Stolen Chaos: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Cardkeeper Chronicles Book 1) Page 3

  A sudden rumble in the bushes disturbed my thoughts. I spun on my heel and gawked toward the source of the noise. Link climbed into my hood, buried his face into the thick material, and left me to defend him. No change there.

  “Hello?” I called, hoping some delinquent teenager had just come out here to smoke some pot. Not only would he not be a threat, but if he claimed to have witnessed my powers, I could easily blame his hallucinogenic. “Is anyone there?”

  A cold silence echoed back at me, a wind whispering through the branches of the trees.

  “Must be a rabbit or something,” I told Link, who refused to come down from my shoulder.

  Together, we went deeper into the park, and finally, I found what I’d been looking for. A collection of trees scattered the ground, as though they had been trampled by something huge. Something wild.

  “What do you make of it?” Link asked, finally pulling his hands away from his eyes.

  “I’m not sure. The scent is stronger here, and–” The nearby trees that still stood upright caught my attention. Smoky marks replaced the bark of their trunks that had been singed away and blackened. By something. Or someone.

  Cautious, I stepped forward and kept an eye on my surroundings. I approached one of the trees and reached out to touch it. Smooth, evenly shaved wood met my fingertips, as if the bark had been blasted away in one swift move. It made perfect sense now; the fallen trees hadn’t been trampled – they’d been blown down by an incredible force. The aggressive smell of magic lent credibility to my theory, and the bare trunk solidified it.

  “Link, it was here.”

  “What?”

  “The Chaos card. Whoever stole it must have used it to create some kind of explosion.” The realization shook me. How in the hell was I supposed to stop someone capable of this kind of magic?

  Excited to find my clue, I was just about to turn around to examine the fallen trees, when something shot out from the bushes beside me. As time seemed to slow down, I saw Link get thrown from my hood. His body tumbled to the ground. The fire from my hand hissed out as I lost focus on the spell, and the violent impact of my attacker knocked me across the park. I landed on my back, winded, staring up at the starry sky while an awful pain shot up my spine in quick waves.

  Dizzy, too stunned to move, I lay there in agony, wondering just what kind of creature was capable of such incredible strength. But as the heavy footsteps stomped my way, I heard the deep, terrifying growl of the monster, and terror crawled up my nape as realization settled in my head and heart.

  Chapter 5

  Six feet of muscle – check. Razor-sharp teeth – check. Legs that are hairier than my grandmother’s (God rest her soul) – check. It didn’t take a genius to see that this was a goddamn werewolf, and I was his prey.

  I had lost sight of Link. A quick glance at where he’d landed and I knew that he had moved. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that he’d found a safe place to hide. I couldn’t blame him – this thing was huge.

  The claws swiped at me, making a swishing sound as they missed by less than an inch. I did my best to ignore the pain shooting up my back, and scrambled to my feet. My power seemed to have evaporated, but I willed it back, once more feeling a stream of fire flare through my arm and out of my hand.

  “Stay back!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. I knew the werewolf could hear me. I knew they had a conscious mind behind those dog-shaped skulls of theirs. I only had to let it know that I would put up a fight, and make it re-think its challenge.

  But the wolf kept advancing.

  It took seconds for my new ability to kick in, and when it did, only small puffs of fire fell from my outstretched palm, fizzling out and falling to the floor like cheap fireworks.

  Goddamnit.

  The werewolf lunged at me, a near three-hundred-pound feral beast of fur and rage. It connected within moments, knocking me onto my ass and planting its paws into my stomach. I was pinned down, unable to move. Dog food.

  I only had one shot at survival.

  Every part of my soul focused on summoning the fire. I could feel the card warm up in my pocket. A vicious streak ran through me, altering my mentality – the downside of the magicard already playing its part. The power began to consume me.

  Until the blaze burst from my palm.

  The wolf whined and leapt back, finally letting me breathe as the wind left my lungs. But the fire continued to grow, pushing the creature back, despite its efforts to fight through and tear out my throat. I could hear the roar of the fire, feel the radical heat on my face and chest as the fire shot from me like a flamethrower.

  “Enough!”

  I wasn’t sure who had screamed it. Was it the beast? I couldn’t tell – I was too busy enjoying myself, the mage from the First World War taking over a part of my soul, the fire feeding his angry lust for violence. Fury tore through me and I stepped closer, determined to make this son of a bitch drop to his knees in surrender.

  “I said enough!” The beast leapt forward, knocking my hand to the side and pinning me down once more. It caught my arm, pressing it into the dirt and aiming the fire at a tree.

  I had to shut it off in order to see straight – to see anything.

  The embers settled. The park fell silent. I watched with amazement as the werewolf began to shift. At first its lower half began to turn, falling from its pouncing stance onto thin, weak legs. Human legs. Its arms and chest came next, a touch less bulky than its werewolf form.

  But its face shocked me the most. The long, hairy muzzle shrank into a perfect button nose, and the black hair receded revealing a man in his twenties with tan skin and sparkling eyes. They were as shiny as they had been only moments ago.

  “No more,” he said, leaning over me, topless and well-shaped. Wheezing from the transformation, he climbed off me and stood back. The morph into a killing machine must have torn his shirt. “What the hell are you doing around here, mage?”

