking... about.” It burned as I forced out each word.

  He dropped me, and I landed hard on my kneecaps. I scrambled up and faced him.

  His pale eyes drove angrily into me, his nostrils flaring, his muscles twitching and flexing with wrath. “I am no fool. Now give them back before I crush your windpipe into dust and stuff your body in with your boyfriend’s.”

  There was not one ounce of falseness in his voice. He would kill me without a thought. Actually, he’d probably enjoy it. My hand inched up to my stomach. My pistol was long gone in a grave of rubble, but my dart gun was still hooked to my waist. I swallowed. “I don’t have anything of yours.”

  His arm jetted straight, his hand going for my throat. With my reflexes ready for his attack, I yanked the dart gun and aimed at his neck. And shot. The dart burrowed under his jaw. He didn’t even flinch, but his arm stopped its progression to me. He blinked once, and I saw ire growing in his eyes. His rage seemed so palpable my skin could almost feel it coming off him.

  It was now or never.

  He lunged for me. I scrambled back, managing to keep my feet underneath me. I turned and ran. The feel of his hand through my hair sent my muscles into full throttle. Like water through fingers, I slipped from his grasp. Adrenaline pushed me over the uneven mounds, my gaze locked on my goal: the ladder on the side of the wall leading to the roof. It was my only way out of here. The sound of tumbling debris came from behind me. The Viking roared a frustrated, crazed cry. My head swiveled over my shoulder to see him collapse in a heap. He struggled to get back up, but the drug was rendering his limbs useless. His lids lowered halfway, but he kept his eyes on me. Revenge echoed deep in them. If he ever found me—I looked away, continuing with my escape. I could not think about it right now. I pulled myself up the rungs of the ladder and onto the roof. I gave one last look at the one who wanted me dead and to the man who was. I clenched my teeth together, turned, and ran for my life.

  SIX

  From the rooftop, I could see the destruction of the city was greater than I imagined. My brain could not take in what stretched in front of me. Half the Space Needle was gone. The iconic structure lay in heaps all the way through downtown, cremating whatever was in its wake. Jagged ends of metal from the bottom half of the structure stuck up at different levels like a mountain range, as if someone came along and broke it off like a toffee bar, crumbling it in their hands and spreading bits around the base.

  Fires dotted the city landscape like cluster of stars, igniting the sky and billowing into clouds of smoke. Seattle was gone. Most of the new apartment buildings which had sprung up daily in lower Queen Anne and Belltown were no more than kindling.

  I searched for the landmark that should be near my house. All I saw was smoke mushrooming up into the atmosphere, creating a wall.

  I grabbed for my phone. The screen was cracked, but it lit when I pushed the button. It was the only thing I had. Everything else was in my bag in the car, the car which was now under an office building. There was probably no cell service, but I desperately needed to know if Lexie was all right. I was about to punch in her number when a blast sprouted from the area I was watching. My gut twisted and my feet took me off the roof into the street, fear pumping my legs.

  Lexie!

  She was my only thought as I ran for the house. Seattle was on fire, buildings and bodies were scattered as far as I could see. It looked like someone had bombed us—ground zero in a war. My stomach heaved as I ran around bodies lying in the streets, chunks of building crushing the fragile bones to dust. Broken lines shot water into the sky, raining down on us. Flames lapped the buildings, consuming them with ferocity.

  My determination to get to my sister was the only thing keeping my legs moving. The wails of people and sirens looped in my brain, settling in as white noise. Lexie. I had to make sure she was all right.

  My leg muscles strained, but I pushed harder, curving down the road that took me home. A whimper splintered from my lips. The street was ablaze with rows of houses of neighbors I had known for years. Homes burned—from residences of drug dealers to a granny who struggled to live on her retirement. Even when I saw our house at the end of the court, I didn’t stop. My mind wouldn’t accept what was in front of me. Jo’s beat-up Camaro was parked in the driveway where flames soared high in the sky. Crackle. Pop. My house was the tinder for the larger campfire. A few neighbors stood outside, watching their homes glow.

  My gaze searched the people. “Lexie?” I screamed, wedging through the people. “Jo?”

  No one answered.

  “Lexie!” I wailed.

  “Zoey.” A hand came down on my arm. “We tried to get to them.” My next-door neighbor, George, spoke softly. His eyes were full of sorrow and apologies. “I am so sorry.”

  “No.” I shook my head, turning back to the burning remains of our house.

  “I could see Jo passed out in her chair, but I couldn’t get to her. The flames were already too high. I called to her, but she wo
uldn’t wake up.” George choked, shaking the memories from his mind. He had worked fifteen years for a road repair company. When he had gotten hurt, they found a way to “let him go” so they wouldn’t have to pay for workers’ comp. His knee and back would never let him work a physical job again. His wife barely made enough to get them by. He hobbled closer to me. “I’m very sorry, Zoey.”

  “Lexie?”

  He shook his head, his neck bobbing lower in grief. He didn’t need to say anything. I understood.

  A strangled cry tore from my throat. I ripped my arm away from his and moved closer to the house. The heat of the fire singed my face. An outline of a wheelchair could be seen through the flames in the kitchen.

  I cried as I sank to my knees. I was supposed to protect her. Keep her safe. I failed. Tears, which had yet to surface for Daniel, broke through. Everything I had fought for. Everyone I had loved. Gone.

  I curled my legs, my wails growing fiercer—a possessed madwoman in the streets. Sadly, I knew I was seeing only a hint of the destruction this electrical storm caused. I wasn’t the only one to lose everything.

  I sobbed, and my body shook with grief. My sister had needed me. The thought of her screaming my name, trying to get her wheelchair out of the house in time, and other horrific images filled my head. And the person I needed most, the arms I craved to hold me, would never be again. After Daniel, she was the only reason I would have carried on. Now there was nothing.

  Daniel.

  Lexie.

  I should have let the fae kill me when I had the chance.

  I didn’t know how long I sat, but when the flames scorched my skin, hands wrapped underneath my arms, pulling me up and away from the encroaching fire.