Unleashed Fury (BloodRunes: Book 1) (29 page)

CHAPTER 23

Jonathan inhaled deeply, and wiped the white
powder from his nose. He sat back against the chair, looking
forlornly at the empty bed. He had tried to use one of the servant
girls, but she had put up such an awful fuss, and even threatened
to report him to the authorities, so he had given up. It just
hadn't been the same anyway. He needed his little plaything back,
without her he didn't know what to do with himself. And then there
had been that incident with Jezebel.

He knew he shouldn't have gotten so strung
out on the Sparkle Dust before seeing her, but he was on a
deadline. And he had gone and slipped to her about her number.
Damn the stuff!
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Maybe she didn't catch it
, he thought hopefully. The little
voice in the back of his mind wouldn’t let him off that easily
though.
You know she caught on
, it admonished him,
and
now she will be sending her little lap dog Devon off trying to find
out what it is
.

Master would be most displeased when he found
out about his carelessness. If
he finds out about it
,
Jonathan thought with a sudden revelation.
I should have let the
little rat, Devon, die in the first place. Seeing as how he's
already hurt, however, perhaps I can arrange to have some more
damage occur, seemingly naturally. That way, he can never find any
information to report to Jezebel, and she will have nothing more
than a meaningless number.

He thought about Devon’s injuries and how he
might be able to worsen them without raising any suspicion.
The
man really shouldn't be back at his old games yet anyway, even if I
wasn't thinking of planning something.
Jezebel already had him
out running her errands when he wasn't even fully healed. Even she
should know that you can't trance-heal a body and expect it to be
able to perform the same as before right away. Regardless of her
disregard for human life, she still must see that Devon was the key
to many of her sources of information. Without him, she would lose
much of what she had worked for.
Perhaps I won’t have to take
any action at all, she may run him into the ground herself.

A knock sounded at the door and Jonathan rose
to meet the servant. “Yes?” The man stepped aside to reveal a
brunette girl standing behind him who gave him a shy smile.
Jonathan ran his eyes up and down the length of her, and took in
her slender form. She was quite young, but dressed provocatively,
and Jonathan could guess what she was here for.

“Come in,” he said, smiling back. His mood
lifted considerably. He dismissed the servant with a wave, and the
man left them alone. He led her into the bedroom and she looked
around in awe.

“Gee whiz,” she said cutely, “this is some
bedroom you have here.” He reached out to fondle her perk little
bottom, but she batted his hand away playfully. Jonathan smiled
tolerantly, soon she would learn proper manners in front of him,
but he would relish teaching her.
Slowly
. First, however,
he'd have to find out how she came to be here. Most of the brothels
tended to be upset if their girls went missing, it was only by
Master's intervention that he had been allowed to keep the last
one.

The girl had made her way over to the
refreshment cart and looked coyly back over her shoulder at him.
“Wine?” she asked. “They say it's an aphrodisiac you know.” She
giggled and covered her mouth with the back of her hand.

“My dear,” he answered, “one hardly needs an
aphrodisiac with you here. But yes, please do.” She turned her back
to him and poured two glasses.

He moved closer, taking in her supple form
showing through the lacy fabric of her dress. He pressed against
her and she spun away, expertly swinging her arm around to put the
wine under his nose while evading his embrace. He raised a hand and
took the glass. He was getting quickly tired of her coyness. “Thank
you,” he said and moved with her over to the couch where she had
seated herself.

This one certainly had more spunk, and he
hoped he would be able to keep her. There were so many things he
could do to her, and it would be so much fun to teach her her
proper place. He took a sip of his wine, and she watched him as he
swallowed. He licked his lips at her.

She grinned broadly at him again and said,
“Your Master wanted me to tell you that he had sent me.” Elation
shot through Jonathan and his excitement grew. He would have to get
rid of Devon right away before the little rat could ruin anything.
Jonathan would want to please Master after this little gift. She
was certainly different than the last one, but he knew she would be
just as satisfying.

