Death Lord

15

Up ahead, rusted roller coasters loomed over the entire abandoned amusement park, which was somehow creepier in real life than it had been in my dream. We passed empty buildings that once sold food and tourist gifts, but were now covered in graffiti, their windows broken, their doors hanging off the hinges. You could almost hear the echoes of children playing and laughing along the cracked cement, a reminder that a place like this should never be so empty and lifeless. No wonder people thought it was haunted.

I lifted my nose to the air, hoping to catch the scent of another living being in this park with my shifter senses, but then I remembered the damn cuffs that blocked my magic. Damn Belial. I would get these cuffs off somehow.

The rest of the park was just as desolate, although nature had crept in and was slowly taking over the area. Debris littered the area, weeds and plants had grown up over everything, and I jumped at the sight of an actual alligator sitting beside the remains of a carousel. I nudged Belial but he just shrugged like he saw alligators all the time, but he still had his powers. I was basically a defenseless human right now.

Join us, a voice whispered in my ear. I whipped around, looking to see if anyone was there, but saw no one but Belial. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Belial asked, giving me an odd look.

I opened my mouth to tell him, but before I could, a rustling sound in the bushes caught our attention. Someone was out there, moving toward us. No—a lot of someones, and they were coming from every direction, forming a circle around us. My hands formed into fists, and I wished again that I had my magic or at least a weapon of some sort. Belial just stood beside me, taking it all in, his face hard and his eyes completely fearless.

Even without my wolf senses I could tell most of these people were shifters from the way they moved, although I guessed a few of them were imps too. They drew closer, surrounding us completely, cutting off every escape route. There was no chance to turn and head back to the entrance, and short of Belial breaking out his wings and flying us out, we were trapped.

“I’m pretty sure we just walked into an ambush,” I muttered.

Before either of us could discuss what we were going to do to get the hell out of here, two giant wolves prowled forward. One was black with red eyes, while the other was white with blue eyes, but otherwise they were identical. As they stepped through the brush, their claws burned it and turned it to ash.

My heart leaped at the sight of my brothers, completely unharmed, and I rushed forward. “Skoll! Hati!”

Belial grabbed my arm and held me back with his supernatural strength. I glared at him and jerked at my arm, but he didn’t let me go.

“They’re my brothers, you big dumb oaf!” I turned back to them. “I’m so glad to see you guys. You have no idea how worried I’ve been. Why haven’t you returned my calls or anything?”

Neither one of them answered, and both of my brothers stared at me like they had no idea who I was. When I stepped toward them again, they growled low in their throats.

Belial shoved me behind him, protecting me with his body. Which was totally unnecessary, because my older brothers would never hurt me. Would they?

“What are you doing here?” I asked them, stepping out from behind Belial.

“We’re working with the Furies now,” Skoll said, his wolf voice like a low growl. His red eyes blazed with inner fire as he stared us down like he was about to lunge.

Hati’s claws scraped at the ground, turning the grass to ash. “You should join us too.”

I frowned at my brothers, wondering why they were acting this way. Sure, they were both assholes, but this was different. This was wrong.

“Where are the Furies?” Belial asked.

“You…” Skoll said with a snarl. “We’ve been waiting for a chance to get you alone.”

“Thanks for bringing him to us, Eira,” Hati added. “Now we will tear him apart.”

I held up a hand. “Yeah, I already tried that and it didn’t go so well. The bastard’s basically unkillable. But that’s not why I’m here, anyway.”

Hati crept closer, teeth bared. “Maybe you just weren’t up to the task.”

“Now it’s our turn,” Skoll said at his side. “Time to die.”

Shadows gathered around Belial as he faced them down. “Try it, and we’ll see who ends up dead.”

I stepped in front of Belial this time, my pulse racing. I couldn’t let my brothers attack—they had no idea how dangerous Belial was, and they’d probably both end up dead. But how would I stop them? They looked like they were about to tear through me to get to Belial.

“Now, now, let’s not fight with our guests,” a woman’s voice said from behind us.

Hati and Skoll stopped immediately at the sound, lowering their heads in submission, though they continued to glare at us with obvious hatred. I gaped at the sight of them, then turned toward the voice.

Two hooded figures made their way through the ranks of shifters and imps, who parted around them without having to be told. I didn’t have to see the women’s faces to know that these were the Furies. My hackles went up and a chill ran across my skin as both of them stopped in front of us and threw their hoods back. They looked completely different from the women from my dream—the hair snakes and bloody claws were gone, for one thing—but they still radiated the same power.