Throne to the Wolves_An Urban Fantasy Novel Read online

  “I don’t think this is going to work,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone else.

  “It will work, Annie,” Gordon said as Justin sat him down in one of the chambers. “You’re stronger than you think.”

  “You’re wrong,” I said, but before I could argue more, Justin was in front of me. He brushed the hair out of my eyes and smiled at me.

  “I believe in you.” He led me next to my brother and put my hand into Gordon’s. My brother’s hand felt clammy and weak, which let me tell you, wasn’t exactly a confidence builder. Still, what choice did we have?

  “Okay…” I whispered as Gordon’s power began to rise. It leapt across my skin, throwing amethyst sparks into the air. I shut my eyes and allowed him to tap into my strength and use it to fuel the teleporter. It was weird, sharing my power, and it always made me think of someone trying to suck the chocolate milk out of the glass I was trying to drink from. I had to fight the urge to keep from pulling away.

  “Annie, let me help you,” Justin said right before he kissed me, pressing his lips against mine in a way that felt like goodbye. I felt the heat of him wash over me, and in that kiss, his energy flowed into me, danced along my tongue. I felt it stretch out across my skin. Then I felt my brother take it and shove it into the machine around us.

  “What was that for?” I asked, sinking deeper into his embrace.

  “Annie, I know I’m not perfect, but if you’ll have them, all my base are belong to you,” Justin replied, putting his head against mine. “No matter what.”

  “Don’t say that,” I whispered as everything began to dissolve into white light. “Because everyone will hate us. At the end of the day, I’m a mage and you’re a werewolf. It won’t work. ”

  “Annie, you are my everyone.”

  24

  We crashed to the ground on the corner of Hollywood and Highland right outside Dave and Buster’s. Sirens tore through the distance as the entire structure collapsed in on itself, disappearing into a huge sinkhole that had inexplicably opened beneath the building. Only it wasn’t a normal sinkhole. No, it seemed to be linked here in a weird vortex of power.

  I lay sprawled on my back next to my brother with Justin on top of me. He was heavier than I’d expected, and as I tried to push him away, I realized I couldn’t move him at all. Not even an inch. He was nothing but dead weight. Was that because of the teleportation?

  Beside me, Gordon started to move, but his eyes were glassy and far off. His face was white as a sheet, and I could tell he was going into shock, but I wasn’t sure if it was from his broken leg or the spell. Probably both.

  Weirdly enough, I felt mostly fine. I could still feel the thrum of Justin’s heat inside me, and as I pulled my hand free of Gordon’s and tried to push Justin away with both hands, I realized he’d gone ice cold. Was that why I felt okay? Had Justin’s heat shielded me somehow?

  “Justin!” I cried, trying vainly to make him open his eyes, but I might as well have tried to make Congress protect net neutrality. Still, from the way his breath tickled my throat, I knew he had to be alive, even if his breathing was dangerously shallow.

  “I’m guessing it worked,” Gordon slurred next to me. It sounded like he’d just come off an epic bender, and he blinked at me like he was trying to focus.

  My heart thudded in my chest as I managed to wiggle myself out from under Justin. It took some doing, but since my worthless brother was still sitting there like a dumbass, it wasn’t like I had a choice. Besides, it was only a matter of time before some of the gawkers came to find us. I wanted to be on my way out of here before the cops showed up. There was no way that’d end well.

  Still, Justin needed a hospital as did my brother, but I was hesitant to take either of them there. For all I knew, there were people on their way after us. Both from whoever had been working with Gordon and for those coming for Justin. I wasn’t sure what had actually happened with the wolves and such, but I had a guess, and if there was truly a power vacuum, and the king was still down, well, Justin would be marked. I couldn’t let anything happen to him.

  “What do you mean you guess it worked?” I asked, getting to my feet. Across the street a crowd was gathering, but so far no one had come over. “Didn’t you expect it to work?”

  A quick glance at the building behind me told me why. I hadn’t noticed it before, but a layer of magic shimmered around the building. It was cracking and giving way, but most of whatever glamour that had been on the building was still intact. It’d be enough to keep the average person from getting curious. At least until the whole thing came tumbling down. Then all bets would be off.

  A surge of panic went through me. What had happened to the people inside? Were they still trapped? If there was a glamour to keep the place looking like it was still there, maybe they hadn’t left?

  Only, if that was the case, why were there sirens? That didn’t make sense. Magic either worked or it didn’t. Someone had either called the cops or they hadn’t…

  “Need a lift?” asked the girl from the bar. As I turned toward the sound of her voice, I saw the veil around her lime green Firebird flicker and disappear. “And don’t worry, I got everyone out. A while ago, actually. That took longer than I’d expected. I called the cops too.” She shrugged.

