The Cardkeeper Chronicles: Books 1-5 (Complete Collection) Read online

  I breathed deeply and made my way toward the front gate, trudging through dirt. I wished that a little sludge on my boots would be the most I had to worry about. Truth was, I knew what was inside. I just didn’t know if I would make it back out.

  “This way.”

  I followed Jason through the gate and inside the main building. Darkness cloaked us both, but with a flick of my wrist a faint light glowed from my hand. I could see the narrow stairwell, and the stench of wet dog hair assailed my nostrils.

  “Where are we going, exactly?” I asked, keeping as close to Jason as I could.

  “I’m taking you to see the alpha.”

  My heart could have stopped right there. My feet sure did. “The alpha? As in…”

  “As in the alpha wolf. The oldest of the old.” Jason stopped a few steps down from me, turned and gave me a condescending look. “What, you’re not scared, are you?”

  Scared? Yes! I was the second biggest enemy of the werewolves, and this smug bastard was leading me right into the heart of wolf city. If I wasn’t scared then I needed my head checked. “Why are you doing this?”

  “You wanted to work together, right?”

  I studied him, wondering if that was a trick question. “Right…”

  “I’m not going to do that without the alpha’s permission. You’re the one who suggested a partnership, so you can be the one to explain the situation.” Jason took a step back up, looking into my eyes as if he had just met the real me. “She’s not that bad. Just be straight with your intentions, maintain eye contact, and don’t make any sudden movements.”

  She. For some reason, it surprised me that the alpha was female. It shouldn’t have, really, but whenever I thought of werewolves, I thought of men. I guess Hollywood was to blame for that. Thanks a lot, Twilight. “Okay… anything else?”

  Jason nodded at my fiery arm. “Put that out. She’ll see it as a threat.”

  I withdrew the fire and we were enveloped in darkness once again. I began to think that I could handle this, now that I’d had a little glimpse into the future. But I’m not going to lie; if I had known I would be heading into the depths of a sewage plant to meet the alpha wolf, I would have passed up on the offer.

  We walked to a small, well-lit room at the bottom of the stairs. The faded yellow wall tiles were cracked and crumbling. Dust floated through the thin, stale-scented air. In the lone desk, a thin Asian man sat looking at a stack of paperwork, and a small doorway loomed at the far end. I shivered. It seemed that the only exit was behind me.

  “Hey, Li.” Jason approached the desk with authority. “We’re looking for Lena.”

  While I wondered if Lena was the alpha, the Asian man scanned up and down the length of my body. He bit his lower lip, turned back to Jason and nodded his head. “You know where she is,” he said, and returned to his paperwork, chewing on the end of his pen.

  Jason led me through the far door. The moment he opened it, the sound of rushing water deafened me. The smell wasn’t much better either, but the combination of both those things made it instantly unbearable.

  Trying to keep up, I tailed behind him and onto a dark, metal walkway. Water gushed from pipes on either side of us, falling into a large vat far below. Until then, I thought I had known Chicago, but I guess I only knew the more… attractive side of it.

  “Ignore them,” Jason said, pointing up at the rafters.

  I wished he hadn’t opened his damn mouth. I hadn’t noticed them at all until he’d said it, but when I looked up and saw a large pack of wolves hung upside-down from beams, I recoiled. “Holy shit.” There must have been around fifteen of them, each one stirring, drooling and growling. Every one of their glowing eyes trained on me.

  “They won’t hurt you if you stay close,” Jason said.

  Even doing as I’d been told, it seemed to take forever until we passed another door and through a maze of corridors. A few nerve-wracking moments later, we stopped inside a long, dark room with glowing water tanks on each side, and a ceiling hanging way too low to be safe. At the back, a middle-aged woman with auburn hair sat at a table, with a steak dinner in front of her. I didn’t dare consider what type of meat she had on that plate.

  Jason approached her, and I stood quivering behind him.

  “My dear boy,” the woman said, gesturing him to take a seat. The British accent rolled off her tongue in a smooth and well-spoken fashion. It reminded me of Link, and I began to miss him. “What have you brought me?”