Her voice suddenly took on a darker tone as
he gulped down the rest of his wine and set down his glass to reach
for her. “You must have done something really bad to make this
‘Master’ of yours so angry. He didn't even want the reward money we
offered for the information.” The girl’s smile had disappeared. “He
was almost as creepy as you.”

Jonathan paused mid-reach at the sudden
change and wondered what she meant. He found, however, that is was
suddenly very hard to think straight. His head felt as though it
had been filled with water and he swam through, trying to make
sense of what was going on.

“You know,” the girl was saying, “I was
planning on showing you how it felt to be Carolyn instead of doing
it this way, but she didn't think that I would be able to.”

Jonathan moved his lips trying to speak, but
they felt numb and heavy. He could hear his voice slur out, “Who's
Carolyn?”

The girl laughed humorlessly at him and shook
her head in revolt. “I think I could have, you miserable piece of
slime, you didn't even know her name?”

Jonathan's vision blurred as the room spun
away from him and understanding finally hit him the same time as
his head smashed into the floor and his world disappeared into
blackness.

CHAPTER 24

“Then what is it?” Layna asked, her voice
breaking.

“Looks like dogs,” Charles said with a shrug
and noncommittal shake of his head, “but bigger than any dog I've
seen, and they ain't no gormless things. They tracked us to the
river we just crossed and it looks like there they split up, prolly
looking for a way to cross safely. I'd bet my buttons, they're
hellhounds.”

A sudden eerie baying filled the air, and
Layna felt goose bumps tingle into being all over her body.
Hellhounds? No, that can’t be right. Hellhounds and blood-beasts
are only fairy tales anymore, aren’t they?

“I suggest we leave
now
,” Charles said
urgently, already grabbing their supplies and hastily stuffing them
into saddle bags. The horses were stamping the ground nervously,
their nostrils flaring as they scented the wind, and their ears
twitched with every howl. The sound took on an excited yipping
quality, as though they had caught wind of their prey, and Gryffon
and Layna both mounted hurriedly. Fly's eyes were starting to show
whites as they rolled back in his head in terror, and Axe was
stamping the ground, snorting huge columns of steam with every
breath.

As soon as they were mounted, they urged the
horses to go and the frightened beasts needed no second request.
The horses broke into gallops, threatening to unseat Layna as they
wound through the forest. Luckily they had been following a
somewhat cleared path, and the horses were able to run at full
speed without much danger of a fall.

The yipping and howling seemed to echo closer
now, and Layna looked back over her shoulder with apprehension.
Terror crept into her and made the hair on the back of her neck
stand up as the surreal sounds seemed to vibrate her very being.
She saw a blur of something large and black, moving in and out of
the trees with a speed and grace that seemed unnatural.

A flash of red caught her eye to her left. It
was her only warning as a shape hurtled out of the woods, colliding
with her body and knocking the wind from her. Layna frantically
pushed away the gaping mouth that snapped at her face as she
tumbled off Fly’s back. She grunted in pain as her side met the
hard ground, and she quickly rolled out from underneath the
hound.

The beast growled at her menacingly, its
sharp yellowing teeth dripping saliva, and it scrambled to its feet
before it lunged at her again. She grabbed at a fallen branch and
took aim at the creature's open mouth, swinging with all her might
to deflect the hungry maw. The branch connected with a tooth and
its head snapped sideways. It paused a moment to shake its head
clear of pain, and then looked back at her, red eyes boring into
her.

The eyes closed and the creature threw back
its head and howled. Layna clamped her hands to her ears. If she
had thought that the sound was awful from a distance, it was ten
times worse coming from the throat of a beast standing directly in
front of her. The howl echoed through her, and gave her such a wave
of pure unadulterated fear that she found herself unable to move,
though her mind screamed at her that she had to, she had to do
something before it stopped its howl and came for her again. She
fell to her knees in a shuddering lump and could do nothing,
paralyzed by the intense horror that filled her inside.

Gryffon and Charles had become aware of the
commotion, and had whipped their mounts around to face the foe. Axe
charged in, his battle steed instincts taking over, and he smashed
the hound in the back of the head, cutting short its agonizing howl
with a surprised gurgling grunt.