  Cardkeepers and werewolves had never quite seen eye-to-eye. We were two-thirds of a hate triangle with the vampires. But if you asked me, the Keepers were the only ones who didn’t mean any harm. I mean, at least we weren’t half animal.

  “It’s a free country, asshole.” I climbed to my feet and removed my coat, slinging it at him and turning around. Although curious, I didn’t want to stand and watch him slip it on. Besides, I wouldn’t want him to think good looks could turn my head that easily.

  A minute later, he stomped around to stand in front of me. The coat covered him well, and it sort of suited him. I quickly got used to the idea that I wouldn’t get it back.

  The man snorted at me, a trace of the werewolf form still lingering in the back of his throat. “What I meant was, what are you doing here? I’ve never known anyone to hang around at her own crime scene.”

  “What the hell?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me,” he spat, stepping up close.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m here to investigate a powerful use of magic. Surely that much was obvious, considering you’ve been following us all around the park. Why would I come back here if I’d committed a crime?”

  The man snarled, an echo of the beast emerging. Then he turned his back on me. “It may not have been you, but it was one of your kind. Same difference.”

  Whatever his problem was with me, it was obvious that he knew something I didn’t. I had to probe – to put a hold on the aggression and let him think I was his friend. After all, one less claw around my throat wouldn’t be the worst thing. “Tell me what happened.”

  “You really don’t know?”

  “I know a little, but humor me.”

  The man turned to face me, but his eyes stayed lowered to the ground. “A mage came by here last night. Must have known it was a gathering spot for a pack of wolves. Son of a bitch wreaked havoc throughout this whole place. Killed everything in sight, including the werewolves.” He took a deep breath, met my gaze, and sighed slowly. “My… brother was i
n that pack.”

  I suddenly started to feel bad for this guy, although I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t me who had made a wild assumption and attacked the first person I saw. “I’m sorry about that – I really am – but the killer wasn’t a Cardkeeper. Did you see what he looked like?”

  “No.”

  “Well then, where did he go?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “How did you even–”

  “I don’t know!” Sharp teeth ripped through his gums and his eyes began to glow, but he managed to stifle it… just. The man stepped back, shaking his head slowly. “Look, I wasn’t here when it happened, okay? I’ve been looking for my brother for a couple of weeks now, so when I found out that he’d died, I…”

  The soul of the magicard crept away, slowly replacing the rage that had fueled me with sympathy. “I’m here for the same reason you are. One of our magicards was stolen, and the last sighting of such a power was right here in this spot. I came here to find a clue, and instead I got jumped by a werewolf. Can you see how this might be confusing for me?”

  The man opened his mouth to say something, but then settled for a simple nod.

  “If you know anything that could help me, I might be able to stop this guy before he hurts anyone else. All I need is a little cooperation, and we can bring your brother some justice.”

  A rustle sounded from the bushes, and all my hard work at calming this guy came undone. It was like pulling the wrong puzzle piece out of a Jenga game – my breath caught in my throat as I waited for it all to topple.

  The werewolf turned half-beast again, his jaw extending into a muzzle as he fell onto his hands. Only those hands were claws now – huge, fur-covered claws with three-inch nails that dug into the soil as he dashed toward the sound. This time the coat stayed on, despite his thrashing motions as his body doubled in size.

  And then it hit me. The noise.

  “Link!” I screamed, running after the werewolf. “Get out of there!”

  I saw my little faery friend sprint out of the bush, scurrying toward me at an incredible speed. I had always known him to be strong, but I don’t recall ever having seen him move that fast.

  “Bring him to me!” the wolf demanded, his voice deep and demon-like.

  I bent over to scoop Link up off the ground, and placed him on my shoulder. With the half-wolf padding toward me, I aimed my hand at him and let a threatening glow emanate from the palm. “Back off.”

  To my surprise, he stopped and began a slow transformation back into a man. This time it was easier to compare the attractive features of his human form, since he’d morphed from an animal so quickly. “He’s with you?”

  “Fortunately for him, yes.” Link burrowed his face into my neck, whispering desperate gratitude. I tried my best to focus on the conversation, letting the heat from my hand simmer down. “So how about it? Help me to help you?”

  The werewolf grunted, shrugging the slipping coat back onto his shoulders. “There was a witness to this madness. Someone who saw the destruction. That was how I knew where to come. Head to Stoke Point and look for Karen Saunders.”

  I hid my smile as best I could, thrilled that I had finally gotten something from this hairy bastard. “Thanks. But I didn’t catch your name.”

  He seemed untrusting, like a starving animal questioning a perfectly good bowl of food. The quizzical look he gave made me feel a little uneasy – I knew that he could clench his jaws around me before I could conjure another fire. Luckily, he didn’t.

  “Jason,” he admitted.

  “Okay, Jason. My name is Keira Poe.” I breathed a sigh of relief, now that the pleasantries were over. “I’m going to speak to this woman and see what she knows. If I find out anything useful, you can rest assured that your brother will be avenged.”