  Slowly, almost humbly, Jason took a seat beside her. “Lady Lena,” he said, placing a hand on hers, “behold, the latest Cardkeeper of Chicago, Keira Poe.” He smiled devilishly as he said it, and I suddenly began to fear for my life.

  Lena set down her cutlery and studied me with wide eyes, dabbing a napkin at her lush red lips. When she threw it onto the plate, she sat up straight and interlaced her fingers, holding them under her large, semi-exposed breasts.

  Perhaps it wasn’t the correct reaction to my introduction, but I did my best curtsey. Jason had told me to be humble, and I was damn sure going to take that advice. “Ma’am,” I began, choosing my words very carefully, “Thank you for seeing me without notice. I come asking–”

  Lena slammed an open palm on the table. Her knife and fork rattled under the incredible force, and I jumped back as she screamed at Jason. “You dare bring her kind into our home? Have you forgotten that she killed one of our own? Your own brother, no less! Did that slip your mind?”

  Even Jason was shaking, although he didn’t hide it well. “It wasn’t her that–”

  In the blink of an eye, Lena transformed from a beautiful woman to a killing machine. Her muzzle shot out in sync with her hand, as it became a claw and sent Jason hurling toward a nearby wall. Her roar echoed through the room, and the table beside her broke in two as she spun round to face me.

  My reaction – as dumb as it seemed at the time – was to drop to one knee and bow my head. “My lady, I humbly request that you hear what I have to say.” I spoke in fast, unbroken sentences, and tried to keep the waver out of my voice. “After that, you can do with me what you like. I simply ask the chance to be heard.”

  The snarling beast stomped toward me, the nails of her paws grinding the cobblestone floor as she began a half-transformation back into a woman. A thick line of drool slithered to the ground, landing beside her in a mucky blob. “Look to me, child,” she said, but her voice was deep, authoritative. She was still a monster.

  I tilted my head back, glaring up at a furious woman. Her long neck trailed down to her enormous, perfectly shaped breasts. At her navel, the fur began to thicken and covered her down to her wolf-like legs. Lena jolted forward, holding my chin in a tight grip, her nails grazing the skin of my cheek like razors. “Why, pray tell, should I grant a mage such a request?”

  My mouth hung open as I struggled for words. My next sentence could either be my savior, or my death. “I…” My eyes went to Jason, who stood in the corner and watched, his eyes unmoving. I suddenly remembered what he’d said about eye contact, and shifted my gaze back to Lena. “I have information that could help avenge your loss.”

  Lena stared down at me, her eyebrows contorted as if she were confused.

  It seemed to take forever, but she finally let go. My body sagged to the floor, but I struggled to my feet as fast as I could. By the time I could stand up straight, Lena was taking a robe from the nearby wall, and slipping it around her naked body.

  “Tell me what you know,” she said, folding her arms and leaning with her back to the wall, “and I may just let you live. Even if it is just to die another day.”

  A quick glance at Jason spoke volumes – he remained silent, stood at his master’s side and looked my way with interest. I hadn’t yet seen him keep still, but if he was finally able to put his claws away, there must have been something bigger than him present – something too big to challenge. It suddenly became obvious: he was afraid of her.

  I locked eyes with Lena
. “The killer was a mage, but not one of our own. The power he used was from a stolen card, one I fully intend to retrieve.”

  Lena stood up straight, took two steps toward me. “How?”

  “With help from some of your own.”

  For a moment, Lena stared down at me with humored fascination. Then, she broke into a loud and shrill fit of laughter. “Let me make sure I understand,” she said, trying to keep a straight face. “You want me to let you just walk out of here with some of my wolves, so you can track down a mage and steal our vengeance?”

  I stretched my hand out behind my back, loosening the stiff joints. If I needed to use my magic, I would. But if I could walk out of here with a partnership and still have my head attached to my neck, I was going to do my damndest to choose option two. “There’s more.”

  Lena grunted, turning her back on me. “Go on.”