  “Thanks, Tina,” my brother mumbled. He’d managed to work himself into a sitting position, but the effort had cost him in pain.

  “Not a problem.” She glanced at Justin and squinched up her face like she’d bitten into a lemon. “I think you missed one.”

  “You can’t hurt him.” A surge of panic and rage went through me as I stepped between her and Justin. “I won’t let you.”

  “Firstly, I have no desire to hurt him.” She gave me a dismissive wave of her hand as she stepped out of her car. “I’m a mercenary. I do what the money pays me to do.” She stopped short of Gordon, and then with a flick of her wrist, red light exploded from her fingertips. They wrapped around him like thread from a thousand spools of glittering golden string before bursting into a flare of fire so bright I had to turn away.

  “What did you do?” I cried, taking a step forward as spots danced behind my eyes. “If you hurt him.”

  “Relax,” she said, and the word hit me hard. A sense of calm washed over me, and for a moment, I stood there stupefied. “I just gave him something to help with the leg.”

  “I’m okay, Annie,” my brother croaked. His voice was strained and hoarse, but the slur was gone. Well, that was something. “Tina is going to help us get away.”

  “Let’s go,” Tina said, moving back toward the car, but she stopped as she reached the passenger side door. “Which two of you are coming?”

  “Two?” I asked dumbly as Gordon put a hand on my shoulder and began directing me toward the car.

  “Yeah, two.” Tina gestured at us. “There’s three of you, but I’m only paid for two.” She drummed her fingers on the roof of the car. “So which two.”

  “We can’t leave Justin,” I said, slipping away from Gordon. There was no way I was leaving him behind. I wasn’t sure why Justin was down and out, but I was pretty sure it was because he’d fed me his power.

  “Annie…” Gordon shook his head. “The ambulance is on its way. They’ll get him. It will be fine.”

  “It won’t be fine,” I said, shaking my head. “What if someone tries to kill him?”

  “Then he’ll die, and there will be one less werewolf?” Tina offered, slipping into the car and turning it on. “Time’s a wasting. Tick fucking tock.”

  I glared at her, but it had no effect. “I’m not leaving him.”

  “Yeah, I know.” My brother heaved an industrial strength sigh at me. Then he picked up Justin, his muscles cording with effort and flung him bodily into the backseat of the Firebird. “Now get in.” He smacked the roof with the palm of his hand.

  “Wait, what?” I asked as he waved at me.

  “Ninja vanish!” he said and threw something at the ground. Gray smoke
exploded around him as his entire body evaporated into nothingness. It only took a second, but as the wind blew the dissipating smoke away, it was clear as day he was gone.

  “Can we please leave?” Tina asked, leaning toward the passenger side and glaring at me through the window.

  “Yeah,” I said, getting in and taking a long hard look at Justin before buckling my seatbelt. My brother’s disappearance bugged me. If he could do that, why had he stayed down below and helped us use the transporter? Was it to help me out? Had he been lying when he’d said he had no plan to escape? Maybe he had been and the transporter had been because I’d been there…

  Tina took off in a screech of tires that filled the air with the smell of burning rubber. She zipped through the traffic-filled street in a way that made me think the other cars were actively moving out of her way.

  “So, where are we going?” I asked, glancing at her. Her hands were locked at ten and two on the wheel, and she stared straight out the windshield. Her body seemed moving like she was listening to music I couldn’t hear.

  “To a healer,” she replied, not bothering to look at me.

  “That’s awfully nice of you,” I said as the lump in my throat started to dissolve.

  “Yeah well, it’s not my call.” She shook her head minutely. “What Sheev wants, Sheev gets.” She tapped the Bluetooth in her ear. “And right now, your brother is telling Sheev what’s going on. He wants your furry friend brought to a healer, and he just so happens to be one. He’s meeting us there.”

  All the blood drained from my face as I stared at her wide-eyed. The world seemed to spin, and I tried to gulp in a breath of air.

  “Annie, are you okay?" A voice as familiar to me as my own soul said from the tiny device in her ear. “Are you okay, Annie?”

  No. I wasn't okay. Because Sheev, the healer Tina was taking me to, and the voice on the other end of the line, was my master.

  And I'd been giving thanks to any and all deities every night that he was dead.

  Thank you for reading Throne to the Wolves. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review.

  Want to know when my next book is available? Sign up for my new release e-mail list here. If you do, I’ll send you my short story, Alone in the Dark, (as well as some other nifty freebies) for free.

  Visit my blog at JACipriano.com for all the latest updates.