Fury Rising (Fury Unbound Book 1) (30 page)

“Let me help.” I slid my dagger back in its sheath. I was strong, thanks to my constant workouts. “Scoot over.”

Jason made room, and I clasped my hands around the grate.

“Your gloves good to go?”

“Yeah, they fit snuggly, but have some give in them so I can use my sword when I need to. They’ll be fine. Count of three?”

He nodded.

“One…two…three!”

Together we heaved the grate out of the ground, prying it away from the compacted soil. The moment it budged, Tam slid his fingers beneath it and pushed from the other side while we pulled. The grating—which was heavy as fuck—groaned as it yielded to our efforts.

Jason and I rolled it to the side and it hit the ground with a thud. We paused, and I immediately checked my Trace. No Aboms, but that didn’t mean we had gone unnoticed. We waited for a moment, but there were no sounds emanating out of the hole, and nobody broke through into the clearing.

“I guess we’re good to go.” I leaned over the hole, peering into the inky darkness. “I can’t even see if there’s a ladder. If not, then we’ll need rope.”

“We’ll have to make due with vines, then. Here, let me set a faint light spell to travel down and check.”

“Better than that, I can send Queet. He should be able to see and it will save us the chance of a light spell being noticed.” I started to summon Queet, but he beat me to the punch.

“I’m here. I heard what you said. Going now. Sit tight till I return.”

I glanced at Tam and Jason. “Queet’s on it.”

The snow was picking up, and I folded my arms, turning my back to the wind so it wouldn’t blow into my face. But we only had to wait a few minutes before Queet was back.

“
Fury? There’s a ladder. See the pile of stones on the left side of the hole?”

I squinted as he gusted to hover over the stones.

“See? Here? The ladder is directly inside the hole against this wall. It goes down about fifty feet, then stops. A four-foot drop and you’re on the floor of the tunnel. It’s slimy and cold, but no standing water that I could see. But there are presences there. I could feel them. Be cautious. Tell Jason he might want to fly down and wait for you on the bottom.”

That made sense. It would give us a guard below, and would save Jason’s strength. I relayed to the men what Queet had told me. “Jason, are you willing to go ahead and keep watch?”

He was already stepping over to the hole. “I’m on it. But…you’ll be in the dark until I get down there and strike a light. There’s no way out of it. To see, we’re going to have to have some form of illumination. And magical light is softer than a flashlight.”

“Go, then. Queet, please let me know when Jason’s set up. Jason, when you get down there and are ready for us, just say ‘Ready’ and Queet will hear you.”

“He can hear me if he wants—I also know whisper-speak. He can communicate with me directly and that would probably be best.” Jason snorted. “Hear that, Queet? Talk to me, man. I’m going in.” He stood back, a blur of light swirling around him as he shifted form. I squinted against the brilliance and when I opened my eyes again, he was gliding down the hole. His wingspan barely fit. In fact he had to pull his wings back a little to manage, but I figured if he had problems, he would just abort the attempt.

A few moments later, Queet swirled around me.
“Jason’s ready. You won’t be able to see the light from up here, so he’s sending it floating up to lead you down. Don’t be surprised when you see a glowing orb of pale blue light dancing near your shoulders. Both of you.”
His whisper-speak was loud enough that Tam was nodding along with me.

“Fury, you go first. I’ll keep watch from above. That way you’ll be protected on both sides.”

I snorted. “Tam, given the secrets you’ve revealed over the past few days, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that you’re an incredible fighter, but don’t forget—I’m trained to fight. Remember? Abomination hunter here?”

Tam rubbed his forehead, groaning. “I know, I know. I just…you’re right. Do you want to take the back, then?”

“I didn’t say that, but thanks for not trying to take away the option. The truth is,” I said, not wanting to admit it but feeling vulnerable, “this mission scares the hell out of me. I know how to deal with Aboms. The demons aren’t easy, but I know what to expect from them. And when I kill one, even if it’s wearing a human-suit, I know what I’m fighting. I’ve never had to face down…
people
…before. Except for the Carver, and he… Oh, he wasn’t human. Not in my book.”

Right there, I knew what my hesitation was. We were probably going to come up against Lyon or his henchmen, and that would lead to a fight. While I had killed countless Abominations over the years, the fact was that I had very seldom ever hurt an actual person. I knew I could—the Carver was proof—but…the thought of plunging my sword into a human or one of the Otherkin? It rankled. But I also knew that I’d do whatever I needed to do. Hecate was riding me hard—I could feel her energy running through my blood. And mine was in hers from the Blood Bond that had been performed when I was a baby. We were linked far stronger than my oath to her.

As I swung over the edge, a pale blue light hovered right below me, lighting the first rung. It floated up to my side, giving me about a sphere of illumination five feet in diameter. I held my breath for a moment, then slowly exhaling, began my descent.

Fifty feet of ladder meant for a lot of rungs. I lost track of where I was in proximity to the ground. Rung after rung passed under my feet, slick with a buildup of slime and moss. I tried not to breathe too deeply—who knew what spores lurked in the mess of mildew? I tried not to listen too hard—I didn’t want to jump at every sound. One foot after the other, one rung after another, I made my way down the ladder through the three-foot-wide shaft.

I had lost count of how many rungs I descended when I tried to find the next rung and there was finally none. I glanced over my shoulder. There, a few feet away, stood Jason, waiting.

“Safe to drop down?”

“The floor seems fairly solid, though slick.”

I did a half-twist as I launched off the ladder and landed in a crouch near Jason’s feet. As I rose up, a twinge hit my side, but I shifted and it vanished. Turning around, I saw that Tam had been just a few feet above me, and not once had I heard him on the rungs. The man could be silent as the grave when he wanted to. He joined us, lightly dropping to the floor. Jason held up his hand and the two balls of light returned to bounce lightly by our shoulders.