  “The mage’s wife spoke of an assault against the vampires.”

  The statement was met with silence. I was well aware of the rivalry between the wolves and the vampires – I was even in the middle of it – so if I could exploit that, I might be on to something. I continued. “If you would only point me in the direction of a vampire lair, I could try to get some inside information. Worst-case scenario: I get nothing and I’m a dead woman anyway. The vampires will have done your job for you.”

  Lena turned to face me, studying me, looking at me like I could be friend, foe or food. “Let’s say I agree to this, and you go waltzing into the lair. What would I get from your conversation with those fanged freaks? How would I benefit?”

  “You get Victor Kronin – the mage who murdered your pack.”

  “When?”

  “Eventually.”

  “Hmm.” Lena rubbed her perfect chin. “And what of the assault?”

  I shrugged, a smile creeping onto my lips. “If it’s already happened, then I’ll know I’m on the right path. They would still be licking their wounds and you can sleep soundly, knowing that they’ve been hurt.”

  “And if it’s yet to occur?”

  I shrugged. “You can stand by and watch. You’d have lost nothing more.”

  Lena grinned at that, and shot a look over at Jason. It was one that said: It’s a win-win situation. Tossing a tail of beautiful auburn hair over her shoulder, she stepped up to me, her nose nearly touching mine. “I’ll point you in the right direction, but on one condition…”

  My knees knocked together, but I tried to hang tough. If this wolf-woman was going to trust me to do a good job, she had to believe that I was capable – that I wasn’t going to run into the trees while screaming for my life. “Which is?”

  “If you stop this mage of yours, we get to take him.”

  I looked to Jason, who smiled awkwardly in the corner, but not at me. He must have loved the idea of vengeance – of getting back at Victor for his brother’s murder. My eyes then met with Lena’s, and I held my breath.

  Steeling myself, I nodded, and spoke in my most confident tone.

  “It’s a deal.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  I inhaled the cool refreshment of the outside air and exhaled the putrid stench of sewage, revenge and fear on every breath. The sewage plant was behind me, and I had no intention of returning. Even if I did manage to stop Victor, the wolves would have to collect him some other way.

  “You’ve got balls,” Jason said as we trudged through the moist gravel.

  “I don’t have balls,” I told him, smiling at the double meaning. “That might be the most terrified I’ve ever been. How you return to her each day and kiss her ass is beyond me.”

  Jason stopped suddenly, driving a finger into my shoulder. “I don’t kiss ass, okay? There’s a system – a code of honor. Lena is stronger than any of us. That form you saw her in back there? She can grow four times that big.”

  I watched him explain himself, talking to me as if I knew nothing about werewolves. But the more he said, the more I realized that he was right. As for Lena, the very thought that she could grow any bigger – any stronger – made me want to throw up. “Fine, whatever,” I said, and we continued our walk to the vampires’ lair.

  Afternoon slowly faded into evening allowing darkness to settle. The sun slipped behind the horizon, leaving a stunning orange glow over the otherwise dull streets of Chicago. It made me think of my old life. The one from thirty years ago, when I was still mortal but no less lonely. I thought I’d come a long way since then, but I was still here in the big fight, just trying to make my way through the day.

  “So, do you really think you can do it?” Jason said from a few paces ahead of me.

  “Do what?”

  “Stop Victor. What he did to my brother’s pack was incredible.”

  “You sound impressed.”

  “Impressed?” Jason stopped again, turned to face me. “No, not impressed. But power like that has to be respected. And no offense, but even I gave you a run for your money. This guy wiped out more than ten wolves, each of which were far stronger than myself. If I were you, I’d start thinking about a way to beat him.”

  I hated to admit it, but he was right. I looked down at my hand, an orange light pulsing through it. Fire seemed to be useful against wolves, but would it stand up to Victor Kronin and the power of Chaos? I doubted it. I would have to switch out my magicard at some point. But not until after finding the vampires - those nocturnal bastards hated fire - so for now I intended to keep it. “Come on.”