  “You’d better hope so.” In a single leap, Jason jumped up onto a nearby branch, making a rapid transformation into man-wolf. My long, black coat flapped around behind him. It suited him, actually – lent him a certain style. He craned his neck to look down at me, his face still turning into animalistic beauty, and his voice grew deeper. “Because if you let me down, I’ll be coming back for you.”

  And just like that, he dove from the branch and into the darkness, leaving Link and me alone in the park, with nothing more than a single lead to follow. If I was really lucky, something might come of it. Otherwise, I would be facing the wrath of a werewolf, for a crime I didn’t even commit.

  Chapter 6

  Forty-five minutes, two swollen heels and a blister later, I wound up at Stoke Point – a rich suburb in the north of Chicago. There was only one home up here and it was well-renowned for its sheer size. The mansion was bigger than I had pictured in my head, too, and far more luxurious than anything I’d seen in the movies.

  “Nice,” Link said, giving a half-whistle from my shoulder.

  I studied the huge pillars that made up the front porch, the perfect red brick laced with gold paint, and the enormous windows that revealed the party going on inside. Ivy snaked up the walls, but I was probably too heavy to climb it.

  Link let out a short, sharp laugh. It was one of those that had obviously meant to be heard. “I bet you wish you had kept the teleportation card, huh?”

  “Shut up,” I said flatly, but he was right. I couldn’t see a way inside, or even onto the roof. Not from here at least. I even wondered if setting fire to one of the flowerbeds might draw some attention to the front garden. At least then I could sneak inside and figure things out from there. Stupid, I know, but effective.

  Just as I began to consider it, the front door sprung open. The music drifting from inside grew louder – some fancy ballroom stuff that would have made me a little uncomfortable if I were on the other side of that door. As a reflex, I ducked behind the nearest bush and watched the people leave. The well-dressed party goers walked down the front path and climbed into their limos, laughing at something one of them had said.

  “You know,” Link said, licking his lips, “you could always try asking the witness.”

  Of course the thought had crossed my mind, but I really wanted an insight to who she was. If she were a normal, everyday citizen, she would have freaked out to see a mage destroying a pack of wolves with magic. I know I would have, and it was my job. So then, who exactly was Karen Saunders? Something special, I was willing to wager.

  I waited for the front door to close, and then stalked around the side of the building. The music still sang from inside, but it was quieter now, as if the after-party had begun and everyone was sitting down to enjoy each other’s conversation.

  But I hadn’t seen any more movement from inside.

  Link suddenly tapped me on the shoulder, and then pointed up to a balcony, where a door stood open and the flowing white drapes reached out toward the sky. Beside the door stood a water feature that looked just tall enough for me to climb.

  “Well spotted,” I whispered, and began my ascent to the balcony.

  My feet hit the stone as I hopped over the rail, and I quickly slipped inside. I found myself in a dark bedroom with only a bedside lamp for light. A strong smell of lavender filled the air – so strong I had to pinch my nose to keep from sneezing.

  Even though breaking and entering wasn’t a habit of mine. I sought solace in the fact that there was no breaking involved, so technically I was just… entering. To most people, that might seem like a bullshit technicality, but I reminded myself that every life in Chicago – possibly in the world – was at stake.

  A little rummage through the drawers would also have been frowned upon, but I was looking for something to give me a clear indication of what I was up against. A mage’s cloak or a vampire’s pendant would have done nicely, but the most interesting thing I could find was a first edition of Dorian Gray. Cool, but not useful in the slightest.

  The bedroom light snapped on, blinding and startling me all at once.

  “What the hell are you doing in here?”

  I turned towa
rd the voice, Link crawling down my back to seek cover as I saw the old woman. Her strong jaw and piercing blue eyes looked deceivingly kind under her scowl.

  “This… Uh…” I struggled for words – for any kind of excuse that might explain my unwelcome entry into someone’s bedroom. Instead, my explanation fell short and a wave of dread washed over me, as the woman raised a pistol… and took aim at my chest.

  Chapter 7

  It may be true that I can take a fall from a fifty-foot drop and still land on my feet, but I’m not immune to gunfire. At a range this close, a bullet would do more than give me a tummy ache.

  The woman took a step toward me and put the lip of the gun barrel against my hip. Her eyes hosted a threatening glow. “I’m going to ask you one more time; who are you, and what are you doing inside my home?”

  I could have lit up my arm and blasted her away right then and there, but then any clues she could provide would go up in smoke right along with her. I needed information from this woman, and I wasn’t going to get it by starting a fight with her.

  Slowly, I raised my hands above my head, making it as clear as possible that I meant no harm. “Are you Karen Saunders?” I shook my head, a signal to ignore that question. I was in no position to be demanding answers. “I’ve been speaking to a man named Jason about an incident at Jackson Park. He told me that you know something about what happened there.”

  The woman’s eyes shifted from me to the window, and then at my shoulder, where Link had been sitting only seconds before we’d been caught. “What are you?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “What are you?” she asked again, this time with a shorter fuse. “Wolf, mage, witch?”

  How much did she know? Either way, I had no problem fessing up to somebody who clearly knew about all the things that went bump in the night. “I’m Keira Poe – Cardkeeper of the Chicago Pillar.”