“So, where are we?” I used a loud version of whisper-speak that I knew they could hear.

“I had a look around while I was waiting for you. We’re in what was an old sewer line. It runs in two directions but the one over there,” he pointed to our left, “is filled in. Totally blocked up from what I can tell. If we duck through that archway to the right, we’ll be in the main sewer. That should lead us to the entrance of the Tunnels, and from there…well, we find our way to Tunnel Pike.”

“All right. Let me bring up my Trace.” I hoped that the Thunderstrike would suddenly appear, but no go. We were going to have to do this the hard way. “Well, let’s get a move on then. Let me go first, but be ready for action.” I turned, startled to see Tam standing directly in back of me.

His eyes twinkling, he placed a finger on his lips, then pressed it to mine. I slowly wrapped my tongue around the tip, sucking gently for a moment. Then, just as slowly, I slid my mouth away, leaving him hungry. Desire spread across his face.

Jason cleared his throat, looking away. “When you’re ready…”

Bringing myself back to business, I nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” And, swinging in front of the men, I ducked, grateful for the globe of light at my shoulder. Without another word, I stepped into the passage that stretched out in front of us. Ready or not, we were on the move, and I could only wonder if Lyon knew we were headed his way.

Chapter 23

Our footsteps echoed as we headed into the claustrophobic passage. It was barely seven feet tall, and only wide enough for one at a time. I dreaded thinking what we’d do if we ran into some creature here. I’d be stuck at the front, because there was absolutely no way anybody could get around to help me. Hoping that we didn’t have far to go before we found the opening to the actual Tunnels, I plunged ahead with only Jason’s light to guide my way.

The sounds of dripping water were everywhere. While this sewer wasn’t used anymore, the condensation was thick, as were the layers of mold and slime that had built up on the sides of the passage. I held my dagger—it was much more space efficient should I have to use it—and quietly edged forward, my gaze darting from side to side as I searched for the entry.

A noise suddenly ricocheted past us.

“Rat,” Tam said.

A light scurrying sound drew my attention to the ground and I saw another massive rat racing toward me.
It stopped, suddenly aware of us, stood on its hind feet, and then turned and raced the other way again.
I was about to relax when Jason cleared his throat.

“You know, that might have been a rat, but it also might have been a spy. Magicians use rats as familiars quite often because they’re small and can easily sneak into places a cat or dog or owl might be recognized.”

“Hell. I didn’t think of that. Should I go after it?” Secretly, I was hoping he would say no. I didn’t want to go chasing after the rat.

“No, because if it
is
a familiar, that would give whoever holds its leash a better look at you. If not, then why waste your energy on a rat?” He nodded, looking over my head. “Let’s keep going.”

As I moved forward again, I began to feel a shift in the energy. It was hard to pinpoint, but there was something different. The passage was still cold and damp, but the energy deepened, feeling less murky and more sinister. There was a faint threat to it that I recognized, but nothing showed on my Trace.
No Aboms. No Thunderstrike.

Another ten minutes and I was beginning to feel claustrophobic. The passage was so close and tight that it seemed to be narrowing in on us, and I wanted nothing more than to get the hell out from beneath the ground. I tried not to think about the fact that we were looking for an older, more dangerous subterranean sector of the city.

“There,” Tam said, pointing over my shoulder to the right side of the passage. “Is that the entrance?”

Jason whispered something under his breath and another ball of light darted forward, dancing beside what appeared to be a dark opening against the side of the passage.

I hesitantly crept forward, doing my best to keep my breath steady and even. As I approached the jagged hole that had been hewn in the side of the sewer, I could see that it was rough and uneven, chiseled out of the rock that made up the walls of the passage. From where I stood, I could see a vague section of the wall on the other side that looked like brick, and I knew we had found what we were looking for.

“Queet, can you take a peek on the other side and see what’s there?”

Queet swiftly gusted toward the opening but suddenly bounced back, the mists of his body swirling from the impact. I heard a faint
snap
, like an electric shock, and he disappeared.

“Fuck, Queet, Queet, are you all right?”

Jason struggled in, finally managing to squeeze past both Tam and me, forcing us to lean against the walls that were cold and slimy and covered with years of buildup. I tried not to cringe, even while I was panicking over what happened to Queet.

“It’s a force field. We can pass, but spirits and elementals can’t. Queet was repelled by it.”

“Do you think he’s okay? He hasn’t answered me.”

“Do you think his attempt set off an alarm somewhere?” Tam asked.

“I don’t know. As far as an alarm goes, I don’t sense one, and we certainly didn’t hear anything. I think the force field is used to prevent these entities from
escaping
rather than from entering. Unlike witches, magicians summon things imperiously. That lends itself to a certain need for control over what you call in, because chances are good the creature won’t come voluntarily.”

At that moment, I sensed—rather than saw—Queet appear. His energy felt agitated.

“Queet, are you all right?”

“Damned thing disrupted me. I’m…I’ll be all right but I’m not going to be able to go any farther with you.”
His whisper-speak was so low I could barely hear it.

I relayed his message to the others. “He’ll have to wait out here. I guess we just go through and see what happens. If they were watching the entrance, they know something’s up by now, and if they weren’t, then we might as well get in there now while the going is good.”

“I concur,” Tam said. “Go now, before we lose our advantage.”

I steeled myself.
“Stay here by the entrance, Queet, unless something happens so you have to get out of the way. Wish us luck.”

“Luck to you, Fury. And Hecate’s blessings.”

Any time Queet wished me blessings from Hecate, I knew he was worried. I glanced at Tam, whose soft expression made me want to lean in for a hug, but instead, I turned and crawled through the entrance into the Tunnels.