  Jason stood still, staring blankly into the distance.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, following his line of sight. I saw nothing.

  Before I knew it, he sniffed at the air like a curious dog. His eyebrows furrowed as he grabbed me, and threw me onto the ground far behind him. “Get down!” he yelled, as if I had any say in the matter. It was a strange form of protection, but I didn’t know what danger awaited us.

  Grazing my arm on some loose stones, I slid thirty feet across the ground. I heard a roar, but it hadn’t come from Jason. It was too deep, too aggressive. Too feral. My skin burned from the stony grind, as I looked up to see Jason surrounded by three other wolves.

  “You would just as soon betray your own brother, then?” a black wolf said, traipsing slowly around Jason, teeth bared and eyes alive with the thirst for blood. “Who next, traitor? Will it be me you stab in the back to save a Cardkeeper?”

  I couldn’t take this. Sure, Jason had attacked me twice before, but I believed he had been doing it for his own reasons. Good reasons really, no matter how misinformed he’d been. I couldn’t stand by and watch him get torn apart by three of his own. I didn’t hesitate – I summoned a ball of flames into my palm, and dashed to Jason’s side.

  “What’s this?” said a hazel-colored wolf from my left. “The mage wants to die, too?”

  “She isn’t a part of this,” Jason snarled. His voice deepened as he readied his claws. “Go now, Keira. I don’t want you to get involved.”

  Is he serious? “No way.”

  He shot a look at me, as if he’d already given up. “Don’t argue with me. If you don’t get the hell out of here, then you’re dying for no good reason.”

  “But I–”

  “You’ll find your vampires at Dante’s Nightclub on West Loop. Now get out of here, and make damn sure you find something worthwhile.” Before I could make a protest, his face ripped into that of a wolf’s, and he leapt toward one of his assailants.

  Jason could take his warning and shove it, because I’m not a coward. I don’t shy away from fights. I would take his advice about escaping the area, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t give him a bit of a head start. I whistled at the hazel-colored wolf, and when he looked at me, my heart began to hammer inside my chest.

  “Follow me, little doggy. I’ll find you a good rug to piss on,” I taunted.

  The snarl blew my way with furious intent.

  I turned and ran as fast as I could, but it didn’t feel fast enough. I could hear the werewolf’s paws pou
nding into the gravel as it flew toward me at an insane speed. It was what I had wanted – for him to come at me and leave Jason with less to deal with – but I still felt guilty abandoning him. If we both survived this, I would be sure to explain myself.

  For once, luck seemed to aid me and I made it to a nearby alley. I leapt to the fire escape with one single push of my legs. Being immortal had its advantages. Magic was, of course, among them, but I didn’t want to overdo it. I needed to play this right, and be patient.

  The wolf followed me, its claws slashing through my hair as it missed my head by inches. I reached for the cold, metal railing of the fire escape and hauled myself over and into safety. I knew the wolf could jump up here too, but that was exactly what I wanted.

  “Ahh, you bad little puppy,” I said, aggravating him.

  The wolf growled in a way that resembled a roar, and I saw it lean on its back haunches, ready to leap at me with its claws out. I waited, giving it my best screw-you face and praying that I got this dead right.

  And then it came.

  It happened faster than I’d expected, but I countered it exactly right. The fireball exploded from my palm, just as the wolf was three feet from it. The blast shot the beast backward, its fur catching fire as it whined and fell back toward the solid ground.

  I caught my breath, heart racing, and peered over at the mess I’d left behind. Far below, a dumpster had a massive dent from where the werewolf had landed, and beside it, a skinny, naked man lay sprawled out and wheezing.

  “Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?” I tried not to spit at his charred body. Surely that werewolf would recover, but there was no way he would get up in time to go back after Jason. I tried to remember that as I hightailed it out of there, and hoped that it would help ease my conscience for having left him alone, fighting for his life.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  After a day of mages and werewolves and kneeling down in a sewage plant, a bath in a vat of Lysol wouldn’t be enough. I wanted to disinfect my entire body. A change of clothes couldn’t hurt, either.