A sickeningly wet crack sounded as Axe struck
again, and the hound let out a whimper as it dropped limply to the
ground, blood and gore oozing from a large wound in its skull. A
series of bloodied marks on its back glowed bright red for a moment
before the light dimmed, and the hellish creature gasped its last
labored breath and lay still.

Layna stood glued to the spot, staring at the
beast. Gryffon's urgent prodding jerked her back to reality and the
realization that there were more of these out there. She remounted
Fly as fast as her shaking limbs would carry her, and they spurred
the horses forward once more.
Holy Gamoland!
She swore to
herself
, it had runes on its back. Could it be?
Bloodrunes?

They raced on, listening to the howls of the
hounds which grew louder behind them and then suddenly stopped.
After a few minutes of silence, Charles motioned that they should
slow for a moment to let the horses catch their breath.

Layna pulled Fly up to a fast walk and moved
closer to Gryffon and Charles. “They prolly just found their friend
there,” said Charles dispassionately, “and either they've stopped
for a skosh of a snack, or are real smart and are stoppin’ to see
how we killed one of them. The questions we should be askin’ now
are: How many more are there? How likely is it that they will
continue to track us? And most importantly, how the blazes are we
gonna to kill the rest of them? We can't just foote here much
longer.”

“I'd say it's very likely that they'll keep
following us,” Gryffon put in softly, “those markings on its back,”
he trailed off, his hand unconsciously lifting to touch the spot on
his chest where his own mark was. “Those were no ordinary hounds,
someone sent those after us, and I have a suspicious feeling I know
who it was.”

“Would she really do that? Blood-magic? Can
it really be?” Layna sputtered.

“How can you ask that? She's a sick demented
individual, look what she did to me.” Gryffon shrugged, “I wouldn't
put anything past her. Don't you think after everything you've seen
that this is just how her twisted little mind would work? I
wouldn't doubt for a moment that she'd turn to blood-magic if she
had the chance.”

Layna gave a reluctant nod. “If anyone were
to use it, it would be her I guess. But it’s still hard to believe
that blood-magic can be being used again.”

“What in the world did you two get yourselves
mixed up in? That mark on your chest, believe me, it ain't no minor
thing. And now these things are after us and you think that she
sent them after you? I know she's mendacious and barratry, but she
must be crazy too! No sane person turns to blood-magic. No, no, no.
You've gotten yerselves into a more serious mess than I think you
realize.” He grumbled for a moment and then threw up his hands.
“And you think I'm crazy with my stories? Just who is this
woman?”

“Evil,” answered Gryffon shortly before Layna
could put in her own opinion.

“Maybe so,” Charles nodded, “I've seen my
share - and more - of evil in my life and she certainly is shapin’
up nice to it. If what you say is true, we'll have to stop and face
the beasts. If they are sustained by blood-magic, they ain’t gonna
stop ‘til they find and destroy you if that's what they're up to.
We’ve got no choice but to fight.”

“How do we fight that?” Layna asked, her
hands still shaking from the close encounter.

“As I said,” started Charles slowly, as if
every word pained him, “I’ve seen this type of thing before. The
only chance we got is magic. We won't get lucky again like the one
lone one that Axe there got. They are much much worse than that
little scare there would make it seem. This time round they'll of
smartened up and’ll work together to distract and take us down. We
won't be able to bash all their heads in. I know Mila taught you
how to touch the power, just apply it to the situation, I’m sure
you can come up with somethin’ in that pretty head o’ yours. And
Gryffon,” he turned to the man, “I believe you are familiar with
some rudimentary combative magics as well?” Gryffon nodded
silently. “Alrighty then, I suggest we find a good place to
hidy-hole up in and make our stand. Unless their master is nearby,
and most likely she is not, as the type that would resort to
blood-magic are also the type to let others do the dirty work for
‘em, they won’t be able to be recharged, as it were, if you can get
past the shieldin’ on ‘em and drain it or otherwise incapacitate
‘em.”